HR Evolution

WOULD YOUR COMPANY HIRE YOU TODAY ?

2011-04-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, marriage is less about “finding” the right person and more about your “being” the right person. Marriage is a long term commitment and requires more than a feeling of infatuation for it to work. By the same token, hiring should be looked at as a long term commitment that requires more than a temporary or convenient set of skills.

Now, if you buy my thought that marriage is about being the right person, then perhaps you will buy the thought that hiring is about being the right person as well. In other words, hiring is as much about you as it is about whom you hire. Most of us come across colleagues whom we wonder that how they made into this Organisation and survived this long.

Regardless of the circumstances you face, your attitude is one of the few things in life that is completely under your control. So, do you posses that necessary blend of energy, humor, compassion, team spirit, boldness, and initiative that you seek in others?

Do you have those qualities which you or your company is looking in new employees ??? Do you still have that commitment?? Would your company hire you today ????

REALITY SHOWS - GREAT TALENT MANAGEMENT INTERVENTION

2010-09-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

The HR guru's amongst my readers would agree that Talent Identification and Assessment are two critical pillars of Talent management. Simply put Talent Management facilities, a process and culture which ensures that the best and brightest automatically bubble to the top. If we were to believe that an organization is a microcosm of a larger society then what we are witnessing today in most Indian organizations is also indeed true for reality shows

Many years ago Anu Kapoor ran a show called "Meri Awaaz Suno" - To me it was a great Talent Management intervention .A little girl from Bhilai won the hearts and imagination of India. That little girl was Sunidhi Chauhan. The program was a process and a platform which allowed a top talent like her to get pan India exposure. Programs such as Meri Awaaz Suno heralded the beginning of Talent Management revolution in playback singing @Bollywood . Along the journey we see many such shows like Indian idol, sa re ga ma pa and many more.

While all the singers were undoubtedly brilliant, but without a process like the reality shows , these people would not have got an opportunity or an exposure that they well deserve . To put this in context, in the good old days at Bollywood incumbency was a big factor; Lata Mangeshkar remained the playback Queen for decades without any noticeable threat to her position. Was there a talent shortage in the country...???? I don't think so. What were probably lacking were platforms like the ones that we are discussing. The powers of these platforms are immense and the outcomes that they can create for an industry is what we are experiencing first hand now.

I would like to highlight two key learning's from these reality shows which could be of use to HR professionals who engage in the process of Talent Management.

Let the Soul of the Process Flourish - What happens in the name of Talent Management are generally elaborate paper exercises and assessments which kill the soul of the process. By killing the soul of the process I am hinting at the complex psychometric tools often used to identify talent (however valid the consultants who peddle them claim to be ) are fraught with errors and to put undue emphasis on the tools only is disastrous .

Use Professional Talent Spotters and Talent Managers - Spotting Talent is not necessarily a function of competency frameworks or psycometry. The Aussie Cricket Board has talent scouts who scan the country and select young players with promise. A similar process happens thought he regional and city rounds of these reality shows . In India however I have not heard of Talent Scouts in organizations. An individuals potential is often assessed in the context of his current and future roles. While I do not have a conceptual quarrel with this process, however happens that the potential assessment is left a bit too late for any meaningful development to happen, which leads to a situation where in either the top talent is frustrated and leaves the organization or even worse stays back and becomes a cynic.

While timing of assessment is important, the other critical issue is that potential assessment happens in the context of a set of Role Based Competencies and rarely on well grounded Generic Competencies. The challenge is of course to maintain a balance between the competencies required to deliver the current role and or future roles as also the ability to manage organizations and add stakeholder value. Often the second objective takes a backseat.

I would love to hear from you.

THE TALENT SHIFT

2010-07-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” I am sure the most of recruiter will agree to this quote of Charles Darwin.

Recruiters are working faster, harder, longer and to the point of fatigue.

If we look at Indian context, we will see a great mismatch where most of employers are chasing wrong candidates or candidate chasing wrong employers. 10000 applications against a job posting still position remains vacant. The True reflections of our capability to reach job seekers, I mean the right ones.

Many companies are beginning to realize that the value preposition of the large, generic job boards is wanning…..We are witnessing a fundamental shift in the sourcing function. From traditional employment ads to e-recruitment was a true revolution which helped many organizations to reach potential job seekers at a reasonable cost and time. But the time has come to move to next era where the whole effort is shifting from push to pull. Collaborative long term virtual relationship is the key. Communities of practices of passive job seekers, social /business networks, and blogs are the future of recruitment. An era where recruiters primary job is to change whole organisation as recruiters.

If we don’t adapt, we will continue to live in the ‘age of anxiety’ , in a great part, the result of trying to do today’s job with yesterday’s tools – with yesterday’s concepts.

The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed.

OVERCOME TALENT BARRIERS TO REACH PASSIVE JOB SEEKERS

2010-04-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

We always face difficulty in finding the right talent for most of the positions. We always get bombarded with the wrong types of candidates. For an example, I have received 13000 applications for a vacant position but less than 0.1 % was relevant.

The questions arises that how to break this talent barrier and bridge the gap between prospective employer and the right candidates. Here are my takes on the changing face of sourcing function to reach the right guy.

Use of Social Media

Most of us are not live actively on all the popular online destinations, such as LinkedIn, Eacademy, Twitter Facebook etc. Our ability to give time and energy to comment, blog, share, and have real conversations with potential talent on the web is on very initial stage. We don’t have a social media policy in place. We are still running behind low hanging fruits though job portals.Time has come to build a real presence. Build community. Build excitement and buzz that spreads and attracts much talked passive jobseekers.

Push vs. Pull Marketing

Gone are the days of the post-and-pray mentalities for recruiting departments, dumping budgets into job boards and search firms. That is push marketing: pushing out job orders. Here now are thousands upon thousands of free resources, sites, and online communities at your disposal. Use them! We can go beyond job postings and place tailored PowerPoints on Slideshare, insightful pictures on Flickr, descriptive videos on YouTube, and select whitepapers on Scribd and Docstoc. Spread your content in key places online and make sure to provide good titles, tags, and keywords to be found. This is pull marketing, and will bring more traffic to our career site and ultimately produce a better applicant pool to work with.

Lack of a Sourcing Function

Our recruiters are overworked today with paperwork, processes, and compliance laws, not to mention the fact that they need to find and source quality candidates for their positions. Sourcers today need to be well-versed in the latest trends in social media and mobile recruiting, as well as a high proficiency in advanced Internet search techniques with Google.

The Application Process

Don’t make job seekers jump through hoops to apply to your positions. Some companies have more than 10 steps amounting to over 20 minutes to fill out. This is too long! Simplify the application process. Fewer steps equal more candidates, guaranteed!. Recruiters also need to be more accessible, more visible during the application process. Think about providing a live person via instant message or video chat on your career site, or a dedicated job applicant support phone line to guide confused candidates and do light screening. Other options such as company Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages, LinkedIn groups, and YouTube channels that tie-in are a must.

Job Descriptions

Most employment ads online either have too little information or way too much. The information that is available usually has too much corporate-speak mumbo-jumbo and uses company acronyms and internal program names. Ads like these can be confusing and misleading. Sit down with the hiring manager and get all the facts out on the table. Uncover every detail possible. Develop a job description that really sells the job! Make it relevant to the job seeker. Make it interesting. Show some excitement. Talk like a real person. Tell people what the job will really do and the importance it plays with your company or client. Strike a good balance of information with an enticing sales pitch. Make me want to apply!

Many more talent barriers exist today. I’m interested to hear about the makeup of your recruiting team, how you find talent today, and what unique challenges you face.

THE RETURN OF THE WAR

2010-01-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

If you’re involved in global talent acquisition, you already know that despite a global economic downturn, the war for talent never really ended. The truth is that top talent will always be in the minority regardless of market conditions, and that sought-after minority populations have power. Candidate centricity will prove a key battle concept in 2010.

Post recession, their is fundamental change in the relationship of employer-employee. I feel that given a stable career opportunity with blend of work life balance and flexibility, a majority of employees today would jump to your ship even if you pay around 50th %tile of market regression line.

This will lead organization to different kind of war for talent. The focus will shift drastically from attraction to retention of talent. While most of us are not ready to accept/prepared to mitigate risks caused by these rapid changes. Few may not even agree that they have done a mistake by ignoring physiological contract between employee and employer . I would say that it takes great courage for someone to accept one’s mistake and faults. But then accepting and taking ownership of ones fault is the first step towards improvement.

As an ugly turnover tsunami is just around the corner, what’s your plan? You might be hearing that market is improving but the worst is truly not behind us.

EMERGING CAREER OPTION - CCO

2010-01-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

“It’s a really unique situation where most of us are at a crossroads personally and professionally.”

If living and working in this economy of disappearing jobs, tiny budgets, and little recruiting is getting a bit old, then perhaps you have arrived at your own personal crossroads.

Wise career decision taken a year back is certainly looks like foolish decision. We all are desperately waiting for the economy to “get back to normal.” Personally, I have grave concerns about this thought because no one knows exactly what the new “normal” might be, and for all we know, this aberration might be the new “normal” and will remain such for years to come.

But like all other recessions, this one has also created various new kind of jobs which never existed.

LinkedIN, Twitter and Facebook have been the most talked about websites of the previous year. But who really keeps track of these conversations that happen in these online spaces; especially when they are about companies and brands? Some forward-thinking organizations have deployed people to look after their online image.

This was previously done informally by web-savvy employees. Over the last few months, bloggers began referring on the coming of Chief Conversation Officer who will be responsible for driving conversation about a brand online, tracking what is being said, and handling feedback.

Your Perespective?

BORN AGAIN

2009-12-29T10:52:00.000-08:00

Life has stopped completely from last few weeks or I must say a directionless, monotonous life without a strong purpose has stopped. During this unexpected and unplanned break, I gone through or still going through some paradigm shifts in philosophy and thought (more so thought process). I have been trying really hard to look at things differently off-late, trying to remain unruffled by all the battles that I am facing personally and professionally.

It comes in a phase when I need to draw some lines.. The lines that would re-define rest of my life. The lines that would change perspectives about how I used to view life. These lines would inadvertently expose me to new battles - with no one to bank upon. The lines which would (and have) leave me lonesome and far apart from people - I called my own.

The lines where I set priorities. The lines where I choose the road less travelled. The lines when I tread alone. The lines where I need to strong mentally, emotionally and physically. The lines which would raise many questions but would still be left unanswered. The lines where I choose truth over a bond. The lines where I trust the Almighty will bestow his justice over the infidel. The lines where I shepherd the week through the valley of darkness. The lines where I forgive and forget. The lines where I'm - Born Again!

HOT JOBS @ TATA PROJECTS

2009-10-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

Managing Director - TEIL Projects - Noida

Business Head - Oil, Gas & Hydrocarbon - Mumbai

Deputy Business Head - Metals & Minerals - Kolkata

DGM - Engineering - Mechanical - Hyderabad

Sr. Manager - Contracts - Hyderabad

Deputy Manager - Internal Audit

Please write to rishirajsingh@tataprojects.com for more info

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN YOUR BOSS ?

2009-07-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Most of us think about this at least once a day. We are all having someone sitting above us in hierarchy who knows less about the business/work than we do. In meetings, he mentions things unrelated to the discussion and makes suggestions that cause others to groan and roll their eyes.

If you believe that your boss is an incompetent drone in a suit, what should you do to improve the quality of your work life without committing self-sabotage?

“Produce exceptional work, but also ask for their feedback, so it appears that you care about [your boss] and their knowledge. This is especially important for getting a reference from them later or when trying to move into a new position or company. He also advises employees against being perceived as “a know-it-all or someone who is superior to management” which can only harm a worker’s reputation.

Bad Boss Mantra - “It was not a matter of feeling I was smarter than my boss, it was a feeling that my boss could have been a little smarter in using my academic knowledge,” Chill.

Generally, all employees have something to gain in their work environment, even if they feel more competent than their supervisors. Rather than fighting the situation and getting frustrated, i suggests taking a backseat and looking for other people in the office to learn from. An employee can learn from the supervisor as much as the supervisor can learn from his or her employees. The work environment is a constant give and take.

Important to mention that if employees feel like they’re smarter and know more than others on the team, it’s a Clear sign that they should be looking for a new position. While this isn’t always an option for many people, it’s always a good idea to realize your own potential within the confines of a very limiting work environment.

Because in the end, if there is absolutely no opportunity for growth, why waste the energy proving your smarts if it can land you in hot water? Inadvertently, or within a heated conversation, we often say things to the boss that we know we will have second thoughts about on that long walk back to our cubicle.

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS ?

2009-06-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

“It’s a really unique situation where most of us are at a crossroads personally and professionally.”

If living and working in this economy of disappearing jobs, tiny budgets, and little recruiting is getting a bit old, then perhaps you have arrived at your own personal crossroads.

Wise career decision taken a year back is certainly looks like foolish decision.We all are desperately waiting for the economy to “get back to normal.” Personally, I have grave concerns about this thought because no one knows exactly what the new “normal” might be, and for all we know, this aberration might be the new “normal” and will remain such for years to come.

Now we all have two choices. It’s really a privilege to have some choice in this recession :-)

Expect Less. It matters little that what industry you are working, what designation you are carrying and what increments and promotions you are due for. The face and very composition of work is changing radically. As such, the rewards normally tied to work will probably change as well. Consider the work-a-day existence of your past and acknowledge that it is probably going to remain in your past. Perhaps benefits will disappear. Perhaps the concept of “full time” will be based upon organizational need as opposed to “employee” legal standing. Perhaps you will trade value for money to be paid every Friday with both parties reevaluating the relationship every few months. Either way, expect less and smile.

Expect More. This is an opportunity for the cream of the crop to do great things. I must say that it is also an opportunity for those who are not yet the cream to get there.Organizations will always need to hire great people in order to do great things. The time to get creative is now.

Please lower your price, because as cost goes down, value goes up Change your thinking because it will certainly not help your cause, your career, or your wallet.

BUILD CANDIDATE PIPELINE FOR JUST-IN-TIME HIRING

2009-05-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

Everywhere we turn we hear about how “The Economy” is causing everyone to tighten their belts and hold off on making any decisions that may seem too risky. It has quickly become the catch-all answer for almost every difficult question that the corporate world is facing.

Of course, not being able to afford to make a purchase is always a good reason to reduce spending, but there are always those necessities that no matter how tight our belt gets, we will find some way to get them.

If companies keep this in mind, they may very well find themselves in a position to make significant gains during this time. For hiring managers and recruiters this could mean finding a stellar candidate who may have otherwise been unavailable.

Hiring freeze, layoff and retrenchment are more of mental block than anything else. Especially for companies who believe in Lead-Lag pay policy and does pay close to market regression line, recession is the best time for capability enhancement. Some may definitely disagree that the moment market will recover; all this birds will start flying.

But on the other side, there is nothing wrong in initiating a dialogue on various possibilities of association with your organization. The worst can be a healthy pipeline of candidates. And you will definitely agree that a good candidate pipeline can make wonders. At least I will definitely buy this idea. If worst situation is so useful that I would not like to mention the benefits.

Pipeline development is part of their growth strategy. Start identifying candidates who are equipped to be a part of your company’s success. I believe that long-term hiring success requires a process. It is a lot easier to keep a fire going than it is to start one, so we should maintain an ongoing dialogue with candidates with the intention of making an offer when the time is right. A developed candidate pipeline removes major competition from the equation. When the time to hire arrives, we should be ready with the offer or at least have top of the candidate’s mind. This reduces the chances of a salary war as well.Having healthy candidates on hand minimize delays. Sometimes unforeseen events can cause the ball to be dropped. A developed and managed candidate pipeline allows these companies to rebound quickly and efficiently.A company that is actively recruiting is considered a strong company. By continuing to engage prospective candidates, we can strengthen our own company brand among others in industry and remain aware of other trends within their market segment.

Use this or loose this opportunity. Just-in-time concept is definitely applicable to recruiting as well. :-)

EMERGING CAREER TRENDS

2009-04-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

In today’s uncertain economic environment, setting a career goal effectively has become increasingly important, and difficult.

Each recession gives rise to hundreds of new careers and entirely new job functions as old ones are made obsolete. Car assembly people, for example, are a dying breed, and not many will survive this recession. Other jobs that are at the end of their life cycle include ordinary bank tellers, cashiers and checkout clerks, and even many call center jobs and may be us as well.

But, on the other hand, I strongly feel that it will bring hundreds of new career as well. Already I can envision the time when everyone will have their website, recruitment firm with expertise in placing laid off employee and many more. It’s need which gives birth to creativity which can be commercialized under the umbrella of innovation. The whole idea behind several jobs, the way they are structured and they way they impact other will change. Technology shall be the prime driver. Technology makes stability impossible, and anyone who is in school today had better be able and willing to quickly adapt and learn new skills.

Academic institutions are very poor at identifying emerging careers, and most academic majors are traditional. This lack may be for the best, as the best preparation for skills that are not yet known is a broad and basic education.

Some of these emerging careers will require cross-functional multi-skilling.

I’d love to hear from any of you who have ideas about this or see emerging trends, careers, or occupations.

BADBOSSOLOGY

2009-04-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

You're weary. You're frustrated. You're unhappy. You're demotivated. Your interaction with your boss leaves you cold. He's a bully, intrusive, controlling, picky or petty. He takes credit for your work, never provides positive feedback and misses each meeting he schedules with you. Or he caves immediately under pressure and fails to support you in accomplishing your job.

Some Bosses bully , intimidate , and belittle others. Underlings are expected to endure abuse that is condemned in other settings.

Every working adult has known one - a boss who love making subordinates squirm, whose moods radiate through the office, sending workers scurrying for covers, whose voice causes stomach muscles to clench and pulses to quicken.:-(

One of my close friend working with a reputed MNC describes his boss as: dash dash dash..... " like a dog barking at you for hours...He just yelled, ranted, and raved. He was condescending, belligerent, and disrespectful."

Another friend experienced that women are as likely as men to be the aggressors. His Boss(Beautiful Boss) is no more beautiful . She has developed a reputation for demoralizing employees by publicly dressing them down for missing sales and profit goals or for simply displeasing her...often the attacks were personal rather than professional, and infrequently laced with crude reference to sex , race , or ethnicity.

Unfortunately, what would be considered abusive behavior in families and other social relationships is accepted and even lauded in work situation more frequently than many of us admit

Fortunately, I have not experienced any :-)

What about you. ?? Think in case you are the one ????

I WORK HARD BUT......????

2009-04-12T06:14:00.000-07:00

I have completed one glorious year at work and legacy left by me will definitely be remembered forever :-) .

But there was one very disappointing observation i made that people are working harder than ever but accomplishing less and less. I am thinking on this from quite a while now. when i look around any organization, everyone is busy, working very hard and staying very late to get work done. when i look at results then there is a mismatch between all the work done and result attained.

Earlier i thought that people are unchallenged, unfocused, and having no fun in their work. They never think about the results and just try to finish the task assigned to them. I guess i was wrong to some extent.

There was several occassions when i came across people who hate theire jobs. In spite of working very hard they could nor able to contribute any thing.

When i went deep into this then i realized the root cause of this observation. There was no understanding of goal concurrency with organization by employees. They never understood importance of their contribution into the success of their organization.

To understand it more clearly, employees never understood their own job, they never recognize the finish line and never able to focus & prioritize. The importance of understanding the people around you was also well misunderstood.

I will also like to blame few bosses(in silent voice) that they were not able to communicate the right thing to each of their team members. As a result the team members never understood the clarity and drive strategy from top to bottom.

If i dare to go deep into this that i will take advantage of WEB 2.0 to blame few head of departments as well who never able to make understand the execution managers that alignment to strategy is must before execution.

To summarize my thoughts, i call it a culture of fake work where people work harder and results are .....well , you are intelligent.

Let me know in case you are also working hard for fake work or you also hate your job in spite of working very + very HARD ???

AND THE AWARD GOES TO…….

2009-04-08T11:14:00.001-07:00

Yesterday in San Diego, the winners of the 2009 Recruiting Excellence Awards were announced

Congrats to this year’s winners:

Best College Recruiting Program - Ernst & Young
Best Corporate Careers Website - Yahoo
Best Diversity Program - Microsoft
Best Employee Referral Program - Accenture
Best Employer Brand - Ernst & Young
Best Retention Program/Practices - American Cancer Society
Best Strategic Use of Technology - Microsoft
Recruiting Department/Function of the Year - DaVita

I always believed that technology in HR goes hand in hand. If we really analyze the award winners then one thing was common with everyone.

· Technology

· Response Management System

· Strategic alignment of HR with Business

Most of the Indian companies still do not understand the importance of recruiting program, career website, and referral program. Few who understand and make some investment in these lines are too busy to manage the response in real time. I call it strategic suicide by HR. knowing everything and doing nothing.

Most of the companies are concentrating on attraction while retention is left on employees and market opportunities.

Employer brand is highly correlated with the capacity of the company to pay well.

Was just wondering whom are we fooling..???

Ourselves?????

IF YOU CAN DATE, THEN YOU CAN RECRUIT AS WELL

2009-03-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

I believe that if you are good at dating than you can be a good recruiter as well. The reverse is also true. Dating and recruiting have a lot in common. Let see that how we can improve our recruiting efforts by applying the most common dating rules.

Dating rule #1
First impressions are critical.

Recruiting application:
Differentiate yourself. Resist the “I have a great position for you” especially if you have never spoken to them.

Dating rule #2
Don’t believe everything you see. We have all heard stories from people that signed up for an online dating service and were shocked when their date was two feet shorter and 10 years older than the profile.

Recruiting application:
Candidates exaggerate their strengths and skills and down play their weaknesses. Do not assume anything. Prescreen, interview, administer assessments, and call the references before you present the candidate to your hiring manager.

Dating rule #3
Play hard to get. Desperation is the world’s worst perfume.

Recruiting application:
If you make a huge fuss over the candidate and beg them to interview, you will diminish your negotiating power.

Dating rule #4
Be selective. You can not change people.

Recruiting application:
Look for the red flags; don’t avoid them. It is better for you to uncover any candidate weaknesses or issues than your hiring manager discovering them. Your name and reputation is all you have in this business.

Dating rule #5
Prepare for the date.

Recruiting application:
If your candidate has spent 20 minutes on the phone with you and takes time off work to come to interview, and then you ask them “so, tell me what you want to do?” — you are wasting the candidate’s time. You should have notes on the candidate’s resume that you want to clarify.

Dating rule #6
Don’t talk too much. People who express the “enough about me, what do you think about me?” attitude sit home alone, a lot.

Recruiting application:
The candidate should be doing most of the talking. Assess what the candidate has to offer, what they need, and then set expectations of how you will work together. Let the candidate talk about the interview before you disclose the hiring manager’s view. If you blurt out “they love you, you are the best candidate they have ever met!” — what do you think happens to the candidate’s salary requirements?

Dating rule #7
Follow up with your date.

Recruiting application:
As an industry, one of the biggest complaints we get from candidates and hiring managers is the lack of communication. No news is still considered news to the candidate; make sure you keep your candidate in the loop.

Dating rule #8
Don’t be afraid to end the date early.

Recruiting application:
Prescreen carefully, ask the hard questions, and always tell the candidate the truth. If they are not going to fit into your recruiting focus (skills, salary expectations, location, etc.), coach or make suggestions regarding who may be able to help them in the market.

Dating rule #9
Improve your odds by hanging out where (like) people hang out.

Recruiting application:
If you are recruiting technology talent, sign up and participate in technology activities in your market. Volunteer at association meetings to check members in: you will meet every attending member, every meeting.

Explain to people you meet that there are two types of people you would like to be introduced to: those who are leaders in their field and are looking for an opportunity and those who are leaders in their field and are not looking for an opportunity right now. You are an expert in your market, so people who are not looking now would still benefit from knowing you and the people in your network.

Dating Rule #10
They will not buy the cow if they are getting the milk for free.

Recruiting application:
When you agree to represent a candidate, you are entering into a business agreement. You need to set clear expectations of how the process must work. If the candidate will not agree to the terms, they are not committed to you, so turn them loose.

Final Piece of advise: -Concentrate on controlling your own situation, without controlling everybody else

The disagreement with these tips will be highly appreciated . write to me at rishirajsingh@tataprojects.com

RECRUITMENT & ANALYTICS

2009-03-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

Analytics is a hot idea that will likely be topical for a decade more, much like competencies and employment brand were (and are). The term “analytics” — if you want a really sophisticated definition — just means “let’s crunch some numbers.” One of the reasons it’s topical is that our internal systems are capturing far more numbers than ever before.

I believe that in recruiting, to the extent analytics have been used, the focus has been on internal recruiting processes. HR departments want to reduce cost-of-hire and time-to-fill and thus may apply some number-crunching to find where they can make improvements.

If I try to relate this with my experience where much of the recruitments are done in project based environment, the big payoff comes when recruiting can affect operations by improving quality of hire. The recruiting function needs to make the effort to shift its focus from the comfortable world of its own operations and instead spend more time in partnership with the strategic business units to see how recruiting can make a difference there.

Nowhere is analytics more important than in the recruitment of front-line workforces. In many industries the number of front-line workers is so large that you can easily get enough data for sophisticated analysis, and even small improvements add up to very large savings. The recruiting function is a particularly important part of HR for the front-line workforce because these workers typically don’t stay that long(if not managed properly). The organization is counting on recruiting to get people who hit the ground running and fit sufficiently well that they don’t leave after the first few weeks. If recruiting fails at this then it creates a huge cost for the organization.

There are many ways analytics can help recruiting functions improve the quality of front-line workers. For example

Number of candidates applied for job in a year

Number of Hits on career section of your website

Number of ex-employee initiated dialogue to come back

Number of people left within few weeks of joining

Number of employees left after working for more than 5 years

Its not just number but the analysis of these numbers which can help the HR department to align its recruitment strategy with business strategy. Also, such analytics will help us to understand the difference between strategic recruitment and recruitment strategy. (this is highly misunderstood as same)

A simple analysis of retention by source of hire can show recruiting how they should aim its sourcing efforts and even lead to quantifying how much extra value one source creates compared to another due to higher retention. This analysis might completely overturn conclusions of a typical cost per hire analysis since retention can be so valuable to a company that it overwhelms the different in cost in using a particular source.

Some have already started the analysis and some are on their way. WHERE ARE YOU ????.

Write to rishirajsingh@tataprojects.com for more inputs.

INTERNET SOURCING SERIES: ASTERISK

2009-02-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

Lately, the word Boolean has become very popular among web sourcers and recruiters. For some, “Boolean searches” seem complicated. Others wonder what the big deal is since Boolean simply means AND, OR, and NOT applied to keywords.

Google syntax does, of course, implement Boolean logic, though in a limited fashion. It’s not what I want to talk about here; I’d like to talk about the additional, “non-Boolean” part of Google. Google syntax contains much more than an implementation of Boolean logic.

There are operators and special characters that instruct Google on how to use keywords in a search string. One doesn’t need to learn about all of the operators to become successful in one’s searches, but adding a few operators to your search will help quite a bit. Here I’ll cover some operators that I think are a must for a serious web sourcer’s toolbox

ASTERISK

Asterisk * is a very mysterious symbol in Google. Though it formally means “some words,” in reality (or is it better to say in practice?) it stands for “one word or very few words.” (The symbol * does not stand for a part of a word on Google as it does elsewhere.)
Here’s a quick example showing how it works. Search for “Oracle * Administrator” (plus keywords) and you will find Oracle Database Administrator, Oracle Discoverer Administrator, etc.
The asterisk * is actually a very powerful tool. Here are some uses.
If you are looking for an email pattern for a company or are trying to collect email addresses, you can use
“email * companyname.com” or
“mailto * companyname.com “
Since the symbol * typically stands for one word, you can add more asterisks to these strings and get different results.
(”email * * companyname.com” etc.)

Please note that since Google ignores special symbols, including the symbol @ in your strings is not necessary.
Here’s one of my favorite sourcing “tricks.” You can look for phrases and land on blogs, forums, and homepages, not resumes, but this may put you ahead of the competition if they only look for resumes.
Here are examples of Google searches for phrases. This would bring up pages written by people who work or used to work for or have something to do with TATA Projects. (Replace TATA Projects with your target company name.) Add your keywords to these strings to narrow down the searches:
“I work * TATA Projects”
“I am * TATA Projects”
“when I *TATA Projects”
etc.

You can use phrases as a research tool. You can be really creative!

HELP PEOPLE IN TRANSITION…

2009-02-13T08:03:00.000-08:00

The global turmoil and domestic slow down has corrected the increasing trend of fancy designations and inflated salaries. I am sure that you will come across someone you know, respect and admire who might be in transition and was hoping if they can submit their resume to you. In the past, we were much more able to help, and at times, some resumes that came our way were absolutely great matches to some of our requirements.

But things are different now. The openings are few and the calls from candidates are multiplying. We are now hearing more from our own friends, ex co-workers, relatives, neighbors and people we really care about. How can we help when there aren’t any openings? It’s a new game out there, but we still can make a difference, if we take a bit of time. Even though we cannot directly hire these people there are still many things we can do to help tip the scales in their favor with their search.

* Try to respond to each person you hear from, if not by phone, at least send an email. Being ignored is the worst part of being in transition.

* Ask the candidate if it would be all right if you sent their resume out to your network. Send out a bcc email to those you know and introduce the candidate to them. I believe most hiring that will happen now will be ‘quiet hiring’ — not necessarily openings blasted over the job boards, but careful and quiet gathering of candidates.

* When giving leads to a candidate, suggest they use your name in their cover letter. Cover letters and resumes have a better chance of being read, with your name as the introduction.

* Write a recommendation for the candidate on their LinkedIn page, and if they aren’t yet on LinkedIn, send an invite. Adding a recommendation as a co-worker, a co-member of a group or as a client / vendor will help the person to complete their profile, and can add valuable information. Be generous with your comments.

* Put the candidates in transition in touch with each other. Many informal groups are created this way, and sharing leads and information is very helpful to the candidates. They don’t have to be searching in the same field either to be a help to each other.

* Forward articles and blogs; sharing information is a great way to help. Some people who have left their company and thus have left behind their company email address lose the link to information we get everyday. Forward it over so they can start getting connected again.

There are so many things we can do to help, even if we can’t directly hire those who come to us. This list of ideas cost nothing but a bit of time, and can make a world of difference. All the help we give others will come back to us someday, so build the bridges, make the connections, and help if you can. Today’s candidate could just be tomorrow’s hiring manager.

If you think that candidates experienced in Power , Transmission & Distribution of Power, Oil Gas & Hydrocarbons, Metal & Minerals, Water Projects, Railways projects then please refer them to rishirajsingh@tataprojects.com. Your referral will be always be acknowledged, appreciated and never forgotten.

DO YOU HAVE ANY STRATEGY BEHIND RECRUITMENT ?

2009-02-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

It’s hard to believe how fast time goes by when our days as recruiting professionals are easily filled with overwhelming amounts of day-to-day operational activity. As the days, months, and sometimes years pass, inevitably the dreaded question will come — “What’s our recruiting strategy for this year and the years to follow?”

The usual recruiting leader response: “Hmmm … let me get back to you on that!”

The more the global recruiting landscape continues to change and shift, the greater the need for recruitment planning. Recruiting strategy is probably one of the most misunderstood and misused terms tossed about in our industry today. Try asking your clients and colleagues to define the term, and we guarantee that you will get very different responses. Recruiting strategy means entirely different things to different stakeholders (line managers, hiring leaders, HR professionals, recruiting professionals). Try Googling the term or searching through respected and trusted recruiting industry resources. Good luck … you won’t find much of relevance or interest!

Whenever we get the chance, we put the recruiting strategy definition and conversation to test with industry experts and leaders. We usually spend a good hour or two talking about the tired-and-true recruiting hot buttons:
1. Recruiting processes and policies
2. Recruiting programs
3. Candidate attraction and sourcing techniques
4. Recruiting technology (Job portals )
Few can also talk about LinkedIn, blogs, communities of practices etc

These things are most definitely enablers, tools, or drivers of your overall recruiting strategy, but are not in themselves an organization’s recruiting strategy. So what exactly is a recruiting strategy then, and how do we as recruiting professionals create one for the organizations we work for? I don’t claim to have all of the answers, but ....

“An organization’s recruiting strategy is a blueprint consisting of levers or enablers (structural and organizational delivery design, strategic programs, policies, and technology) that drive desired recruiting outcomes (quality of hire, world-class hiring leader, and candidate experience, etc.). “

Think of an organizational recruiting strategy as a framework or model — a blueprint to drive desired outcomes. A great place to start in creating your organization’s strategy is to define the desired outputs of recruiting. These outputs should be closely linked to your organization’s unique mission, values, and goals.

Your organization’s desired recruiting outcomes will most likely touch on some common themes:
1. Better fit hires who are more productive and stay on the job longer (quality of hire)
2. World-class hiring leader and candidate recruiting experience
3. Ability to meet peak demand of recruiting cycle or reduce costs and overhead during slower periods
4. Key recruiting metrics and reports are readily available

After you have successfully outlined your organization’s desired recruiting outcomes, start outlining potential drivers of these outcomes. Some common drivers are:

1. Structural delivery options (in-source, outsource, hybrid)
2. Recruiting organizational design (centralized, decentralized, hybrid)
3. Recruiting talent level and competency
4. Hiring leader and other stakeholder recruiting capability
5. Recruiting processes and policies
6. Recruiting programs
7. Candidate attraction and sourcing techniques
8. Recruiting technology

Get the business side of your organization actively involved in the creation of the recruiting strategy. The recruiting strategy should be presented and approved in the same fashion as any other critical organizational strategy, the sales and marketing plan, the financial plan, or the overall talent or human resources strategy.

As successful recruiting leaders, we need to be as focused on the big picture plan and objectives as we are on the details of our day-to-day accountabilities

THE 3 E’s OF SUCCESS

2009-02-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

There are many things we do to achieve success in our work. Lots of planning and less execution often leads to bitter experiences.

The adequate level of energy and enthusiasm within ourselves and those around us might solve our problem.I will propose the three E’s i.e. “Energy, Energize & Edge” which can help us in achieving better results for our effort

Be that catalyst with boundless drive that constantly fills teams with optimism to compete & execute .Individuals who lack energy as well the capability to energize others would eventually find it difficult to sustain growth.

BOUNDLESS ENERGY, BOTH

Physical- (number of hours) put to work &

Intellectual (ideas, ideas, ideas!!) are core to professional success.

KEY AREA'S TO CONCENTRATE

1. Have restlessness & enthusiasm in everything you do.

2. Have that infectious energy & vigor which make team members truly believe in what they are doing.

3. Additionally, have a unique & “special edge” in your style & skill sets which will be difficult to copy.

Eat well, Take time to think, workout and stay healthy to achieve these 3 E’s of your success.

LEADERSHIP ROLE IN TEIL PROJECTS LIMITED

2009-01-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

Company Name: TEIL Projects Limited
(A Joint venture of TATA Projects Limited and Engineers India Limited)

TPL-EIL JV has envisaged operating in the area of EPC Projects in India mainly in the Oil & gas sectors, Fertilizers, Steel, Power and Infrastructure Sectors.

Develop a strategic plan promote revenue, profitability and growth as an organization. Oversee company operations to insure production efficiency, quality, service, and cost effective management of resources.

Approve operational procedures, policies and standards. Review activity reports and financial statements to determine progress and status in attaining objectives and revise objectives and plans in accordance with current conditions. Evaluate performance of executives for compliance with established policies and objective contributions in attaining objectives.

Represent the company (JV) at various forums and at formal functions. Actively promote CSR activities. To Direct and lead planning and policy –making committees.

The Right Person

1. A visionary leader experienced in strategic planning and execution.
2. Good exposure to downstream Oil and Gas Projects, refineries, petrochemicals, piping etc
3. Expertise in contracting, negotiating and change management.
4. Skills in examine and re-engineering operations and procedures.
5. Experience in formulating policy, and developing and implementing new strategies and procedures.
6. Ability to analyze and interpret financial data.
7. Ability to develop financial plan and manage resources.
8. Knowledge of public relation principals and practice.
9. Ability to identify and secure funding/revenue sources.
10. Highly networked with officials at all the levels in government and private business partners
11. Ability to motivate teams and simultaneously manage several projects.

Qualification PG: Masters Degree in Business Administration
UG: Engineering (B.Tech/B.E)

Experience: - 25-35 Years

Location - NCR (India)

Please write to me at rishirajsingh@tataprojects.com

STRATEGIC ROLE IN MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

2009-01-25T01:10:00.000-08:00

Designation - AGM - CORPORATE AFFAIRS (Mergers & Acquisitions)

Job Description - To coordinate / understand Group / board’s directive and implement in company’s operation. The key responsibility will be mergers and acquisitions. This position will also oversee activities like project monitoring and internal audit. Business strategy and financial analysis/valuation is desirable.

Key deliverables will be M & A , strategic planning, annual operating plan, capital budgeting, policy matters, overhead budget of the company Desired Profile The candidate should have expertise in business strategy, issues related to M & A, Financial analysis and business policies. The overall knowledge of corporate area covering all the departments is essential. The prior experience in similar role in EPC industry is preferable.

Experience - 12 - 20 Years Industry Type Oil and Gas/ Power/Infrastructure/Energy Functional Area Top Management Education UG - Any Graduate - Any Specialization
PG - Any PG Course - Any Specialization

Location- Hyderabad / Secunderabad

Keywords - M & A , strategic planning, annual operating plan, capital budgeting, policy matters, overhead budget of the company

Please write to me at rishirajsingh@tataprojects.com

THE STORY OF JOHN..OOPS.. POOR JOHN

2009-01-23T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here is a beautiful story of the character John, which many of us play in life. Read the entire story - forget the grammar and the sentence formation - be interested in the content and the meaning and more important the learning from it.

POOR JOHN

John did not get his raise but it's not his fault because he did not get his promotion because he did not get all his work done on time because they gave him too much to do and because he was late yesterday because he had to stop for gas because he didn't stop for gas the night before because he was late coming home because he was working late because he came in late that morning because he had to iron a shirt because he had nothing clean to wear because he forgot to pick up his shirts from the cleaners on his way home the day before because he was rushing to get to his softball game and he had to stop and get air in his leaky tire because he forgot to get it fixed last weekend because he had to answer the phone all day and watch the game on Sunday because the guys would all be talking about it on Monday and he did not want to feel left out because that happened before when he missed a game and the guys laughed at him because he didn't know about it and that whole day he could not get anything done at work because he felt so badly and he spent the entire day speaking with his co-workers asking them if he was really being treated fairly because he always tries to please other people first because their opinions of what he should be doing are more important than his own because even though he has the tools and techniques to better control and manage his time and life they are uncomfortable to use because it is so much easier to drift and spend the day responding rather than take the initiative because, after all, "What would THEY say?" if he tried to achieve new goals that he never reached before because a lot of what John really wants is not what he is entitled to and can qualify for because others have what it takes to succeed rather than John because they got the lucky breaks in their lives and hit it just at the right time while for John, without having bad luck he would have no luck at all because that's what's true for his family and always has been and always will be because we cannot change who we are or where we came from or the luck and bad fortune we have because we have to learn to accept what life gives to us and ask for no more because that would be impolite and selfish because John already tried that route once when he went to his boss and asked for a raise and the boss said that, "You have to do more now than what you are already being paid for to qualify for a raise. To ask for what you do not deserve and for what you have not earned is to be selfish and impolite," but John did not like what he heard and looked for another reason why he did get his raise and he found it.

John did not get his raise but it's not his fault because…
Friends, Lets check ourselves too are we also behaving like John...?

LEADERSHIP ROLE IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

2009-01-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

COMPANY - TATA PROJECTS LIMITED
POSITION - VICE PRESIDENT(SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT)
LOCATION - HYDERABAD

Strategic Management of SCM aligned to company objectives, guidelines and policies and to manage all operations effectively relating to procurement, transportation and stores with a view to achieve overall competitive position for the Organization through SCM.

Major Deliverables

Vendor Development, Timely ordering and reduction of lead time, Cost savings: Budgeted Vs Actual, Compliance, Performance Management System and Talent development.

Knowledge:

Specialized & updated knowledge of project procurement systems & procedures, e procurement and reverse auctions, global sourcing, knowledge of engineering equipments and their sources, knowledge of EPC and other contracts, BOQ, rate analysis, Knowledge of present market rates for basic materials, fuels, freight rates, Knowledge of VAT, excise duty, CST, WCT, custom duties, Knowledge of latest INCOTERMS, EXIM policies, import procedures. Skills: Planning & Organizing, Negotiating skills, Analytical & Decision making skills

Cross functional competence requirement:

Knowledge of Finance & HR Mgmt, Knowledge of Basic Engineering & Project Management, Knowledge in Project construction activities, Labor laws, and Safety knowledge in Contracts Mgmt. Behavior (Soft skills): Drive for results, integrity beyond doubt, ability to handle multi tasks.

Experience

An Engineering Graduate with more than 25 Years of Experience in project procurement.

Write to me at rishirajsingh@tataprojects.com

TOP MANAGEMENT POSITION IN TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION OF POWER

2009-01-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

Position - Profit Center Head (Transmission & Distribution of Power)

Level / Grade Range -General Manager - Vice President

Location – Delhi (INDIA)

Overall purpose and objective of this position

Responsible for overall management of Strategic Business Unit with sustained growth, profitability and consistent achievement of Business targets.

Major responsibilities /function of this position

Responsible and accountable for strategic business plan development and implementation in line with Company's Business plan; Manages the Business with cost efficient construction and timely commissioning of projects as per specified quality and safety parameters ; Management of expenditure and revenue and tracking of progress/cash flows of the projects and performance of functional Heads in SBU; Ensures steady growth of business and looking for diversification and other strategies, including adoption of global best practices in the industry(top line & bottom line responsibility); Coordinates with other functionary departments to ensure implementation of corporate policies and guidelines and seamless functioning of SBU; Forecasting & Planning for resource requirement (manpower, materials & funds); Ensures employee satisfaction and Motivation to create conducive working conditions within SBU; Ensures security and safety in projects; Ensures timely and speedy release of due payment to suppliers/contractors, including final payment; Ensures compliance with relevant government/ statutory regulations and directives; Manages relations with external agencies and external environment.

Work experience, special training and / or level of education necessary for this position

Engineer with thorough Industry & domain knowledge in the field of transmission and distribution having experience of 25 years out of which he should have had experience of 15 years in a top managerial position including top & bottom line responsibilities

Reporting Officer – Executive Director

Supervisory responsibility

All the functionaries within the SBU like Project Directors, Project Coordinators, Business Development Personnel, Site Managers, etc.

Competencies required for the job:-

Knowledge: Knowledge in transmission & distribution functions of Power System; Knowledge of Project Management and Techno-Commercial aspects; In depth knowledge of Power System equipment markets and vendors and market trends in Global & domestic Industry; Knowledge of statutory and environmental guidelines for construction and operation of power system and also knowledge of various clearances required for execution of project; Knowledge of external environment, politico-socio-economic situations, local administration, law and order situations and other factors critical to manage the interface between the project and the surrounding community.

Cross functional Competence requirement:

Knowledge of commercial and contracts functions;Knowledge of Strategic Planning Process; Awareness of contemporary concepts in functional areas in Finance, IT and HR; Knowledge of QA system; Knowledge of safety policy, audit (internal and external).

Skills : Negotiation skills; Articulation & presentation skills; Setting out priorities and managing the time; Solution providing skills; Interviewing & Assessment skills.

Behavior : Willingness & Openness to change; High level of interpersonal relationship; Well composed, high maturity & presentability; Agility.

Write to me at rishirajsingh@tataprojects.com

I LOVE REFERRALS

2009-01-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

Its been the long since i have posted anything on this space. Few critical assignments and alternate commitments had kept me away on X-Mas/New Year/Satyam Issue.

I have been amongst one of very few recruiters who are recruiting aggressively Inspite of global turmoil and domestic slowdown

I would like to have referrals for Few Critical positions with me

CEO - TEIL Projects Limited ( A Joint venture between TATA Projects Limited and Engineers India Limited )

Vice President - Supply Chain Management.

Vice President & Strategic Business Unit Head - Transmission and Distribution of Power

General Manager - Mergers & Acquisitions.

Senior Manager - Learning and Growth

Asst General Manager - Finance ( Taxation )

A genuine referral will be highly appreciated.

Contact Details

Email - rishirajsingh@tataprojects.com
Mobile - +91-9290453734
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/rishirajs

DO YOU HAVE PERSONALISED RECRUITMENT STRATEGY??

2008-12-25T11:31:00.000-08:00

Now a days, Employees (survivors of layoffs) are begin to be treated with similar respect like investors — not assets or human capital. Organization understands clearly that people are the most precious of success factors, and they all choose to invest their time and skills in an organization that respects and listens to them. When they are not respected, they move on. Entrepreneurship has grown rapidly in response to the lack of respect innovative employees have been given. A personalized approach is required to cater the needs of all the employees and If you agree to this point than you must agree to give the same respect and attention to your potential recruits

Today every candidate is treated pretty much the same. Recruiters call that being fair, but I call it lack of customer service and concern.

We are all individuals, and want our uniqueness to be understood and evaluated.

Retailers and product manufacturers understand this and provide hundreds of variations on products to meet our individual needs. We will need to use technology to communicate with candidates better and more frequently and at a deeper level than we do now. We will have to tailor jobs to meet candidates’ qualifications rather than to keep looking for the “right” person for our standardized job profile. The whole matching process will become more dynamic and offer the candidate more choices. Social media will become the “home base” of recruiting, and the hallmark of successful recruiting organizations will be their ability to use social media well. Some have already started working on this direction and some are on their way. Where are you??

1 JOB(CUT) EVERY 10 SECOND

2008-12-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

The severe impact of global economic meltdown on jobs can be gauged from the fact that companies are laying off at least one employee every 10 seconds to cut costs and fight the present crisis. So far in December, companies worldwide have announced at least 115,000 job cuts. This translates into an average of more than

8,200 people being sacked every day

6 every one minute

1 every 10 seconds

United States is the most affected as more than one-third of the layoffs have happened there. All the firms that are laying off people have cited cost cutting amid the ongoing financial turmoil as the prime reason for layoffs.

One can easily see the impact of this global turmoil on indian companies as well. Just close your eyes and think about people you know. If you do not couple of laid off people then may be you are not socializing or you are not networked.

4 BEST RECRUITING TOOLS IN WEB 2.0

2008-12-14T13:15:00.001-08:00

Here we are in 2008, soon to be 2009, and almost a decade into the 21st century. The Internet is maturing: it’s been around for ordinary people to use for almost 15 years and has already earned its place as a technology and a social movement as important as electricity.

Most recruiters, corporate or agency, have finally developed career sites and use the Internet for attracting, sourcing, and communicating with candidates and clients. The website is the bedrock of an effective recruiting practice, and while it may still be possible in local or niche markets to avoid it, for mainstream and volume recruiting a website is essential. But, to get a jump on your competition and to attract the savviest candidates, it takes more than a good website and good recruiting skills. Here are four essential tools for success.

1. FACEBOOK 0R MYSPACE

You should have a personal and a corporate presence on a social network. I have only listed Facebook and MySpace because they represent the largest share of the social networking world in the United States and a significant percentage outside the U.S. If your organization has global operations and recruiting needs, then there are networks for China, India, and many other places that you should also consider.

College students and most other young professionals turn to these networks for information about you, to ask their friends about you, or to join a community of practice that you have created.

However when you use these networks, you will be exposing your brand to thousands of potential candidates who, at least to some degree, will judge their potential work experience by the quality of the content. That’s why these pages have to be done thoughtfully and have to connect to the type of viewer and what they are expecting to see and hear.

2. LINKEDIN

I separate LinkedIn from Facebook and MySpace because it is not really a “social” network so much as a simple way to link people who know each other together in a web of interconnections. These interconnections can be useful when they are leveraged well, and LinkedIn has developed special applications for recruiters.

LinkedIn allows you to build a network of people who know you and each other. By working to populate this network with the kinds of people who you either would like to recruit or who can help you find those you can recruit, you can leverage your success many times over. You can use LinkedIn as a structured, searchable database of potential candidates.

LinkedIn is a versatile tool and can be used for marketing, search, and connecting. This is what makes it as essential tool for your toolbox.

3. YOUR PERSONAL BLOG

Developing a blog puts you ahead of almost all other recruiters by building your brand and your organization’s brand. Blogs have become the most authentic course of information for candidates. They like to read the personal stories and hear about your organization from your perspective.

Most candidates are wary of official corporate career sites because they realize how controlled these sites are and they understand that a public relations expert wrote the copy. What candidates are hungry for is authenticity and personality. And this is what blogs have in abundance.

Yet, every time I tell recruiters to create a blog I hear groans and complaints. I hear things such as, “My organization won’t allow us to blog.” Or, “I don’t have time.” Or, “No one can read all the blogs that are out there.”

While I can’t do much to help you overcome internal organizational bans of recruiting blogs, I can suggest you think about creating a personal blog outside of work that can build your brand and help you source good candidates.

Blogs can be updated once a week or so and entries can be quite short. Good blogs keep each posting to a single idea and add pictures or video to maintain interest. Devoting an hour or two a week to a blog is far more useful than spending that time pouring over unsolicited resumes or cold calling.

4. TWITTER

This is the most recent and least understood of these tools. It is a mini-blogging tool that allows you to write 140 characters at a time and send the message to a candidate’s mobile phone or website as a message or as an SMS. Over 2 million people have Twitter accounts and the number is growing very fast. Twitter can be used in a variety of ways to improve the recruiting experience and as a sourcing tool.

Use Twitter to push out job announcements to potential candidates, stay connected to a special group of people, or keep those top candidates in the loop. It’s free and easy to use. And, because so few are actually using it, you will have a real advantage for a while over everyone who is isn’t using it.

Staying current is never easy, but at least it can be fun. Experiment, play, and see where these tools take you. I think you will like where you end up.

ACTIVE Vs PASSIVE JOB SEEKERS

2008-12-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would have someone like me as a member.” Some recruiters feel similarly about candidates. They don’t want anyone who shows the least interest in joining an organization like theirs. They reject these applicants out of hand while searching out the true gems. These recruiters bypass “active candidates” while concentrating on those ever sought after, much-prized “passive candidates.” The question I have to ask is, what’s so great about passive candidates?

We spend so much time pursuing the passive candidates that we overlook the ones knocking on our door. But in this time when literally tens of thousands of people are losing their jobs, it’s crazy to assume that everyone who is out there looking for a job is “damaged goods.”

Some people I’ve met even look for reasons to devalue the candidacy of active candidates who are still employed. I’ve heard recruiters question why people are responding to ads while they still have a job. This train of thought goes something like, “In this day and age if you have a job, why would you be considering making a move? Are you about to be fired or laid off?” What is it that makes us question the motives of people looking for jobs? Aren’t we making our jobs harder by only looking for the flaws in active candidates?.

And what makes someone a passive candidate anyway?

The same person can be both a passive and an active candidate. If you find someone on LinkedIn and it says they’re “open to new opportunities,” is that person active or passive? Some might say that if they are employed they are passive, and if they are not then they are active. But it’s the same person you found when you were searching a person with that skill set. What difference does it make if they are unemployed if they’ve got what your organization needs!
We also make our jobs harder because right now lots of passive candidates are less likely to take your calls or consider a move. People are trying to ride out the storm. I have yet to meet the recruiter who says they need to make their job more difficult.

Many of us assume that the passive candidate is better because these are the people who are currently employed and therefore, employable. They are doing a good job for someone. Why do we assume that they’re doing a good job? Because they are not out there looking. How circular is that logic? Unless you have access to their personnel file and can review their last three performance evaluations, how do you know this person is doing a good job? If you use only one metric — employed — to validate their candidacy, you may be putting too much weight on a flawed criteria. Most successful recruiters use multiple metrics to determine the viability of a candidate.

The recruiting landscape has changed once again. We need to change our thinking about candidates. There are Boomers who thought they were going to retire looking to extend their careers; there have been a flood of layoffs; companies are closing their doors. There are going to be a lot of candidates, good candidates, available to us. Very active candidates who need our jobs and are anxious to fill them. We ignore active candidates at our own peril.
And don’t forget, passive candidates often cost more to attract, to recruit, and to retain. If you want to find good candidates less expensively and more quickly, open your doors to active candidates. They will be grateful for the opportunity; anxious to show they can do the work and just may be the keys to solving your staffing problems. Agree ??

A WORK STRATEGY FOR A GOOD LIFE

2008-12-09T04:14:00.000-08:00

Do you have a strategy for a good life? Can you offer prospective employees a path to develop their own strategy? Have you decided what part work plays in your life and what engages you?

I can’t think of any organization that has not had to change policies or at least address its employees on the issue of work/life balance. Perhaps it emerged because more Gen X employees moved into leadership positions and were more aware of the precariousness of employment and about how quickly corporate can swing from breakneck hiring to layoffs.

But whatever the causes, the issues involved are core to whether people accept offers, stay with an organization, or decide to work for themselves.

Over the past few weeks most recruiters have had to spend some time thinking about their own employment situation and assessing its relative security, engagement, and continuity. They have also had to deal with reluctant candidates, uncertain retirees, and fearful employees. How we think about work is fundamental to almost everything else we do.

If I were to state the assumptions that underlie the work/life balance movement, they would go something like this: Work is something we do for money, is generally not very enjoyable, and interferes with more important things like family. Work, therefore, should be regulated and time with our families should be mandatory. The work/life balance cause assumes a more or less digital world: work is on or off, family is on or off.

Work might not have been fun in our modern sense, but it was a family activity and it was the fabric of life. Most people chose to do something they liked, or at least something that provided them food and shelter and employed members of their family. Even learning was a family activity and fathers and sons often co-invented things or passed their knowledge to each succeeding generation.

The modern separation mindset is new and is a result of the physical isolation of work in factories and offices. It is the result of physical and mental separation from family. It is the result of over specialization to the point where your spouse cannot understand what work you do.
Yet I see that the Gen Y folks, the Millennials, seem to have an intuitive understanding that you should seek out work you care about. They are rejecting the work/life notions, much to the chagrin of their elder Gen X colleagues. Gen Y tends to look for work they are passionate about and then they tend to work in ways foreign to Gen X. They take any sense of balance away and may work for days without a stop or not work much at all for some time. They try to choose meaningful and interesting work and embrace it with a passion only seen once in a while with Gen X or Baby Boomers.

In order to most effectively deal with the questions this economic turmoil raises, be able to answer these questions:

Question #1: If I am able to make an adequate living doing whatever I am now doing, what does your organization offer me beyond that?
You should have a clear understanding of the contributions employees can make to society or to fulfilling an employee’s long term career goals. Every recruiter should encourage the organization to commit to funding and supporting social and environmental improvements and activities. Google, for example, allows employees paid time to work for charitable organizations on a regular basis.

Question #2: Can you accommodate my preferred work style?
Many younger employees and also many Gen X and Baby Boomer workers are asking for flexible working schedules and telecommuting opportunities. These will be core benefits offered by successful organizations over the next decade. Without these you will find it very hard to hire and retain your most productive and valuable people. As soon as any competitor offers them an opportunity for these, they will leave you.

Question #3: What opportunities are there for me to fulfill my life ambitions here?
Work is no longer all about the employee doing things only for the organization. It is also about what the organization is doing for the individual. Some corporations offer employees college programs in areas that have nothing to do with work. For example, some pay for things like nursing school or law school while the employee is doing some totally different type of work.
Others offer cross-functional movement and provide the training and coaching needed to make the person successful. And they make this a significant part of the employment experience, not just a perk for the privileged few.

This is the out-of-the-box stuff that will keep the best people, at least for awhile, and improve the productivity and engagement of everyone.

I am not the only one predicting that it will be increasingly difficult to convince younger people like me to work for large corporations unless they have more input to the type of work and the conditions they work under. As work returns slowly to individuals, entrepreneurs, small shops, and small organizations, we will see more and more integration between work and life. More spouses will work together and more children will be part of that work.

The days of specialization, physical separation, and mental isolation are ending, I think and hope.

We have traversed across a century of change to return to where we started.

A RECRUITERS LIFE AFTER RECCESSION

2008-12-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

This is a strange recession.

It is not affecting employment across the board as many of the past ones have, but rather seems to be targeting specific sectors and types of work. Obviously banking and financial services, but also manufacturing and anyone in a semi-skilled job such as auto workers are especially affected. Needs are pocketed and specific. Talent shortages remain.

Yet, I have had calls from search firms looking for key sales and marketing people, and for R&D talent. Senior HR executives are in demand, especially if they have global experience. Sectors still largely unscathed by the recession – healthcare, gaming, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, and biotech – are still facing talent shortages and global competition.

The growth of global supply chains, increasing automation, and greater process efficiency means we can do more with fewer. New jobs are being created daily, but they all require education and skill beyond that of many current candidates.

This, combined with the different attitudes candidates and employees have about work and about how they live their lives, changes how we recruit and employ people.

The highly skilled, experienced, and educated will have an increasing edge in employment. And this recession should be a clarion call for an increased focus on education, training, and employment development. Everyone involved with talent will need to look at both development and acquisition as channels to meet their needs, rather than focus entirely on recruiting.

There are a number of permanent changes we will see.
1.Candidates Become Smarter, Warier
The first change is that many candidates will be reluctant to work under the same conditions as usual. Candidates have access to unparalleled information about a prospective employer through the Internet and its many sources. Reliance on a single firm for security has already eroded, and this recession will strengthen employees’ wariness about promises and deferred compensation. More top employees will seek employment contracts that include clauses that spell out layoff pay and benefits.Candidates will probe positions more deeply and they will want more influence over the type of work they do. Prepare for candidates to negotiate what they will and won’t do. I am serious

2.Free Agency
Recessions have, in the past, increased the pool of people who decide to become free agents – contractors, consultants, and part-time workers. More people than ever are trying out life as independent workers. Many will not make it and return to the corporate fold, but they will be wiser and better prepared to abandon ship than they were before.
Many others will find they would rather work on their own than go back under the very insecure and fragile corporate umbrella. Companies will have to identify and take care of their key producers better than ever. While many firms do work hard to keep key talent, they will have to increase this effort and explore more creative ways to engage those people.

3. Values Rule
Gen Y candidates, in particular, but all employees to a growing degree, are seeking companies that hold values high and make and keep commitments to their employees and their families. They seek environmentally sensitive, charitable, and ethical firms.
Gen Y is the tip of a spear followed by the even more morally and environmentally committed Gen M. They will have even higher expectations than the Baby Boomers ever did. While shareholder value will always be a core concern of the management team, they will also have to understand how important employees feel that values are and how close a scrutiny they will give every corporate action and statement.Recruiters have to understand the values of the firms they work for and find better ways to match people to those values.

4. Flexible Work Arrangements
Employees now want to work where they want. The Internet has made it possible for most services and knowledge workers to be located far away from the physical center of their company.
Designers, call-center staff, sales people, some HR folks, and most anyone who works with information, writing, or data can effectively work wherever they wish. Only a handful of people – those whose work requires their hands or eyes on the work being produced – will need to physically be present. Even jobs we cannot yet imagine being remote, such as that of a diagnostic physician, may soon be possible using instruments and video from anywhere.Recruiters will need to encourage flexible work arrangements and lobby with hiring managers to make these arrangements normal.

Recruiting will be more challenging and those recruiters who like to “fill positions” will find themselves looking for other kinds of work. Recruiters will need to be proactive, great influences, technically savvy, and adaptable to emerging work trends.

YOU, ME AND JOB SEEKERS

2008-12-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

I assume that you are a decent HR Professional, and you care about each and every individual on this planet. So how do you deal with the growing number of job-seekers who show up at your door?

With kindness and grace, I hope. I do it for sure. We may not be able to find everyone a position—which is true even in the best of times—but at the very least; we can show them respect and offer some professional guidance.

This is my first recession as a recruiter.. The same candidates who wouldn't take my calls a year earlier were suddenly stacked up in my office, laid off from their salary-inflated positions.

At first, I felt that devilish pleasure we sometimes feel from seeing the people who snubbed us suffer. My, how the mighty have fallen! Wow

Fortunately, my subconscious mind awaked, and I quickly began to feel compassion for my candidates. Of course, there was a commercial component to my change in attitude. From a practical standpoint, I realized that our fortunes were joined at the hip. Fewer jobs for them translates to fewer paychecks for me. We're all in the same boat, with mortgages to pay and kids to feed. (Or is it the other way around?)

So, what can you do to help your candidates, even if you can't find them a job? Here are some ideas:

1. Treat job-seekers with dignity. It's humiliating enough to have to ask for a job, so don't rub salt in their wounds by being brusque or sounding indifferent to their pain. Some people really enjoy doing this.

2. Thank them for showing up. "I'm grateful you contacted me," you say. "I'm afraid I can't help you at the present time, but the moment something comes up, I'll call you right away."

3. Return their calls and respond to their emails. Address each person by his or her name, even if you use a stock phone message or email reply. And please don't use an auto responder unless you're unavailable; it can feel demeaning to someone who made a good-faith effort to contact you.

4. Be generous. Furnish a lead whenever possible. If there's an appropriate resource (yes, even another recruiter who might be helpful), then point them in the right direction.

5. Help build their skills and value in the market. Your constructive criticism and practical advice will be greatly appreciated, and may mean the difference between an offer and a rejection.

Unemployment can quickly erode a person's self-esteem. So whatever you say or do, always strive to build your candidates' confidence.

Acts of kindness not only have merit in their own right, they represent a payback to your effort. Tomorrow you can be on other side. Do you agree ??

SPEND LAVISHLY IN RECCESSION

2008-12-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

So far, most of the suggestions I have seen in the past few months are about cost cutting, not cost streamlining. Here's a contrarian view.

When your competitors are panicking and reeling backwards because of real(sometimes) and perceived(most of the time) setbacks, this is the time to be selectively extravagant.

What I mean is that the costs typically used to secure market share i.e. marketing, advertising, offers, A+P costs need to be looked at, and spending INCREASED if there is a strong correlation between that spending and increased sales.

The areas where we should ruthlessly cut costs are in areas which have been traditionally subject to less stringent scrutiny in terms of ROI.

I just heard from one of top automotive company that they are cutting back on training. Bad move.

Reason: This is where, as your competitors are slacking. you should increase efficacy through ROI-driven training and development initiatives. Their attitude suggests to me that they have been making some rather poor decisions, perhaps buying training for training's sake, instead of outcomes. They are cutting back because the bosses don't and haven't seen enough ROI from training.

So my view is SPEND lavishly - in areas that will bring you a leap ahead of the rest. And cut back significantly in those useless areas that don't . Always see the big picture and you will never regret your decisions

JOBLESS YOU AND JOBLESS ME

2008-12-01T03:06:00.000-08:00

Attrition, Recession, Inflation & layoff has forced companies to break the physiological Contract between Employee and employer. Can you imagine making hit list of employees to be retrenched? What if your boss asks you to make it in 48 hrs time? There are fair chances that your name can also be added in last.

Human resources (HR) personnel across sectors are a worried lot with most companies either retrenching or freezing recruitment plans. All those HR executives who are responsible for recruitments are being moved to other HR functions like training and development and other day-to-day HR functions, or being taken on contract.

If things worsen, there could also be layoffs. Besides that, demand for contractual employees in the HR team across various sectors is expected to increase. Vodafone, for instance, has 25 per cent of its HR staff on a contract basis. Companies like Wipro, Infosys, TCS and iGATE, too, have a mix of contractual employees in their HR team.
Google takes everyone in HR on contract for 1 year and TATA has the policy of probation

Also, the role of managed staff services (wherein the HR staff working for companies are on the payrolls of the placement agencies and not employees of the companies) and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is expected to gain attraction.

Think and act before your name comes in that list

ARE YOU ALERT ON THE JOB

2008-11-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

Global Meltdown and Domestic slowdown has already started to show its impact on recruitment calendar of most of the companies. They are confused about creating new positions and if the market goes worse, Sooner or later, they might have to remove some of the existing positions as well. If we talk about domestic market then Textile, BFSI, ITES can be the top industries forced to cut their jobs

No matter at what level of your professional career you may be in, it is essential for you to remain alert on the job and keep a watch on your career growth. Whether you are working for a small, medium or large sized Company, it pays to be aware of your surroundings and the condition of your Company.

This will help you to watch out for danger signs that may be detrimental to your career such as - budget cuts, different in the way your boss communicated with you etc.

If you do notice that either your Company is not doing well or your own job is in danger (reduced opportunities, no movement, monotony, stagnation) it is recommended to start looking for alternatives as early as possible. Early and informed action will help you to be prepared.

Take your call and explore your network to find a job before they put up your papers on the table. WAKE UP

CORPORATE INDIA GOES MORE ANXIOUS ON RECESSION

2008-11-17T04:55:00.000-08:00

The recent layoffs in the IT, BPO, banking and airlines industry has added to the anxiety of corporate India. The layoff and subsequent reinstatement of the 1900 Jet Airways employees, as well as announcements by Kingfisher Airlines indicating additional layoffs have only aggravated the anxiety.

According to me, the manner in which the layoffs were conducted at Jet Airways was unfortunate and unplanned. IT and banking companies, which have weeded out similar umber of people, have done it in a more strategic and objective manner.

“One of the effects of the current downturn and spate of layoffs is that attrition across sectors has gone down by at least 3% points. Salary levels and increases have taken a beating and have dropped from as recently as three months ago.” The overall impact of the financial crisis will continue to affect jobs and salaries over the next 6 to 12 months or may be more

The only difference between the layoffs in India and the US is that if a certain position is made redundant in the US the employee is made to leave irrespective of his or her performances, whereas in Indian companies will usually try and retain top performers in other roles even if their positions are made redundant.

Heard that one of the newly appointed CEO at leading Electronics Company has been given pink slip two days before joining. Is this true??Is this what we call recession??

20 Million Jobs Likely To Get Slashed, Warns ILO :-(

Come out of anxiety and prepare yourself to face future :-(

WHERE TO FIND EVERYTHING YOU HAVE EVER WANTED

2008-11-14T05:48:00.000-08:00

Imagine for a moment that you have to stand in front of 1000 people to give a presentation which will be covered by media world wide. Or let’s make it more realistic. You have to present a new strategy in front of the Head of your department when you are just 7 days old in your organization and you know that people will judge you based on your presentation. How would you feel??

Well we all are familiar with how it feels to come out of your Comfort Zone Whether its giving a presentation, asking someone for date or starting a new business, the feeling in each case is very similar

If you’re a normal person like me, you will feel queasy in stomach, your mouth goes dry, your knees feel weak and your hearty starts beating up rapidly. Generally I do everything to avoid this feeling by avoiding such situations. But again the question is till when I can avoid...

All of us know that everything we want in our life is waiting outside our comfort zone. When we stay safe inside our comfort zones, we limit ourselves to experiencing the things that are already part of our life. The only way to change our circumstances is to venture out of our comfort zone into the possibility zone, because it is here that you will find everything you ever wanted.

Whether it’s better health, love, money, or a personal goal that is important to us, the life we want is waiting for us outside our comfort zone

So next time you experience that queasy feeling of stepping outside, don’t shy away like me, instead embrace the feeling for what it truly is – an indication that you are taking a step towards creating the life of your dreams

Action Steps

1. Review your goals and identify an action that will take you out of your comfort zone
2. Commit to taking that action as soon as possible
3. As you take action, notice what it feels like to step out of your comfort zone
4. Practice embracing the feeling of stepping into your possibility zone as a positive indication that you are moving closer to making your dreams a reality

EAST(SALARY CUT) OR WEST(JOB CUT)

2008-11-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

Fear all around and each one of us are scared of loosing our jobs or getting a salary cut. I have analyzed a fundamental different in approach of east and west on recession

Be it bankers or factory staff, workers in the West face the prospect of losing their jobs as a global recession starts to bite. For colleagues in the East, the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut.

In many Eastern or Asian companies there was an obligation ‘to take care of members of the family and go through the pain together’ even if that meant incurring losses.

In contrast, Western counterparts often felt compelled to make dramatic statements to show investors they were serious about cost-cutting. US firms from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousands, but at the Asian units of Western MNCs, jobs cuts will probably be less severe.

The so called psychological contract between employer and employee still exist in Asian :-)

Your comments please

HANDLING TWO CAREERS

2008-11-10T06:48:00.000-08:00

Rising costs, growing uncertainties in the job market and the drive to make a better life are just some of the reasons why individuals prefer to have two careers rather than one.

It has been often seen that those professionals who do not derive complete happiness and satisfaction from their primary careers look towards building a secondary career that can not only supplement their income but also offer them that creative satisfaction that they long for.

While it is great to have 2 careers to make a success of, it is also essential to make sure that one does not suffer due to the other.

Moreover, it is recommended to have 2 totally different careers so that one does not get intermingled with the other and cause confusion of any kind.

One of the most common cases of 2 careers can be seen when people write blogs professionally or Online Communities of practice in addition to their regular job. It gives the recognition and autonomy required to be self motivated

Research, forward thinking and preparation is the key to creating two different yet profitable careers that can give you success in terms of mental, physical as well as financial growth.

Time to look for alternative career. Empower yourself to take decision about your work. Concentrate more on what you like and start appraising yourself for your effort. You will feel better.

DOES THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO SOUND FAMILIAR ?

2008-11-06T22:54:00.000-08:00

Its 9:00 a.m. and I have a lot of work to do so I get started with the best of intentions. After I have been working for about 10 minutes, a little envelops appears on my computer screen. I opened the email just to check if it’s anything important. It’s an email from my best friend.

After reading the email and sending a quick reply, I got back to work. Five minutes later I realized that I m thirsty and went to drink some water and involved in some useless discussion with one of my colleague near water dispenser.

As I get back to my desk the mobile rang. One of the colleague asked me to mail an old report urgently. I send the report and meanwhile noticed that my best friend has replied to my previous email. I quickly typed a reply to keep the conversation going.

Then my mobile phone beeps to indicate an incoming text message from my flat mate that we are going to some new pub tonight. I replied to that also.

By this time, all the water I drank has kicked in and I need to take a quick bathroom break. I quickly finished this important job and came to my desk. I noticed that a small group of people gathered around the adjoining cubical looking at photos of my colleague’s recent trip to Maldives.

Well finally it’s a lunch break now, and I have a deadline for a report in next three hours. As time continues to tick by, my stress level is starting to rise slowly.

Can you suggest some time management tips? Let me know that where I am going wrong.

Shall I not drink water or not go to bathroom?
Shall I stop replying to email of people close to me?
Shall I stop looking at photos of my colleagues?
Are you also facing the same problem?

CARELESSNESS OR JUST MY LUCK

2008-11-03T22:39:00.000-08:00

It’s been a long gap since I posted something in this space. I was away from work for two weeks. After being treated like a God at Home for couple of weeks, I started my return journey for Hyderabad

My return journey was as exciting as few of the best things in my life. I took a Train form Bilaspur to Nagpur. After boarding the train, I realized that I have left my ticket at home. I went to ticket collector and requested to find some way out. All of sudden I realized that he is the most honest person alive on this earth and the only solution is to pay the full fare with fine.

But this was just the starting of an unforgettable day in my life. My train got delayed by 4 hrs and I missed my Bus for Hyderabad. I was definitely carrying the tickets this time.

I have left with no option and took the only train available for Hyderabad. I never dared to travel in General compartment before and spending the whole night was as challenging as recruiting a top management position at one week notice.

Well finally I reached Hyderabad and went to office for an important meeting. After working several hours, replying to mails, resolving several issues and I decided to call it a day for at 7:00 pm. On my way, I was only thinking about the situations I have faced in last 20 hours and decided to let it go out of my mind and be free.

But the worst was yet to come .I was royally welcomed by some of the really talented people who successfully stolen my Laptop and Digital Camera from the window of my flat.

3rd November
The day of great losses
The day to be celebrated every year.

MANAGE IN STYLE

2008-10-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

The days of “one style fits all” are gone. Today’s manager needs to vary his Style of Management to bring out the Best in each Employee.

The demands of the workforce today are not the same as they were yesterday. The corporate world is changing at the speed of light and there is no escaping the pressure to create a new profile of what a manager should be.

In the past, you could survive as a manager with one main style. This is not possible anymore. New demands from customers, employees and society drive the corporation and the manager to be different. This means that as a manager, you need to assess and evaluate what type of leader you need to be. It also requires you to be ready, willing and able to change.

The successful manager of the 21st century is regularly evaluating himself and constantly asking: "How can I do this better?"

He is flexible, learns fast, thinks and acts globally and creates value for all stakeholders involved such as colleagues and customers. He takes full responsibility for his own behavior and drives his team to achieve exceptional results. By using situational leadership styles, he ensures each team member creates value and results for the company.

Once you take charge of a division, you will be lucky indeed if you inherit an entire team of people who are already self-motivated, self-responsible peak performers. But that is not likely to happen. Instead, you will probably have to help members of your staff understand and fully internalize the principles of self-motivation and self-responsibility.

You will need to use different styles for different people and different situations in order to get your people to perform at peak levels. You should therefore analyze what type of support your subordinates need in their various tasks and responsibilities and then manage and lead them accordingly.

USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CAREER ADVANCEMENTS

2008-10-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen the resume of your Boss or profiles of your employees reporting to you on job portals. How do you feel.Preparing yourself for being cheated.How many people you know who landed into their dream job through Job portals.What do you know about the current practices of your dream company or i ask that what does they know about you . Have you ever demonstrated your expertize to make them feel to have you on board

May be your are not aware about using social media and power of WEB 2.0 for career advancements.At least an active account on LinkedIN is mandatory

Some advantage's

Your boss will not be alerted: Floating your resume on job sites and boards and among recruiters could mean your boss getting alerted of your intent. Simply direct recruiters to your social media profiles, and no one will be the wiser.

Get a better deal: When you get 'discovered' by a recruiter, it is for the latter to sell you the job. Implication? You can always hold out for a better package since you are not the one seemingly on the lookout.

Run a background check before committing: Social media allows you to find people who can tell you more about companies, bosses and other colleagues you would be expected to work with -- the feedback can help you take a more informed decision.

Join a new company, settle in quicker: Look up people on social media sites who work in the company you are planning to join, and chat them up -- developing a better understanding of the people and the company's culture can help you settle in quicker.

Try this out.

NEW @ WORK - " GET NOTICED EARLY"

2008-10-17T22:51:00.000-07:00

Most of the new joinees in organizations believes in being reactive than proactive. They feel that they are new and they will take couple of years to get expertise in their work. They have similar opinion about building new relationship with colleagues and seniors.

I have totally different mind set. I think that relationships are best build when you are new to organization because the attention automatically comes to you. Don’t be very choosee and don’t give time to others to make an false opinion about you. Be best at your work, communicate freely and get noticed

I will help you to get noticed more quickly, earn you greater influence and responsibility, and get you closer to a level playing field.

1. Be a student of everyone:
Asking questions and taking advice isn’t a sign of weakness, and it won’t emphasize your youth either. You’ll get better faster, impress more people, and actually seem older.
Why it works: Seeking ways to improve is a sign of maturity and is the easiest way to gain the skills and knowledge that make you more effective. Plus, demonstrating a willingness to learn from your elders takes away a lot of the stereotypes and targets you will be marked with as a Millennial.

2. Write Effectively:
Develop your ability of written communication to the highest level, both in your daily emails and in deliverables for which you are responsible. This includes correct grammar, capitalization, and punctuation–even in email.
Why it works: If you can quickly fire off sharp emails, you will be perceived as highly capable and intelligent (provided your content isn’t inappropriate). Not everyone types well, and certainly not everyone writes well.
Today, many first impressions are made through email. If you present well there, you will be developing your personal brand, and when people are surprised at how young you are compared to what they expected, you will know that you’ve already broken some of their preconceptions about your generation.

3. Demonstrate leadership and share what you know:
Help other employees to be more effective. For example, since you are a regular blog-reader, you probably are ahead of the curve when it comes to getting things done with computers. Be generous to help others format documents, create spreadsheets, or find information on the web. As for fellow younger workers, you’ll probably be able to answer many of their questions related to your industry and your company since you’re a student of everyone now. Concerning the boss, give appropriate amounts of ground-level feedback on how things can be improved if he/she is interested. Don’t suck-up, but do provide the kind of info they want to know.
Why it works: Nothing says maturity like leadership. If you have workers of every age looking to you to be more effective, you’ll have their respect by default.

4. Work smarter:
Create templates for common tasks and send them out to others who could use them. Write scripts or stock emails for common interactions. Cut your daily task by organizing it in better manner
Why it works: I am not sure but it works. Try it out.

5. Show up and Speak:
Take advantage of opportunities to interact with upper-management. If it’s a small company, say yes when you are invited out to drinks or dinner. If it’s a larger organization, reach as high as is practical. Participate in forums, Q&As, and special project groups, and don’t be shy about introducing yourself at the proper moment. Your CEO might enjoy hearing the perspective of his tip-top inside sales representative.
Why it works: In many cases, your boss’s boss is a very cool person. We’re probably not talking about someone who got their job on the strength of tenure alone, so there’s a good chance they aren’t as limited by notions of age as some career middle managers might be. This is just an instance of going to find the people who are most likely to respect the substance of who you are.

6.Avoid being an idiot:
Subtle advice, no? Anyone who’s spent any amount of time in an office has seen talented people who can’t stop shooting themselves in the foot with stupid habits. Improper attire, showing up late, inappropriate jokes, failure to stop talking about oneself… The list goes on and on.
Why it works: It’s hard to get respect when you’re fired.

TRY THIS FOR FEW MONTHS

WHAT TO DO IN YOUR FIRST JOB

2008-10-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

College does not prepare you for your first job. Universities offer too many choices of courses. Students may choose liberal arts or history degrees because they don’t have the slightest clue what they want to do with their lives. Parents push their kids to do what they love rather than pushing them to be doctors, lawyers, or business executives like they did in the old days.

You can blame whomever you want, but that’s not the point. The point is that an undergraduate degree today is worth about as much as a high school degree was 30 years ago. College is a place to make friends, grow up, and learn how to get work done without someone watching over you.

College does not teach us the ins and outs of the industry where we land our first job, and it certainly doesn’t teach us other real-world lessons like how to play office politics, or how to handle being ridiculously busy one week and completely bored the next. Entry level workers are just not as prepared for the real world as they need to be.

But there is a solution. It’s called training –lots and lots of training. In fact, if companies want to get real buy-in from their new hires, they should be prepared to provide so much training and mentoring that their entry level workers feel like their first job is really corporate grad school.

Try to learn as much as you can. Never worry about your designation, your salary, your profile. Sooner or later you will get these things for sure. You should better concentrate on learning new things, gaining experience, attending training programs and preparing yourself for 35 to 40 years long career.

Understand this purpose and you will never complain about your first job.

EXPATS HAPPY IN INDIA . AWAY FROM LAYOFF

2008-10-12T05:15:00.000-07:00

I have seen the time when good candidates moved to other countries for better job prospects. Then came the time when returning Indian came back to their home country to take by leadership roles. And now candidates form other countries are coming and staying happily in India due to better economic conditions.

India is rocking .Many expatriates are having a sigh of relief. While Indian businesses are being severely buffeted by the economic crisis, the situation is nowhere as dire as it is in the US and Europe. Getting a job in her native country, she says, would be virtually impossible now. There are too many people with degrees and no work. You have to be someone important to get a job.

For those people who came to India for a few years of work experience, returning to their native countries soon is not an option. Many have been working across various industries in Metros for three or more years and they have spent months unsuccessfully searching for jobs in their home country. On the other side they are glad they don’t have to suffer the uncertainty their friends in home country are going through.

NPA member and the famous blogger Achyut Menon has expertise in bringing Indians back to their home country. Now there is another opportunity to retain candidates from other countries working in India because of economic crisis in their home country. It can be certainly more profitable that what we can calculate.

Your opinion please?

IS STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING THE SAME AS HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING?

2008-10-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

Rigorous HR planning links people management to the organization's mission, vision, goals and objectives, as well as its strategic plan and budgetary resources. A key goal of HR planning is to get the right number of people with the right skills, experience and competencies in the right jobs at the right time at the right cost.

The processes by which management ensures that it has the right personnel, who are capable of completing those tasks that help the organization reach its objectives

Technically, it's possible to do short term human resource planning that is a bit different than strategic human resource planning, in the same sense one can plan tactically or strategically. However, in basic terms, planning within human resources should be done strategically, since longer term thinking is required to effectively manage human resources over time.

If you consider the complexity of any human resource planning process, it seems obvious that the process needs to be strategic in nature. Unfortunately, many companies do not allocate enough time or resources to developing long term strategic HR plans.

So, the short answer, is that they should be the same. All HR planning should be strategic. In practice, many companies plan their human resources in a shorter term, or bandaid type fashion that involves reacting to short term forces, rather than being proactive long term.

Your opinion please ?

SPORTSPERSON EYES M.B.A. DEGREES

2008-10-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Sportspersons like Mr. M S Dhoni and Ms Neha Aggarwal are eyeing MBA degrees as a plan for life after sports. It seems to be the most preferred choice for sports professionals in the country. Sportspersons are building a base for their lives post retirement by taking up business education. Ms Neha Aggarwal says, “A management degree offers the most promising job prospects in the country. Even as I actively pursue sports, I will study for my degree in business administration and plan to do an MBA after that. The objective is to secure a career in management after retirement.”

I believe that sportsperson-turned MBAs are successful in business because of their ability to cope with pressure and strategic thinking.

May be we can see a MBA curriculum specially designed for sportspersons in India soon. I guess that many companies will turn up to recruit them on day zero. I will go for sure. What about you?

"FIND A JOB YOU LOVE AND YOU WILL NEVER WORK A DAY IN YOUR LIFE."

2008-10-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

We all wish for such a job, if only it was as easy to find. The problem is not whether such jobs exist -- they do -- but in landing them. Positions advertised in newspapers or job sites and those available through recruiters may not be what you're looking for, and the same goes for companies on the lookout for talented people like you.

Enter social media. The hottest development on the internet in the last few years has become a place for people to meet, make friends, share personal stories, exchange information -- and get ahead in their careers. These include casual networking sites like Facebook and Orkut as well as professional ones like LinkedIN and Ryze.

Realizing their potential, smart headhunters have ensured the have a presence on these sites as they go about their search for the right candidate. LinkedIN, by far the biggest professional networking site with over 14 million users, has over 200,000 recruiters registered. Scanning profiles of people registered on social media, these HR professionals are often able to find candidates who may otherwise have not been traceable. And these are only those actively looking for a change. Often, these sites throw up people who are in the job market only passively, or waiting for a job they would love.

Participate actively in the discussion forums and get visible . Keep exploring the openings which can match the definition of your dream job.

Open your account now ....

LPO's ON HIRING MODE INSPITE OF U.S. TURMOIL

2008-10-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

While the off-shoring industry is going through a phase of employee lay-offs, companies providing legal process outsourcing (LPO) services are on a hiring spree as demand for litigation services from the US rises. In the coming months, several LPOs have plans to at least double or may be triple its headcount in order to cater to the increased work flow resulting from the recent turmoil in the US that has seen several financial institutions collapse. We can also expect the rise in demand for experienced M & A Professionals.

This can be an indication that world is moving towards a blue world where companies will come together to sustain themselves.

More and more legal professional will move to US due to the job opportunities but we can also see the comeback of more expatriates to take up leadership role in domestic market.

More layoffs , More legal hassles , More opportunities for legal professionals . Well US Turmoil helping some professionals to find better jobs.

Your opinion ??

WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE

2008-10-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

Why don’t you love me any more? You have completely changed. I know that you are forced to stay with me. You are not here by choice. I always knew that you are here for money and I have always given the amount I had promised. But now you feel that you want more content, more depth, more autonomy, more responsibility and fewer targets.

Just look at yourself once. I was the one who chosen you when you were nothing. How can you forget that many had rejected but I had accepted you?

I am no more interesting. I am monotonous. I have unrealistic expectation for you. You deserve something better.

I think that its time for you to define an Ideal Job. A job which can makes you happy and satisfied. A job which can add glory to your life. A job which challenges you limits. A job which can engage your mind and let you sleep peacefully.

we are not doing justice with each other and we have come too far to break up. Just forget me. Forget that I was your FIRST JOB

YOU AND YOUR BOSS

2008-10-06T00:38:00.000-07:00

DOES YOUR BOSS LIKES YOU....Does it even matter?

Yup, it does.

It can make the difference between having a job and not having a job.

A boss who likes you can help you grow in your career, can provide you some much-needed (especially nowadays) security, and can make your workday a joy.

The power and potential of a boss who likes you cannot be overstated. Surely you’ve noted the largess that flows to the boss’s favorites. Bosses have been known to give jobs to people they like even if they’re not qualified

So how do you get your boss to like you? It’s pretty easy.

· Like your boss.

At least try once.

People tend to like people who like them. Showing that you like your boss is taking the initiative, which puts you in a stronger position, which gives you power at work. Plus, if you like your boss, you will naturally want to do a good job (and bosses tend to like people who do a good job).

If you don’t like your boss? Well, then it’s time to start looking for your next job

EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH SIXTH MOST REPUTED BUSINESS GROUP IN THE WORLD

2008-10-05T06:53:00.001-07:00

Just thought of sharing some of the urgent openings available with all my readers .

1. Head – IT Infrastructure

2. Head – Corporate Communication

3. Mechanical Engineer – 10 to 20 Years

This position will be overall In-charge of all the mechanical activities related to Blast Furnace

4. Mechanical Engineers - 2 to 12 Years

Prior Experience in setting up at least one Blast Furnace and will be doing one of the following activities

Coal Pulverizing
Hot Blast System
Cranes & Hoists
BF Proper and Cast House
Slag Granulation Plant and Gas Cleaning Plant

5. Mechanical/Chemical Engineers – 2 to 10 Years

Prior Experience in setting up at least one Blast Furnace and will be doing one of the following activities

Gas Systems
Water System and Effluent Treatment Plant

All the referrals will highly appreciated . write to mr.rishirajsingh@gmail.com for more details or call me at +91-9290453734

A BOOM IN ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURING SECTORS IN INDIA

2008-10-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

According to a study conducted by ASSOCHAM, the domestic construction enterprise is expected to grow at the rate of 15 percent per annum and will touch US $120 billion, by 2012 from its current size of over US $70 billion, whereas the manufacturing sector is estimated to grow by 9.5% from 8%, last year.

According to me, these sectors are high potential sectors, which will attain global glory. In a few years, the manufacturing sector will take a global stage and will be very prominent in the world map. Experts say that with this boom, an array of career choices will open up for job aspirants and that they will have a range of choices to excel.

Engineering graduates will have hundreds of challenging career opportunities due to the constant demand for their services. Some, also state that this situation persists, thanks to high job satisfaction ratings due to the profession’s financial security, and highly creative, intellectual environment; not to mention the rewards of being able to benefit society through scientific and technological discovery. The engineering industry has always had a requirement for high quality talent.

Some Insights:

· It did not appear as if it was booming because other sectors were recruiting in larger numbers. Today, the scenario has changed. Therefore, in comparison, it seems as if there is a boom in the engineering industry.

· There was large scale migration of talent from engineering industry to other industries, notably IT. This necessitated recruitment of replacement in fairly substantial numbers.

· Glory attached for working in these Industry was less as compared to IT and Hi Tech Businesses

· Young people not wiling to work in remote locations

· Salary was one of major constraint

· Government policies were not supportive

But now , things have completely changed and these industries have taken their new avatar

The construction and real estate sector is one of the largest employment providers, for so many years. But now with the real estate boom, new avenues are opened, which has brought forth excellent job opportunities. The job prospects in the industry are not confined to just construction labor and civil engineering. The growth of organized construction and building industry, especially housing and urban development spawned a plethora of opportunities and the benefits are there for professionals, of all hues and colors. Flooded with huge investments, India’s infrastructure sector has emerged as the top employment generator cornering 12 percent share in the total jobs created during the first three months of 2008-09. The sector created 12,580 job opportunities out of a total 1,05,638 in areas of aviation, construction, energy, core infrastructure, metals and mining between April-June 2008. The construction segment provided maximum job opportunities with a share of 24.32 percent in the sector.

In the end, the Indian engineering, construction and manufacturing sector will continue to boom in the near future. All fields in the modern economy have been invigorated by engineering technology. Engineers are essential to our lives as they help design and create everything from agriculture systems to household electronics and daily transportation. There are plenty of great employers out there and they are willing to pay megabucks for candidates who possess the right skills, enthusiasm and experience. Simply put, the future is very buoyant, very vibrant and very high-tech.

And Yes.No chance of getting laid off. Make your Choice