In the News from Staffing Industry Executive Forum
Last week I spent 3 days in Las Vegas, at the Red Rock Resort and Casino. Although Vegas is the place for it, I was not there to drink, gamble or party. I was there to get connected on what is happening in the staffing industry, what’s new and what is critical for me to learn to keep KeenHire Talent Management in a growth mode. 
The most poignant speaker was Geoff Colvin of Fortune Magazine. This is a man who travels the world, writes and speaks to several industries what he had to say was absolute validation for me, of why KeenHire was created.
First and foremost, he began with in tumultuous times – when everything is up in the air – is the time to change where we are in the competitive order. It is a tremendous and fleeting Opportunity and it is up to ‘you’ to take advantage of it.
He told a story of Lance Armstrong in his first Tour de France.
I was unaware that when Lance began the race he was nowhere in line to win. He was a no one, he was not seeded and for the 1st few days he was behind the best riders. It was not until the race went into the mountains, the most treacherous roadway that Lance took a strong hold. He was prepared, ready and able to outperform.
The leaders became laggards and the laggards became leaders. He sent a very strong message for today’s times.
He has a new book, The Upside of the Downturn: Ten Management Strategies to Prevail in the Recession and Aftermath. The message was something like this.
As the economy recovers, the business world we’re entering wont be anything like the pre recession world. Consumers are saving more and saving less. Government is taking a larger role in the life of everyday business. The global economy is becoming less U.S. centric.
These dramatic changes aren’t necessarily dangers- they’re opportunities for companies and leaders that respond the fastest and smartest.
All those changes and more are profoundly affecting staffing at every company. Author and Fortune Magazine columnist, Geoff Colvin, who sees the world’s best organizations and leaders up close, describes how they are responding to the new normal and what I means for their most valuable asset, the people who work for their companies.
Below are the top 5 most critical aspects of managing through an effective recover and beyond.
1. UPGRADE your Human Capital. The only competitive advantage a company has is the people who work inside it and represent it. The best companies are using this time to tell the truth to themselves about whom they have on their payroll and who they need to have. They are evaluating and assessing their talent pool and continuing to evaluate their performance quarterly. They are using this time to hire better people, to steal resources (people) from the competition. He said something really cool next. “You don’t see who is swimming naked until the tide is out. When the tide is out you can clearly see A, B and C players.
2. Setting new priorities to face a new reality. The best companies face new realities faster than anyone else. This is the advent of a fundamentally global labor market. Face it, do something about it. China, India, Brazil, Russia (the BRIC) is graduating billions of students to do jobs that our U.S. kids have grown accustomed to attaining. If the work can be done on the phone, and the Internet, the work does not need to be done in the U.S. or by our new graduates. The U.S. is the MOST expensive option. We must ask ourselves the questions and have the answers to “Can this be done elsewhere for a lot less money?”
3. The Government is playing a larger role in our lives, we must accept it and see how we can turn that role into business opportunities.
4. Re Examine Your Business Model. This is the time to be crystal clear on what your Defensible Sustainable Competitive Advantage is, if you do not know or do not have one, you wont survive. This is the time to ask, “What is the best business model? Is it the best model for us?” “What is our Essence, what will we never cut?” “Has our industry been changed in a fundamental way, or have we just been thrown off track?”
5. Grow Yourself. The best business leaders are using this time to grow themselves. Research shows that the only way anyone gets really good is to get pushed. The best leaders stand up and are seen. They stake their claim; they demonstrate fearlessness in the face of uncertainty.
As I watched the several hundred business leaders respond to his presentation, I knew in my heart that KeenHire Talent Management was not built in vain. We built KeenHire to bring best recruitment and talent management practices to our customers, to create efficiencies in the recruitment process, to give customers a choice to do it themselves or to have our help; how they wanted it, when they wanted it, on their terms.
If you have not yet read, Good to Great, The World is Flat and Top Grading, put these books on your Kindle and get down to it. How you respond to these tumultuous times means everything to your business and everything to your future success.
