Shift Happens

Once again, thanks to Bruce Dorskind for providing the inspiration (I brought the technology) for this weeks BRANDEblog. This video presentation was given to Sony executives at their June 2008 meeting. This thought provoking 5 minute presentation on Education and the Future of Technology uses fast-paced graphics and statistics to reflect the exponential increase in information and challenges we face.

Does Facebook Replace Face Time?

This week's guest blog from Bruce Dorskind- uber-consultant. The article came from Time Magazine time.com- January 18th issue. He said I should post it to my blog. These were the subject lines from Bruce's other recent emails:

* Google Lays Off 100 Recruiters
* JPMorgan chief says 2009 will be bleak
* In Rare Move, Microsoft Is Exploring Job Cuts
* More companies say they will hire fewer people and lay off workers
* Is the End Near for Display Ads

Since this subject was actually of interest and not too bleak, I complied. And I say yes - Facebook is better than face time because there's no make-up required. Thanks Bruce. See you on Twitter.

Jenny has not returned my calls in roughly a year. She has, however, sent me a poinsettia, poked me, and placed a gift beneath my Christmas tree. She's done all this virtually, courtesy of Facebook.com, the online social networking site where users create profiles, gather "friends," and join common interest groups, not to mention send digital gifts.

Though Jenny has three children, ages 4 to 14, and rarely finds time for visits, phone calls or even e-mail, the full-time mom in upstate New York regularly updates her status onFacebook ("Jenny is fixing a birthday dinner," "Jenny took the kids sledding") and uploads photos (her son in the school play). After 24 years, our friendship is now filtered through Facebook, relegated to the online world. Call it Facebook Recluse Syndrome, and Jenny is far from the site's only social hermit.

Though Facebook started as an online hub for college students, its fastest-growing demographic is the over-25 crowd, which now accounts for more than half of the site's 140 million active members. Why is Facebook catching on among harried parents and professionals? "It makes me feel like I have a grip on my world," says Emily Neill, a 39-year-old single mother of two. Neill isn't a techie, per se - "I'll never have a phone that does anything but make calls," says the fashion consultant in Watertown, Mass. - but stays logged on to Facebook all day at work, and then spends an hour or two, or lately three, at night checking in with old acquaintances, swapping photos with close friends, instant messaging those who fall somewhere in between. "It makes you feel like you're part of something even if you're neglecting people in the flesh," she says.

Retreating behind the digital veil started long before the Internet existed, with the advent of answering machines. "People would call a phone when they knew the other person wasn't available to pick up," says Charles Steinfield, a professor at Michigan State University who co-authored a peer-reviewed study called "The Benefits of Facebook 'Friends'" "It enabled them to convey information without forcing them to interact."

Enter Facebook, which provides a constant flow of information via short updates from everyone a user knows: a distant cousin is glad he skipped the cheeseburger chowder; a colleague has a new book is on sale; a close friend is engaged or newly single. Jenny and I, along with three of our childhood pals from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., learned that a dear old friend had ended her seven-year relationship through a Facebook status change. We expressed dismay, albeit through Facebook's IM feature, that we had to learn such potent information in this impersonal way.

Yet, for many users, Facebook somehow remains distinctly personal. Although social networking sites encourage connections among strangers - as on MySpace, where people converge through common interests, or online dating, where the whole point is greeting new faces - Facebook is more geared toward helping people maintain existing connections. The site serves as a self-updating address book, keeping users connected no matter their geographical shifts. "There are people from my past life that I never would have tracked through 10 job changes and 20 e-mail changes," says Nicole Ellison, an assistant professor at Michigan State and lead author of the Facebook "Friends" study, which focused on undergraduate usage of the site. Facebook offers what she describes as "a seamless way of keeping in touch that doesn't involve all this work."

Perhaps this is the key. Jenny's online sociability and offline silence probably has less to do with digital retreating than time management. Facebook offers e-mail, IM and photo sharing in what Neill calls the "one-stop shopping" of online interaction. "It's not surprising to me that it's replacing other forms of communication," says Steinfield.

It's still surprising to me, however, this combination of Orwell and Wall-E that has humans watching each other through computer screens and socializing in quasi-isolation. Neill says Facebook has brought her closer to her already close friends, those she has little time to see because of kids and work. "I know more about them now than I did when I was in regular contact with them," she says.

I believe her. But I can't help wondering: If Facebook for some reason suddenly ceased to exist, would people like Jenny revert to phone calls or visits, or would they lose touch altogether?

I probably won't find out. Instead, I gave in. Last week, I sent Jenny a note - through Facebook, naturally - requesting a get-together. She accepted. When we met up, it seemed we were closer than I'd thought. I knew about Jenny's son's part in the school play, about her sledding expedition and what she'd cooked for that big birthday dinner - what we'd be sharing if we still lived in the same neighborhood and talked regularly, the inane and intimate details that add up to life. That constant stream of data is some digital form of closeness. "A beautiful blossoming garden of information about your friends," as Neill puts it, adding, "I don't see how that can be a bad thing."

BRANDEMiX Partners with New Talent Management Network, the First Free Global Network

Pardon us if we indulge in a little self promo to start the new year: Spoiler Alert- most of the embedded links will take you to our website.

New York, NY, January 09, 2008 -- BRANDEMiX, the NYC-based communications consultancy known for innovative branding around human resources initiatives, today announced a partnership with the New Talent Management Network to brand the group’s work in standardizing and advancing the emerging field of talent management.

Under the partnership, BRANDEMiX will handle the association’s brand development. Work has already begun with the new logo and the launch of their new website (www.newtmn.com). Coming shortly will be findings from the second annual Talent Management survey.

NTMN is comprised of senior talent management professionals interested in improving talent management effectiveness through original research and professional development. According to a recent survey by Personnel Decisions International (PDI), CEOs revealed talent management as their second most pressing business challenge, after achieving top-line growth and before meeting financial objectives.

"BRANDEMiX's involvement is extremely beneficial to our group," says Marc Effron, NTMN founder and Vice President of Talent Management at Avon Products, Inc., "not only in building the NTMN brand, but also in developing the ongoing communications around best practices, something considered vital to implementing successful talent management strategies."

"Our collaboration with the New Talent Management Network is directly tied to our commitment to both Human Resources professionals and employee development, says Jody Ordioni, President of BRANDEMiX. "Talent management will only continue to become more and more vital to a company's success and we're proud to be part of an esteemed group leading the way." BRANDEMiX creates strategic advertising and internal communications campaigns to attract and inspire top talent. They work with both Fortune 500 companies and small businesses.

About BRANDEMiX

BRANDEMiX is an independent marketing/communications company—a rare combination of talent and creativity dedicated to branding in support of human resources initiatives. Bridging the traditional gap between marketing, advertising, internal communications and Human Resources, BRANDEMiX creates consistent, relevant and brand-aligned messages across all print and interactive channels, forming a line of sight from strategy to employees, investors and consumers. Clients include many of the Fortune 500 as well as non-profit organizations in education, healthcare and social services.

What's Hot for 2009 in Talent Acquisition?

2008 ended as a year for the history books as companies in record numbers were faced with mergers, layoffs, dwindling revenues and in severe cases- bankruptcy protection.

Yet, the war for talent still looms large as demographics predict the global shortage of talent across all industry sectors. Historically, companies who have continued to build and optimize their Employer Brand during hard times have emerged as industry leaders so here are some helpful hints on how to move from transactional to world class. Just call me if you need any help.

• Create and promote your company’s strong employment brand and employee value proposition
• Update your Careers Website: it is the most critical window into your organization
• Enhance your Candidate Relationship Marketing: great candidates want to be “found”
• Dollar for Dollar, Employee Referral Programs remain the number one most effective recruitment strategy
• Focus on Quality of Hire, not cost-per-hire
• Mine data on niche boards, they are usually more effective
• Utilize technology to analyze metrics and refine your results
• Start dabbling in Social Networking
• Develop a world class on-boarding process

Certain Factors will Force Dramatic Change in Recruiting models
-Globalization
-Remote Work
-More Substitutes for Employees
-Increased Consolidation
-Labor Costs

A flexible plan will be the key to your success.

Happy New Year

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Best Wishes for a Happy New Year.

Employer Branding Part 2

Yes, six sigma coming to Google has got me down.

As I continue to research the subject of both Employer Branding and Value Proposition Management for facilitating an upcoming workshop on the subjects, I am fascinated by the amount of information put forth by supposed experts. Here's an article I had earmarked to publish, written almost a year ago by esteemed Dr. Sullivan. In it, the two favorites: Southwest Airline and Google are cited as best case examples of Employer Brand Building. While the article touts long term branding benefits, it doesn't speak to the impact of a negative economy, or increased availability of talent.

To my query last week on whether or not the Employer Value Proposition can change like a flavor of the month, I received this from my former colleague Mark Hornung (though I don't know if he remembers me) at my former employer.

Absolutely not! The Employer Value Proposition consists of all the elements that comprise the relationship between employer and worker: rewards, the work itself, the opportunity to develop and grow, the people with whom you work, and the organization's reputation. Those things are embedded in the organization and cannot change quickly.

And now, without further pontification, Dr. John's article, condensed by me. Just wondering if it's still going to be useful in Human Resources 2.009

Employment Branding: the Only Long-Term Recruiting Strategy

Almost every action and process in recruiting is designed for short-term gain. Despite talk about being strategic, most recruiters and recruiting managers alike respond only to requisitions, placing ads, visiting job boards, attending job fairs, and mining social networking sites in an effort to fill today’s job openings. There is lots of talk but little effort placed on building out truly long-term recruiting tools and strategies designed to impact the business. If all the talk were true, nearly every recruiting function on the planet would have dedicated resources to employment branding, the only long-term recruiting strategy that is designed to bring in a steady flow of high-quality applicants over a period of many years.

Employment branding stands alone as the only approach corporate recruiting managers can leverage to guarantee an end to their talent shortage problem. Unfortunately, most corporate recruiting managers spend less than 5% of their budgets on this powerful long-term solution. In direct contrast, firms that have taken the time to invest in building a great employment brand like Google and Southwest Airlines have not only dominated their industries, but they have also turned the common talent shortage problem into a more desirable talent “sorting” problem. If you’re tired of constantly fighting fires and of being continually bashed year in and year out by your managers for failing to produce a high volume of high-quality candidates, it’s time to shift your focus to the only solution that can reduce your job stress and make you a hero.

The Many Benefits of Employment Branding

I have found that the primary reason why corporate recruiting managers under appreciate and under utilize a corporate branding strategy is because they have done a poor job in making the business case for investing in their firm’s employment brand. You can’t make a compelling business case unless you first know the possible benefits of the branding strategy. Over the years, I’ve advised dozens of firms on building a compelling employment brand (including a Fortune #1 Best Place to Work winner) and, as a result, I’ve identified the many benefits that a successful employment-branding program can provide. When demonstrated, these benefits can help sway even the most cynical nonbelievers:

* A Long-Term Impact.
* An Increased Volume of Unsolicited Candidates.
* Higher Quality Candidates.
* Higher Offer-Acceptance Rates.
* Improved Employee-Retention Rates.
* Improved College Recruiting.
* A Stronger Corporate Culture.
* Decreased Corporate Negatives.
* Ammunition for Employees and Managers.
* Increased Manager Satisfaction.
* Increased Media Exposure.
* A Competitive Advantage.
* Increased Shareholder Value.
* Support for the Product Brand.
Additional Branding Benefits

Some additional benefits of an employment-branding program might include:

* Increased knowledge and competitive intelligence, as more employees from top competitors join your organization.
* The increased focus on excellence in people-management programs brought about by the branding effort will result in the continuous improvement of those practices.
* Getting talked about in the press reinforces the stories you have already spread to your employees.
* The increased notoriety might also have a positive side effect on the business by making it easier to attract strategic partners who are willing to link with your firm.
* Employment branding works not just for large corporations but also for smaller firms and for government agencies as well.
* A great employment brand makes it easier to attract top recruiters and branding experts.
* The high impact and ROI of the employment-branding program will help build HR’s image as a bottom-line contributor.

Final Thoughts

If you are part of recruiting management at an organization that has been facing continuous talent shortages, it’s time to get out of that rut and focus your resources on the areas that can have the highest business impact. Almost universally, that means shifting your recruiting talent, time, and budget towards the programs that will have the most impact, starting with employment branding (other high-impact programs include employer referrals, professional event recruiting, prioritizing jobs, bringing back key former employees (boomerangs), and making your corporate careers page compelling). Yes, I know it’s hard to find the time to step back from fighting fires but, at some point, you have to realize that you can’t just talk about being strategic. You have to act strategically by investing in the only long-term recruiting strategy that’s available.


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The Good, The Brand and the Ugly-The Employer Brand vs The Economy.

The Employer Brand vs The Economy.

In a report from Universum in May 2008, for the second consecutive year, MBA students chose Google as the No. 1 Employer (23.65 percent of respondents), after it trumped powerhouse consulting firm McKinsey & Company and received the highest percentage of respondents choosing it as the Ideal Employer.

"Smart MBAs know where they want to be in 5-10 years," says Claudia
Tattanelli, CEO of Universum USA. "They look to strong companies like Google,
McKinsey and Goldman Sachs to give them the experience and references needed
to lay the path for their future career success, even with threats of a
recession. At the same time, as true Millennials, they chose organizations
that will offer a flexible and fun work environment, innovation and a good
work/life balance."

But that was before the world changed.

Now, according to last week's Wall Street Journal, Google is gearing down for tough times as their stock trades at less than half its one-time high a bit more than a year ago

For much of its 10-year history, Google spent money at a pace that was the marvel of Silicon Valley. It hired by the thousands and dished out generous perks, including three free meals a day, free doctors, ski trips and laundry facilities, and subsidized personal trainers. It let engineers spend 20% of their time pursuing pet projects. The company's goal was to develop new products that would reduce its nearly total reliance on selling ads connected to Internet searches.

But now-
"We have to behave as though we don't know" what's going to happen, says Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt. The company will curtail the "dark matter," he says, projects that "haven't really caught on" and "aren't really that exciting." He says the company is "not going to give" an engineer 20 people to work with on certain experimental projects anymore.

This fall, the company announced plans to "significantly" reduce its roughly 10,000 contract workers, whose jobs range from engineering to food services. While the timing and focus of the cuts remain unclear, Google employees already are joking that it's getting easier to find a spot in the company's crowded parking lots.

Google has also begun chipping away at perks. In recent months, it reduced the hours of its free cafeteria service and suspended the traditional afternoon tea in its New York office. A Google spokesman says its core culture is not changing. "Our unique culture is an essential part of what makes Google Google," he says.

Early in its life, the company said that it would always put long-term objectives ahead of shareholders' short-term interests. It wooed the best engineers with generous perks, workplaces that feature pool tables and volleyball courts, and a promise they could spend time pursuing side projects. Inside the company, it was considered crass to talk about whether a project would eventually make money, say current and former product engineers. The measure that mattered most was whether a new idea would be good for the Internet user's experience.

But now-

Some engineers complain they can no longer tap the employees and machines they need to develop their ideas. This is no small issue among elite programmers, many of whom joined the company for the chance to work on such projects, according to current and former employees.

In 2004, they wrote:

We provide many unusual benefits for our employees, including meals free of charge ... We are careful to consider the long term advantages to the company of these benefits. Expect us to add benefits rather than pare them down over time. We believe it is easy to be penny wise and pound foolish with respect to benefits that can save employees considerable time and improve their health and productivity.

But now-

There's no such thing as a free dinner. The company took evening meals off the menu: "Google has drastically cut back their budget on the culinary program. How is it affecting campus? No more dinner. No more tea trolley. No more snack attack in the afternoon."

But what's good for the diet isn't necessarily good for the brand.

As BRANDEMiX continues to build out Employer Value Propositions and promote the inherent qualities in each organization that help them win the war for talent, we eagerly wait to see the impact these internal changes at Google have on the long term Employer Brand.

BRANDEMiX is forever.