Around the world governments have been implementing “stimulus” packages to try to get the economy back on track.

First point … I think that is absolutely the right thing to do. Business as normal would be like “ostrich syndrome” … sticking your head in the sand and pretending nothing unusual was happening.

Second point … its not enough! We need to have everyone pulling together and herein lies the problem … in ONE word … GREED!

Wall street investment firms paid out Billions of dollars in bonuses this year … EVEN as they were going cap in hand looking for money from the government … read Joe average tax payer (who are the shareholders of the government).

CEOs continue to take home significant incomes, with massive bonuses and stock plans, despite the fact their companies have tanked!

Executives of these publicly traded companies continue to enjoy the “lifestyle” of the rich, flying in corporate jets, dining in exclusive restaurants, golfing at exotic locations etc. and I honestly believe that is all extravagance that NO shareholder should need to pay for These people earn good money, if they want these perks make them pay out of their own pocket!

Boards of publicly traded companies continue to enjoy the same perks and income they enjoyed despite the market crash!

Here is my take:

1. The taxpayer (ie. governments around the world) have done their bit … and may continue to add “stimulus” where they can. Thank you!
2. CEOs need to get with the program … change your behaviours, reduce your income, STOP taking massive bonuses from the shareholders.
3. Executives in general need to follow the same example … cut back, be frugal, be seen to be part of the solution.
4. Ditto for board members.
5. Companies need their own stimulus packages … encourage staff to invest in the economy. Implement employee purchase plans … eg computer purchase plans with payroll deduction; charitable contributions with payroll deduction; where possible lower interest rate loans/no interest rate loans for targeted purchases relevant to their jobs.
6. Companies need to invest in the economy … adopt a charity; support local businesses; spend wisely with local suppliers etc.

There will always be nay sayers to the stimulus package. I am disgusted with the NDP and Parti Quebecois who are playing political games at a time when we need EVERYONE pulling together on a fixing our economy.

That old saying says it all … lets ALL be part of the solution and NOT part of the problem!

Yesterday I blogged about dead wood … Wikipedia characterizes this as referring to “non-contributing members, usually of longer standing”, which is pretty good in my book.

Today the union representing the “dead wood” that comprises the OC Transpo in Ottawa reached the milestone of 50 days on strike.

Yesterday I read that more than 70,000 jobs were lost around the world just in January.

Yesterday the Canadian Federal Government unveiled a package of spending designed to stimulate our economy in the face of such world-wide turmoil.

The Teachers Assistants at York University have just about killed the academic year for many students with their strike action.

What is wrong with this picture?

Why does our society provide protection to these ungrateful people?

Every morning I pass a bunch of picketers blocking traffic into Ottawa city hall. A cadre of policemen have to direct traffic and presumably protect these morons from people who just might be inclined to vent their frustration on them.

The world is mad!

It would be SO sweet to fire them all and replace them with people that want a job!

Not sure if you noticed … but I am a little worked up about unions these days!

We have been hearing about the issues in the world’s economies for some time.

If you have any of your assets in the stock market then you will likely have been severely and negatively impacted over the last few months … anecdotally a “hit” somewhere between 25% and 40% on the value of your portfolio. Your advisor of course will tell you that is just a paper loss, as long as you don’t need the money now … but the reality is that the dollar (or pound etc) that you put in the stock market in September certainly isn’t worth a dollar today!

As time has gone by we have seen the impact spread to engulf institutions, once venerable and now not so desirable as they slide into bankruptcy, or look to the various governments for handouts. The architects of this economic mess are the financial institutions, and some of them no longer exist, Lehman Brothers being probably the most famous … but the list is long! The affects of the crisis have been severely felt in many sectors and Wikipedia even maintains a list of business failures, with the last year or so demonstrating just how many companies have succumbed to this crisis.

Companies that are still strong have taken this opportunity to look at their current workforce and trim costs. For most it is an exercise in cutting poor performers, whether it is at the individual level such as a broad-brush “bottom 5% (or 10%) out” strategy, or it is an opportunity to divest themselves of poorly performing business units!

This is called trimming the dead wood!

The very clear message to any employee right now is this … YOU do NOT want to be known as dead wood!

So … in these unprecedented times, in order to preserve your income I suggest that you need to do things differently! You need to elevate your performance, demonstrate a great attitude and make sure that you are doing everything possible to be (or become) invaluable to your employer!

I did write a blog entry about What to Do in a Recession back in November which might be worth a read too.

Like I said in that blog entry the bottom line is that you need to come to work every day prepared to put in 100% effort! If you do that you will probably be OK… but to be safe, aim for 105% (sorry for the cliché)!

Do NOT be the Dead Wood!

I had the pleasure of spending a day at Queen’s University in Kingston on Saturday. They were running their annual Queen’s Entrepreneur Contest and my wife was one of the judges for the final day.

There were six (6) entrants who made it through to the final day, from a field of sixteen (16). I managed to watch the presentations from five of the six finalists and was extremely impressed by all of them. Each team presented their business case in about a 40 minute time slot, answered questions and received feedback from the judges panel, which seemed fairly heavily loaded on the financial sector.

In the evening there was a meet and greet, followed by a dinner and dancing. As usual Janis and I were the last of the “older generation” to leave, and while tempted to get on the dance floor we decided to head out some time around 1am.

I was left with a number of impressions from this experience … so I’ll try to capture just a few.

1. The confidence and maturity of these young people was astounding. They were very accomplished presenters, who had gained good sales, marketing and general business experience in developing their ideas … and most have every intention of seeing them through to fruition.

2. Naturally there was disappointment amongst those who did not reach the finals, and those who felt they should have placed higher. We talked to a few of the students who were second guessing their business idea based upon some “tough” feedback. We told then that what they got was “opinions” from a few people, and that different people might well have had very different opinions. We also told them that if they believe in their idea then they should keep pushing it!

3. I found myself comparing my own background with these people. I have had some success, but later in life after a “slow start”. At their age, in fact older than most of them, I was just beginning to get serious about studying heading back to school after seven years in the Royal Navy! These young people have a tremendous opportunity ahead of them and they are going to be very successful.

4. The networking skills displayed by these students was impressive. Within a couple of minutes of arriving at cocktails we were the target of a barrage of questions! It didn’t let up for the whole evening.

5. The enthusiasm and attitude of these students was refreshing and contagious. If only you could bottle some of that energy!

6. This event is totally organized, and executed by a volunteer student group … so not only are the contestants impressive, so too are the organizers. They did a superb job!

Overall, as you can see I was very impressed, and as one of the other judges said … the future of business is in good hands, and with today’s economy we hope they get into the fray sooner rather than later!

If you are reading this blog entry then likely you are internet savvy enough to be aware of the social networking phenomena of the past few years. I am personally on LinkedIn and Facebook, but only an occasional user … not one of the people that “lives their life” online. There have been many stories of how facebook antics or ill conceived YouTube appearances have been the undoing of people. Whether it is HR professionals finding information about job applicants, the media uncovering information about political candidates or future executive being derailed for previous indiscretions it pays to THINK before you do something that you will regret later.

These days one of the descriptions given to this type of image consciousness is personal branding. Like corporate branding you want to develop a consistent message or series of messages that people “get” when they think about you.

Do you want to be thought of as the “party animal” … or as a work hard, play hard type of person.

Do you want to be the “geek” … or the intelligent, thoughtful type.

Or … if you are still young, perhaps still in school do you want to avoid future problems and worry about ACTIVE personal branding later?

It pays to spend a little bit of time thinking about this now … because if you don’t worry about it now you may well be kicking yourself later!

There is a decent article about Personal Branding on the CPSA website. It is definitely aimed at people who are into their career already, but like I say it doesn’t hurt to start the thinking process now!

Tom Peters wrote an article on the subject for Fast Company titled The Brand Called You, which is also worth a read.

Is it time for you to think about YOUR BRAND? I think so!

I started this blog in January 2006 and after three years and more than 650 posts there are some days when I struggle to come up with a relevant topic … go figure!

Today my good friend Jim Stechyson, a fellow business owner who is also suffering through the OC Transpo strike in Ottawa came up with some help! I have been known to use other people’s “stuff” before, I often refer to Kit Grant’s work or John Izzo or Pat Katz to name a few. What I really liked about Jim’s message is that it is positive, even though the bus strike is have such a negative affect.

Thanks Jim …

If there is one thing any entrepreneur has learned, it is that change is the one constant we can always count on. Change in business can be proactive or reactive but usually comes about as a result of business conditions that more often than not are out of our control. Strikes, recessions, currency fluctuations are just a few examples.

So if these changing conditions are beyond our control – how we respond to them is clearly within our control and often presents valuable opportunities for innovative thinking and action.

Take for example the current OC Transpo bus strike in Ottawa. While the negative economic affects to local business are obvious, it’s also the opportune time to step up customer service efforts and differentiate your business from the competition.

For the local shop owner perhaps its time offer a delivery service (paid or complimentary) for customers who are unable to access your store.

Maybe its time to finally launch that online store you’ve thought about?

Or offer taxi “chits” to customers for purchases over a certain value.

How about offering complimentary services for clients who offer to car pool a group to your company (think Bingo Halls)

I heard a radio commercial yesterday with a local “restauranteur” offering packaged services to Sens games that included dinner, tickets and a free shuttle to and from the game. It’s been done before, but I bet its paying dividends right now.

When changing conditions present negative consequences to your business your opportunity is to respond to it with positive and innovative change that improves your customers’ experience.

Perhaps the bus drivers don’t care about their customers … but yours will surely remember that you did!

I have written a number of blog entries about our industry and given that the industry does seem to be misunderstood by many, I thought I would publish them again in one location.

In July of last year I wrote a blog entry called The Greatest Canadian Staffing Challenge. In there I talk about the threat to our industry posed when various levels of government impose adverse legislative changes, without understanding the full impact on our economy. Given our current economic situation this is very relevant!

In December 2006 I blogged about Staffing Industry Leadership, the value our industry brings and the need for leaders in our industry to promote those messages.

In May of 2008 I wrote a blog entry called Statistics and Facts About the Staffing Industry. this entry was designed to debunk some of the myths that I see written by people who do not understand our industry. Another blog entry from November 2007 talked about the Finances of the Staffing Industry … a candid look at what agencies ACTUALLY make!

In June 2006 I wrote a blog entry called The IT Staffing Agency Value Proposition. Many of the points in that entry apply to ANY type of staffing company, and this blog is designed to educate the reader about the true value clients receive from a staffing agency.

I sit on the board of two industry associations ACSESS which represents the whole staffing industry in Canada, and NACCB (Canada) which is very focused on the IT companies in this space. I devote this energy and time because I believe in this industry and the value it brings to our clients, the people it employs and to the economy in general.

My message to legislators at all levels of government is to take time to understand the value of our industry and to work with us towards solving issues, and perceived issues rather than implementing legislative change that can harm our economy over and above the damage done by others!

There are many aspects of management that are tough, the role brings with it higher expectations, there are people issues to deal with, there are targets to meet, there are politics to deal with … but in my opinion, one of the things that managers struggle most with, is supporting “the party line” when they might personally feel differently.

As a manager you would hope to have input into the direction of your business unit, whether it be a small business unit within a large company or a large unit in a small company. It is however a fact that your job is to support the company in its goals, and you CANNOT undermine the company direction.

If you disagree with some policy or initiative, then it is your responsibility to give that feedback and to be heard, but if the company decision is to keep it the way it is then your responsibility is to publicly support and defend the company position. If you feel so strongly that you can’t do that, then you really have a big decision because the only real alternative is to leave.

Some people who are managers forget this … and it will get them into trouble.

Some people who are new to management don’t fully appreciate this, and need to learn it and hopefully not the hard way!

It is absolutely critical for a company’s management team to present a united front, and that is how companies create strong cultures and provide confidence to their employees. When individual managers undermine that unified front it destroys credibility and causes serious damage. The time to question and oppose the ideas is behind closed doors with the management team, and you must be willing to accept that you will not always get the answer that you would like … that is just life.

I have written a fair number of blogs that have a management component to them … here are a a couple that I think are relevant to the management role.

Back in September 2006 I wrote a blog entry called Today’s Leader … which you might find interesting.

Just last September (2008) I wrote a blog entry about Earning the Power in Your Position.

If you are a new manager, have plans to move into management or even if you have been a manager for a while you might want to read those entries.

Tomorrow Barack Obama will become the first black American President, a celebration for African Americans, for diversity advocates and for 21st Century societies in general.

There are plenty of examples of things that are not going so well these days … the economy, the fighting in Afghanistan Iraq and Gaza, the bus strike in Ottawa, the corporate greed of some CEOs, the greed and small minded attitude of some unions … people are ready for some good news!

I am excited, and yet apprehensive, about this event. The expectations of this man are enormous … and yet he has achieved so much just to get to this position. How can any one man be the saviour of a world beset by so many problems? I fear that our high expectations for Barack will mean he has no chance of success … and I hope I am wrong!

Fear and anxiety apart, tomorrow marks a new day for this world of ours. A historic and joyous occasion that we will tell our grandchildren about. That it will be held one day after Martin Luther King day in the US is a nice touch, and maybe Barack will be allowed to reach is dream … maybe he already has!

Whatever this man achieves from here he has give us a historic day to remember and he has already achieved much … I wish him every success and applaud his accomplishments to date.

I will try very hard not to be sceptical when things go wrong, as they surely will, and I will try to remember to give this man all of my support … because just maybe this man has a chance of achieving even greater things, and that would be good for us all!

Good luck Obama the world wants you to succeed.

This is a look at the Canadian IT Job market across Canada from our company’s perspective. We have offices in 10 cities across the country and our three General Managers have tapped into their market knowledge to write this … hope you find it helpful. I will stress that this is not a scientific or statistical look at the market … this is what we see day in day out “in the trenches” of the war for talent across Canada.

In Eastern Canada, the fall wound down quickly and the winter arrived early and abruptly bringing a feeling of pending economic gloom and doom from forecasters, and yes, these are the same people who, months earlier, painted a much rosier picture, at least in Canada. In the technology sector we are used to change but the magnitude and speed with which change came in the latter stages of 2008 was without precedent. A historic, if not transformational, new US president, 150 year old banking giants flaming out in days and in Canada, a Parliament that teetered before the country introduced a new word into our daily lives “proroguing”. With all of this uncertainty, the questions heard most often these days are: “What’s going on in the job market?” and “What do you see for the next year in the job market in the East?”

So – what’s going on in the job market? For the most part, it was business as usual in Ottawa and Montreal as the year wound down with a decrease in demand for full-time positions, especially in Montreal; however, in some federal government departments in Ottawa, there is a marked increase in demand for contract positions.

Other local factors, especially the transit strike in Ottawa, continue to disrupt the economy and there is chatter in the halls of the federal government about departments and/or projects losing funding as the fiscal year end approaches. However, as the Treasury Board deals with a smaller revenue pot, there are still many projects that require skills and resources not readily available in the government. For example, a large BI/Data Warehousing project in one department will get underway this year.

There has been a small reduction in scope in some government projects; however, this reduction seems to be due to the natural end of projects rather than the abrupt stoppage of work seen in the private sector lately. This has resulted in some softening in rates in the market, particularly among testers, tech writers, and some programmers. It is likely we will continue to see rates soften up throughout the next quarter and beyond as consultants become more focused on things like the length of a contract opportunity rather than the rate increases that come with a hot economy.

As to the second question – where is the job market going? One can be reluctant to predict, but it is safe to say, with budgets shrinking in both the private and public sectors, headcount visibility more important than ever, and an overall shrinking economy, particularly in the US, in the next few months consultants will need to be more focused on bringing true value and impact to their roles in order to assure continued opportunities. There are still many demographic factors that, over the long-term, lend themselves to favoring employees if not employers, particularly in technology, and as organizations continue to downsize, there is the potential for increased contract demand over the short- and medium-term as gaps caused by layoffs begin to impact organizations.

Skills and roles in demand in Eastern Canada include BI and Data Warehouse experts, Data Conversion resources, Security Analysts/Architects, Java Developers and Lotus Notes Developers. In Montreal, Senior Security resources, Oracle functional and technical resources, as well as Help Desk and Tech Support roles are in demand.

In the GTA, the unemployment rate seems to have stabilized yielding a rate of 6.7% over the last two months. This is slightly up compared to this time last year when the rate was 6.1% and slightly higher than the national average which sat at 6.6% in the month of December.

The IT labour market for GTA in the fourth quarter started strong with a number of companies in the Telecom and Retail Sectors initiated large network upgrades. In the month of November, the region saw an overall slow down in technology requirements, however, the month of December brought an increase in activity within the government sector.

With the state of the economy, as expected, IT hiring within the financial sector has slowed down considerable. It is expected that hiring within this sector will remain slow over the next quarter.
In-demand skills in the GTA include: Security Consultants, Technical Architects, Business Analysts, and Project Managers. There has also been a noticeable move towards functional requirements, specific to industry experience rather than technology experience for example BAs with Financial Sector experience.

In response to world-wide economic issues, IT activity across Western Canada has become Bear-ish. This, combined with seasonal slow-downs, has resulted in reduced demand for IT resources across the board. Very large business initiatives and projects have been put on hold or cancelled making contractors nervous about getting extensions. There were many who did not receive the extensions that seemed to be given just a month or two before and, due to the cancellation or delay of large projects, a good number of contractors saw their contracts terminated early.

Compared to previous quarters, contractors are getting fewer offers and there is a growing pool of top-quality IT contractors available for work. In response, the industry has witnessed contractors being much more flexible with their rates. In general, rates have leveled off, if not fallen.

Companies, being cost-conscious, are watching their staffing levels very closely and are making changes to their personnel/contractor strategies. There are many hiring freezes in effect. Some companies have removed all but mission critical contractors from their staffing mix; meanwhile, some companies are using contractors where they would previously have hired full time employees.

While the gloomy economy can be discouraging for job searchers, opportunities are available if you know where to find them. The largest IT employers have been the ones to make the biggest cuts; however, smaller to mid-sized companies are taking this opportunity to attract top-level, affordable talent into their projects. Additionally, there are some companies that are more “recession-proof” than others and these companies are also hiring contractors where there is value to be found or because they want a more flexible workforce through this economic turmoil. Finally, the various levels of government, whose “customers” are the tax payers, are less likely to feel the economic pinch and will continue to need/use IT resources at historical levels. Our advice to the contractor community during this “down time” is to take advantage of the opportunity to upgrade skills and education, polish your resume, work closely with the agencies (build relationships with the recruiters), remain flexible with your rate expectations, and secure contract extensions as early as possible.

Skills in demand across the West this past quarter included:
SAP, BAs, and Testers/QA Analysts in British Columbia;
O
racle experts (Developers/DBAs), PMs, BAs, Developers (.NET, Application) in Edmonton;
PMs, BAs, Communication/Change Specialists, SAP with Oil & Gas or Utilities experience in Calgary; and,
BAs, PMs in Winnipeg.