I saw this poster and couldn’t help but share … I love it!!! 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Gain a competitive edge!  Join Eagle’s Executive Consulting Network!

Find Canada’s top hot jobs, updated in real-time!  Visit Eagle’s Job Centre!

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Some time ago I wrote a blog entry about the emotional bank account … which was based on Stephen Covey’s thinking,

The basic premise is that in any relationship between two people, each needs to contribute in a “relatively fair” way. When one party takes more from the relationship than the other, then that leads to discord.

That same bank account theory can of course apply to companies … at some point they need to bring in more (revenues, investments) than they spend in order to survive.

Well countries are exactly the same!!!

The economy supports our society … not the other way around!  AND at some point we need to live within our means.

Our society generates income through taxes … value added taxes, property taxes, corporate and personal taxes etc.

Our society spends that money on multiple levels of government, social programs, health care, education etc.

It is no surprise that our costs are escalating … health care costs are going through the roof (people are living longer, we have self imposed problems from smoking, drinking and over eating also putting excess pressure on the system).  The cost of people increases every year …  Statistics Canada  tells us there are approximately 417,000 people working for our Federal government, so increases are not insignificant as a burden.  We must understand what we can afford and create more “revenue positive” jobs!

The other concern is that our tax base is eroding, as we lose jobs to cheaper off-shore solutions such as the mass exodus of manufacturing jobs from Canada to China, or the large number of technology jobs that have gone to India and other low cost countries.   We also have the large base of baby boomers who are mostly still working but will be retiring in droves over the next few years.  They will move from being net “contributors” (tax payers) into society’s bank account to becoming net takers (pensioners) from society’s bank account.

These are not insignificant issues that countries everywhere are grappling with, and some such as Greece, Ireland, Spain et al are feeling some very real pain now.

Canada is luckier than many … BUT we need to get our house in order now.  At its most basic level we need to have at least as much “coming in” to our society’s bank account as we are spending.

That means creating MEANINGFUL jobs … that are net contributors to our coffers.  We NEED government, BUT government jobs do not contribute to that bank account in fact they take away!  We need to attract jobs here, encourage entrepreneurs to build companies, create the right atmosphere for companies to be successful in Canada.

We also need to be mindful of our spending.  We WILL have less people paying into the bank account and MORE people taking out … we need to manage that. 

In the face of these tremendous challenges faced by our society I am somewhat appalled at the actions of the Quebec students and what I can only call mindless support from unions in their quest to stop an increase in tuition fees.  Quebec already has amongst the lowest tuition fees in Canada.  The increase amounts to peanuts.  the value they receive in education is huge and provides them with an ability to gain employment for life … IF they find that attitude that says they are responsible for their own life, rather than the attitude that says the government owes them (which is saying I want more out of the bank account … even though I put NOTHING in)!

If you want the government to look after you then take what government is willing to give you … otherwise look after yourself!

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Gain a competitive edge!  Join Eagle’s Executive Consulting Network!

Find Canada’s top hot jobs, updated in real-time!  Visit Eagle’s Job Centre!

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Alison Turnbull is a recruiter at Eagle, specialised in our Executive/Management Consulting practice … and she wanted to send a message.  She believes that recruiters need to better understand the motivations of their candidates so that they don’t send “duds” to their clients.  (I don’t think she is too impressed with the “duds” either!  Dud:  a person that is not really committed to the job!)

This is Alison’s message …

Would you hire them?

As a recruiter I am often in contact with candidates who say things that really surprise me!  A common example of this is the candidate who replies to an email or phone call to say “I’ve just landed a permanent position, but I still want to know what’s out there as I’ll likely only be here for six months”.  Or better yet, “I’ve just taken a perm role for now, but keep me posted as I’m more interested in contract positions”.  Whenever possible, I take the opportunity to try to explore this further and to try to understand why someone would accept a ‘permanent’ role with no intention of staying.

We tend to see this behavior more frequently when contract markets are ‘soft’ and tried and true consultants feel the need to secure something until the contract market heats up again.  Some candidates even stress that there just is ‘no such thing’ as a permanent role, and that in general, employers are no more inclined to commit to someone long term than they are.  

There are a  number of problems with this type of scenario:

1.   The cost of on boarding and replacing a permanent employee is significant.

2.  Candidates who operate in this manner will hurt their reputation (or personal brand) which affects long term career aspirations.

I feel that many of these situations can be attributed to a recruiter who just didn’t do an adequate job for their client.  It is our job as recruiters to dig down deep into a candidate’s motivation and to be sure that they are truly invested in a permanent role – particularly with candidates who have more of a ‘consulting background’. 

Sadly, not all recruiters are focused on seeing beyond their 3 or 6 month guarantee period and are more focused on a ‘quick hit’ as opposed to maintaining a long-term client relationship.  It’s important to be sure that your candidates are able to provide you with a very compelling reason for switching to an ‘employee’ relationship when they have a background in consulting. 

The take away for us recruiters is to differentiate ourselves from our competition by always ensuring that we make an extra effort to spend an adequate amount of time pre qualifying candidates.  Ask yourself the question, would I hire them myself?   Your clients will thank you for it!

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Alison Turnbull is a recruiter at Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Gain a competitive edge!  Join Eagle’s Executive Consulting Network!

Find Canada’s top hot jobs, updated in real-time!  Visit Eagle’s Job Centre!

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The heading for this blog entry is fairly self explanatory, and at first glance seems quite simple. 

In reality it is probably the one piece of advice I could give anyone to encapsulate everything it takes to have a successful career.

Let me explain …

If you adopt the attitude that you will your best to support your boss’s success then it means a number of things:

1.  You will have a positive attitude.

2.  You will embrace the company rules.

3.  You will not “play politics” or undermine your boss.

4.  Your focus will be on doing a good job … even when no one is looking!

5.  Your approach will be to “serve”.

Add ALL of that up and you have a fantastic foundation for the future.

1.  Your boss will reciprocate.

2.  Your boss’s success will reflect on you.

3.  They are likely to take you with them.

4.  It is likely that your boss’s boss will also notice.

One final thought … You don’t need to like your boss (or your co-workers) you DO need to find a way to work with them.

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Gain a competitive edge!  Join Eagle’s Executive Consulting Network!

Find Canada’s top hot jobs, updated in real-time!  Visit Eagle’s Job Centre!

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In March last year I took part in a white collar boxing event to raise funds in the fight against cancer … it is known as the Fight for the Cure and is run in Ottawa.   As a participant I actually gave blood, in addition to time and money for this cause … yet it was the organisers who really made this event happen.  In Ottawa the main organiser was Matt Whitteker, a very impressive twenty-something entrepreneur … although there were plenty of people involved.  In March of this year that same event saw MP Justin Trudeau fight Senator Patrick Brazeau, raising even more money for this great cause!

Helping out in my corner a little more than a year ago was a young lady from Toronto, Jennifer Huggins who owns and operates the Kingsway Boxing Club.  She was so impressed with the event that she saw it as a great way to give to her community … and on June 9th the First Annual Fight to End Cancer will take place at the Woodbine Race Track in Toronto.

This young entrepreneur has devoted hundreds of hours to make this happen!

She has donated her time, her gym, her contacts and equipment to ensure that there are some very interesting fights to entertain the crowd.

She engineered a partnership with the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

She has gathered sponsors, volunteers and participants to create a BIG event!!!

She did this to GIVE back!!!

We all benefit when people like Jennifer give … we all benefit even more if we ALL give!

So be like Jennifer just a little … give a little of yourself, give some money, give some time!   

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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Do you hanker after more responsibility, more money, a bigger title?

Most people as they progress through their career do … and certainly there is nothing wrong with that.

However … recognise that with those things comes increased expectation!

Before you commit to that next promotion, chase that next dream job, or push for that raise, just make sure that you are willing to step up to the increased hours, increased stress, increased headaches and increased demand for results. 

That’s just the way it is! 

Of course, once you meet those expectations you set your self up for that next level of commitment.

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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The ONLY way to be able to grow an organization is to delegate to those who work for you … to leverage yourself through a team.  Whether you are a supervisor within a larger organization, an entrepreneur growing a business or an executive in a large company you face that same challenge. 

You will probably want your team (a) to do things the way you would have done them (b) to get the results that you want.

In the real world it doesn’t quite work that way … because we are not all the same.

What you should aim for is … (a) your team to get the results you want (b) operating within the guidelines that you establish.

For some managers the result is all that is important … but results at any cost are usually not sustainable, AND sustainable is important too.  There are also the issues of corporate culture, ethics, processes etc that can easily be compromised when the only concern is the result!  You might not want your staff “fishing with dynamite”!

So, as the saying goes, you need to teach your people to fish … or perhaps more precisely you need to ensure that they are fishing within the “rules” …

1.  You need to resist the urge to “do it yourself” … remember teach, don’t do!

2.  You need to resist the urge to force your staff to do it exactly the way you would do it, because we all have our own style. 

3.  You need to establish guidelines and parameters.  These might be financial constraints (eg margin guidelines), ethical boundaries (eg don’t take your client to Scotland for a golf trip) and/or targets (eg number of calls, sales pipeline metrics etc).

4.  You need to establish a regular feedback mechanism to provide ongoing mentor-ship and ensure things are progressing to plan.

5.  You need to give your staff some rope … which can get longer as your trust grows!

6.  You need to expect some hiccups, and deal with them accordingly … as learning exercises, NOT as a means to beat your staff up!

7.  Eventually you will become less involved and able to devote time elsewhere … just don’t forget to stay close enough that you understand when things go off the rails.

Giving up control is one of the hardest things for any manager.  You were probably promoted because you were good at “doing something” … now you have to learn to be good at teaching other people to have the same success, and not do it yourself!

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Gain a competitive edge!  Join Eagle’s Executive Consulting Network!

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It is a fine line between not caring, and not worrying!

It is only by “caring” that we do our best work.

Worrying too much is detrimental to our health.

Worrying however is a very human trait, and I think most of us worry somewhat.  The trick is to use that emotion in a positive way to effect change … OR, if you cannot change an outcome then find a way NOT to worry.

For example:

If we “care” about our job then we will work hard to be successful … as a salesperson that might mean long hours, planning, building relationships and working towards those sales.   By “caring” we do everything we can to improve.

It is also normal for people who care about their job to worry about their results, about their performance etc.   If you have done everything you can then ”worrying” is detrimental.  At that point you need to find a way to “let it go”.

The best employees “care” … just don’t let that “caring” affect your health. 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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I like to consider myself to be pretty good at managing my time.  I have evolved my various systems over the years and continue to evolve them as new tools come along, my role changes or I feel it is time to shake things up!

Over the years I have gone from a largely paper based time management system to a largely electronic focused system, but still using paper where I find that to work best for me.

One of the things that I try to do every now and then  is to revisit the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that I monitor, and make sure that I am spending my time wisely.  I find that all of us managers have a tendency to want more and more data/indicators about how the business is doing … yet experience has taught me that focusing in on a few key indicators can actually be the best use of my time.

With technology today I can get reports on a multitude of different aspects of my business, ranging from monthly standard financial reports through daily activity monitoring, exception reporting, quality initiatives, financial data, A/R reports, customer lists … on and on!!!  The trick is determining what ‘few” can do the job for me.

Here are some thoughts for the manager trying to stay on top of their business:

1.  Keep it simple.

2.  Decide what “handful” of indicators you are going to monitor … keep it as short as possible.

3.  Decide how often you will look at that data.

4.  Decide how often you will update that list (note update means develop “the list” NOT ADD to the list).  You NEED to review the list on a regular basis, but you also need to give them time to see if they are doing a good enough job for you.

5.  You WILL find interesting data at every turn … DON”T be seduced into thinking that you NEED it.

6.  The data that you need in your role today will change as your role changes.

7.  Share your thoughts on KPIs with peers and develop a standard set that works for a per group.

8.  Do NOT create your own tools … adopt the corporate tools and work with them.  The effort developing and maintaining them will be better spent elsewhere … but do share your ideas with “corporate”.

9.  These tools and indicators are just that … don’t spend a ton of time over analysing, take the information and use it to get on with the job.  Remember the 80/20 rule … if you feel 80% of your needs are being met then be happy, because if you chase that final 20% it will cost you BIG in time and dollars!!!

10.  If you need help developing KPIs we might be able to find a consultant for you  

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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Competition comes in many forms, so whatever business you are in it is important to be constantly asking yourself some basic questions.  Some of those questions might be:

Am I meeting my customers needs?

Is someone else doing a better job?

Is my industry changing?

If I keep doing what I do will I still be here in 5 years?

What else could I be doing?

Disruption can happen in any business, as has been seen many times over the years.  We only have to think about the affect of big box stores on the smaller retail shops, the impact of the internet on so many businesses, the impact of low cost off-shore labour on many industries … just to name a few.

When you work in and around high tech, or with the big consulting firms then innovation and change tends to be “a given” … but that is not always the case in smaller, mainstream businesses.

Yesterday I had my motorcycle serviced and today I had my car serviced.  It is always a frustrating exercise for me, and I assume any busy person, to have to take time from my schedule to drive out to the garage and then get back to work.  Which got me thinking about these businesses.

I asked the owner of the car shop how business was going and he replied that the last couple of months had been OK, he actually made money.  He suggested that in a 12 month period he will make money for 3 or 4 months, break even for 3 or 4 months and “survive” for the rest.

“Have you any plans to do anything different?”, I said.   He doesn’t.

At the motorcycle shop I managed to arrive there about 2 minutes after closing time, received no sympathy from the exiting employees and was lucky enough that there was a manager still on the phone who let me drop my bike off for service the next day.  On pickup day I had not heard from them 90 minutes before closing so after several calls I finally connected to the service shop and they were not sure if it was going to be completed that day.  It was … but again I had a level of stress I did not need.

None of this is earth shattering … and everyone has these frustrations.  But … it could be better.

A disruptive model could easily drive both of these hard working business owners out of business!

Why are they content?

If my business was unprofitable for 3 to 5 months a year I would do something about it.

If my customers were having trouble getting to my shop for service I would make it easy for them.

I took a quick look at what other service shops are doing around the world (that disruptive internet again) and came up with some top of mind ideas for these business owners …

Look at your hours of operation … if you are open when your clients are working and closed when they have free time does that make sense?  It doesn’t need to be a radical change but opening the retail shop for evening hours, with an opportunity to drop a bike off with them might just make life a lot easier for your customer.

The big garages have a shuttle … why not have a pick up your bike/car service?  Pick it up anywhere and return after service … I would pay for that!

What else could you do with your shop to generate revenues?  Offer the use of the shop to DIY people who like to work on their own vehicles, but don’t have the tools or space.  Offer courses to teach people at various levels about vehicle maintenance.  Form a partnership with larger shops as an overflow capability to help them meet their needs.  Buy a portable garage … a truck that could do “house calls”.

It is not just the big companies that need to reinvent themselves … every business owner needs to think that way.  It is tough to own and operate a business, the start up phase is extremely stressful, there are always ownership related issues but experience reduces the stress levels.  This creates a risk of complacency and perhaps even a shift to a more risk averse approach to business … so it is critical to remember, in ANY business Reinvention is NOT optional!

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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