This is my 30,000 foot look at events in the ICT industry for July 2012. What you see here is a précis of the monthly report I produce, which will be available in more detail at the News section of the Eagle website, where you will also find back issues.

A Little History of July in previous years …

In July 2007 HP paid $1.6B to buy Opsware, Steria paid $1B for Xansa, IBM paid $160M for BI company Datamirror and Google paid $625M for Postini.  Four years ago in July 2008 the big deal was the purchase of Foundry Networks by Brocade Communications for $3B but we were on the brink of what would be one of the worst economic periods in a long time.  In July 2009 the economy was suffering and unemployment was high.  There was however some brisk activity on the M&A front with Ericsson paying $1.1 Billion in a fire sale auction for Nortel’s wireless carrier assets.  That was not the biggest deal of the month however as EMC agreed to pay $2.4 billion for Data Domain AND IBM paid $1.2 Billion to add to its BI capability with the acquisition of SPSS.  Two years ago in July 2010, the iPhone 4 sparked the “antennagate” debate and Spain won the World Cup, the economy was recovering and it was a fairly busy month in M&A.  NTT paid $3.2 Billion for Dimension Data and Nokia Siemens paid $1.2 Billion for Motorola’s wireless network equipment unit. IBM bought data compression company Storwize and in the same space Dell bought Ocarina Networks. EMC bought data analytics company Greenplum, Google added to its semantic search capability with the purchase of Metaweb Technologies,  Adobe paid $240 Million for a Swiss web software maker, Day Software Holdings and SAS increased its presence in the US Federal market through its purchase of Vision Systems and Technology.  A year ago July 2011 saw continued economic concerns in Europe and a game of political chicken in the US over the US debt ceiling, meanwhile M&A news was relatively low key in the pure tech world.  However Adeccos’ purchase of Drake Beam Morin, and Randstad’s purchase of SFN Group (Spherion, Technisource, Mergis Group, Tatum, Sourceright & Todays’ Office Professionals) were significant moves in the world of staffing … which affects us all.  Dell’s move into networking with the purchase of Force10 is possible the most significant tech deal, with Google (Punchd), Twitter (Backtype) and Adobe (EchoSign) all picking up smaller players to help move their agenda.

Which brings us back to the present …

July 2012 and the world’s economies continue to be a cause for concern, and unemployment numbers are reflective of that.  Canada is in a better position than most, but June was the second month of tepid growth in employment, and while the unemployment rate dropped marginally to 7.2%, that drop was driven by less people looking for work … perhaps enjoying the hot summer?  In the US there were a couple of surveys (CEO and employees) that showed decreased optimism, however the Conference Board indicated that the US economy is growing, albeit very slowly.

Some headline makers in July include the new CEO of Yahoo, who also happens to be pregnant.  Coming from Google, Marissa Mayer joins a fairly exclusive group of female CEOs of companies of Yahoos stature … and perhaps a sign of our changing times, probably the only one hired when pregnant.  General Motors announced that it will be reversing its former “outsourcing philosophy” which could be bad news for a number of big high tech firms.  Samsung reputedly outsold Apple two to one, in smartphone sales for the quarter, and Alcatel-Lucent announced a significant layoff.

On the M&A front Dell bought Quest Software for $2.4 billion, Apple picked up Authentec for $356 million and Socialcam acquired Autodesk for $60 million.  Oracle was on a roll, buying the assets of Skire (capital assets and facilities management software), Involver (a social marketing tools company) and Xsigo Systems (Network Virtualisation).  Vmware was also busy, picking up  Dynamic Ops (virtualisation software) and Nicira (a start-up in the networking software space).  One interesting deal saw Digg bought for $500,000 by Betaworks, when Digg had been valued at $200 million just four years ago.

That’s what caught my eye over the last month, the full edition will be available soon on the Eagle website.  Hope this was useful and I’ll be back with the August 2012 industry news in just about a month’s time.

Walk Fast and Smile.

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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!
Gain a competitive edge!  Join Eagle’s Executive Consulting Network!
Have you tried Eagle’s (very cost effective) VirtualRecruiter service?
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Today is my birthday, so I will take some license and take the easy way out with today’s blog entry.  My idea for today is to take a few key blog entries from over the past six years that recant some lessons I have learned along the way.

1.  The first is about work … which probably won’t surprise you because work is a big part of my life, and I take enjoyment from the successes, the lessons and the challenges.  I wrote a blog entry called 10 Lessons About Work … from 40 Years experience!  I think its an easy read, and the advice is fairly pragmatic.

2.  The second lesson is around humour.  It was a lighthearted entry designed to show the value of humour,  5 Lessons From Humour.

3.  The third I wrote after taking a spill on my motorbike … those kind of events can get you thinking!  Life Lessons from the Ditch!

4.  If you have stayed with me this far you will know that I am an optimist and I believe in living life to the full.  Hence my last blog entry for today … The Glass Really is Half Full!

Walk Fast and Smile!

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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!
Gain a competitive edge!  Join Eagle’s Executive Consulting Network!
Have you tried Eagle’s (very cost effective) VirtualRecruiter service?
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Have you noticed that when you meet someone new how often you can be influenced by the fact that they remind you of someone else?

If the person they remind you of is a good memory then this new person has a better chance of a positive experience, if they remind you of someone with whom you have bad memories then the new person has an uphill struggle.

If you think about it there are probably people you have met with whom you felt instantly comfortable and others that you took an instant dislike to … and sometimes it is because of this kind of association.

Now think about that in the business context … as a salesperson meeting a new prospect your first “job” is to establish some rapport and some credibility.  The classic “How are you today … blah blah” is not only lame, it is is going to remind the prospect of all the other “lame” salespeople they have encountered in their past.  You are already swimming against the tide!

Just occasionally you go to meet a prospect and almost immediately they are friendly and inviting … later on you find out that you remind them of their son/daughter/best friend etc.  Even the “How are you today” opening isn’t going to hurt you in this scenario!

What does it all mean …

1.  It is just another fact to be cognisant of when meeting new people.  If they take an instant dislike to you it might well be someone else that they are thinking of … your job at that point is to make them see the “you” that they will like.

2.  If you are meeting new people and feel an immediate “dislike”, maybe you should understand if it is this person in front of you evoking that response … or just maybe it is someone from your past that they remind you of.   Give THIS person a chance!

You don’t want to discard a potential new contact for the wrong reasons … and you probably shouldn’t warm up to a potential new contact for the wrong reasons either.  Judge people on their own merits!

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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!
Gain a competitive edge!  Join Eagle’s Executive Consulting Network!
Have you tried Eagle’s (very cost effective) VirtualRecruiter service?
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There are lots of people who don’t particularly like their job … most people however need to earn a living, and so a job is a necessity, not a choice.

The “employment contract” (whether it is called that or not) says that for doing “your job” you will get “paid” (usually money, but also benefits and general work conditions that are discussed up front).  Generally a company keeps their end of the bargain and pays the negotiated wages on the stated “pay days” … and the company expects the employee to keep their end of the bargain.  As an employer I expect the employee to “work” diligently, for the prescribed work hours, and I expect the employee to do their best in their role.  I am paying as per the contract and the employee is meeting my expectations then we should all be good!

Is that all enough?  The short answer is NO … and I have blogged before about the fact that (a) given you must work then why not (b) do it well!  However there are even more pressing reasons why just doing the job is not enough.

1.  If you actively dislike your job that is very clear to those around you, including your boss.

2.  Disgruntled people have a negative affect (the bad apple) on those around them.

3.  Management will always get rid of the bad apples first … and good management will replace bad apples with good ones, to ensure the integrity of their team.

So … what do ”bad apples” do that identifies them as such? 

1.  They are complainers.

2.  They will never do any more than they absolutely need to.

3.  They will often be the least productive.

4.  They will find reasons to avoid work … and disrupt those around them.

5.  They will be difficult to manage.

So … YOU think that just doing your job is fair compensation to your employer for the salary you get.  Your employer doesn’t always see it the same way.

If you see the description above and it could be you, then you might want to think about that. 

If you don’t want to adjust your attitude because inherently that will make you a happier person … there is also that other factor, your income is on the line! 

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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 fairly short blog entry called You … and Work!  I think it is worth 2 minutes of your time to look at it!

Now that you have read it … let’s talk about change.  I write about it a lot, every business owner I know is figuring out how to change in today’s evolving world and how to get their people on board.

Here are a few thoughts …

1.  The world is different today than it was even a few short years ago.  Just one very small example, one of my very early blog entries was called Save My Blackberry Please.  RIM was facing some patent issues at the time and I could not envisage living without my Blackberry.  Today (and for the last couple of years) I have an iphone, and am very happy with it … RIM are facing a crisis and may not survive in their current form.  Change!

2.  Wikipedia has an entry that lists significant companies that have failed over the years …  take a look at that list since 2006! Change!

3.  There is some comfort in the familiar … BUT if you don’t change you get passed by!

4.  You can get on board with change, learn and enjoy the challenge of the new; you can get on board with change reluctantly and “do what you have to do”; or you can resist change and take your chances.  If you recognise that change is inevitable then resistance is not going to have a good outcome for you.

5.  Companies are struggling with increased global competition (including low cost labour), regulatory changes, demographic changes, skills shortages, technological innovation and economic crises … your role in this new world is to bring value.  Companies MUST change!

Be a part of the solution!

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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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Too many people live their lives as though they have no control of it … they go to work (or not), they come home they wish away their work weeks away looking forward to the weekend, so they can do nothing.  For many others work is a necessary evil that pays the bills and perhaps facilitates some hobbies outside of work … the cottage, the boat, the travelling etc.

I have spoken often about the change you can have on your life if you just recognise work is an essential part of your life, so you might as well get as much as you can from it.

Today I want you to think about getting involved in something different … a charity, a cause, a political agenda. 

Don’t go home night after night and watch TV, play video games or some other time sucking activity.  Get out and get involved!

There are a ton of charities that could use help.  I’m sure wherever you live there are social programs that could benefit from help.  Politicians make decisions every day that affect us … why not get involved and make your voice heard?

Here are a few reasons to do this …

1.  You will be making a difference in your community.

2.  You will meet interesting people.

3.  You will broaden your world.

4.  You will be using your time in a much more productive way.

5.  You will actually be OUT THERE living your life … and making a difference, which will make you feel better!

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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!

________________________________________________________________

Earlier in my career one of the difficulties I had in setting goals was that I wasn’t clear about what appropriate goals I should strive for.  I don’t think that is uncommon, because as your life evolves so too does your thinking about the future and what is important.

So I guess that begs a couple of questions:

1.  Should you bother setting goals at all?

2.  If you do, then how do you handle the fact that you don’t really know what they should be?

Let’s tackle question number one … should you bother?

My short answer is yes … and for lots of reasons:

a.  If you have a goal then you develop a strategy to reach that goal which makes it much more likely that you will at the very least move closer to that objective.

b.  If you have no goal, and therefore no plan you will be at the mercy of your situation … your environment and those around you will dictate your future.

c.  Even if the goal you aim towards is not something ou ultimately decide is important to you … you will get satisfaction from your successes on that path and presumably it won’t be in a totally different direction and therefore some or all of your gains may be used towards your new goal.

OK you are convinced to give it a try … lets tackle that other question, you don’t really know what goals to set!

1.  Some time ago I wrote a blog entry called Goals the way to take charge of your life.  Give that read!

2.  This may seem a little strange, but it doesn’t really matter what your goals are as long as they have some meaning and force you to develop a plan to reach them.  Try this …

i.  Set one goal for your career.  I want to be the most improved sales person in the company this year;  I want to become a manager; I want to be the best recruiter in the company; I want to grow my business by 20% next year.  OR It could be I want my boss to recognise me as a key contributor; I want to get better at my job etc.

ii.  OK its a goal.  Now you need a plan to get there.  If you need help then talk to anyone that will help, your manager, your HR department, your mentor (you do have one … right?).   Clearly any plan will involve effort, time, learning, commitment.

iii.  Now set a goal in your private life.  Learn a new language; learn to play guitar; get fitter; lose weight; expand your network of friends; maybe change a relationship that isn’t working!   Then, same as above, put in place a plan to progress towards your goal.

iv.  OK now you have two goals, and two plans to pursue.  You WILL get satisfaction from making progress because it is not easy, it requires commitment and effort.

v.  Review your goals regularly to see if they are the right goals, are you on-track, do you need to adjust your plan or EVEN adjust your goal!  You might even choose to add more goals!

Hitting goals is empowering, it improves your confidence and shows that you are capable of more!

Keep pushing … and yes, CHANGE those goals,  Its healthy!

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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!

Gain a competitive edge!  Join Eagle’s Executive Consulting Network!
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A recruiters role is busy, they are sourcing and matching and “selling opportunities” constantly, yet often they neglect one of the key activities that will ensure their future success … building a network.  Yes, it is partly a by-product of talking with people for your jobs but it also needs to be an activity that has its own dedicated time built into a great recruiter’s schedule.

Yes you want to talk to people who are an exact match for today’s opportunity but you also need to talk to the other great candidates even if (especially if ) you don’t have a job for them today.  If you build relationships ahead of time you can be more confident in presenting these people, because you had time to interview them and get reference checks and get a feel for “who” they are.  Over the years (no matter what company you work for) these are the people who will be in YOUR network!

Recruiters spend their working lives trying to find the best candidate to meet the needs of their clients.  In the contract staffing world it is most often a reactive search in response to a client defined need, but there is also always the opportunity to present a GREAT candidate that would bring real value.

A recruiter’s BEST chance of success is to build a network of contacts that match the kind of skills that their clients will need.  In this way they can be very responsive to orders, have a higher probability of success and build their reputation with the client too!

As recruiters work with their clients patterns emerge of the types of people these clients look for.  It is these patterns that can assist a great recruiter in defining the type of people they want to have in their network.

What Does The Network Look Like

Any network comprises of people with whom the owner has various levels of relationship, from close friends to casual acquaintances.  Most people in the network will never be close friends, but your goal as a recruiter is to develop enough of a relationship that there is some comfort there.  You build relationships by investing some time, by bringing some value and by always being credible (living up to promises etc).  So, the great recruiter will build a large network of people that they have some level of relationship with … most of whom they may have only met once, for an interview!

How Do You Build That Network

Set aside time out of your week for this activity … that is critical.  If you are not prepared to take a proactive, professional approach to building a network then you will forever be scouring job boards in the hope of finding someone.  The golden rule is to meet as many good people as possible to add to your network.  Here are some ideas …

i.  Identify what you would like people in your network to look like.  This will be determined by your clients … what industry are they in?  What are the high demand skills?  What level of people are you likely to be asked for?

ii.  Set a goal to “meet” as many of these kinds of people as possible, for an interview.  It would be very realistic to have two interviews a day, particularly if phone interviews are an acceptable practice in your company.  Face to face is always preferable, but a decent, structured conversation can give you a 90% comfort level when accompanied by reference checks.  (Note you will probably need a face to face before actually placing someone at a client).  So one face to face interview each day and one phone interview … doesn’t seem too much when this is the lifeblood of your network!!!  Starting from scratch you can build a high quality network from zero to 240 in 6 months (probably 500 in a year)!

The Care and Feeding of a Network

Creating the network is just a start to building a relationship, BUT any relationship needs to be nurtured.  All of these people need some kind of regular contact (remember … build time into your week for this), and preferably something of value.  One very easy way to do this is to send relevant articles and newsletters at least monthly.  If a subset of your network are in the banking industry then send them banking related articles.  If you work in the IT field then send them articles that may interest them.  If you deal with independent contractors then send them information related to regulatory matters.

Now comes the harder part … you need to talk to these people!  When they call you cannot ignore them! It is also important that you are not just calling when you want something either!  Call ALL of your current candidates at least monthly … how are they doing?  Is your company processing their pay well?  Do they think the role will last?  etc.  Divide the rest of your network into 12 groups (one per month) and each month call everyone in one of those groups.   If you are calling 500 people in a year, that is a little more than 40 a month or 2 a day … so set aside a couple of hours a week for talking to your network!  All of this is easy to do and track with an automated Applicant Tracking System … we use Bullhorn at Eagle.  You can build distribution lists, schedule calls and meetings plus set up reminders and even track everything with notes … all helping you in the network building process.

Benefits of the Network

i.  You have a ready source of people who will talk to you about opportunities.

ii.  When your client does need someone you have a high probability of being able to respond with a good fit.

iii.  If there is no-one in your network to fit a specific role, then chances are someone in your network will know someone!

iv.  Relationships are wonderful things … out of business relationships come great friends, buddies for life and even potential future partners!

v.  The mere act of building a network is a proactive activity which you can feel good about … when you reap benefits from your network it just feels great!

Are YOU a Great Recruiter?
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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!

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

“Oh don’t worry about that clause, we’ll just cross it off!”

“Yeah “management” won’t let us do THAT any more … I guess they don’t want business!”

Your employees are out day after day talking to your customers and business partners.  You likely hire new people, you promote people into new roles and you have people who have been there a long time … do you really know what they are all saying?

You ASSume that people know what they should say.

You ASSume that they understood the company messages and can articulate them.

You gave them that 2 hour on-boarding presentation; that new rep has been with the company for years; or, that other new rep has been in the industry for years, so they know the answers … right?

Could you imagine one of your staff saying, “I agree with you,  but the paper pushers in head office want it done this way!” or maybe (even worse), “Yes, I know the paperwork says we will do that … but REALLY, in the REAL world it just doesn’t happen!”

Clients want us to solve their problems … they don’t want to hear about ours;  AND we want our salespeople to have a relationship with our clients but building that relationship with “the company” as a common enemy is a slippery slope.  If a rep is willing to run down their own company how much is a client going to trust them?

What can you do?

I think most salespeople WANT to do a good job and represent their company well.  They don’t want to look silly, so if they are not armed with the right answers then they are just as likely to develop their own on the fly!  (That’s what I would do!)

The answer is ongoing training … a continuous education that ASSumes nothing.

The only way to be fairly sure that the messages delivered to your clients are at least CLOSE to what you would like, is to ensure the sales team is armed with the right information.

Probably the best form of this kind of training involves role playing.  Have your experienced people demonstrate and the “newbies” can see how its done before they demonstrate their new skills.

It is an investment you really can’t ignore … you really don’t want to hear from that key client that they are going elsewhere, because they were not treated well!

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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!

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

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