Don't look now, the agency handling the recruitment for the National Guard is targeting you Mr. Fisherman.

Does anyone else find the concept of Branding the National Guard as Rock Stars a bit of a disconnect?

In August, the US Army National Guard will launch a mobile marketing campaign, supported by outreach to local media, to sign up recruits at various music festivals and other outdoor events.

Developed and executed by RedPeg Marketing on behalf of prime contractor Docupak, the "Rock Star Hero Challenge," as the campaign is called, features a tour bus with 52-inch touch screen displays that allow potential recruits to see and participate in virtual missions.

Interactive kiosks where visitors can pose with images of rock bands will sit outside the buses, tying into the musical nature of the events and emphasizing the figurative "rock star" quality of Army National Guard members. The National Guard is currently on track to meet its recruiting goal for 2008.

Since 2005, it has increased its "end strength" total from 330,000 to 380,000.

"Recruiters will know about the events [in advance] and pre-market them," said RedPeg president and CEO Brad Nierenberg. "The events will be a way to engage with consumers who haven't considered the National Guard before now." Day said that recruiting is typically done on a local, grassroots level, with recruiters attending any large event where its "target demographic" might be found.

"The interactive nature makes the 'Rock Star Hero' different and will appeal to our demographic's thirst for technology," Day said.

Labels: Branding, Recruiting

In a new, ongoing series- BRANDEblog will look at talent rivalries from the HR perspective. Here is the first, with help from a recent NY Times article:

MICROSOFT vs YAHOO
You Decide

Stanford’s College Recruiting event last fall saw crowds everywhere, but only lookers at the Microsoft and Yahoo tables, versus the lingerers at Facebook and Google.

Tomorrow’s workforce is looking for more than money- particularly in the realm of engineering, where the battle for talent is fierce. They want an opportunity to work on tomorrow’s technology, along with the risk/rewards of young start-ups where the payout if the company is sold could be huge.

One soon-to-be engineer said that the potential buyout of Yahoo by Microsoft reduced his interest in either, and chose to pursue opportunities with Mozilla, creator of the Firefox browser.

Josh Becker, a venture capitalist with New Cycle Capital in San Francisco, said Microsoft’s profile in the Valley would be significantly raised “if they took over an iconic company like Yahoo.” But, he added, “whether that would translate into a sense that Microsoft is a cool place to work remains to be seen.”

Some of Yahoo’s current employees would be opposed to working for an even larger organization, where corporate was more than 850 miles away.
Others saw a Microsoft deal as a greater way to beat Google- the arch enemy.

Microsoft’s culture has been described as the 3 E’s Embrace, Extend, Exterminate and that could mean very bad things for the employees who had options to work for Microsoft before joining Yahoo. Recognizing this, here’s what CEO Steve Ballmer had to say: We hope to have the Yahoo employees be very, very excited about (the deal)," "When you combine the strengths of our two companies, the result will be an incredibly efficient and competitive offering for consumers, for advertisers and for publishers."

So, what will happen and how do YOU vote?

All I can say is that I hope if there is a buy-out, they choose BRANDEMiX, for their change management communications.

*current number of jobs aggregated by Simplyhired

Labels: college recruiting, Recruiting

1. Update Blog:

I go searching for something new that inspires me to share. MediaPost tells me that marketing professionals seek new metrics other than page hits because new technology makes that irrelevant. Yawn.

Some interesting statistics on Social Media:

* 1.3 million blog posts daily (18 per second)

* 100,000 new blogs daily (2 per second)

* More podcasts than global radio stations

* 100 million MySpace profiles

* 1.6 million Wikipedia entries

* 4 million registrations in Second Life

* But only 15,000 concurrent users at any one time

OK. That might have legs.


Second Life has 4 million registrations but only 15,000 users. 15,000 users doesn't seem like a lot. Then I read a story on SHRM that changed the numbers to 6 million registered users and 25,000 - 40,000 users on at a time.

Since it's only 7:30 am, maybe by this evening the numbers will go up again. But, whatever the actual numbers are, it didn't stop 800 companies from signing up at a 3-day recruiting event on Second Life sponsored by TMP. Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, eBay, Sodexho, T-Mobile and Verizon signed up for the event and companies are spending 75,000 - 100,000 to build destinations, with an additional $10,000/mo support fees.

But in the recruiting space- who are these people and how will they fit with the REAL culture of your company.

In a survey conducted by Park Associates, over a fifth of users said that they have more SL friends than in real life, and 29% felt that SL interfered with their real-world social life.

Labels: BRANDEMiX, Metrics, Recruiting, Second Life

There are a lot of things that we know are coming. Christmas and Taxes are two. And I knew that James Brown would one day be buried, though it did take longer than one would imagine-- From Chrismas Day till March 10.

But even though I've been hearing about the war for talent for more than 10 years, I was still surprised yesterday when I read in the New York Times that it was finally here. And by here I mean on Earth, not just in New York or the USA.

At Soitech Semiconductor, Human Resources is encouraging candidates to bypass their departments and go directly to the hiring managers to shorten the time to fill.


Soitech is going to schools to encourage students to pursue engineering degrees or any degrees. And yet, with all their efforts, 2007 is going down as the worst year in recruiting history.

EU has a 7.5% unemployment rate and although its not as bad as the US 4.5%, there are still many tactical similarities:

• They are bringing employees out of retirement
• They are offshoring their business
• They are importing their talent

As I think back to the countless presentations I've seen and given on the subject of the War for Talent, the changing demographics, the 2 people leaving for every 1 person coming, it a wonder that I'm surprised.

But it's a little scarier in the world. Good thing James is resting in peace.

Labels: Human Resource, Recruiting, recruitment advertising, war for talent

The topic of the day is Technology 2.0 and I'm preparing a speaking presentation on the subject and doing a lot of research. I came across a great article today on a subject that I've been getting a lot of interest in. That is-- setting up a MySpace site for B to B.

Hopefully you've seen the BRANDEMiX site on MySpace. Been there. Done that. We don't get a lot of interest and we don't have a lot of friends, but on the other hand, we don't invest a lot of time in it so I guess that's fair.

For those of you who are interested in buying banner advertising on MySpace -- there's a $25,000 minimum for a campaign. I sent in a request about 2 weeks ago for a client and haven't heard back yet so I guess there's a waiting list.

But this article I read talked about doing a viral campaign where you can offer an incentive for having people place your banner on their site. The article said that traffic increased from 200 to 9,000 hits in one day.

That sounds great. Suggestion- make sure your website is where you want it to be before launching anything like this. But don't be afraid to have fun.

Call me with your questions and if you're doing anything of interest in the tech recruiting arena, I'd love to hear from you before my Prezzy next month.

Labels: MySpace, Recruiting, technology, Trends

According to a piece by Kristi Essick in the Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal.com, retirement is only an option. Discussing websites like YourEncore.com and Senior Job Bank, the "55-plus crowd" is being specifically recruited by Fortune 500 companies. In fact, YourEncore.com was founded by Eli Lilly and Procter & Gamble.

Donna Wadleigh of YourEncore.com explained: "Companies realize they will soon be faced with a mass exodus of their most qualified people...companies can bring back highly skilled people that provide value immediately." The website's FAQ states: "Retirees will use their knowledge and expertise to solve well defined scientific and technical problems."

Another site, Seniors4Hire, practically began by accident after the California-based Forward Group started a less-successful site named Teens4Hire. Said founder Rene Ward: "Companies said they were worried young people didn't have the right attitude, but they'd be happy to hire people over 55." Bank of America, RadioShack, and Regal Entertainment being companies that have utilized the services of this particular site.

Started by Jay Zavala, a former federal employee who had retired, the Employment Network for Retired Government Experts matches retired gov't workers with companies in the private sector. Zavala explained: "I created Enrge because as soon as I retired, I had companies knocking on my door asking for help...The government is the largest employer in the U.S. and has experts in every possible field." Hundreds have already registered.

Other sites are out there, like Dinosaur Exchange, are internationally-focused.

But whatever the focus is, the key is that if you have the needed skills, you're never too old to be working. Competent employees will always be in demand.

Labels: Human Resources, Internet, Recruiting, Seniors

According to a piece by J. Nicholas Hoover in Information Week: "Fed up with rising health care costs, Intel, Wal-Mart, and others think giving employee digital records will help."

A "warehouse project" of sorts, big companies are working to create massive "data warehouses" that give employees online access to their personal health records. Ultimately, this plan carries a goal of letting employees compare costs and availability of services. It is an intended solution to those aforementioned rising costs, which HR consulting firm Towers Perrin estimates in 2007 as costing employers 58% more and employees 81% more than it did 5 years earlier in 2002.

Explaining this move-ahead, Intel Chairman Craig Barrett said: "Health care is pricing itself out of business." Furthermore, he notes: "If we can use our purchasing power to drive massive adoption of technology and procedures and best known methods which provide better care at lower cost, we ought to get into that debate."

However, plans from Intel and other like-minded companies aren't aiming to stop hospitals and doctors from having their own electronic medical records. And that is not to say that all corporations are onboard for this concept, as Cisco opted to decline Intel's offer, with their VP of Health Care, Dr. Jeff Rideout, explaining: "The people most likely to use the personal health record are those with a chronic condition, so you've got to know your audience."

But Intel stands their ground, believing that information-sharing of consumer-directed health-care "will lead to better care and fewer mistakes." As does President Bush, who recently signed "an executive order forcing health care providers to be more transparent in terms of costs and information on quality of care."

While data privacy and security remain a potential obstacle, along with the ability to transfer records, the key is that healthcare is changing, and in turn, how employees are spending their hard-earnered money will change. Quality is being demanded by all parties involved, ensuring healthcare to become a hot topic for companies to look into for the sake of staff recruiting and maintenance.

So how does your company feel about this?

Labels: Benefits, Health, Recruiting

According to a piece by Ronald Alsop from the Wall Street Journal's Career Journal, graduate schools may be in trouble.

A recruiter named Jean Wyer discusses her difficulty in finding accounting professors. She said: "What terrifies me as a practitioner is the possibility that some schools may decide to stop having accounting majors if they can't find enough qualified people to teach."

Dr. James Thomas, a business college dean, echoes the scenario, himself struggling to fill 11 vacant positions: "Professors are becoming more nomadic as they go where the money is; moving to another school may mean a 50% increase in compensation."

AACSB International, an accrediting organization discussed how there is a current shortage of 1,000 Ph.D's in the U.S., with that number expected to rise to 2,400 Ph.D's by 2012. Ultimately it is found that Ph.D programs are costly to operate and that enrollments have been limited due to there being fewer qualified applicants.

High cost of running Ph.D programs? Yes, that's correct: "According to AACSB, newly hired professors with doctorates commanded average salaries of $137,400 in 2006, up from $113,400 in 2000. But those are just the averages; some faculty stars may fetch salaries of $250,000 or more."

In response, programs like AACSB's Professionally Qualified Faculty Bridge Program and PricewaterhouseCoopers' PwC Teaches are recruiting for lower-cost, less-traditional faculty. Ditto for higher-tier business schools, Georgetown University being one of them.

But not so fast says the aforementioned Dr. Thomas, as he "receives at least one query a week from executives who are nearing retirement or itching for a career change. " He added: "But they forget that engaging a large group of students isn't something everyone can do. I advise them to try their hand at a local community college or even high school before they waltz into a top university."

Whatever the case may be, you may want to say goodbye to the post-undergrad world as we know it.

Labels: Education, Human Resource, MBA, Recruiting

Great piece in Trend Watching (www.trendwatching.com) called "Top 5 Consumer Trends For 2007," while we're still fresh in the New Year spirit. But 12 pages are a bit tough to re-print, so here are some highlights that stuck out:

1) Status Lifestyles

"Expect 2007 to be the year in which many brands realize (if not grudgingly accept) that the 'old,' mass-era status symbols...are no longer every consumers' wet dream...mature consumer socities are increasingly dominated by (physical) abundance, by saturation, by experiences, by virtual worlds, by individualism, by participation, by feelings of guilt and concern about the side effects of unbridled consumption"

"With the environment finally on the agenda of most powers that be, and millions of consumers now actively trying to greenify their lives, status from leading an eco-responsible lifestyle is both more readily available, and increasing in value...Don't hesitate to point our your competitor's polluting alternatives."

"One thing you can't go wrong with in 2007 is to ask yourself how your current and new products and experiences will satisfy a plethora of very diverse status seekers."

2) Transparency Tyranny

"1+ billion consumers are now online, and the majority of them have been online for years. They're skilled bargain seekers and 'best of the best' hunters, they're avid online networkers and they're opinionated reviewers and advisors (tripadvisors.com now boasts 5,000,000+ travel reviews)."

"Everything brands do or don't do will end up on youtube.com, or on an undoubtedly soon to be launched youtube-clone dedicated to product reviews."

"Consumers reviews will increasingly become real time and on the spot, i.e. expect ever shorter gaps between a consumer experience (good or bad) and the rest of the world knowing about it...Smart 'participants' will want to get paid in 2007."

"Pleasant side-effect: mass postings will also unmask, outnumber, and neutralize any fake reviews posted by desparate brands trying to piggy back on the powers of transparency."

"What will make things easier this time around is that a) everybody is now online, and b) social software has taken care of the aggregation challenge. All this now needs is a crowd clout entreprenuer that will add a group-buying feature to existing networking sites."

3) Web N+1

"Quick tip: start by (re)reading everything by Kevin Kelly, who has been correct in predicting the Next Big Online Thing over and over again."

4) Trysumers

"Niche of course being the new mass, as consumer societies are now about standing out, not conformity, which in tun means an encouragement to explore one's often broader-than-assumed taste."

"Navigation is the new laissez faire."

"Since advertising is as trusted as a certain president with two more years to go, trying out and sampling is the new advertising."

"The auction culture is beginning to empower the consumer to reach because they can afford better items since they're not paying the whole ticket for them...they're willing to take more chances because they know there's an exit if they made a mistake."

5) The Global Brain

"This year, expect many opportunities, small and big, to aggressively court the 1% of most creative and experienced individuals roaming the globe."

Conclusion

"Take any of the five trends above, sit down with your colleagues or team, and figure out how they may impact your business, your brand, your job:

- Vision
- New business concepts
- New products, services, experiences
- Marketing, advertising, PR"

Well, folks, still a lot of gold that in there that isn't mentioned above. But TrendWatching.com is raising some great points about the times changing, and companies needing to change to meet consumer demands, rather than being the other way around -- "supply and demand" no longer means what it did for many years. And with changing companies, we have a changing workforce.

Stay tuned!

Labels: Online Advertising, Recruiting, Status, Trends

In another piece from Inc. Magazine’s Stephanie Clifford, entrepreneurs give their two cents about specific economic indicators, and how they think they will affect their companies in 2007.

Among the factors that entrepreneurs ought to consider:

1. Logistics – “The Shipping News” – Consider opening more warehouses and other methods of lowering costs related to long-term transportation logistics
2. Communications – “Get Hip to Blogs” – Consider blogging to be a “huge, free focus group,” and utilize such for demographic research
3. Energy – “Go Green” – Consider budgeting for higher gas and fuel costs, but also consider implementing sources of renewable energyConsumer Products – “The Wal-Mart Backlash Continues” – Consider competing on quality and service rather than on price as many retailers tend to do
4. Consumer Products - "The Wal-Mart Backlash Continues" - Consider competing on quality and service rather than on price as many retailers tend to do
5. Real Estate – “Blowing Bubbles” – Consider budgeting for higher commercial rents and rising interest rates
   

Which of these indicators is Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich tracking? “None.” And why? “They’ve never proven to correlate materially with our business.” Also agreeing with that line of thinking of Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy who said “We don’t really look at economic trends of whatever.” Ditto for Xpress Source CEO Mike Pierce: “We see things happening much quicker than the analysts.”

However, the fourth factor raises some good points, specifically that not all consumers prefer quantity to quality. Relating that to your workforce, for the same amount of money, would you rather have four workers that are “OK” or two workers that are “Excellent?” If you are indeed looking for those two excellent candidates, then you ought to consider where it is that you’re looking for these new recruits. Are you putting an ad in the local Pennysaver, or are you recruiting on-campus at top-notch universities? The logistics, communications, energy, and real estate can all be worked around in today’s ultra-hip and rapidly-changing environment, but a loyal, qualified, and productive workforce cannot.

So what are your company’s goals and hopes for 2007? We’re all ears…feel free to post ‘em!

In the meantime, BRANDEMiX wishes you and those around you a Happy New Year. See you in 2007!

Labels: Forecasting, Recruiting, Trends

According to a piece in Inc. Magazine titled "Cracks In The Melting Pot," reverse outsourcing isn't as far-fetched as it seems. Says author Stephanie Clifford: "Visa restrictions are keeping entrepreneurial immigrants away, and they're finding new opportunities overseas."

The initial focus of this particular article is on 31-year old Praveen Suthrum. Suthrum came immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1999 to work as a software consultant. While holding down that position, he earned an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan, while doing freelance work and setting up NextServices, his own company in Ann Arbor. However, earlier this year, after returning to India for a short business-minded trip, he found himself in the midst of visa-related complications. Thus, he still remains in India, unable to communicate with his employees or clients in-person.

Ultimately, Clifford goes on to discuss how the U.S. has adjusted the cap on H-1B work visas over the years, also increasing the necessary standards to be granted such. Clifford also notes that "while the U.S. dithers, other nations are recruiting entrepreneurs." Government-supported programs in Canada and Australia have "changed their policies to favor immigrants with university degrees and business expertise" while the U.S. "continues to favor relatives over skilled workers." Following Canada and Australia are Singapore, Israel, and Ireland. Meanwhile, the Taiwan-based technology incubator Hsinchu Science Park is specifically recruiting "Taiwanese-born U.S. residents to come back home"; at least one-third of its staff is said to meet this criteria.

Author David Heenan sums up the international scenario, stating that "on a 10-point scale, in terms of national incentives," the U.S. is "at about a one." Agile Software CEO Bryan Stolle agrees, citing experience in having more than 100 of his employees move on to posts overseas: "And a lot of people who used to come here saying that this was the place to be, are stating to say, 'You know what? Home's not so bad.'"

Is the U.S. losing promising talent to other countries which are able to promise more? Yes, clearly. How does this apply to your company? Well, look around. How are you finding your talent? What sort of background is your average new recruit bringing to the table? What sort of path is your average new recruit to looking to follow? If your company is offering less than an overseas competitor is, with more government-related policy to consider, then maybe things should be done differently.

Labels: Human Resources, Outsourcing, Recruiting, Visas

Remember an earlier BRANDEblog posting about a company that recruits its workers from colleges, places them into training, and then drafts them NFL-style? Well, that's a whole lot nicer than what Mindbridge Software has in mind.

According to a recent piece from Inc. Magazine, the Philadelphia-based Mindbridge earns its keep by making intranet software. But many of the people inside of the company making that software didn't come on-board in the most traditional ways. A common means in which almost half of the company's 80 employees were recruited? Gathering "outside the office of a struggling rival" and offering "to buy lunch for staffers leaving the building." If that doesn't work, Mindbridge has follow-up tactics up its sleeve, in one instance waiting for a particular prospect next to their car at the end of the workday.

Is this stalking? Harassment? Or just a creative means of recruiting talent? Says Mindbridge COO Scott Testa, in regards to criticism of Mindbridge and related lawsuits: "Generally, if you're not getting sued, you're not doing business. Show me a high-tech company not involved and I'll show you a company that is not aggressive enough." Lawler Kang, a business consultant and author, directly disagrees stating: "If you're too aggressive, it can give the company being poached a good call to arms to fire up their employees." Yet Chris Forman, the CEO of a consulting and training firm in Vermont, comes in between the standpoints of Testa and Kang acknowledging that "It's not good to enough to come to work, go to the meetings, and do your job well. You need to be looking for talent." Although Testa did admit that tactics like this sometimes do backfire.

Article author Scott Westcott poses a good point in the piece: "Who doesn't love to be courted?" Testa agrees with the concept, concluding: "Who doesn't like to be flattered?"

What's to be learned from the writing or Mr. Westcott? Keep a close eye on your competitors...and your employees. You never know what the closest "Mindbridge" has in mind -- or what you can learn from them.

Labels: Human Resources, Recruiting, Talent