We often speak of giving meaning to work, but what really is the value that it provides? Although in North America “hard work” is highly valued(1), it’s not the same in other countries and cultures.
Roger and Martine are a pair of expatriates. Expatriates generally go in pairs. Solos are rarer since the experience of emigrating goes better with two. The profile of an expatriate is generally an executive with high potential or a senior leader of the organization. It’s the type of career that requires so much personal investment that it‘s difficult to get there on your own.
If all roads lead to Rome, the same can’t be said for career changes. When you know the final destination everything is simple; at worst it will take a bit longer, with stops in Tokyo or San Diego. The hitch comes when you have absolutely no idea. Career changes look like that...
“True Story: How to Combine Story and Action to Transform Your Business” is the title of a recently published book on the power of doing what you say. The author, Ty Montagne, is the former president of one of the largest advertizing agencies in the United States. It can be assumed that he knows what he is talking about regarding the Art of Storytelling and of transforming an ugly duckling into a graceful swan or selling the idea that Brand X laundry detergent washes “whiter than white”....
A recent article published by Borys Groysberg and Deborah Bell of Harvard University was titled “Talent Management: Boards Give Their Companies an ‘F’”. The dunces are found in the sectors of industry and energy. Those who fared best are telecoms, IT and the health sector.
We live in a world of appearances and we are what we project or what we would like to project. The style of our dress, car, bike or subway, residence makes up a part of the message we send to others about WHO we are. Whether you change into “flip-flops” and pyjamas when you get home from the office is only seen by you and your family. Many people preserve their privacy and limit appearing in old tracksuits to their small (very small) close circle.
Tomorrow, recruiters could be replaced by robots. “Science” is being put at the service of recruitment and it seems that some well-chosen algorithms and mathematical formulae could supplant the work of humans. Nothing new, you will say, we’ve already seen tech breakthroughs a few times trying to intervene in evaluation of candidates: online personality tests, ultra-sophisticated CRMs, "ATS", in short, the market for automating recruitment arouses great interest and investments in research and development. Today we’ll speak about predictive technologies in the service of recruitment.
The waltz of the CEOs and senior executives continues. You can’t stop change. As of March 2013, the rate that CEOs are leaving is practically the same as in 2008. Crisis or not, if you are an executive you’re sitting in an ejection seat with fewer and fewer parachutes at hand...
Every experienced recruiter knows that this job is full of surprises. Even a fairy-tale like hiring process can turn around at any time... You can never tell until it’s over if the process will have a happy ending.
Succession plans are not made to stay in filing cabinets, to be taken out once a year for the Human Resources Committee of the Board of Directors. Although most companies have a succession plan, they don’t all have a true picture of the situation in hand. There is a big difference between an emergency plan for temporary replacement of a CEO or executive and a succession plan that fits in the long term and is an integral part of the organization’s leadership development culture.
“I don’t want my company to have a reputation for being nice.” This is what a leader of a large company let drop to me in conversation on his talent management strategy.
One day our family adopted a turtle. I remember when we gave in before the eyes of my youngest daughter at the pet store (rather like Puss in Boots making eyes at me in the movie Shrek... absolutely irresistible!). In short, it was Christmas and we came back home with the small (very small) Florida turtle with a little aquarium that fitted perfectly on my youngest daughter’s night table.