Home | News Archives | Career Guides | Featured Guide Series | Forums | Useful Links | Contact Us
Career Guides Career Corporate Human Resources Training & Development Knowledge Managment Time Management Stress Management Sponsors Ezboard IS Community-Supported Communities. Support us and your communities. In order for communities to thrive and grow, they need the support of their members. and we rely on both the support of our users and the support of advertisers to provide these invaluable services to you. Please help keep this site banner free by clicking here. Affiliates A Premier Provider of Management Consultant & Training Solutions. A Pocket PC Unified Body of Individuals in Singapore.		Covert Candidates It's a rare IT professional that hasn't daydreamed about joining a hot new dotcom company and cashing in a cool million in stock options after the inevitable IPO. That's why these upstart firms are able to siphon off top technical talent with little more than promises in the way of compensation and benefits. But dotcom fever is fueled by more than money, it has also sprung from the seeds of employee discontent planted by the ruthless corporate mergers and downsizing of the past 20 years. It used to be there was a certain amount of pride and personal association that tied employees to their companies. But that all changed in the 1980s with the first wave of merger mania, the recession, and later, the corporate obsession with shareholder value and profitability. In the most recent years we've seen further ?rightsizing? and more consolidation -- and less consideration of human capital. The current young generation of workers, who might have seen their fathers laid off more than once, have come of professional age in an environment where corporations are not trusted. And now in the upside-down employment market, they are calling the shots. Their attitude is ? get what you can as fast as you can, and this attitude is further fueled by the pre-IPO companies that promise not fidelity, but the lure of financial riches. Realistic Expectations There will always be professionals -- especially in the IT industry -- who will hop from startup to startup for the thrill of the chase and the financial gamble. These folks will never be happy in an established firm, so don't waste your resources on trying to source them. The dyed-in-the-wool soldier of fortune can build great wealth going from one organization to another. Still, there are legions of good, creative people out there who are adverse to taking risks but who want the opportunity to be change agents and to create something new. These professionals may also be wary of large corporations, which, even in this rosy economy, are still rightsizing. They may wonder, 'Is an AT&T really more stable than an Amazon.com? It's a good question. To stem the outgoing tide of young talent seeking their dotcom fortunes, recruiters must craft powerful recruiting messages, stressing the cutting edge opportunities at their own firms, as well as the stability and infrastructure that underpin the enterprise. These ideas might particularly resonate with those drawn to dotcoms for the promise of the million-dollar payoff, rather than the thrill of the adventure. On closer inspection, that startup might not look so attractive once the downsides and true risks are factored in. The failure rate is frequently well over 50 percent at startups. In addition, the equipment you'll have will likely be basic -- you're more likely to sit on a three-legged chair than at an executive desk. There will be no infrastructure like IT or HR to help you in any way. But while these cautionary tales might be true, they don't make for a compelling recruitment message. Lou Adler, author of Hire With Your Head and president and founder of POWERHiring.com, noted that people respond to opportunities based on three fundamental drivers: the quality of the manager, the quality of the company and the quality of the job itself. Companies that can't dazzle a candidate with stock options and the promise of early retirement have to work doubly hard to get across the excitement, challenges and intangible rewards they can offer. In promoting a position, take what makes a great day at the office, and put it into words. A good day for many technical pros is pushing the envelope, working as part of a well-oiled team, learning bankable skills and being totally caught up in the work. Your advertising of the position should focus on what they will do, and what they can become. These might be the same messages a startup can proffer, but an established company can tack on a bonus: Employees can have this, plus a work/life balance. This message will resonate powerfully with a good-sized slice of the workforce. Emphasize Work/Life Balance At startups, you work very hard. There's not much depth. They are paper-thin in terms of hierarchy, so there's no one to delegate to. You?ll give up a chunk of your life. Conversely, today's young IT professional "is into quality of life. They want to have flexible work environments so they can spend more time with family and friends, and pursue their outside activities. That's simply not compatible with dotcom life. One advantage established companies have is that they can offer some of the luxuries of flextime and telecommuting, established benefit programs and fully vested retirement plans. In addition, employees can take advantage of professional development and training -- one of the most valuable benefits to IT workers. Don?t Count on Compensation When a candidate is leaning toward a startup opportunity, companies shouldn't assume that offering a comparably rich package would change their minds. In fact, overpaying IT talent in an effort to compete against startups is a bad idea all around. Startups with lots of venture capital in their pockets will do whatever it takes to hire talent, giving away a lot of unique benefits and perquisites and stock options. But larger, established companies have for so many years operated by certain guidelines, procedures and policies, and they can't turn on a dime -- nor should they. If a firm has a compensation program that it's been using for a long while, and it has brought people in for years under this scheme, how can you maintain parity when you change the rules for hot young IT professionals? It's fiscally impossible for most companies to create compensation fairness among all its IT staff when hiring new people at inflated wages. Your existing staff will simply leave, knowing they'll be better off as a new hire somewhere else. You will have created a revolving door. Burnout Bonanza One of the positive byproducts of the dotcom revolution -- at least for older companies -- is that recruiters can source and hire those IT professionals who are tired of the hype and are ready to slow down and enjoy the benefits of an established employer. So don't overlook failing startups when sourcing passive candidates. Most recruiters are cognizant of what's going on out there with new companies, and will look at failed IPOs as fertile ground for poaching. Those professionals who took a chance because they got caught up in the hype might not want to relive that, and will be receptive to your messages of stability. Nine Reasons to Pass on that Dotcom Job When warning a candidate against a startup opportunity, You have to talk straight with them. You can't dress it up. People are either inclined to roll the dice, or they're not. But to tip the scales for those candidates you perceive to be weighing the pros and cons. Here are some messages companies can build into their recruiting pitch: ·Although it depends on the industry, the startup failure rate is high, and the chance of getting a million dollar IPO payoff is about the same as winning the lottery. ·The pre-IPO environment is stressful, and everyone has a sense of urgency. Employees have the constant awareness of living on the edge, and that a mistake could jeopardize the entire enterprise. ·Expect to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Eighteen-hour workdays, with no vacation, are the norm. ·If you need a great manager, excellent training and a long lead time to develop ideas, you are likely to fail. People who run startups are usually "idea people" who will be unable to guide or mentor. ·The equipment and work environment will likely be basic and unsupported. ·Everything you do will be a team effort. Independent contributors and owners can?t survive long in this environment. ·Employees and applicants usually must agree to nondisclosure. Even though your job is incredibly exciting, you might not be able to tell a soul about it, which can be stressful and frustrating. You might also feel constantly under suspicion as someone with access to often valuable proprietary information. ·Expect constant job insecurity, knowing the entire company could crash and burn at any time with little or no notice, and no severance package. ·If your company succeeds, it will probably either be bought out by a bigger firm or grow so fast so that you soon won?t recognize the company or your job. < Back >		Updates HR Professionals Guide Training & Development Guide Manager's Trouble Shooting Guide Series Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Selling Series HR Management Practises Series Featured Communities BIK & Associated A Premier Training & Management Provider in Training & Development Workshops. PPCSG.Org A Web Forum for the Techno Gadgets Trend Followers. Lots of Informative and Guides for your Pocket PC.
Web Rings