Brazil’s land mass at 8.5 million kilometers is just a bit larger than Australia and barely smaller than the US & China. Their population, 191 million, is 2/3 the US. 83% of Brazilians are live in urban area apartment complexes. Suburbs may be coming but they aren't here yet. (Perhaps as the subways are completed to handle the influx expected for the 2016 Olympics, it will be more practical.) Brazil’s GDP is growing faster than most other countries in the world. The shift in the number of people considered ‘middle class’ in Brazil has moved from 34% of the population to 53% in just 5 years!
The next events defining Brazil’s growing Ineternational visibility are the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. Evidence of these events and the pride Brazilians feel at having won them is palpable. Our delegation spent the entire day (Tuesday, November 28) at the southern edge of Rio De Janeiro learning about the Business Strategy, Operation and HR practices of the Brazil’s media giant, Globo whose largest division, TV Globo, is located here.
In stark contrast to ChemTech which had grown from 100 to 1000 employees in the last decade (see previous blog), TV Globo has 11,000 F/T employees and an equal number of service/contingent workers. The employee size of the company however doesn't begin to describe its influence in Brazil.
Consider that most of the “Media” revenues in Brazil (63%) are generated through TV advertising. Only 4% of revenue in this category was attributed to the Internet as of 2010 (versus 16% in the US by contrast). Magazines are 9% and Newspapers have dropped but are still 12%. “PayTV” is miniscule but growing very rapidly as the ‘middleclass’ grows and can afford to switch to HD.
Globo dominates every single category.
Brazil’s Media Industry grosses the 5th highest amount of advertising dollars in the world. Comparing TV advertising dollars alone, Brazil is 3rd in the world. When you consider the proportion claimed by Globo, it is a serious contender on the world stage.
I tried to imagine a similar firm in the US. It would own 50% of every TV station, Newspaper, Magazine and Cable company. AND it would be producing 35,000 hours of content annually. Not just the news shows but feature films, kids shows, public radio and TV messaging, soap operas, etc, etc. A BBC gone commercial. I couldn't get my mind around it. Every day nearly 100 million people watch TV Globo or one of its 122 affiliates during prime time! The size and quality of its demographic is the reason they get a significant premium rate over their competitors.
It seems to me as a relatively naïve observer (with only a few data points so far) that Brazil’s architecture (in Rio), lack of cable access and the strength of its traditional labor unions reminds me of the 50’s and 60’s in the US…but not totally. The growth of the Internet and mobile trends in Brazil mirrors the 90’s but, higher level professionals and students are quickly closing the gap. Strategies around the engagement of employees reflects current US practices although engagement here is in combination with a unique Brazilian nationalistic flair that is appealing to me but unlike any approach I’ve seen emerge in US based firms.
TV Globo’s HR practices emphasize a solid workforce planning strategy, job rotation and intense collaboration as a critical competency. Interns and employee referrals are key sources. Retention is nearly 97% (and that isn't necessarily healthy). The firm has a solid HR leadership team and has been building a competency model to reduce 1,000 job titles, is enhancing their internships, ramping up programs to ensure greater inclusion of people with incomes below ‘ middle-class’ as well as people with disabilities.
We got back late Tuesday and I’m still trying to decide whether to post pictures of our journey to a Brazilian Samba club. Some sights just aren’t meant to be shared and my version of the Samba would need some serious photoshopping. Wednesday included a vist to a rain forest and to a legitimate wonder of the world before our flight to Sao Paulo. I'll post pictures tomorrow.
Thursday and Friday five business meetings are on tap.
(Thanks to Mike Hard and BountyJobs for their support of my trip to Brazil)
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
3. Brazil: First Meeting is with a “Jedi” No, Really! Copacabana #shrmglobal
This is my kind of town. Laid back. Gives new meaning to the term business casual.
Woke up at 10AM this morning (Monday, November 28). Thought I overslept and then realized that we were three hours ahead so it was only 7am in the East (and besides we weren’t going to head out to our first company meeting until 1pm.) Plenty of time. Got into my Copacabana garb- T-shirt, shorts and flip flops and went for a 2 mile walk in the mist by the beach. Stopped half-way for a coconut.
It doesn't get better than this! And I'm not even wearing a hat. Haven’t found one yet.
First Meeting for the SHRM delegation was with ChemTech, a Brazilian firm founded 22 years ago by three engineers, the last of whom recently left. The company, transitioning into its post-founder phase is involved in the engineering of automation and industrial processes for the oil and gas industry and lately has been riding the boom of oil discovery and development in Brazil.
What is so special about ChemTech? The founders, and now the current management, have won a series of “Great Places to Work” awards. The awards, based primarily on anonymous employee ratings as well as other performance criteria, ranked Chemtech as the #1 firm in Brazil to work for twice and, most recently, number one in South America. They’ve also won an award from a major business magazine as the most innovative firm in Brazil. Not a bad run. We’re about to learn why. Our delegation of 23, mostly HR execs, is meeting with the new president, the company’s CHRO (HR General Manager), her team and the VP of R&D.
Before reflecting on some of the comments offered by Daniel, ChemTech’s CEO and, Daniella, their HRExec, here is a quick summary to set the stage.
Below are snippets from his conversation with minimal paraphrasing that I’m stitching together:
Three strategies are used to source, engage and woo the highest quality engineers from what appears to be a pretty solid pool of graduating engineers attending Brazilian Universities. Obviously the pipeline relies heavily on interns but these are vetted much more on their ability to learn and accept rapid growth in responsibility for major projects.
For the moment (I want to go over the details in more depth) each of the strategies employed offering intriguing learning opportunities (training, continuing ed., engineering challenges, etc.) to a broad range of students to help them compete – whether they joined ChemTech or not. Very well-balanced creative tactics went along with the strategies as a way to surface and meet the prospects, engage and assess them.
At the end of the day, it was apparent we were all impressed by the commitment and passion of the folks we had met. I remember thinking about F.W. Taylor’s comments (which always seem as relevant to me as they were when he first wrote them) which went something like: “Never before has there been a greater need for large numbers of quality workers at every level from president to assembly line worker. The problem however is that we all want them now…people someone else has trained.” (liberally taken from the Principles of Scientific Management published in 1911).
After taking our leave there was only one thing to do….head out to Sugar Loaf Mountain where I had my first Caipirinha.
Woke up at 10AM this morning (Monday, November 28). Thought I overslept and then realized that we were three hours ahead so it was only 7am in the East (and besides we weren’t going to head out to our first company meeting until 1pm.) Plenty of time. Got into my Copacabana garb- T-shirt, shorts and flip flops and went for a 2 mile walk in the mist by the beach. Stopped half-way for a coconut.
It doesn't get better than this! And I'm not even wearing a hat. Haven’t found one yet.
First Meeting for the SHRM delegation was with ChemTech, a Brazilian firm founded 22 years ago by three engineers, the last of whom recently left. The company, transitioning into its post-founder phase is involved in the engineering of automation and industrial processes for the oil and gas industry and lately has been riding the boom of oil discovery and development in Brazil.
What is so special about ChemTech? The founders, and now the current management, have won a series of “Great Places to Work” awards. The awards, based primarily on anonymous employee ratings as well as other performance criteria, ranked Chemtech as the #1 firm in Brazil to work for twice and, most recently, number one in South America. They’ve also won an award from a major business magazine as the most innovative firm in Brazil. Not a bad run. We’re about to learn why. Our delegation of 23, mostly HR execs, is meeting with the new president, the company’s CHRO (HR General Manager), her team and the VP of R&D.
Before reflecting on some of the comments offered by Daniel, ChemTech’s CEO and, Daniella, their HRExec, here is a quick summary to set the stage.
- ChemTech had fewer than 100 engineers as recently as 2001.
- They have nearly 1300 employees today with most of them (800) in Rio and branches in several countries including the US and Middle East.
- They have 250 interns in 2011 and expect nearly all of them to convert to F/T
- They have about 150 projects going on at any time.
- They are growing, very profitable (a subsidiary now of Siemens) and have an excellent position to play in the big leagues with the likes of GE, Schlumberger, Hallibuton, EMC and others who have joined with the Federal University in Rio to create an energy research center for the development of an estimated $1 trillion in oil reserves off the coast of Brazil and improve other forms of energy.
- 80% of their employees are 25-35 years old! 50% are GenY! (Almost every other firm in their industry is the reverse -and not just in Brazil)
- ChemTech provides 110 hours of training and development per employee per year.
- Daniel, the CEO, started with ChemTech 15 years ago as an Intern. And Daniel, as one might expect, was a very able and articulate fan of his people and his firm.
Below are snippets from his conversation with minimal paraphrasing that I’m stitching together:
- ChemTech was founded when Brazil was still an ugly duck, not so much on the world stage– a terrible time to start a firm with inflation…
- The founders wanted a place where they could make money AND start something different
- a setoff core values that mean something to the way our employees are treated.
- The problem (in differentiating) is everyone wants experienced engineers and there just aren’t enough of them.
- We decided to do something very different- to hire, train and develop young engineers and, very quickly, give them significant project responsibility that other firms might not trust their junior employees to take on for years. We give them full responsibility, prepare them and then trust them with real challenges.
- So, when we seek a very few senior professionals we don’t look for competence and skills alone, we actually look for people who are ‘teachers without a class’ who are desperate to share what they know. We tell them “You are going to work with a lot of young people and this is their first experience. And some turned us down. Some claimed the risk of failure to large. They were wrong. We are changing the way this industry does things
- As a result our biggest problem is retention. We are a target. I tell our engineers “Please, when you go out to lunch, remove your badges. (laughter) I’m not kidding it has happened twice that offers we’re made.
- It is my mission today to create the same opportunities for more than 1000 people.
- Another challenge is that we are trying to scale our HR efforts. In the past the CEO could be involved in every hire.
- The HR dept started in 2008 is viewed as the ‘front of the shop’.
- (In response to a branding question vis a vis Siemens) Siemens is a great multi-national with 400,000 employees. Their core values include Responsibility, Excellence and Innovation and we can fit what we do into their language and we can show it is perfectly compatible without diluting our DNA.
- (In response to a question about redeployment & mobility) Part of answer is that we still have a small company attitude where folks have to do whatever it takes. We can say to someone whose project is coming to an end that we like you but we don’t have similar work right now but maybe we can give you training, or have you work outside your comfort zone. That way we do not lay off as our competitors do.
- We have a saying “we will always find a volunteer” We are a Jedi company and I use the Star wars Jedi Knight analogy to teach our students about our core values.
- If we deliver a quality product on-time at the price we promised but at a cost that destroys our (engagement) connections with our employees then we have failed ( told story about removing a leader who had pushed his team too far despite the project’s success. Daniel brought the team together and was transparent about the reasons.)
- (In Response to whether Great places to Work survey is only indicator) No, a second annual external survey provides level of job satisfaction by job family and it is a big subject at the board level.
- (Movie reference) It’s not the game. It’s the people.
Three strategies are used to source, engage and woo the highest quality engineers from what appears to be a pretty solid pool of graduating engineers attending Brazilian Universities. Obviously the pipeline relies heavily on interns but these are vetted much more on their ability to learn and accept rapid growth in responsibility for major projects.
For the moment (I want to go over the details in more depth) each of the strategies employed offering intriguing learning opportunities (training, continuing ed., engineering challenges, etc.) to a broad range of students to help them compete – whether they joined ChemTech or not. Very well-balanced creative tactics went along with the strategies as a way to surface and meet the prospects, engage and assess them.
At the end of the day, it was apparent we were all impressed by the commitment and passion of the folks we had met. I remember thinking about F.W. Taylor’s comments (which always seem as relevant to me as they were when he first wrote them) which went something like: “Never before has there been a greater need for large numbers of quality workers at every level from president to assembly line worker. The problem however is that we all want them now…people someone else has trained.” (liberally taken from the Principles of Scientific Management published in 1911).
After taking our leave there was only one thing to do….head out to Sugar Loaf Mountain where I had my first Caipirinha.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Brazil: Getting to Rio De Janeiro: Good News, Bad News #shrmglobal
The good news is that I arrived at New York’s JFK Terminal 4 for my 5:40 PM Saturday flight well in advance (nearly four hours in advance!) hoping I would have plenty of time to finish my first blog and read up on the articles about Brazil that I had put aside, get some water for the flight, and visit the United/Continental or some ‘Star alliance’ Lounge to relax. (TAM, the Brazilian airline our 26-member SHRM delegation was scheduled to travel on is a Star Alliance partner.)
I had previously determined from my e-ticket that we would be traveling direct to Rio from an airport one hour from home in NJ and, although I couldn’t use my mileage on Continental to upgrade, I chose to go with the official delegation rather than a separate flight on United routing through Houston and then to Rio. I also learned that if you checked in early enough, there might be low cost ($60) upgrade to a roomier seat.
Fingers crossed.
The bad news is that when I spotted the TAM airlines check-in area, it was filled to overflowing with two poorly policed lines snaking outside the roped-in area. No signage. No smiling customer assistants. Beyond the ‘designated’ line, people seemed tense, wary of their position and casting evil eyes at all who considered jumping ahead.
I chose the left line (it’s supposed to move faster according to some silly article I once read). Good choice, wrong reason as I discovered ten minutes later from the young Brazilian couple in front of me. Apparently the left line is for RIO - the right hand line is for a Sao Paulo flight. Good, I’m going to Rio.
I wonder if specializing in a specific flight is that productive. (A little foreshadowing here). Note to self: Engage the people in front of you over casual conversation sooner rather than later.
So what was the bad news if I got in the correct line? Well, it seems TAM has few automated methods for checking passengers in. As far as I could tell nothing much was happening very fast. Given the speed the line moved I could have sworn the agents were writing each ticket out longhand…and checking it twice. Both lines were about a one hour wait. Still, making the best of the situation I passed the time in idle conversation. The friendly couple one step ahead had so much luggage they couldn't move it all at once.
Several times I just grabbed one of their cases and moved with them as the line inched forward (this ostensibly helpful gesture also served to ensure a gap large enough for someone to jump into it didn’t appear). In addition to various handbags and backpacks my new Brazilian friends had three ‘humongus’ pieces of luggage almost as tall and wide as themselves (Ok, they were both about 5’ 7’ and slim, but the luggage seemed even bigger). Obviously in their 20s and well off from the looks of their designer-wear I saw no children and asked how long they had been visiting in the US (since it seemed they had enough stuff for months). “No, no”, they laughed, “we come here every Thanksgiving to shop.” “We have a large family and buy appliances and presents for everyone.”
That’s when I noticed just how much of the 'line' was luggage...not people. More than half. I’m guessing I was booked on Brazil’s Infamous Black Friday Return Flight. (And now I’m beginning to think about the weight on this plane.)
The good news is that when I finally traversed the room and reached my friendly helpful ticket agent, Mauricio, he immediately looked at my e-ticket to Rio, smiled a secret smile, and got to work producing boarding tickets but not before I asked in my most courteous tone, “Mauricio, sorry to bother you but, I heard that there might be an inexpensive upgrade to seats with a little more legroom. Would there be anything you could do for a grandparent?”
“Absolutely”, he replied. “In fact, from your passport, I can see you are old enough to qualify for our upgraded ‘comfort’ seat free of charge.”
I thought I had won the lottery. I had visions of plush reclining seats and plenty of room to manuever
The bad news is that as Mauricio leaned over to give me my tickets, he informed me, quietly, that what I thought was the 5:40 PM to Rio was, in fact, the 5:40 PM to Sao Paulo where after a brief layover we would continue on to Rio. The actual direct Rio flight was at 4:15PM and, technically he did me a favor by not making me go back to the end of the other line. Good choice on Mauricio’s part and I thanked Mauricio with my own secret smile and continued on to a fairly routine security check-point while thinking that the Continental Business Class through Houston I failed to book was looking up. (I later learned another member of the delegation made the same error and was sent to the back of the ‘right’ line.)
The good news is that the bulk of the SHRM delegates were easy to find milling near the gate. Clearly we were all excited to get started on our adventure coming in from all over the country. Most were CHROs (see Howard Wallach’s blog with demographics).
Let the networking begin.
The bad news is that when I boarded the plane and found my 'comfort' seat, someone else was sitting in it. She was old. Much older than I. Even whiter hair. She pointed plaintively to the seat behind her (which I took, correctly, to be her proper seat) and pantomimed (I’m guessing English wasn’t what she wanted to use in this instance) that it pained her to sit in the ‘normal’ seat one row behind MY ‘comfort’ seat. I agree. It is more uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I was just scammed or whether I'm a sucker for little old ladies. I do know however, that if this plane goes down, I will be in the first row of survivors.
We arrived in Sao Paulo by 6:30 am (about 3 hours ahead of Eastern Time and managed to get to Rio by 9am with only one more challenge (lost luggage) but hey, no problem goes without a solution and, who can complain when your view out the JW Marriott located right on Copacabana beach looks like this.
The rest of the day is nap, walk on the beach, orientation, walk on the beach, dinner, walk on the beach. Business can wait til Monday.
(A shout out to Mike Hard and Bounty Jobs for their support in underwriting my trip)
I had previously determined from my e-ticket that we would be traveling direct to Rio from an airport one hour from home in NJ and, although I couldn’t use my mileage on Continental to upgrade, I chose to go with the official delegation rather than a separate flight on United routing through Houston and then to Rio. I also learned that if you checked in early enough, there might be low cost ($60) upgrade to a roomier seat.
Fingers crossed.
The bad news is that when I spotted the TAM airlines check-in area, it was filled to overflowing with two poorly policed lines snaking outside the roped-in area. No signage. No smiling customer assistants. Beyond the ‘designated’ line, people seemed tense, wary of their position and casting evil eyes at all who considered jumping ahead.
I chose the left line (it’s supposed to move faster according to some silly article I once read). Good choice, wrong reason as I discovered ten minutes later from the young Brazilian couple in front of me. Apparently the left line is for RIO - the right hand line is for a Sao Paulo flight. Good, I’m going to Rio.
I wonder if specializing in a specific flight is that productive. (A little foreshadowing here). Note to self: Engage the people in front of you over casual conversation sooner rather than later.
So what was the bad news if I got in the correct line? Well, it seems TAM has few automated methods for checking passengers in. As far as I could tell nothing much was happening very fast. Given the speed the line moved I could have sworn the agents were writing each ticket out longhand…and checking it twice. Both lines were about a one hour wait. Still, making the best of the situation I passed the time in idle conversation. The friendly couple one step ahead had so much luggage they couldn't move it all at once.
Several times I just grabbed one of their cases and moved with them as the line inched forward (this ostensibly helpful gesture also served to ensure a gap large enough for someone to jump into it didn’t appear). In addition to various handbags and backpacks my new Brazilian friends had three ‘humongus’ pieces of luggage almost as tall and wide as themselves (Ok, they were both about 5’ 7’ and slim, but the luggage seemed even bigger). Obviously in their 20s and well off from the looks of their designer-wear I saw no children and asked how long they had been visiting in the US (since it seemed they had enough stuff for months). “No, no”, they laughed, “we come here every Thanksgiving to shop.” “We have a large family and buy appliances and presents for everyone.”
That’s when I noticed just how much of the 'line' was luggage...not people. More than half. I’m guessing I was booked on Brazil’s Infamous Black Friday Return Flight. (And now I’m beginning to think about the weight on this plane.)
The good news is that when I finally traversed the room and reached my friendly helpful ticket agent, Mauricio, he immediately looked at my e-ticket to Rio, smiled a secret smile, and got to work producing boarding tickets but not before I asked in my most courteous tone, “Mauricio, sorry to bother you but, I heard that there might be an inexpensive upgrade to seats with a little more legroom. Would there be anything you could do for a grandparent?”
“Absolutely”, he replied. “In fact, from your passport, I can see you are old enough to qualify for our upgraded ‘comfort’ seat free of charge.”
I thought I had won the lottery. I had visions of plush reclining seats and plenty of room to manuever
The bad news is that as Mauricio leaned over to give me my tickets, he informed me, quietly, that what I thought was the 5:40 PM to Rio was, in fact, the 5:40 PM to Sao Paulo where after a brief layover we would continue on to Rio. The actual direct Rio flight was at 4:15PM and, technically he did me a favor by not making me go back to the end of the other line. Good choice on Mauricio’s part and I thanked Mauricio with my own secret smile and continued on to a fairly routine security check-point while thinking that the Continental Business Class through Houston I failed to book was looking up. (I later learned another member of the delegation made the same error and was sent to the back of the ‘right’ line.)
The good news is that the bulk of the SHRM delegates were easy to find milling near the gate. Clearly we were all excited to get started on our adventure coming in from all over the country. Most were CHROs (see Howard Wallach’s blog with demographics).
Let the networking begin.
The bad news is that when I boarded the plane and found my 'comfort' seat, someone else was sitting in it. She was old. Much older than I. Even whiter hair. She pointed plaintively to the seat behind her (which I took, correctly, to be her proper seat) and pantomimed (I’m guessing English wasn’t what she wanted to use in this instance) that it pained her to sit in the ‘normal’ seat one row behind MY ‘comfort’ seat. I agree. It is more uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I was just scammed or whether I'm a sucker for little old ladies. I do know however, that if this plane goes down, I will be in the first row of survivors.
We arrived in Sao Paulo by 6:30 am (about 3 hours ahead of Eastern Time and managed to get to Rio by 9am with only one more challenge (lost luggage) but hey, no problem goes without a solution and, who can complain when your view out the JW Marriott located right on Copacabana beach looks like this.
The rest of the day is nap, walk on the beach, orientation, walk on the beach, dinner, walk on the beach. Business can wait til Monday.
(A shout out to Mike Hard and Bounty Jobs for their support in underwriting my trip)
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Prepping for Brazil: Another Excellent Adventure in the Making #shrmglobal
Today (Saturday, November 26) at NY’s JFK airport I’m boarding a plane in a couple minutes bound for Rio De Janeiro to begin a 8-day adventure in Brazil… with 26 HR colleagues (all traveling under the SHRM banner as this press release notes).
No, there won’t be any boat trips up the Amazon and definitely no ‘favela’ excursions if I can help it- just peer-to-peer meetings with company business leaders, HR folks and, if at all possible, a few candidates, new hires, students, university professors and government functionaries.
I’ve been systematically traveling to countries around the world with the intention of studying how the culture of a country is reflected in recruiting. I’m of the opinion that common staffing standards across geographic boundaries are more illusion than reality despite a decade of global integration initiatives.
Everything from how we source prospects and brand our firms as a place to work to how we assess, select and onboard candidates is open to a country-by-country interpretation and seldom looks like we assume it would standing 1000s of miles away.
I’ve been to maybe 2 dozen countries but only twice before have I gone to with a professional delegation. In December 2009, I went to India (@ChinaGorman was the delegation’s leader). I wrote 10 blogs during the trip which are still archived on RecruitingBlogs.com. This was the first.
2007 was my second trip to China but my first time with a delegation and it opened extraordinary window into the changes taking place. I blogged then and will dig out the ERE.net link to them another time. In both India and China our group spoke with professors at major universities, interviewed students, toured companies, held events for HR peers and still managed a day or two of tourist fare.
If our delegation’s experience in Brazil during the next week and a half is anything like the last two I’ll consider it a major success.
Why Brazil?
Howard is blogging. Hopefully more of the delegation will be as well and I'll link to their posts in future blogs. Howard also arranged for an excellent two-hour webinar on the history and culture of Brazil as well as a long reading list for the delegation to prepare.
We’re flying out of JFK today at 5:40.
At this moment, I’m a passenger in a limo writing (actually hunting and pecking on a keyboard between the bumps in the road) so I can post this once I arrive at the airport and before we leave tonight at 5:40pm. Long story but I couldn’t use my miles to upgrade and am hopefully I can convince the folks to give me some kind of seat with leg room near an exit. I also need to change dollars to Reals, find a United Club and get a bite to eat although after Thursday’s dinner, I don’t need to eat for a week.
I’m making a long list of questions for my Brazilian hosts:
(A warm shout out to Mike Hard at Bountyjobs for supporting a good part of my trip.)
No, there won’t be any boat trips up the Amazon and definitely no ‘favela’ excursions if I can help it- just peer-to-peer meetings with company business leaders, HR folks and, if at all possible, a few candidates, new hires, students, university professors and government functionaries.
I’ve been systematically traveling to countries around the world with the intention of studying how the culture of a country is reflected in recruiting. I’m of the opinion that common staffing standards across geographic boundaries are more illusion than reality despite a decade of global integration initiatives.
Everything from how we source prospects and brand our firms as a place to work to how we assess, select and onboard candidates is open to a country-by-country interpretation and seldom looks like we assume it would standing 1000s of miles away.
I’ve been to maybe 2 dozen countries but only twice before have I gone to with a professional delegation. In December 2009, I went to India (@ChinaGorman was the delegation’s leader). I wrote 10 blogs during the trip which are still archived on RecruitingBlogs.com. This was the first.
2007 was my second trip to China but my first time with a delegation and it opened extraordinary window into the changes taking place. I blogged then and will dig out the ERE.net link to them another time. In both India and China our group spoke with professors at major universities, interviewed students, toured companies, held events for HR peers and still managed a day or two of tourist fare.
If our delegation’s experience in Brazil during the next week and a half is anything like the last two I’ll consider it a major success.
Why Brazil?
- It is the last of the BRIC countries I’ve not yet experienced (Brazil, Russia, India and China)
- Its culture is a wonderful contrast of Latin and European elements.
- The ‘warnings’ we heard about going out alone make me think about the advice given to business people traveling to New York for the first time. (Also caused me to buy a cheap watch)
- The country has discovered and is now developing major oil deposits.
- Despite a recent slowdown, the economy has been booming. Lots of US multi-nationals have a growing presence. Lots of hiring is taking place.
- I love food, wine and interesting conversation. To be able to make and share observations in a new land with 25 other colleagues is a real treat.
Howard is blogging. Hopefully more of the delegation will be as well and I'll link to their posts in future blogs. Howard also arranged for an excellent two-hour webinar on the history and culture of Brazil as well as a long reading list for the delegation to prepare.
We’re flying out of JFK today at 5:40.
At this moment, I’m a passenger in a limo writing (actually hunting and pecking on a keyboard between the bumps in the road) so I can post this once I arrive at the airport and before we leave tonight at 5:40pm. Long story but I couldn’t use my miles to upgrade and am hopefully I can convince the folks to give me some kind of seat with leg room near an exit. I also need to change dollars to Reals, find a United Club and get a bite to eat although after Thursday’s dinner, I don’t need to eat for a week.
I’m making a long list of questions for my Brazilian hosts:
- How are prospects sourced at entry and exec?
- How are candidates engaged? Over what time?
- Does branding make a difference and, if so, what is most important?
- Is location more critical an issue in Brazil than the US?
- Where are the greatest projected skill and leadership gaps?
- How are referrals treated?
- Are similar assessments used?
- What keeps recruiters up at night?
- And so on...
(A warm shout out to Mike Hard at Bountyjobs for supporting a good part of my trip.)
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Linkedin: It Takes One To Know One
Sekou's last line, "It takes one to know one", at the end of one of the best performance art pieces I've ever seen will likely become the classic answer to what world-class recruiters do for some time to come. This piece has all the right word pictures and attitude. Genius at work.
The 3 minute standout monologue was also a window into the amazing amount of work that had to have gone into the preparation for Linkedin's conference this week.
It wasn't just the quality of the speakers, keynoters and other presentations. Nor was it the size and quality of the primarily corporate staffing leader audience they brought to Vegas for this TalentConnect conference....Linkedin's second and 4 times larger than the first, that made it so unique (the quality of both were uniformly high)
To me the surprising takeaway was the scale of the behind the scenes effort to ensure a positive experience was had at every level by the nearly 2000 attendees and vips among them.
As an observer of many of these events, this one was less a conference and more a show on several levels where even the attendees had a role throughout.
From professional photos and expert advice to help 'pimp your profile', receptions with vegas-style production values, sit-down luncheon discussion groups that made you wonder about the logistics required to accomplish the matching that went on behind the scenes and, of course, the fanboy counselors to train and guide product demos, few stones were left unturned. All went off flawlessly.
The centerpiece, an announcement of the Linkedin Talent Pipeline, aptly described by John Zappe in his article on their possible CRM (possibly even more), caused more than a few heads to turn and discuss the disruptive potential in allowing recruiters to import non Linkedin documents, lists, profiles, resumes and the like, 'link the imports automatically to Linkedin profiles, organize and search the content, build touchpoints, follow 'work flow' and 'status' map and communicate via an existing recruiter account at no extra cost. Hmmm.
I expect plenty of critics and fanboy discussion groups to weigh in on this move. Capability and issues like privacy and compliance will be hotly debated. Time will tell if the days of ATS centric recruiting are really over and that future hiring models will pivot around earlier stage development of prospect pipelines while the ubiquitous ATS backend diminishes in importance...and cost.
I will only say that the speed with which any shift takes place will determine winners...and losers for corporate TA purse strings during the next few years.
Meanwhile, Linkedin is in an enviable position as a rising star and, as long as they understand what our culture tends to do to 800 pound gorillas, is acquiring plenty of rope.
Tip of the hat.
The 3 minute standout monologue was also a window into the amazing amount of work that had to have gone into the preparation for Linkedin's conference this week.
It wasn't just the quality of the speakers, keynoters and other presentations. Nor was it the size and quality of the primarily corporate staffing leader audience they brought to Vegas for this TalentConnect conference....Linkedin's second and 4 times larger than the first, that made it so unique (the quality of both were uniformly high)
To me the surprising takeaway was the scale of the behind the scenes effort to ensure a positive experience was had at every level by the nearly 2000 attendees and vips among them.
As an observer of many of these events, this one was less a conference and more a show on several levels where even the attendees had a role throughout.
From professional photos and expert advice to help 'pimp your profile', receptions with vegas-style production values, sit-down luncheon discussion groups that made you wonder about the logistics required to accomplish the matching that went on behind the scenes and, of course, the fanboy counselors to train and guide product demos, few stones were left unturned. All went off flawlessly.
The centerpiece, an announcement of the Linkedin Talent Pipeline, aptly described by John Zappe in his article on their possible CRM (possibly even more), caused more than a few heads to turn and discuss the disruptive potential in allowing recruiters to import non Linkedin documents, lists, profiles, resumes and the like, 'link the imports automatically to Linkedin profiles, organize and search the content, build touchpoints, follow 'work flow' and 'status' map and communicate via an existing recruiter account at no extra cost. Hmmm.
I expect plenty of critics and fanboy discussion groups to weigh in on this move. Capability and issues like privacy and compliance will be hotly debated. Time will tell if the days of ATS centric recruiting are really over and that future hiring models will pivot around earlier stage development of prospect pipelines while the ubiquitous ATS backend diminishes in importance...and cost.
I will only say that the speed with which any shift takes place will determine winners...and losers for corporate TA purse strings during the next few years.
Meanwhile, Linkedin is in an enviable position as a rising star and, as long as they understand what our culture tends to do to 800 pound gorillas, is acquiring plenty of rope.
Tip of the hat.
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