What is New at The Employment Guide

I spend a lot of time comprising posts on my blog about my thoughts on leadership and how my thoughts coincide with what is going on within our business and industry. The next few posts are going to be dedicated to new, exciting products that I am personally excited about and that we are now offering at The Employment Guide.

Video Job Postings and Employer Profile Videos - Video has been an emerging medium online. Video is definitely here to stay, and it makes quite an impact as a complement to recruitment advertising packages. Video helps recruiters paint a better picture for job seekers. It allows the job seeker to enhance their understanding of the job description and have a better perspective of the company for which they are contemplating as a prospective employer. According to a study I recently read completed and published by Borrell Associates, Inc., "local online video advertising" is expected "to more than triple to nearly $1.3 billion" in 2008. We at The Employment Guide have a local online, cost-effective video product ready to meet your recruitment advertising needs.

The emerging metric for how the success of a video is measured is called EOI (Expression Of Interest). The expression of interest refers to the playing of the video, which then translates into increased conversion rates of a higher quality candidate based on using the video as an additional filtering tool. Adding video to a recruitment campaign will help to improve the process by which recruiters find the right candidate. Adding video will also allow recruiters to spend less of their precious time working on the wrong candidates by improving the means by which the advertising works as a filtering device.

Video is a cool addition to a job posting and increases a posting's effectiveness. It appeals to all generations. Until lately, it has also been very expensive. Not anymore! Just like the impact our organization, The Employment Guide, had on the newspaper industry when we introduced the first national network of alternative cost-effective recruitment publications, we are also now ready to change the landscape and current expensive nature of recruitment videos.

Stay tuned to EmploymentGuide.com for more details, or you can always call one of our 55 offices across the United States and speak to one of our team members in a market nearest you.

How do you feel about video as an online recruitment tool?

Get There First

A few years ago "Get There First" was our mantra. Given our impact and the impact of other alternative recruitment solutions on daily newspapers (which at the time was our number one prospecting tool), it became clear that we could no longer rely solely on any one source of leads to direct our calling efforts in acquiring new customers. We realized that we were going to have to take the initiative to build stronger relationships with our customers and earn the right to be their first choice when it came to recruitment advertising within the hourly bracket. In order to accomplish this goal, we were going to have to be first in line or "get there first" once our customer or prospect realized the urgency of his or her need.

I am reviewing this segment of our past because history always provides valuable lessons from which we should all learn. The current economic condition in the United States is not that far removed from the conditions with which we were all dealing just five or six years ago. Obviously, the overnight impact that 9/11 had on our nation was much greater, but the business climate and the mind set of many in the business and financial communities seems very similar as far as the outlook for the near term. So how can we not only grow in these times, but prosper?

The mantra and ideology of "get there first" still holds true today in combination with having higher expectations of our own performance and those of our coworkers, as well as the level of contributions of those with whom we choose to partner for success. We still have to make sure we have worked hard enough to earn our place in line when our customers are ready to recruit. There are thousands of companies that are still recruiting on an ongoing basis. Jobs will be relocated overseas, and jobs will be eliminated through technological advances, but you will still have companies hiring (especially hourly workers). Interestingly enough, these types of changes in our labor economy usually end up creating new job opportunities. Have you heard the terms "green collar jobs” being thrown around of late? I rest my case.

I view today's business climate as one in which businesses who out hustle, innovate, and build quality organizations that attract talent while never waning from their core ideology will prosper. This will happen by laying the foundation for success today for incredible growth tomorrow. How will we accomplish this at The Employment Guide? We will always do what is best for our customers. It is critical that everyone at all levels of our organization embraces this concept. We will be honest and ethical at all times. We will develop and promote from within. We will be committed to high expectations, and we will be fiscally responsible. We are not immune to the "hustle factor" and will also have to out hustle the competition. In a lot of instances, it is still a race to see who "gets there first." If you are first in line to satisfy your customer's need, why would they require that the same need be met by the next business, person or product that offers their services? They wouldn't and won't.

Do not underestimate the importance of effort. Yes, working smart is also very important, but there is a piece of basic business principals, especially sales, that will always be a numbers game. We have to make quality calls - and a lot of them.

The reward for our efforts will be a larger customer base from which to grow our business in the future. This could be the result of new products and services, opening new recruitment segments, or by continuing to earn more new customers by meeting the expectations of our current and future customers.

It is exciting times, simply because of the sheer amount of opportunity that is being created as a result of all of the problems we currently face as a nation. I once read that "the bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity." No wonder the races to see who will represent each of the two large political parties in the upcoming Presidential election are so closely contested.

Sound Leadership Principles

2008 is going to be a year in which many professional leaders at all levels of organizations separate themselves from their peers by way of producing excellent results within industries that are cyclical in nature. It is increasingly important that those in leadership positions have made a concerted efforts to plan their strategies for the year well in advance of whatever current market conditions might be, while remaining sensitive to the fact that (since we live in a business climate that changes faster than the leader of the current presidential primary elections) their plans will need to be constantly reviewed and updated throughout the year.

Below is a list of ten sound leadership principals we can all follow as leaders (at all levels) that become increasingly important when faced with challenges.

• Stay positive - Make sure that those that you lead understand your plans and initiatives to navigate the tough times, while simultaneously keeping the focus of the organization on proper execution of basic fundamentals and celebrating successes.
• Identify solutions, not just problems - When you find something that is not working or is need of repair, be prepared to offer suggested solutions to the problem in lieu of just being someone who comes across as always pointing out the negative.
• Catch your folks doing something right - You will be encouraging the type of behavior or accomplishments that you want among your teams.
• Listen - I mean really listen. Give those that you lead your full attention when you are engaged in conversation. Not only will this give you a better sense of the pulse of your organization, it will send the message that you care.
• Have high expectations - You have to keep yourself and those within your organization focused on performing at higher levels of success. This means you, too. Make sure the people that you lead see that you are willing to go the extra mile. If you expect more from your people, it will increase their willingness to roll up their sleeves while putting on their company hats if they know that you are also going to be in the trenches.
• Quickly identify and lose any and all dead weight - Constant poor performers, under-achievers, bad attitudes, constant complainers and negativity can quickly be a big drain on those in your organization that are getting it done. Identify it and remove it quickly. Not only will overall attitudes improve quickly, but you might be able to afford to pay your top performers better if they can absorb the workload that was being put forth by those who did not possess the will do or can do or simply did not fit in with the team or organizational culture.
• Put the right people in the right jobs - People are happier when they are doing what they enjoy. Have you ever promoted a top performer into a new capacity just to watch as they struggled in their new role? You will also need to take the time to hire the right people the first time.
• Invest resources in what works and quickly - If your organization is not focused on the ongoing research and development of your next big initiative, your company is at risk. It might take trying twenty different products, strategies, and initiatives in order to find the next $10 million dollar business. Keep developing product, and get it to market fast.
• Get your organization lean - Healthy organizations do not waste resources. Find where and on what you might be spending money that you can live without and get rid of the waste.
• Reduce your stress - Be sure to make time to recharge your batteries. Don't forget to make time for yourself and your family. Exercise, eat healthier, go for a run, read a good book, go for a family walk around the neighborhood, etc. A healthy mind and body will afford you the ability to make better decisions and will provide you with increased energy.
  

I am excited about the initiatives The Employment Guide has in store for 2008. These include launching HealthCareerWeb.com, the introduction of video job postings and many other great initiatives, as well as the ongoing development of new products to meet the needs of our customers well into the future.

What other sound principals that you utilize would add to the above list?

"The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been." - Henry Kissinger