It's Still Personal

Okay, I admit it, I am a bit of a "machineophile" or maybe in the current era and vernacular a "gadget geek."  I love the apps, the widgets, and the QR stuff.  I have no idea what most of it does, worry to death about which ones come preloaded with a virus and then end up deleting the vast majority about every 6 months to make sure I still have disk space on my PC and cell phone.

Well, yesterday when I needed something to take my mind off of how badly I had done in this week's office football pool I decided it was deletion time again, and it was during that process that I came across a reference to an app that if you believed what they were saying, was supposed to be the job seeker's answer to automated responses and messages that come from many job board postings, which, loosely translated, stop just short of "Dear Occupant."

Apparently, after this certain piece of software is up and running, the applicant can send out an automatic message to any posting on any site it searches for the keywords one sets as the criteria. If true, this would make my list of finalists for the ultimate recruiter's nightmare and the job changer's time-waster of the year award.

I recall when the Internet first showed up on most of our radar screens, many of the industry pundits were forecasting the early demise of the whole executive search industry, and what we could expect before too long was all job openings would be filled as we slept. Okay, a bit of an overstatement to make a point, but that is what it was starting to sound like. Here we are a couple of decades or so later, and for sure the death of the industry was, as Mark Twain said, "greatly exaggerated."

Admittedly, at ExecuNet be it career issues or business issues, we are focused on only one segment of the market (i.e. C-level executives and their direct reports) but by observing and interacting with that segment (as well as the executive search community) on a daily basis, we continue to see more of an emphasis on human judgment and less on robotic matching, and for all its impact on the speed of research and communications, the search community keeps telling us that the time to fill the assignments really hasn't changed all that much, the Internet notwithstanding.

Indeed, in our 19 year old annual survey (Executive Job Market Intelligence Report) we have always asked search consultants about the time it takes to fill positions. With the exception of the height of the '08/'09 recession, when they say it took on average a month longer, the answer has always been between 3 to 4 months.

As I think about this issue, and keep reading about the latest and greatest technological enablers that often literally "pop up" it just keeps reminding me of three things:

1. There is no substitute for quality, and

2. There is no substitute for making qualitative judgments, and

3. As a consumer, no matter what the economic conditions, I am always willing to pay a premium for quality, and so, by the way when it comes to talent, are companies - in any market.

America’s Business Elite Embracing On-line Media

Part of the really fun side of cyberspace is that one discovers just how little one knows and the degree to which the world is full of things that are "new to us" grows geometrically by the second.

One of my "finds" recently was a site called http://www.ipsos-na.com . As you can see for yourself, they describe themselves as "a company of inquiring minds and passionate people giving a voice and shape to the thoughts of millions of individuals around the world." Translation: Specialized market research that is focused on "media habits, attitudes, opinions, and business and personal purchasing habits of the highest echelon of America's business community—the "C-Suite."

While the elitist description rubs me the wrong way, the fact that our membership is made up of C-Suite folks, I read with interest the results of a recent survey they did just how tuned in or out of the gadget universe this group is. I was especially interested because of all the stuff one reads about how "un-savvy" they are with 21st century technology.

If you believe, as I do, that the stereotype of the CEO who can barely play the radio is not exactly an accurate portrait, then check out what the survey said and see how off-base perceptions can be:

• C-level Tech Toys: Almost three out of four (71%) own cell phones with cameras and multi messaging, and almost as many (68%) own laptops. More than half (60%) already have HDTV, and almost half (40%) own iPods. Likewise, more than one-third already have Blackberries (36%) or Satellite Radio (35%).

• CEOs TIVO: More than one-third (35%) have used a DVR/TIVO to record or playback a TV program in the past month, with almost one-third having watched video-on-demand.

• Downloading Content: In a month’s time, more than two-thirds of the C-levels surveyed (68%) have downloaded videos or clips from websites or received email newsletters/alerts on their computers. About half (49%) have streamed or watched broadband videos from websites on their computers.

• C-level Internet Commerce: More than three-fourths of C-level executives surveyed are already using the Internet to make their travel or flight reservations (78%), and well over half (57%) regularly buy products or services online.

• Being Tech Savvy is Key: Executives at the top also know that keeping up with the latest technology is vital to the success of their businesses—about three-fourths (72%) agree, with the same number agreeing that a business publication’s website is an important part of its offerings (72%).

• Blogging in the C-Suite: They are into blogs too—almost one-third (30%) read blogs and a small number (4%) contribute to blogs.

One thing is for sure, if you are an executive who is interested in making a move in this or any other environment and are not fluent in "techno speak" you are likely to be a very unhappy camper going forward.

Survey Said

While it hardly seems possible, the fact is that sixteen years ago we began an annual survey of the executive marketplace which has become known as ExecuNet's Executive Job Market Intelligence Report. The report has expanded each year, as has the effort that our staff expends in putting it together has also grown expodentially. I have to say, however, that the feedback we get from both executives and the recruiting community on the value of the information serves as continuing motivation to continue the investment of time and energy.

This year's survey with more than 6,000+ responses has produced a good deal of commentary in the media both electronic and print.

Among the more stimulating and flattering requests that we got for commentary on the survey came from Peter Clayton, the voice and engine behind Total Picture Radio, the well-respected website whose tag line: "The Voice of Career Leadership"describes the site very well

Peter came over to our offices last week and sat down with Mark Anderson (our President) and me and in his disarming and relaxed interviewing style, Peter really engaged us in dialouge that was more of a conversation than an interview.

While our members have access to the full report, we also have an executive summary of the report which is available to the public on our site as a free download and can be obtained by clicking here

If you are interested in the "conversation" we had we Peter, the link to the interview is here.

What's In A Name?

You really have to love the Internet! I just wish I had the time to find sites like Buzzwhack which my colleague Robyn Greenspan, our resident and much loved Internet Junkie sent to me today. Among other things, Buzzwhack comes up with a Buzzword of the day, and since Robyn knows I get a kick out of off-beat job titles (yeah, I know, I need to get a life!) she fired it off to me.

Actually, it isn't just me who's interested in the "title of the week" stuff. At ExecuNet, we have been following it for a bit as well in terms of how companies are using different titles to describle some of the senior level executives, a few examples of which have been:

Chief Digital Officer
Chief Encouragement Officer
Chief Innovation Officer
Chief Learning Officer
Chief Momentum Officer
Chief Networking Officer
Chief Officer of Ideas
Chief People Officer
Chief Performance Officer
Chief Sustainability Officer
Click Quality Czar
Corporate Workplace Executive
Enthusiast Evangelist*
Senior Simplification Specialist
Vice President of Global Sales Excellence

*my personal favorite

In any event, the word of the day was COR and was offered up as the latest C-level title, which apparently stands for (are you ready?) Chief Obstacle Remover. The guy who came up with it was Michael Thiel, president of IC Intracom US, but whose business card says his title is COR

Some of the titles I have seen over the years I thought were fairly cool, and I think this one is "cool" too, but from a leadership perspective, I also like it because I think it sends a nice "branding" message on both a personal and professional level.

To his customers it says "I'm here to help" and to his staff it says "I feel my role is to do all I can to enable you to do your job so we can all serve our customers better." It also, I think, says something about Thiel as a person. I don't know if it is true or not, since I have never met or talked to him, but the impression I get when I see the title is that he understands that leadership (at least over the long haul) doesn't come from titles, it comes in large measure from helping others.