The Perfect Fit

How To Future-Proof Your Career In A Fast-Changing, Unforgiving Global Job Market

Last week, I was interviewed by Jack Kelly, for an article in Forbes.  I was impressed with Jack's thinking and some of the subjects of his articles and/or blog.  Here's one of those articles, I thought especially on target and likely of interest to many . . .

We are living in a fast-paced, unstable time period where things change swiftly and dramatically. The corporate world is more dynamic and chaotic than ever. In our parents’ or grandparents’ generations, they would accept a job and hold onto it throughout the entire duration of their careers. However, those days are over and done with. The advancement of technology, globalization and the corporate view that employees are disposable have all changed the game. We can no longer view our careers as safe and sacrosanct. You can be sitting in your office chair this morning, happy and satisfied. Then, two weeks later, there’s a corporate-wide reorganization and you’re shown the door. You can be replaced by technology or a less-experienced, lower-cost employee. Your job could be moved to another country or your role could be deemed no longer relevant or required. The only constant is change.

It's critically important to start a plan to prepare for your future. It's career self-sabotage to believe that things will stay the same and that you’ll confidently climb up the corporate ladder. It's career malpractice to act like an ostrich, stick your head in the ground, hope for the best and ignore the reality of the changes happening around you. You need to be bold, confident and aggressive in managing your career in the face of uncertainty. It's not easy nor is it pleasant to think about, but you must do it. 

Here is how to start:

1. You need to change your mindset on several fronts. We all derive a sense of status from our career, the company we work for and job title. When you sit down at a family dinner or meet new people, you enjoy a little humble brag about what you do for a living. While that’s fine, you’ll need to divorce your ego attachment to your current career.

Most Placeable Candidates or Most Valuable Candidates?

The "Most Placeable Candidate" (MPC) is a term used in the recruiting industry to describe a candidate that the recruiter is willing to represent into a market, because the recruiter believes that (s)he can succeed in placing that candidate with a Company.

I think that term should really be, “Most Valuable Candidate” (MVC). It’s not about the Recruiter succeeding, it’s about the recruiter helping his Client succeed, by delivering value. Clients aren’t stupid. If they believe that a candidate can add enough value to their team, they’ll hire that person. It’s not about making it easy for the recruiter . . . !

Because of my marketing and digital media specialty, I’m in an excellent position to know my Clients and the regional community. I have a good idea of the sorts of candidates that could add substantial value to their company. My specializing also results in being well known nationally, in the industry that I serve.

I’m very proud of the trusted reputation that encourages top performing pros in every marketing or media specialty or discipline, to confidentially be referred or introduce themselves to me and ask for my help in identifying their next career opportunity. They trust me with their resumes. Usually, after a phone call getting to know each other better, they’ll also allow me to discreetly introduce them to my Clients, as I see fit.

Why Hire a Professional Recruiting Firm for Executive Search?

With the span of companies we service ranging from start-ups to publicly traded global corporations, I’ve fielded the Client question, "Why hire a professional recruiter"? from many different persperctives. The answer is not one size fits all. Hiring executives in larger companies partner with me to strategically target talent during a period of growth, change or to confidentially replace leadership. Smaller family owned businesses or startups may need our help to plan for succession, market opportunities, advise on organizational structure or identify a role that will align and deliver business goals.

Here are a few reasons why a partnership with Bishop yields a high return:

1) Time is money. We streamline the process with an in-depth analysis of the client company keeping an eye on short and long term goals to clearly identify the role. Only the top candidates are presented so the hiring authority in evaluating key, qualified and interested people. Interview coordination and close contact during the hiring phase and on-boarding also tightens process time.   

2) Marketing is paramount in attracting top talent for your company. We’re representing your brand, strategic initiatives and big picture goals. Our approach is to communicate clearly the vision, history, and uniqueness of the company before discussing the role within.

3) The human factor is something to consider. Our candidates are making a weighty decision that likely affects family. Career moves are all about timing.  We’re experienced in balancing what is important to each party to bring about a mutually satisfactory, timely outcome.

2019 and The Summer of Change!

The Summer of ’19 . . . Wow, a summer of unexpected surprises, marked by rapid personal and professional changes!

In late February of this year, my 57 year old brother-in-law dropped dead of a heart attack. He had been healthy, happy and always fun to be around. He was a best friend. Several months later, my father-in-law died unexpectedly. He was 92 and in excellent health. He had a very active social life and called us or stopped by every day. He last visited my wife and I on a Sunday, had a heart attack on a Monday, was hospitalized and died that Thursday.

We all know that “tomorrow’s not guaranteed” and “life’s too short”! My wife Barbara and I were having a conversation in mid-May, when we both suddenly looked at each other and wondered, “what are we waiting for”? Why don’t we make a change, get out of the fast-paced, high pressure daily life we live (we both own our own businesses) and start enjoying more of life? We decided to do just that.

When we decided to sell our Condo and move, we weren’t exactly sure where we’d go. We put our condo on the market the first week of June. That first week,  there were three showings and two offers. The buyer with the best offer wanted to close by July 30 . . . so we did. We decided to move to Vero Beach, Florida, because of the proximity of so many friends. A quickly planned, week long visit confirmed the idea. I’d never heard of Vero Beach and had no idea where it was. Barbara and I visited and were hooked. We bought a house, have settled in and are enjoying a completely new life! We’re very happy with our decision.

I’m going to continue working. While we were selling our condo and buying a house in June and July, I’m proud to have completed searches for a Sr. Event Producer, a Vice President of Sales and Marketing and a Sr. Creative Director. I’m currently working on searches for a Vice President of Digital Strategy and an agency President, both in St. Louis. I’m also working on a Sr. Principal, Corporate Growth and Strategy for a Florida Client.

Celebrating 18 Years of Career Fulfillment & Fun!

I'm thrilled to be celebrating my 18th Anniversary of career  fulfillment as an executive recruiter!

This is the most exciting Summer I’ve had since I left home to go to Washington University. There are many similarities with that summer move. Before I write about the move and changes (in the next blog post), I’m over a month overdue in Celebrating the 18th Anniversary of Bishop Partners and my being a Recruiter. That Anniversary was officially July 1.

I want to take the opportunity of this Anniversary to (belatedly) thank everyone who’s helped me or my business over all those years. There's no question that I could not have had the successes without you. As a result of your support or guidance or friendship, I was able to overcome the mistakes, misfires, errors in judgement or maybe just bad luck, that from time to time led to disappointment or outright failure. You helped me learn from those mistakes.

The goal is to be able to grow from those failures and learn from them . . . don’t let them happen again. I appreciate your experience, knowledge and support. It’s been appreciated and valued. I hope it continues. At the same time, I’ve tried to “add value” to every relationship I’ve been involved in, at every level. It’s simple, it’s about that “Golden Rule”, treat everyone with respect and the way you’d like to be treated! It’s also Karma, baby!

I don’t want to try naming all the names over those 18 years, I’ll certainly neglect a name that is important to me. So, let me mention “categories” . . . you know who you are. Without my Clients’ or my Candidates’ trust, there’s no business. The professional support I’ve received from my CPAs, Attorneys, Landlords, other recruiters and related professional organizations helped me learn how to do my business well. Thank you!

Director of Content Marketing Opportunity in St. Louis

General Description:
The successful candidate is accountable for the voice, style, tone, messaging, and thought leadership of our Client’s brand and have overall responsibility for its content output across all mediums. S/he will lead and manage a combination of internal and external content resources to produce all brand related content. S/he will also perform writing and editing work, as needed, including developing brand content guidelines. The Director of Marketing will be accountable for all marketing initiatives to drive traffic, engagement, and leads that deliver revenue. As part of this, s/he will develop and manage the brand editorial calendar and associated organization workflows. They will also perform ongoing measurement and optimization of the program, including oversight of supporting social channels.

Our Client is a high-growth technology company with a demanding work environment, suitable only for self-starters and people who can exercise professional judgment without constant supervision. We strive to create an enthusiastic, close-knit culture that values excellence and over-delivery.

Responsibilities:
• Make sure that company brand copy needs and goals are met in all aspects, including timelines and budget
• Develop editorial governance for all branded content
• Ensure that precise brand content standards are both set and adhered to, consistently producing the highest quality work.
• Make sure that a consistent stream of quality work is created for the brand
• Work with other departments to garner needed resources in order to complete projects

Is There Value in Fractional Talent Acquisition for Marketing and Media?

I had an interesting conversation Friday, with a three year-old digital media start up, that’s been consistently growing, since their founding. Now their growth is starting to accelerate, creating staffing, capacity and velocity issues. They’re having trouble hiring experienced pros with the specific skillsets they require. They understand that some recruiters consistently succeed in hiring support, but it’s an expensive proposition, especially with ongoing multiple hires/year.

During that conversation with the founding partners, we explored new ways of working together, that meet their expense challenges and investor expectations, while still providing the skilled workers they need in a timely way. It was exciting to think about. While attending #MDMC19 last week, it was apparent that there are multiple companies competing for the same employee skillsets. Those who have a dedicated focus on recruiting research, identification and outreach, will win the “War for Talent”. We’ve heard about that War for years, well . . . it’s here Now!

There are fractional CMO, CFOs, CIOs and other senior executives, why not fractional CTOs? (Chief Talent Officers)?

The challenge is finding a recruiter who understands the Client need and has the ability to consistently and quickly identify, recruit and hire those elusive, hyper skilled employees. Beyond recruiting skills and experience, the true fractional CTO should be able to bring an experienced perspective (hopefully, first person) for organizational leadership and management.

This is the sort of relationship that should evolve into a true partnership. I like the opportunity to work with Client principals and help them develop a strategy for growth, Talent Acquisition and Retention . It’s why I named my company Bishop Partners.

I can see how this sort of “fractional CTO” strategy can work for other smaller or medium sized companies, that can’t afford a full time executive focused on Talent Acquisition and Retention. They could have all the benefits of an employee, by developing a trusted relationship with a recruiter/talent acquisition executive/partner. The solution is a fractional Talent Acquisition and Retention employee/leader. The benefits are consistent and plentiful . . . reliable strategy driven staffing solutions, while keeping the expense as low as possible.

Most HR professionals are thanklessly overworked. They have to contend with a myriad of critical issues every day, from questions about benefits and payroll, to being the arbiter in disputes or dealing with complaints of harassment. Their days are frequently and unexpectedly interrupted. They don’t have the time to adequately focus on recruiting additional talent. The former solution of job posting (and praying), is not effective today.

If your marketing or digital media company plans on hiring at least six employees this year, we should talk. There’s every reason to believe that a consultative approach to Talent Acquisition funding will reduce the cost and time to hire, while increasing employee satisfaction and retention at the same time. It’s also likely that the quality of hire metric and retention metric would be much improved, because the new employee was recruited and not a “job applicant”.

The answer to the question posed in this post’s headline is emphatically, Yes! Absolutely!  There could (should) be tremendous value!

I believe that Talent Acquisition, the building of an employee culture that attracts premier talent, is the only way a company will be able to consistently grow into the future. There are simply too few skilled workers with the new media skillsets (including AI and VR) and too much demand. I look forward to the opportunity to help companies with their talent acquisition strategy.

If you have interest in learning more, please get in touch, I’d love to meet or have a conversation.

Thanks for taking the time to read this . . .

Recruiting For That Data-Driven Art of Digital Marketing

The first quarter of this year is the busiest start to a year we’ve ever experienced!  We’re proud to have worked with a diverse Client base ranging from tiny start-ups to Fortune 100 iconic brands.  What’s struck me as most interesting is how the searches have almost all become focused on data driven digital media/online marketing skills and tactics.  Here are searches we’ve worked on or are still working, in the first quarter:           

            Design Director

            Dir. of Digital Advertising Operations

            Experiential Producer

            Graphic Designer

            Marketing Analyst

            Senior Client Success Manager

            Senior Creative Research Strategist

            Senior Digital Media Analyst/Campaign Manager

 

We’ve all known that “Big Data” and the targeting of specific customers, demographics or groups of prospective Clients, has been rapidly growing in use, effectiveness and efficiency.  This is the quarter when I’ve realized how truly ubiquitous digital and data are in customer or client outreach and engagement.  I’ve previously written about "FutureHire" and how digital skills were becoming a critical component of every search we’ve conducted for the past several years, but it seems to have hit a new level.

I’ve historically been as much a consultant as a recruiter to my Clients. My “target Client” is a small to medium sized, privately held company where support (or advice) is needed in marketing, advertising or digital media talent acquisition. In fact, a recent blog post, “Consultative Recruiting” (http://bit.ly/2yCQ6wf), speaks exactly to that.

Earlier this week I met with the CEO of a successful mid-sized agency that’s making acquisitions and expanding across the US.  He suggested that I start to specifically offer a “Consulting” practice to owners/principals of those small-medium sized Clients ($2M-$200M).  He believes that I deliver value during, open and honest communications with owners/principals.  He said “there aren’t many people we’re (CEOs and Owners) comfortable enough with to be truly honest in conversations.  Your communication style encourages that.” 

Bishop Partners provides “Recruiting and Consulting for Marketing, Advertising and Digital Media”.  We practice “Strategic Recruiting”.  We will quickly deliver skilled and experienced candidates for difficult positions at every level of your organization, up to and including succession planning for your most senior roles.  Please get in touch with me and let’s have a conversation about how I can help you identify, recruit and hire the premier talent that your organization needs. EOE

 

The Lines Between Consumer and Employment Branding Are Blurring

As the talent field has made the shift in its employer-brand focus from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have,” there’s another significant trend that’s reshaping the way high-performing companies are communicating their mission, culture, and career opportunities.  It’s called talent branding.

Your talent brand is the highly social, totally public version of your employer brand that incorporates what talent thinks, feels, and shares about your company as a place to work.  Think of talent branding as employer branding 2.0.

No longer owned solely by recruitment advertising agencies or even human resources, talent branding is moving into the spotlight and sharing the stage with other branding, advertising, and marketing players and tactics employed by the savviest chief marketing officers. And they are applying the same rigor to the talent-brand development process as they do with any other high-stakes marketing efforts.

And, depending on the title on your business card, you may consider that a blessing or a curse.  It wasn’t simpler in the past, just more segregated.

Back in the proverbial day, consumers went to stores and job seekers went to the classifieds or the job boards. But in a digital world everyone is everything and goes everywhere. We are bombarded by content and channels and swayed by predictive technology, and seemingly unlimited options.

Hiring Skilled Employees is Extremely Competitive

1st quarter 2019 hiring trends indicate a robust job market that is highly competitive for talent acquisition. Companies who actively market themselves to attract and engage talent will set themselves apart. Talented professionals are researching the reputation of companies and their teams to determine if it is a potential fit. Further, candidates are paying close attention to feedback on candidate experience prior to applying. According to KellyServices.com and Linkedin:

• 75% of candidates research about firm's reputation and Employer Brand before applying for a job

• 83% of employers say that Employer Brand plays a significant role in their ability to hire talent
• 69% of candidates would not accept a job in a firm with a bad reputation even if that means being unemployed
• 97% of candidates who had a positive experience would refer others to apply
• 90% of global professionals are interested in learning about new job opportunities even though only 36% is actively looking

The Bishop Partners' team is constantly proactively targeting the talent pool to engage dialogue and market opportunities. Our proven track record of success over almost 18 years, brings the best people to the table for our clients while streamlining the hiring process.​​​​​​​  Our goal for acceptance of an offer by a candidate is 45 days.

If you need help identifying, recruiting and hiring critical employees for your company, contact Bob at Bob@Bishop-Partners.com!