Your Role in the "War for Talent"

Employers are worried about their employees. The increasing competitive landscape for recruiting and retaining talented employees is causing quite a bit of turmoil at all levels of management. Global Management Consulting firm Hay Group estimates that 160 million people worldwide will switch jobs this year.

Some experts have said as much as 25% of the US workforce will change employers this year. Today’s Department of Labor report stated that the number of people who voluntarily left positions vs being laid off or discharged was 1.5 in July – more than double the pre-recession level of .7 in Dec 2007.

Trust me, employers are worried about losing you and the “quick fix” to stop the exodus is an old fallback position  – the counter offer.

Here’s your problem – a counter offer is nearly always made to serve the best interests of the employer, not the employee. The National Employment Association estimates that 80% of the people who accept a counter offer either leave voluntarily or are discharged within 6 months of acceptance. Why such a high number?

Accepting a counter-offer is a bad idea.

There's a reason you started job-searching in the first place and chances are money is not the only reason. More money will not change other motivations that caused you to look. You may not be a huge fan of management, difficult co-workers, there may not be any coherent business strategy, you might be bored or stagnant, you don’t get deserved recognition, you’re working with insane deadlines, the commute or parking situation, the crazy hours – those factors aren't going change with a few hundred extra dollars in your pocket each month.

You have now made your employer aware that you are unhappy. From this day on, your loyalty will always be in question.

Once the word gets out, the relationship that you now enjoy with your co-workers will never be the same. What did you do to deserve a raise besides threaten to leave?

What makes you worth more today than yesterday in the employer’s eyes? The answer is nothing. Do you really want to work for an organization where you need to threaten to leave before getting a fair shake on your compensation?

Put the shoe on the other foot for a second. What if a company extended an offer to you, only to rescind the offer a few days later because they had “found someone better”? How do you feel about breaching your agreement to join a new company because of a counter-offer?

Counter-Offers are in the Employer's best interests, not yours.

Employers know counter-offers are not a long-term solution. They’re often made in a moment of panic. You need to finish this project or that. They’re running lean and losing you means they fall further behind.

They know the odds of you sticking around long term are slim so they’ll immediately start looking for your replacement. It’s only a matter of time before the panic wears off and you are more “disposable.”

Thinking long term is in YOUR best interests.

The Hays Study pointed at five factors areas organizations should address to attract and retain top talent.

• Confidence in the organization and leadership.
• Placing the right people in the right roles, creating efficient work processes, enabling collaboration, and providing a supportive working environment.
• Opportunities to learn, grow and progress.
• A fair exchange between contributions employees make and the rewards they receive.
• Authority to do their jobs and influence how work is done.

If your employer was hitting on all cylinders you wouldn’t have been looking in the first place. Chances are pretty good the new employer shows more promise in these areas than your current employer, otherwise you probably would not have accepted their offer.

When considering a counter-offer you need to seriously think about your experience with your company on these points and decide what's in your best interests long term.

It's unlikely they will make sweeping organizational changes simply because you accepted a counter-offer. As a matter of fact, I’m 80% certain they won’t and you’ll be somewhere else in 180 days.

Exciting News in the KC Business World today

You probably have heard Sprint CEO Dan Hesse is stepping down and being replaced by the CEO of a 10.6 billion dollar global wireless distribution and services company called Brightstar. Its no coincidence that as of October of last year Brightstar is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint majority owner Softbank.

It's also no coincidence that piggy-backed with the CEO change, Sprint / Softbank announced they no longer are interested in pursuing a Sprint / TMobile merger. In related news T Mobile decided to reject a bid from French Telecom to acquire the company. In the immortal words of George Costanza "You're giving me the 'It's not you, it's me?' I invented that!!"

What does this mean for KC? First and foremost I think a merged TMobile / Sprint has the potential to adversly effect the local job market so the break-up is a good thing for KC. If history is any indication, we know how the Sprint / Nextel merger worked out for us.

Beyond that I think a merged company would look to consolidate operations which gives Sprint HQ a 50/50 chance of moving to Bellevue, WA. Given telecom is a technology driven industry, and the perception that the West Coast is much more "tech heavy", I'm happy the merger is off.

And if "As the Sprint World Turns" isn't enough for you, Cerner just announced a 1.3 Billion dollar CASH acquisition of Siemans Healthcare Systems. Forbes has a great article on the benefits of the acquisition and as you read you'll know the benefits to the KC market. Cerner still plans on adding 16,000 jobs in the coming years outside this partnership and I suspect this partnership is part of the reason those jobs are coming to our community. 

I'm optimistic for another reason - demand for our services is as high (if not higher) than the peak days in 2001 & 2007. We currently have a dozen openings for development resources on all platforms and roles from basic team members to highly placed technical strategists. I've never seen competition for hands-on technical people this fierce. 

We also are seeing plenty of activity in SDLC related roles: Business Analysts, Quality Testers, and Project / Product Managers. In short, if you're in the software development world and considering a move you will find plenty of firms interested in speaking with you. Including me. :)

Kansas City to become a Cisco "Smart City"

If you follow KC Tech news no doubt you've already seen the announcement. Its exciting to see Kansas City becoming a "test bed" of technology. First Google Fiber, and now Cisco's Smart+ initiative.

Ironically I was reading an article just yesterday on "Fog Computing." For obvious reasons Cisco will be a key player as technology moves closer to the user. Their team describes Fog Computing as "a paradigm that extends Cloud computing and services to the edge of the network. Similar to Cloud, Fog provides data, compute, storage, and application services to end-users. The distinguishing Fog characteristics are its proximity to end-users, its dense geographical distribution, and its support for mobility."

Everyone catch that? Essentially they're saying the systems that allow you to process information on your phone and tablet are going to be widely available and lightning fast. Are you listening TimeWarner & Comcast? The Smart+ initiative may put sensors in the track for our new light rail (here's where I sarcastically hold my breath), and I'm sure the smart folks in our tech community can find the real benefit when those sensors aren't chewing up bandwidth.

I'm certainly no "nuts and bolts" technician, but I am very excited to see how this new technology can impact our community.

What's Happening?

Years ago, when I first joined the KC IT Community, there were a handful of "special interest" user groups that met on a regular basis and discussed the latest and greatest in Microsoft, Oracle, Java, Access, and a handful of other technologies. One of the longest running groups I know is the Heartland User Group. I thought it would be fun to look at their archived site from 2000. My how far we've come in 14 years.

In those 14 years the number of local special interest groups has morphed into a community dedicated to advancing technology in the community. Groups like Adam Arredando' Start Up Village, Ryan Weber's KC Next, and Mike Gelphman's KCITP have done some amazing things promoting the Kansas City IT community. If you're not familiar with these groups you need to check them out.

One site that seems to have accelerated the growth of special interest groups in KC is MeetUp.com. I'm sure many of you are familiar with Meetup, but every week I run into someone who hasn't heard of it so it's worth a mention. MeetUp is a mash-up of social media and good old fashioned "get together" networking. 

RiverPoint has been a key sponsor for two of the technology related Meet-Ups:

KC Java User Group
Upfront

Those two groups are just the tip of the Meet-Up Iceberg. Here's a sampling of groups on MeetUp that meet on a regular basis here in KC.

Wordpress
Node
Drupal
AdobeAdobe Visual Design
Adobe WebCore
PHP
.NET
Big Data
Mobile App Developers
Ruby
Python
Just for the Girls

There's also groups that aren't on Meet-Up

KC Oracle User Group
Kansas City Quality Assurance Association
KC International Institute of Business Analysts
If nothing is grabbing your attention there are still many other groups you can find on this list.  I'd also like to say if you are in any of these groups and would like to have RiverPoint get involved as a sponsor feel free to reach out - we're always happy to help.

If you are interested in these events, we keep an up-to-date list at our LinkedIn Group so please join us and sign up for the daily or weekly digests to stay on top of these events.

Speaking of events - there's two events next week you should consider attending.

Mobile Midwest Conference The latest conference set up by KCITP will feature thought leaders from across the US including Ben Milne (Founder - Dwolla), Steve Huffman Co-Founder of Reddit), and Matt Galligan (Co-Founder - Circa) among others. Mobile is where technology is heading and this is a great chance to learn from some of the best and brightest in the business.

Digital Consumer Workshop KCNext hosts Accenture as they share the results of their latest consumer research where you'll hear from senior thought leaders on the latest strategies to better engage customers. They'll also demonstrate some of the latest technologies to keep the non-stop digital consumer satisfied. 

First Come, First Served Recruiting

In this hot market, one can only guess how many recruiters are hitting the phones, sending emails, and texting IT professionals. There are at least 150-200 local IT recruiters here in Kansas City, and likely double that working KC opportunities from locations as far away as India. It all adds up to a constant barrage of requests to consider your "next career move" or work at "the best company in Kansas City."

Sound familiar?

If you're not considering a move you probably ignore the messages however, if you are considering a move, what's "fair" when it comes to multiple recruiters contacting you about the same job at the same client? If your answer is "First Come, First Served" please consider the following and ask some questions before you give your permission to be submitted to a client.

Your relationship with the recruiter.
Is this the first time you've ever connected to this person, or is it someone you've dealt with in the past that you trust? If you don't know the person on the other end of the line from Adam is there a recruiter you do know and trust that may be able to represent you for the position? When you have an ongoing relationship with a recruiter they are going to be much more effective representing your interests at the client than a "newbie." If they're new to you, find out what you can about the job & call the recruiter you know before agreeing to be submitted.

The recruiter's relationship with the client.
Sometimes the "newbie" has a heads-up & that gives them a leg up on the person you know. Sometimes the "newbie" is recruiting off a job posting they saw on CareerBuilder and is fishing for candidates they can sub-contract to the primary agency. Then there's everything in between. The recruiter that has the stronger relationship with the decision makers (generally not the HR folks) is going to have better odds of getting you a meeting.

The recruiter's knowledge of the market.
Obvious question - who is going to be better connected, and have a better handle on the IT market in KC - a 1st year recruiter working a call center in Denver or a recruiter who has been in market for 10+ years? New recruiters working for local firms are going to be somewhat immune to this because they have other staff members with good local knowledge to support them, but they are still new recruiters and require a little more information from you than a veteran.

Compensation, Benefits & Employment Terms
If there are six agencies recruiting a job at a client there are going to be at least six different options for you to consider. Is this going to be a salaried position with full benefits, paid time off & paid bench time when the assignment comes to an end? Do you even WANT a salaried position with those types of benefits? Speaking of benefits - cost of benefits varies wildly between agencies. If one agency offers $40 an hour, but benefits are $500 more a month than the agency offering $37 an hour, the $40/hr rate actually pays you less.

There are other less critical things you may want to consider such as mileage reimbursements & 401k vesting schedules but until you can answer questions related to the four above topics you should not be giving your permission to send your resume to a client to any agency.

First Come, First Served is a disservice to you.

Hire Through the Generation Gap

Throughout my life I've noticed a generational trend: each successive generation thinks the new one has it too easy. “Back in my day…” is handed down from one era to the next.  I was born six months before the cutoff for Generation X.  While technically a Baby Boomer, my formative years certainly were more Gen X.

I was born to college-educated parents and grew up in a comfortable middle class neighborhood with good schools, cable TV, and a microwave oven. I didn't have a phone in my pocket or highly sophisticated video games, and I certainly didn't have the social and informational connectivity of the internet growing up. But then again, my parents didn't have a television until they were in their teens, and they had to worry about polio vaccinations and the Russians nuking them into oblivion. In retrospect, I had it pretty easy.

The Millennial Generation gets a bad rap from the Boomer & Buster generations. They’re accused of having a mentality of entitlement mentality without a sense of loyalty. They’re looking for instant gratification and are only in it for themselves. The list could go on but why bother – it’s simply not true. The truth is, Millennials are every bit as hard working and loyal as any other generation, they just have a different set of life experiences that shape how they operate.

As a Gen X-Boomer it’s hard to say I know what makes Millennials tick, but as a person who recruits a good many of them, I have a pretty good idea of what they value in an employer & what you need to do to attract them to your company.

1.       They care about what they’re doing so they expect YOU to care about them. Seems simple, but it’s not. Your management team can’t just care about getting the product out the door. Millennials are not typical 9-5 Monday through Friday thinkers. They’re connected 24x7 so they tend to get very wrapped up in their work and passionate about their job. If the leaders in the firm don’t visibly share that passion they will find someone who will.

2.       Millennials ARE ambitious. If you don’t provide a path someone else will. If each step moving up the ladder at your firm takes a couple of years you’ll want to consider putting in some intermediate steps. Millennials either move up or they move out.

3.       Millennials are highly relationship-driven and the most connected generation ever.  They’re talking about everything and everyone on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, GitHub, Instagram, Flickr, SnapChat, YouTube, Foursquare, Google+, etc.... They’re also checking out what people are saying about you on Glassdoor. Ignoring their connectivity and their ability will come at your own costs.

If you want to win the "war" for Millennial talent keep the following in mind:

Is your career site a reflection of your customer site? 
Organizations spend thousands of dollars in multimedia marketing to make the customer side of their site attractive and interactive. Yet when you click on the “Careers” link it takes you to a text heavy, bureaucratically-laden process to go through layers of data just to view a job.

Millennials are market-savvy, they’re looking for a company that reflects that image. 
Do your job descriptions list “must be able to lift 50 lbs” or “ability to safely enter and exit a vehicle” or any other OSHA gems? Don’t laugh - I’ve seen that in job specs before. Most Millennials will roll their eyes at that type of attempt to attract them to your company. They aren’t attracted to bureaucracy & those “requirements” simply make your company seem foolish.

What kind of “brand experience” are you giving your job seekers? 
You’re the one that posted the job, so what are you doing to respect the time they took to respond? If you’ve brought someone in for an interview, what are you doing to provide communication and closure?  Potential employees are also potential customers so treat them as such.

What’s your company’s culture? 

Do you have Ping Pong tables, beer taps, and casual Fridays? A lot of companies use this to attract Generation X and Millennial candidates, but unlimited vacation time and a free coffee bar is a perk – it’s not a culture. Culture is what your company values. Zappos has defined their culture in the 10 Core Values they seek and develop in each employee. You need to define, implement, and live your culture as far as work is concerned. Don’t just post core values on your website and continue business as usual.  This is more important to this generation.

Ignore Kevin Bacon, the 80's are over.  It’s 2014. Your strategy for attracting & retaining Millennial talent needs to change.

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Recruiter Do's and Dont's

As a technical recruiter / recruiting manager with over a decade of experience I know having a good recruiter in their corner is important for IT Professionals. The IT market is Red Hot right now which means weekly calls from recruiters. I've seen a lot of mistakes made by candidates over the years so I wanted to share my Do's and Dont's for building a good working relationship & optimizing the time you spend with an agency.

DO consider recruiters as a partner. They should be asking questions about your expectations beyond how the buzzwords on your resume align with their client's job spec. The more they get to know you; your goals, aspirations, interests, style, and "hot buttons," the better they will be able to serve you.

DON'T be afraid to engage with a recruiter, even if you're not actively looking. You never know when the next layoff is coming or your great boss is about to be replaced by the office politician. Having the relationship in place before you need their services will make the process a lot easier when you do.

DO ask about their client base. A recruiter needs to tell you about their clients. Knowing who the agency covers lets you determine what other agencies should be in your portfolio. If their clients aren't of interest to you, you're wasting your time. You can also strengthen the relationship by providing insight you might have about their clients.

DON'T work with every recruiter that says they have a job for you. Get to know 3-4 recruiters local to your targeted area and let them go to work for you. If you know their client base, have a great relationship, and have an open and regular line of communication you'll be able to cover all your targets without getting 10 agencies involved in your search. Good recruiters generally will shy away from candidates who aren't selective - they're usually either desperate or simply don't appreciate the value a recruiter brings to the table.

DO meet with recruiters. There's nothing that can replace the value of a face-to-face meeting to get a comfort level with one another. Recruiting is a numbers game, and some recruiters like to shortcut the relationship to get the numbers. There's recruiters out there just trying to serve their needs by hitting their daily quota rather than engage on a deep level to serve your needs. Agreeing to be represented after a 5 minute phone call increases the chances of things going south dramatically.

DON'T mislead a recruiter. There's nothing that will kill a relationship quicker than being dishonest. Good recruiters are your agent - they need to know the good, bad, and ugly in order to best serve you.

DO seek out recruiters that live and work in the area you're targeting. Local recruiters will be better connected and have a much better handle on the local job market. Agencies hit their numbers using regional recruiting call centers that "smile and dial" through resumes they find online and in their database. These recruiters generally have minimal experience and nearly no understanding of the local market. Some of the national agencies have outsourced these call centers to India.

DO disclose companies where you've applied and agencies that have already submitted you to their clients. Keeping this information to yourself makes both the agency and you look bad if your resume ends up on someone's desk from two sources. In some cases it will automatically disqualify you from consideration.

DO expect an ongoing line of communication. Good recruiters are proactive about keeping you in the loop on immediate and ongoing opportunities. You should expect to hear from them at least every week or two if there's a job cooking. If you have to initiate all the contact and they're slow to return calls (or completely unresponsive) find another agency that will interact with you without feeling like you're pulling teeth.

DON'T be afraid to say no to an opportunity. Recruiters wanting to hit their numbers might use strong arm tactics to get you to say yes - don't let them. Good recruiters understand if it's not right, it's not right. They'll reset and hopefully find something that will work for you.

With that said....

DON'T be afraid to explore something if you're on the fence. Agreeing to be represented or interview is simply one step in the process. If you're curious about something that may have potential but aren't certain it's okay to do some exploration. Just be sure to discuss your concerns with the recruiter before you agree to be submitted so they aren't blindsided if you say no.

DO fully understand all the aspects of their client's offer before saying yes. If you think your company might counter when you turn in notice talk to the recruiter about what they could do to keep you. If you still aren't sure about the offer clarify EVERYTHING before saying yes. One of the biggest things you can do to erode the trust of a recruiter is to say you're going to start with their client and then back out (especially if you back out the night before via email and yes, that has happened).

Working with an agency will uncover some great opportunities that might not have been available otherwise. It also gives you an advocate in the hiring process as well as during employment that can help you sort through critical decisions.

DON'T be afraid to engage with a good recruiter - they can be a great asset for your career.

Hot Verticals

An article in a recent edition of Staffing Industry Review listed some of the hot verticals for this year. They preface the list saying "there are still three years left on the current five year up-cycle" and based on what we've been seeing the author's predictions are spot-on.

Banking
Changes in legislation, consumer driven demand for more online / mobile services, and recent breaches of security are cited as reasons this industry hold great growth for IT professionals. Good news for Kansas City who is home to two large banks & a number of other regional players.

Healthcare
Cerner opened near the racetrack last year and announced big plans for the Bannister complex. Netsmart, a Cerner competitor in the EMR space, along with Perceptive Software are also driving plenty of demand in this vertical. We are also home to several large healthcare insurance companies that will continue to have project demands as healthcare grows and our lawmakers figure out exactly where the ACA is going to settle.

Oil & Gas
Kansas City is not much of a hub for the O&G world, but RiverPoint has a large client in Oklahoma in the business that has been going gangbusters. So this is especially good news for us.

Computer Systems
TMobile will let you trade in your phone every six months. Gearheads line up to get the latest iPad or xBox. Consumers want faster & better computer systems and that will drive demand for manufacturing. Garmin is a perfect example of a local company that will continue to benefit from this trend.

The article goes on to discuss the "Hot Segments" within the verticals. The "Big Three" in my mind are as follows:

Mobile Applications
This goes without saying - demand for mobile will continue to rise as more and more people move away from traditional PC systems to tablets and smartphones. Now might be a good time to sign up for KCITP's Mobile Midwest event. You could make a strong argument that mobile is number one.

Big Data
We live in a world where data is collected. HyVee is giving you a discount on gas in exchange for information on your buying habits. Facebook knows more about us than we know. Data is becoming a very hot commodity and people will be needed to organize, analyze, and (hopefully) protect it. Kansas City has a new Meet-Up Group dedicated to Big Data if you're interested. We've been seeing high demand for all sorts of data folks from analysts to ETL, Business Intelligence, and Hadoop.

Security
Security is my pick for the hottest segment. My parents Visa card was compromised by Target. My debit card was compromised by TJX. Because of it's overall importance to all the other categories on this list Information One only needs to look at the exponential growth of a company like Fishnet to know IS professionals will be in demand for years to come.

RiverPoint has delivered services to client in all these categories so we're very excited to see what 2014 brings.

Good start to 2014

The first part of the year is always busy here at RiverPoint. Each year the hiring frenzy begins as new budgets are released. As we look forward to 2014 here are some of the things we feel are cause for optimism for the KC Tech market.

Incubators

thinkBIG partnered with Microsoft Ventures. Microsoft has set up incubators in Tel Aviv, Bangladore, Bejing, Paris, Berlin, and now they've set up shop right here in Kansas City. It's a great opportunity if you have an idea, but aren't quite sure how to build it into a tech business.

TechStars (the #1 business Accelerator in the world) partnered with Sprint to give 10 companies seed money and support to develop Mobile Health solutions.

The KC Startup Village will also continue to provide opportunities for tech entrepreneurs in 2014. A list of other business incubators can be found here at the KCNext site.

Market News

Cerner opened their new 4,000 seat campus near the Kansas Speedway last year with bigger plans for the future. The Bannister Mall project expects to have the first employees on the campus by 2016. 

YRC has some room to breathe after the contract the Teamsters voted down in December was renegotiated & accepted. They aren't out of the woods yet, but this contract will give lenders confidence in restructuring YRC's debt and allowing them to continue operations. There's no doubt this is good news for the KC job market in general. 

FreightQuote announced they would hire 400 brokers today. More brokers means more business which will drive more job demand for this technology driven company.

All in all there's a lot to be excited about in 2014. 2013 was RiverPoint's 25th anniversary and we're excited for the first year of the next 25.