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Blog Post: What Is HR Technology and Why Should You Care?: HR technology is the software, apps, and online tools that enable companies to manage their people better, fairer, and more efficiently. It covers all aspects of human resources, from talent…; Added by Phil Strazzulla at 3:56am on October 28, 2022

Blog Post: 81+ Troubling Workplace Stress Statistics [2022 Data]: The prevalence of stress in the American workplace is so high that most workers have accepted it as a way of life. Odds are, so have you. But is something wrong when stress, instead of being an…; Added by Phil Strazzulla at 2:39am on October 22, 2022

Blog Post: Top 17 Unicorns & What Makes Them Industry’s Front-Runners: Added by Rchilli Parser at 6:28am on July 21, 2022

Blog Post: FROZEN Out of Talent? Let It Go!: The following is the transcript from a webcast I led on 8/26/14 for SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management). This should not be copied, distributed, or used without my permission. Thank…; Added by Doug Douglas at 10:44am on August 28, 2014

Topic: Meet Simon Meth, A Contract Recruiter SittingXlegged in San Diego: egged • 619-303-7094 • simon.meth@sdcorprecruiter.com When I was first introduced to Recruitment Blogging, I entered through ERE blogs, venturing into Simon Meth's musings about contract recruitment, in addition to Shally's Cybersleuthing and then viewing outwards into Dennis Smith's Wirelessjobs.com. Simon has brought insights into the value proposition of contract recruitment consultants for several years now. We first met in person at ERE, San Diego in 2006 and I was fortunate to meet him again much to my delight at ERE San Diego a few weeks ago. After all these years reading one another I am honored to finally have the opportunity to tell the tale of this Australian expatriate who is passionate about our profession and has so consistently paid it forward since the blogosphere introduced us as fellow travelers. Simon was educated at The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia where he earned a B.S. (Honors) degree in Physical Geography. He began his professional career as a physical geographer writing environmental impact statements. He then started his technical sales career selling machines for Canon Copier Australia. He joined Triad Software in 1984 as a salesman where he developed a nationwide distribution company specializing in the Pick database operating system and related hardware and software. Triad Software achieved international recognition as one of the top Pick resellers in the world. Simon moved to the United States in 1987 where he provided coaching and consulting services in business management, technical sales, and marketing to Triad Software and several other clients. He sold his share in Triad to his business partner in 1995. Simon continued to develop his expertise in staffing, career counseling, and coaching. He has worked with industry leading companies including ViaSat, ENCAD a Division of Kodak, Bond International Software, Adecco , Stac now known as Altiris and Symantec, and Source Services now known as Kforce Professional Staffing. He is a Certified Independent Trainer for Competency Based Interviewing®. SittingXlegged is his blog on ere.net about Corporate Recruitment: what works and what doesn't plus other musings. Simon is an accomplished author of technical articles, a monthly news column, press releases, and company newsletters. He has been published internationally in print and on the Web. Simon lives in San Diego, California with his wife and two children. He is a passionate golfer who asserts that most of life’s lessons are available on the golf course. Q&A with Simon Meth Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. SIMON: The four of us live in sunny San Diego. Our daughter is off to college in the fall and then we’ll be three at home. Our son is a champion junior golfer and much of our lives revolve around golf. Fortunately I’m a golf tragic and hanging out at the golf course is just about the most fun thing I know to do. Life has been a little odd lately with my wife traveling to golf tournaments or to colleges with our kids. I’ve had more time alone than I’m used to or really quite enjoy. I’m very outgoing and prefer to be with others than keeping my own company. However, time alone at home gives me a chance to take care of a myriad of things and to exercise my obsessive compulsive tendencies. I’m pretty hopeless at goofing off and have always been that way. Doing nothing usually evolves into being productive and working on something. I do love watching golf on TV. Some of my favorite shows are House, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Mythbusters and Deadliest Catch. My guilty pleasures are Doctor 90210 and Nip/Tuck which I watch on Hulu. I listen to most kinds of music and usually do that on Pandora. When I’m driving I almost always listen to a book on CD and usually it is fiction. I just love Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. I’m also the resident PC Tech so when anything goes wrong with something on the network I get a call. Come to think of it that’s one of the few times when my daughter initiates conversation with me . Aren’t 18 year old girls just so much fun? Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? SIMON: Well it depends how you count it. I’d say since I started with Source in ’95. That would be about 14 years. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? SIMON: Funny you should ask. I started as a recruiter way back in my native Australia before I realized that was what I was doing! I was a partner in a software company and we sometimes placed Prime Information consultants at our client sites. Only the very seasoned readers will have ever heard of Prime Information. If you don’t count that then I got into recruiting in the U.S. by accident. After I sold the Australian company I was looking for something to do. There was a recruiter at Source Services Corporation, now Kforce, who had sourced Pick programmers through me for a couple of years so I called her. I figured that she could help me find a job. She did. Working for Source! Funny how often that happens. She made a nice little commission after I started. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? SIMON: I was consulting with a company called Stac that later became Previo and then went out of business. We worked with an industrial psychologist to evaluate candidates above a certain functional level. I got really interested in what he was doing and eventually read a lot of the technical literature and even became certified to teach his Competency Based Interviewing course. Doing that enhanced my innate ability to assess what people are good at and to predict their future success. Time and time again I’ve had clients tell me that that ability is something that distinguishes me from others. I’m always surprised by that because it seems so obvious to me. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? SIMON: Not really. I’m a great gatherer and processor of information. I observe and study everyone and every process and choose what works for me and what I think will make me and those who work with me more productive and efficient. Sometimes the best teachers are those who are failing and aren’t great at what they do. Six Degrees: Tell us about your position: SIMON: I typically work as an independent consultant. Currently I’m at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. Before that I spent 5 years at ViaSat. I work a full desk with typically 35 to 50 requisitions. Often it’s a mix of technical and non-technical positions. I’m an Applicant Tracking System nut and I love to learn everything that the tool can do and I do mean everything. I also document the heck out of everything I do. I look at every resume for everyone who applies and love to get lots of things going. One of my first managers always stressed the importance of activity. I find if I do lots of the right kind of activity then everything works out well. As I mentioned earlier, I’m pretty hopeless at goofing off so you’ll almost always find me doing something productive. Of course you can easily engage me in conversation and I’m likely to tell you more than you want to hear. I know this about myself and am never offended if people cut me off. In fact, with folks I work with a lot, I actually ask them to cut me off if I ever run on too long. Oh, and another thing, I return every voice mail I receive. Six Degrees: What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? SIMON: There are so many different ways to do it. I know one international company where the recruiters don’t review resumes. The hiring managers are responsible for identifying people of interest and the recruiters screen and work them through the process. I’m sure it works for them but that’s not how I’d do it. I’ve heard horror stories about how long it takes to get hired at some industry leading companies. I’ve worked at places where hiring by consensus is the way they do it. Everyone who interviews a candidate has an equal vote. I could never see the sense in that. Everyone should be listened to but some people will or should have a clearer idea about who fits the position best. I admire companies that treat applicants with respect, that have a fast and efficient hiring process, and that get back to applicants every time. I admire companies that have recruitment teams that are passionate about the company they work for and about their craft. I admire companies that embrace technology and that have recruitment systems that make sense and that work well. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? SIMON: It’s old news now but the whole area of social networking is absolutely where it’s at! I can’t predict where we’ll end up in the next few years but I see more and more transparency of information, I see everything linked to everything else, I see a time when we’ll be able to really understand a candidate and their background. Candidates will know what it’s like to work at your company before they start work. They will have the tools to accomplish that. If they don’t use those tools then don’t hire them. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: SIMON: I recently attended ere expo in San Diego. It was great catching up with industry colleagues both new and old. That’s an easy conference for me to attend since it’s in my home town. I haven’t ventured to other conferences but ere expo really piqued my interest. I’d certainly love to attend more. I started writing my blog, SittingXlegged, January 9, 2006. That’s been loads of fun. While I don’t get a ton of comments I do get the occasional reader who lets me know that they appreciate my writing. I’ve started cross-posting to several other sites to expand my readership. I’ve gotten the best results on RecruitingBlogs.com. RecruiterSpace San Diego is a local social networking site for recruiters that I started to help connect recruiters both agency and corporate. I post local opportunities and lots of folks have used the site as a tool to connect. Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? SIMON: I’ve been affected directly by the recession. After 5 years working as an independent consultant at ViaSat I could see that my requisition load was dwindling. I remember thinking that I wouldn’t pay me what they were paying me to carry that load. I talked with my Director and Vice President and worked out a separation. I feel very fortunate to have found General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc where I consult today. The economy seems to have been improving but I was getting lots of calls and emails from industry colleagues who were looking for work. I’ve also noticed that agency recruiters are more or less desperate for work. I get lots of calls from them too. There has been lots of downsizing of both staff and office space. Of course the strong will survive and will grow again when the economy turns around. Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do? SIMON: That’s a great question! What NOT to do? My best advice is don’t delay in trying out any networking opportunity. Early adopters have a huge advantage. If the particular site takes off then their own network will grow much more quickly than those who engage later on. Of course you may spend some time on some duds but that’s OK too. Learn what you learn and delete your account. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? SIMON: I don’t have one or at least I don’t have a goal to do anything differently to what I’m doing now. I love to recruit. I’m passionate about it and I’m always looking for ways to be more efficient and productive. So more of that! I’ve held management positions in the past and they can be extremely rewarding. I’d do that again if I could lead a team and continue to work a desk. I have limited interest in playing the corporate game and dealing with all the stuff that corporate managers deal with. I’m not saying that stuff isn’t important I’m just saying that I have limited interest in it. I can imagine working for a very well funded start-up where there is no process in place and there is a huge need to hire highly talented people quickly. I could build that and have fun doing it. “HOW DOES SIMON THEY DO IT?” Six Degrees: What recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit? SIMON: The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that I use every day is smartsearch. I really like the user interface (UI) and have learned to be really quick and efficient with it. I used Kenexa Recruiter BrassRing at my last gig. I liked it too and it’s probably more capable for really large international companies. I also use TalentHook for sourcing. It’s a solid tool that is well worth the time investment to learn to use efficiently. I think that I have the advantage of having the computer “geek” gene that makes me really dig into any tool I use to get the most out of it. Other than that I use my various networks most days. Six Degrees: What tools (technology or old school file folder, for example) did you first encounter early in your recruitment career? SIMON: I remember wondering how to keep track of so many discrete events and all the paperwork. I talked with every recruiter in the office and found that everyone used some form of day planner. This was before Franklin and Covey merged and I used the Covey planner. Of course I’m almost 100% digital today but the lessons learned are still valuable and in use each and every day. Six Degrees: How did your expectations of being a recruiter compare to the actual, first time you got on the phone or in the cubicle? In your opinion, how do people's assumptions about our vocation differ from reality? SIMON: I don’t remember having any expectations. I didn’t know enough to have any! I also don’t know about people’s assumptions about our vocation. I do know that when someone is looking for work that we are all their best friends. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t…and how that was a learning experience? SIMON: Ah! The million dollar question! The one that distinguishes the strong candidate from the exceptional candidate. I’d better answer it then . My first recruitment manager drove me absolutely nuts. I didn’t care for her and I amassed lots of evidence about why that was. I also gossiped about her with my colleagues. And despite all that I was successful there. I have no doubt that if my production had been lower I’d have been given an opportunity to work elsewhere. What I learned from the experience is that we all have different styles of working. I do my best to work in situations that are a good fit for me. If I work with someone who I find challenging I look for ways to work well together. Mostly that’s just finding things about them that I admire or that work well rather than focusing on the things that I don’t care for. Six Degrees: Considering all of the frustrations you have experienced in your career as a recruiter, -- what inspires you as you continue in your career? SIMON: I just love it! That is all. Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug? SIMON: Not so much a plug as a request for everyone who has read this far to find a way today to give back to our industry. Find someone you can help and help them for no reason. Recommendations For Simon “Simon reviews every candidate we hire. His insights often point to attributes that we missed during the normal interview process. More importantly, Simon has uncanny knack for understanding how new employees will fit into the team. People are our most important asset -- thus Simon's services are a critical component to our ability to sustain growth at the superlative levels we have achieved under the leadership of our new CEO.” February 23, 2007. Top qualities: Great Results, Good Value, High Integrity Olin Hyde “Simon is a very savvy and experienced career coach and recruiter. I worked with him multiple times to help with my job search. Each time he provided me with invaluable knowledge that tremendously improved the response rate to my resume submissions and lead to successful employment.” November 26, 2006. Top qualities: Expert, High Integrity, Creative Ron Santschi “I've worked with Simon on a variety of web, marketing and staffing projects and have always found his input and/or direction of far higher quality and clarity than most top level executives. Simon's ability to look through the surface of a situation, to focus on the most important aspects and goals of an activity, promotes results that retain an enduring luminence.” June 9, 2006 James Metzger, Owner, Video Diamonds “I've worked with Simon several times since we first met in 1996. Each time he added exactly what was needed, and our busy employees interviewed just a few highly qualified candidates before we filled the postion. Simon adds a lot of value to the hiring process, from management to hands-on interviewing, screening, and making the offer -- and he's very focused on getting the positions filled.” June 2, 2006 Tom Dilatush, CTO, FutureTrade “I worked with Simon in 2003 when I quit my job at FotoNation and was looking at new opportunities. Simon developed a special program for me, flexible in direction, intensity and duration. He was listening to me, helping me to discover and tackle issues I was suffering from. His help really made a difference in my life and my attitude. I would highly recommend Simon to those in need of coaching.” May 30, 2006 Boris Berkman, CTO and Senior Systems Architect, FutureTrade Technologies “I have known Simon almost 25 years. We have been business partners, played golf, and had many conversations. Simon has earned the title of my most trusted friend. I have found his counsel to be insightful, clear, and useful, time after time. I recommend Simon as a coach, consultant, recruiter, and friend. He's a pretty good golfer, too. " May 30, 2006 Steve Alexander, President, ENG Resources, Inc. “Simon is the only recruitment consultant we've worked with at Integrant since 1999. We always use him to evaluate potential hires and value his take on candidates highly. We have, on a few occasions, gone against his recommendations and we've always regretted it. I highly recommend him to you.” May 31, 2006 Ben Lacomble, Practice Manager, Integrant “Simon is a professional recruiter who has ensured the companies staffing requirements are met in all dimensions of qualifications, corporate culture and financial contraints. He was always an honest source of advice and coaching in building a high performance team in a challenging San Diego market.” May 30, 2006 Al Haddad, CEO, Indyme “Simon is a very thorough Staffing Consultant. I have worked with Simon for over two years now and he has brought a level of insight when considering potential candidates I would have thought difficult if not impossible to obtain in a 1 hour interview. Simon is a straightforward and direct person who can understand our business needs and help us qualify prospective candidates.” May 30, 2006 Jeromy Giacosa, Director of IT, Integrant, Inc “Simon is one of the best recruiters I've ever worked with. He stays on top of things. Reminds the team of what each has to do. He also has outstanding team skills. In a competitive and stressful environment like we're in it's paramount to have team leadership skills. My thinking is that strong recruiting skills is necessary but not sufficient. An outstanding recruiter must have those skills but must also have strong team leadership skills. Simon has those as well and that's why I consider him an outstanding recruiter. He's an excellent 'face' of the company for prospective candidates.” December 15, 2008 Chris Wren, Director, ViaSat “Simon is someone who is very knowledgeable in corporate recruiting, from screening applicants to selecting only those people with the right skills and personality to fit our high standards at ViaSat. He worked at ViaSat for years in a very fast paced, competitive time in the technology industry and produced great results. Sharing time in the same hall I can say he is very dedicated and put in the hours he needed to make things happen.” October 27, 2008 Bruce Rowe, Director, Marketing Projects, ViaSat Inc “I have worked with Simon at ViaSat, Inc. for almost one year. Simon was very helpful when I first started in getting me up to speed and answering all my questions in a thoughtful way. Simon is an outstanding recruiter, he thinks things through and understands the implications of his actions. He can read people extremely well and knows how to communicate effectively. He knows intuitively when to be assertive with candidates and managers and when to be more receptive. He has an excellent grasp on technology and his organizational and time management skills are some of the best I have ever seen. He prides himself on always being prompt. Simon is a strong, independent thinker and yet is amenable to constructive feedback. I have learned a lot from Simon during the time we have worked together and hope I have the pleasure of working with him again in the future.” October 24, 2008 Alana Martyns, Technical Recruiter, ViaSat, Inc. “Simon handled all the recruiting for the Corporate Accounting Group. Over the last couple of years we have doubled the size of the Corporate Accounting Department. Though this intensive hiring Simon played a key roll and only brought us the top candidates. Simon has a great understanding of what is needed in great Corporate Accountant and will not deviate from our needs. He has excellent organization skills, very professional and a great team player. He always did a great job and was great to work with. He will be missed.” October 23, 2008 Ann Grant, Corp Actg Mgr, ViaSat “Simon was a member of our Recruiting team for many years and in that time he brought a dedication to efficiency and excellence that's seldom seen. He brings a consistent methodology to the table that leads to finding precisely the type of candidate you're looking for, and he's is very good at reading the subtle "red flags" that less experienced and perhaps less perceptive recruiters may miss. Simon's personality and wit are icing on the cake!” October 15, 2008 Melinda Del Toro, Director of People Development & Employee Relations, ViaSat, Inc. “Simon supported our entire sales organization. He cut through the red tape and found ways to help us hire some great people who contributed significantly to the bottom line. He was always up-beat and positive. I'd characterize his style as consultative customer service. Highly recommended!” June 29, 2006 Tony Espinoza, VP, Operations, Kodak/Encad, Inc. “We had challenges recruiting and retaining key employees. Simon was constantly striving to understand the needs of the hiring manager and find people who would be the best fit. He was able to work at all levels. With his help, we were able to retain key people. In executive staff, he often provided key insight. Charles Sharp, Former VP Supplies, ENCAD President, Digital Image Technology” June 2, 2006 Chuck Sharp, Owner, Digital Image Technology, managed Simon indirectly at Eastman Kodak formerly ENCAD “Simon worked in my branch office for the direct placement division of Adecco. Simon's core strength and attribute was his ability to bring a consultative approach to our recruiting team that resulted in a more effective and streamlined recruitment process, better candidate screening, and higher returns on placement activity.” November 16, 2007 Eric Scott Hensley, Owner, Technology Search Group “Simon Meth is one of the best recruiters I have come across in my 28 year career. He single handedly helped me build up my 8 person marketing team while I was VP of Marketing at Stac, Inc. His pre-screening of candidates alone saved me a considerable amount of time and meant that I only interviewed top-notch candidates. John Bromhead, Former Vice President Marketing, STAC” May 31, 2006 “Simon was very dilligent, organized and exceeded his sales quota as a Sr. Technology recruiter at Source Services (now Kforce). Simon was a pleasure to work with and became a great working partner.” May 30, 2006 Rick Raimondi, Managing Director, Netsoft…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:36am on April 20, 2009

Topic: The Story That Needs to be Told - Part IV: e office. The company brought in two of the national training team members to work with her. One stayed a week the other was on assignment for several months. She ran the training classes with his assistance and was told that she was doing a great job. There was only one little glitch, a rep visited a winery brought back a case of wine and brought her a bottle. She thanked him told him she could not accept gifts and returned the wine. Later that day it was back in her office. She went immediately to her boss and told her he had given it to her, she had returned it , he had put it back in her office so would the boss like to have it or should she take it back to him and insist that he take it back. Her boss told her it was ok to keep it but to just be careful but it wasn’t a big deal since he was not on her team and he had given several other people in the office a bottle also. Of course 10 days later she was called in and told that it had been reported that she had accepted gifts from reps. My candidate reminded her boss that she had asked her about it previously but the bottle of wine was still in her office and the boss was welcome to it or she would now give it back. No not necessary, the boss had forgotten but now did remember so forget it. My candidate was contacted about three jobs that were being posted that would enable her to live in this area but work in another division reporting to another supervisor. She was thrilled as both would be a promotion and a raise and allow her to report to supervisors that she had worked with in the past that she liked. She applied and was told that it would be six weeks to two months before interviews would be held but received calls from the other supervisors encouraging her about the jobs she was applying for being a good fit for her. For her to be able to move into another position with the company her boss is required to release her and does have the ability even she is offered another position to say that she is not releasable due to business needs. My candidate was concerned so thinking that things had gone better for several months she went to her boss and told her that she was applying for the other jobs, she had enjoyed working for her, had learned a lot (no kidding) but wanted to advance with the company and needed as a single parent to make more money and be in a situation where she could take her kids to school and day care at a normal time instead of before 7:30 in the morning to be sure that she was in the office by 8:00 and be able to pick them up herself rather than have someone else have to pick them up as she did not get off until 6:00 with the after school program and day care closing at 6:00. Her boss told her that she understood but she did not want her to leave. She was irreplaceable, the boss was going to retire in a couple of years and she was grooming my candidate for her job. She would change her hours so she could come in at 8:15 and leave at 5:45 if my candidate were willing to work an extra Saturday a month. My candidate said she would appreciate that and would work the extra Saturday but she wanted to move up with the company, did not want the boss’s job and wanted to get out of the office environment that was not a fit for her as she did not feel and never felt that she fit with the management style and environment there. My candidate did not believe it was right to retaliate against people who filed a complaint. Her boss said, “I have told you we don’t retaliate if any of them file a complaint against us, it’s not legal but ,what we do is “work them out of the business , we just observe every move that they make until we have enough to work them out.” My candidate said , “yes I know and I don’t think that’s right, people make mistakes I feel like that is what has happened to me in the past and I don’t want any more of it. “Things have gotten better but I have always felt like you were going to fire me for something and I don’t want to live that way. You micro manage me, you undermine me, you tell me to fire a rep for attendance then after I do you bring them back and tell them that you saved their job so I have a problem with a rep. You make me uncomfortable talking about your sex life and talking about who is having an affair and I don’t think I can work for you.” At this point the boss started crying and sobbing and apologizing. She went on to say that “she was not a weak manager, she was not a weak manager she was just emotional and if my candidate would just reach over and rub her arm when she stared acting that way she would get control of herself. My candidate feeling that things were getting too bizarre and as she put it, “my stomach turned at the thought of having to rub her arm to calm her down.” , brought the meeting to a close by saying that she wanted to move forward with the other jobs and she hoped that the boss would not stand in her way. The boss dried her sloppy tears and said she would not stand in her way. A few days later the boss came in and asked my candidate to go for a drink with her after work. Not knowing what this was about as it had never happened and not wanting to go to a bar with the woman after the arm rubbing comments she said she would but had dinner plans with family so would only be able to stay a short time. They met at a bar. The boss told her that she needed her to stay as she was handling several vital parts of the business. She would change my candidate's hours, she would be flexible with her where her kids were concerned as she was the only single parent in the management group, she would give her more vacation, she was going to get an allocation for all manager raises and she would give her the full amount that she got for all the managers if she would not move forward with other jobs. My candidate told her she appreciated the offer but as she had discussed with her .she wanted to move into a different area of the company and she felt that if she got all of the raise allocation for all of the managers it would make the situation with her peers worse than it already was because she was not considered part of the group as it was. since her boss had taken responsibilities away from one or two of the other managers and given them to my candidate. A move that had not made my candidate a favorite with two of the other managers. My candidate made a hasty retreat from the bar and hoped that this would be the end of it. All was quiet for a week or two. On a Friday evening at a few minutes before 5:00 without any warning my candidate received in her interoffice email containing a boarding pass and reservations for a company trip to Columbia, South America to be part of a training team who would be onsite in Columbia for two weeks. She freaked, the national trainer she had been working with still on site. She went running to him and asked if he had requested her as part of the training team. He indicated he did not know anything about it but he was scheduled to go to Columbia so not to worry about it. He would be there he spoke Spanish and the training would be held in a hotel. She explained to him that she had two small children in school and no one available to keep them for an extended period of time. It was also a dangerous country and she would terrified to go there and was not going to go. On Monday she went to her boss, told her she had received the boarding pass and reservation. The boss looked at her and said, “Yes”. My candidate told her that she was not going to go to Columbia, she had no child care available for that kind of trip and further was terrified of going to a country that the State Department discouraged as a place for Americans to travel. She would quit before she would go. She asked the boss if she would go. The boss said no she would not. My candidate said she was not going so if she needed to clean out her desk she would do it. The boss said she would see what she could do. It went away, nothing more said. My candidate thought it was strange that her boss seemed to know about it and had not said anything to her before she received a boarding pass and confirmed reservation. Just strange. Two weeks later on May 4th my candidate checked the company site for the jobs she had applied for. She had three interview requests for the jobs and was very excited that finally she would at least have the opportunity to move on. Before she could send the acceptance her boss came in her office and said, “you need to come to the conference room, EEO in Houston wants a phone conference”. Thinking it probably had something to do with the refusal to go to Columbia off she went to talk with EEO. The EEO rep started the conversation by telling her that EEO needed to be sure that my candidate was not recording the conversation and did not have a cell phone with her or any note taking material. Then told her that they were investigating her entire management career. When my candidate asked why she was told that the EEO rep had been advised of a number of things and had never seen anything like this and that her boss had asked that her applications for other jobs be suspended until the investigation had been completed. Here is the list. EEO had been advised the following –My candidate's responses are in ( ) She had assisted male reps more than she assisted female reps. (Yes and had corrected) She had brought a fart machine to the office. (No she did not, one of her reps did, she told him it was funny but to take it home) She had used the children of reps to take care of her children. (No she had been asked about it because her boss was confused due to a same name of reps daughter and it had been clarified) She had lied to her boss about being late to work. (No her boss had changed her hours, it was on the schedule, when she came in one day another manager had asked her if she was five minutes late. She had popped off and said, nope 10 minutes early) She had accepted gifts from reps. (No, she had gone to her boss about the wine and her boss told her not to worry about it but the bottle of wine was still in her office.) EEO had received pictures from the wife or girlfriend of a male rep that the wife or girlfriend said were sent to her husband by my candidate. Several were full nudes both front and back one reflecting a tatoo and two were pictures of her with two little boys and in a car with her sunglasses on. (Holy God, she had received an hysterical call from this woman accusing her of having an affair with her husband. She had only seen the kid outside of work once, he was drunk and had come to their table. She and her date had left the place and gone someplace else. The wife had accused her of sending pictures to him. she had not but when asked what her email address was she had told the wife so if they had any nude pictures they were not of her , she did not have a tattoo. The guy had been called in and asked if he were having an affair with her. Had come and apologized to her about his wife calling both my candidate and the boss and additionally the wife had later called and apologized. But if there were pictures she wanted to see what they were because somebody was guilty of cyber harassment as the other two pictures where the ones that had been on her facebook page that had been up for a total of three weeks only in Dec. of 2009.) She had interfered with an investigation and had received a COBC violation. (The now infamous Christmas Play Caper. She told eeo that she had the meeting with the boss’s boss over that whole silly mess and when she received her evaluation there was no COBC violation. She was informed that in fact it was in her file and should have been on her evaluation.) She had made comments of a sexual nature regarding pop rocks. (Her team was to dress up like Halloween candy, they asked about lollipops. She had said , “no then the other teams will just say that we suck so pick something else” One of the reps had said what about poprocks. She had responded , “whatever that might be cute”. She didn’t know how that could be considered making a comment of sexual nature about Poprocks. EEO declined to explain to her the sexual nature of poprocks and I didn’t think I would go there either.) She had been losing weight in order to start a relationship. (She had been losing weight because she had gained back up to 190’s her doctor had put her on medication for high blood pressure and told her to get the weight off.) She had assisted a lesbian rep an inordinate amount of time to try and start a relationship with her. (No she wasn’t a lesbian anymore that she was a femme fatal having an affair with every male in the office. The woman was struggling and needed more help than some of the others.) She was a know it all. (She was the Subject matter expert on fiber for the office so if that made her a know it all so be it.) She had assisted a rep with filling out FLMA documents for claims he was filing after he had gone out. ( No, He was on her team, had back problems that required a sit down/stand up desk. He had asked to move it because he didn’t like the location. She had asked her boss if it could be moved. The boss had said, hell no ,it’s too expensive to move he can stay where he is. The guy had come to her asking what he needed to do to go out on FMLA. She had referred him to HR. He had filled out his own forms, she was his supervisor so had reviewed them signed them and he went out in Jan. She had not spoken to him since.) She was having lunches in her office with a trainer from the national group. (yes, she had two working lunches with the national trainer who was on site in her office. He was assisting her with training sessions so had gone out himself picked up lunch on two occasions and brought it back to the office so they could discuss any problems the reps were having with the way the training was being presented.) In a state of total shock my candidate went back to her office after this lovely encounter of the third kind. Before she could do anything but sit in a daze her boss walked in and said , “You are being put on paid administrative leave until EEO completes their investigation. I will need your badge and key card and I will walk you out.” My candidate asked if she could get her personal things ie; bills that needed to be paid in the next few days. She was told that her boss would see if she could get those things for her but my candidate would not be allowed to remove anything from her office and would need to leave NOW. It was just before noon. As she was walked out of the office in front of 170 people her boss marched behind her swinging my candidate's badge in a circle like she was a stripper, to make sure that everyone in the office saw that she was being walked out. When she was called by her boss later in the afternoon to find out when the boss could get some other pass key that she had at home she again asked if she could get her personal things. The boss said, “this is just administrative leave you don’t need to get all of them I will bring your bills to you.” On May 7th my candidate filed an ethics complaint through the company for sexual harassment, hostile work environment, bullying, retaliation and related the series of events to another company EEO representative. On May 9th my candidate filed a police report against the wife or girlfriend of the male employee for cyber harassment and sent a copy of the case number to EEO and a request for copies of the pictures they had, the dates they were sent who they were sent to and the headers of the emails from all correspondence relating to the pictures. She felt the woman was nuts and could be a danger to she or her children as she had no idea what the current status of their problems were and had not heard anything from the woman since early in 2010.On May 17th she was returning home in the middle of the afternoon and caught her boss driving slowly past her house. She lives on a dead end street with a cul de sac where the boss turned around and drove slowly by her home on her way out of the subdivision. Nobody can figure that one out. On May 18th my candidate was contacted by her boss to come back to work to discuss the results of the investigation. At that time she was told that she was being terminated for. 1. Releasing Proprietary Company information without a business need. 2. Creating a hostile work environment 3. Interfering with an Investigation. 4. Violating the code of business conduct in terms of honesty and integrity. When she asked for details as to what information , how she created a hostile work environment and what misconduct she was being accused of ,she was told that her boss would not discuss it but would send her a letter. She was asked to sign a document saying that she would not use her knowledge gained while employed at any other communications company and she would not take any legal action against the company. She refused to sign it. She asked if she could remove her personal things from her office. The boss followed her. My candidate smiled ,said hello to everyone who was calling out hello’s. Packed up her things in several boxes asked her boss to take an inventory and asked where her personal notebook and the copies of her personnel reviews were as they had been in her office. The boss denied any knowledge of either. My candidate looked at the woman and told her she was taking this to a higher level at which point the boss started crying and quit digging through things but did want to be sure that the highlighter my candidate was removing did not belong to the company. My candidate held her head up , walked out smiling at everyone told them she would miss them and good luck. As she reached the middle of the office people stood up and clapped for her. Some were crying. Two walked in and quit and walked out behind her. Five more have gone out on stress and two have quit since then. The next morning the boss received flowers with a card that said. “Congratulations, you finally got her, you must be proud”. A few days later she received a letter in a hand written envelope. It was from her boss stating that she had been terminated for: 1. Misconduct in the office/misconduct off the job 2. Creating a hostile work environment. 3. Helping male reps more than she helped female reps. 4. Interfering with an investigation. My candidate filed for unemployment. TWC requested information twice from the company as to the reason for termination. The company provided a copy of the employee handbook, a statement that an investigation had been done, she had exhibited a pattern of dishonesty, created a hostile work environment, helped male reps more than female reps and had interfered with an investigation. No details yet as to how she managed to do all that or what she did proximate to termination or what triggering event occurred that resulted in her termination. Her unemployment has been granted and made retroactive to the date that she was put on leave. She is now waiting to see if the company will appeal the granting of her unemployment with some kind of detail as to what she was found guilty of that triggered her termination. Her family has stepped up with financial assistance. She will not be able to move forward with the purchase of her home and will have to move within a month. She has enrolled in school to finish her degree. She has updated her resume and is moving forward looking for a new job. She is in fact brokenhearted at losing the opportunity to stay with the company in another position after spending all of her adult life fighting this mess to try and be a success as most of the people who worked for her and those she interacted with throughout the company felt she was. She has learned a lot. Not the least of which is to file an ethics complaint at the first sign of something like what she has been through with , in my opinion, a sick and toxic personality. As a recruiter of many moons experience I know that all I have heard is her side of the story and there are normally two sides to every story. I have done some fact finding with other employees without her knowledge. What she tells me appears to be backed up over and over by the people who have worked with her . Realizing that this is hearsay I share it with you as I feel this is a story that should be told. Oh, and she received a call two days ago in regard to the ethics complaints she filed. They left her a message that they were closing the complaint due to not being able to find enough evidence to substantiate her complaints. What a surprise. It is after all an employment at will state.…; Added by Sandra McCartt at 7:39pm on June 11, 2011

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Topic: Talent Talk Cafe - Chat Transcript for Community Moving to Action Part 1: e asked - What happens if you build a recruitment strategy that begins by first establishing a deliberate community focus. This week we explored moving to action and integrating social media into your recruitment strategy: Setting expectations. Building a compelling case for internal support. Anticipating community management time requirements. Evaluating and reallocating resources to establish a foundation for success. Following is the Transcript from Talent Talk Café June 24 - Making a Case to Integrate Social Media Into Your Talent Strategy Susan Burns Hi everyone! Its time for Talent Talk Cafe! 3:00pm Susan Kang Nam Hello Susan ~ I am here to learn from you and everyone! 3:00pm Slouch Hey Susan, Sharyn, Chet and The Talent Hunter 3:01pm Susan Burns Our topic today is Moving to Action to integrated social media into your recruitment strategy 3:01pm Susan Burns Hi Jaosn, Susan, Sharyn, Chet, Talent Hunter and Dave! 3:01pm The Talent Hunter Hello Susan 3:01pm Chet Volpe I'm all ears... 3:01pm Susan Burns Hey Jason - can u move the chat to center so its bigger and easier to follow 3:01pm Slouch its in the center for me 3:02pm Chet Volpe me too 3:02pm Susan Burns got it - just refreshed and its there for me too - fab! 3:03pm Slouch try refreshing your screen 3:03pm Susan Kang Nam same here.. Susan Burns So in the last couple of weeks we defined what community is and what happens if u build a talent strategy beginning with a first intention of community 3:03pm Susan Burns The main challenge now is building internal support so there are resources - mostly time, to invest in building community 3:04pm Slouch Time is what you need Susan Burns Do we want to open this up by addressing the first part around setting expectations for time - how can you get support to allocated 10 hours a week to focus on community 3:05pm Susan Burns And, what is the value in doing that 3:06pm Slouch ask with a nice smile? 3:06pm Susan Burns That's a start Jason ;-) 3:06pm Susan Burns Let me ask another question - do people feel they already have the time to invest in building communiities? 3:07pm Joshua Letourneau do you mean 10 hrs of a 40-hr week? (my corp recruiter friends pull a 40 - anything over that is not incentivized) 3:07pm Susan Burns Hi Josh! Yes, to allocate time into the regular workweek 3:08pm Joshua Letourneau hi 3:08pm Chet Volpe time is the double edged sword - if you don't invest you don't get anything back, now it's just a matter of roi... 3:08pm Susan Burns So Chet - would you see value in reallocating 10 hrs/week to build a community that would produce an ROI to you down the road? Chet Volpe yes, but I might not start with 10 hours a week, maybe build to a comfort level that leaves a good balance of getting everything else done as well. 3:10pm Slouch I think you need about 10 hours a week to make it a worthwhile place for potential candidates to come 3:10pm Susan Kang Nam Curious to know - how would you measure that time well invested = hire? would 10 hours be enough? 3:11pm Slouch that time includes thining about it as well, not just working on it 3:11pm Chet Volpe Susan, do you have an example? 3:11pm Chet Volpe site that is 3:12pm Susan Burns Susan - thats the other part of the equation: 1 - what r your expectations....how soon do you want to see roi and 2 - what type of support can u get to cover off other work 3:12pm Susan Burns Chet - what r u looking for an example of - time invested to roi? 3:12pm Scott Godbey Susan it seems to me that roi would not happen immediately. Have you found that to be the case? 3:13pm Susan Burns Scott - absolutely - that 3:13pm MN Headhunter (a little late, sorry) I think the issue is who you are. If you are a big, known company brand management is a lot easier than if you are a little dude like me in Minneapolis 3:14pm Maren Hogan It seems that community has to valuable and to be valuable most companies look at it as having to be very broad brushed 3:14pm Susan Burns i'm getting delays and missing feeds - sorry 3:14pm Ben Gotkin Hey Susan! 3:14pm Chet Volpe yes, a social network site that is working for someone that has the time invested and is showing the roi. MN Headhunter General Mills by sheer volume of who goes to their site can get a community up and running in weeks to 2 months. for me, 6 months 3:15pm Maren Hogan so if they have to be broad to be useful (current definition not mine) then it's really asking a corp to take a leap of faith 3:15pm Susan Kang Nam I think it's getting that support you will need to cover off other work maybe a challenge and to get validation for spending time to build this community first hand.. 3:15pm Slouch Hi chet, I always point to wirelessJobs.com as a targeted community built by Dennis Smith. He makes placements from it 3:16pm Joshua Letourneau the notion of ROI is (in most cases) overblown as the return can often be as qualitative as quantitative (i.e. perceptions of the "employment brand") 3:16pm Susan Burns ok i'm back - some tech problems - Hi Ben, Paul and Maren 3:16pm Maren Hogan not only the decision makers but for an internal corp presence? current employees would have to be involved as well 3:16pm Slouch I know he's happy with the effort he puts and what he gets out 3:16pm Susan Burns Susan - that's exactly it! 10 hrs is really the min to invest in moving something forward 3:17pm Joshua Letourneau example: Facebook E&Y group (grew to ~5000 in a very short amount of time) 3:17pm Maren Hogan what does up and running mean though? Is it really a community? I've never been so I am honestly asking. . . 3:17pm Maren Hogan hi susan--paul, who doesn't know about that "aw shucks lil guy from mn?" 3:18pm Slouch I think that the time is a real issue because you can;t get immediate results - Takes time. but people start noticing right away and that is important too 3:18pm Susan Burns What are some of the "value" basis ideas that would get someone internal support to invest that 10 hours/week Josh today, E&Y Careers is pushing over 15k members 3:18pm Susan Burns And, set expectations for 6 months 3:19pm MN Headhunter Hey Maren, but that's my point the time it to took me to get here and the time Josh points out for E&Y is very different. It's easier for bigger companies 3:19pm Susan Burns Josh - how long did it take them to get to 15K 3:19pm Scott Godbey Well there are immediate benefits in terms of creating brand awareness. I don't think it's wise to underestimate what that can mean to business both short and long term 3:19pm Maren Hogan easier to set up but wondering how useful the comm is there--member number cannot be the bar? 3:19pm Ben Gotkin We are preparing to launch an alumni initiative here at McGladrey, one that will have benefits beyond just recruiting 3:19pm The Talent Hunter You have to have an identifiable brand and enough traffic to organize a successful presence, right? 3:20pm Susan Burns Maren - community will build overtime through nurturing 3:20pm MN Headhunter I look at a Best Buy with their 3,000,000 resumes last year. It should take little effort to get a community started 3:20pm Ben Gotkin This will be led by recruiting, but I've had to tell the recruiters involved that this will not be about recruiting at first 3:20pm Susan Burns Talent Hunter - exactly one of the benefits of pursuing a social strategy - it can be a brand equalizer 3:20pm MN Headhunter Ben, great call Susan Burns Ben - great point on setting expectations for the recruiters as well 3:21pm Ben Gotkin It will be about building community and delivering engaging content 3:21pm Ben Gotkin Benefits for recruiting, business development, etc is a by-product 3:21pm Maren Hogan Ben have you found that people are more open to that in the current economic times? 3:21pm MN Headhunter Ben, please as you guys get into this document it if you can share 3:21pm Joshua Letourneau susan, i don't really know - i think they're into it for a year now (but they grew to 2000+ members in about 48 hours . . . yeah, 48 hours!!!) 3:21pm Susan Burns Ben - how have you allocated support to free up recruters time to engage 3:21pm Slouch its not about recruiting at first. you are correct sir Susan Kang Nam Ben - that's true.. 3:21pm Maren Hogan I've had clients want to set up employer branding, retention intiatives and internal communities that are in the midst of a hiring freeze 3:21pm Susan Burns Josh - that's a great story 3:22pm Ben Gotkin Maren - not sure, but alumni programs are pretty standard in our industry, we are a late-comer 3:22pm Joshua Letourneau jeez, talk about "first mover" advantage! 3:22pm Scott Godbey It is in a way Jason. Recruiting is about building contacts that can be utilized later down the line. It's just not the immediate gratificaiton but nothing in recruiting is. 3:22pm Susan Burns Maren - so is that for internal communities and external 3:22pm Ben Gotkin Susan - We have a central team that will help, and will get help also from Marketing and the field Maren Hogan yep--completely closed to idea about 8 mos ago 3:22pm Susan Burns Ben - how many hours/week r u investing to build/develop communities 3:23pm Maren Hogan now clamoring for it. maybe $ and resources come from a different place? Not sure 3:23pm Slouch Chet, of course it is about Recruiting just you can't expect to hire anyone right away 3:23pm Scott Godbey Ben, think it's wise to involve marketing. Having community consistent with overall brand is crucial Susan Burns Maren - retention probably gets more than recruiting 3:23pm MN Headhunter I have seen the title "Community Manager" pop up recently at a few Minnesota companies. I am hoping that means they are thinking not only about this but having it be managed properly 3:23pm Ben Gotkin The alumni program is our #1 effort right now, I'll spend a bulk of my time on this in the coming months 3:23pm Susan Burns Re community managers - Check out Jermiah Owyang's blog w/ list of roles by company Maren Hogan Kind of? It's not a community but the interface at standoutjobs.com makes it feel like one 3:25pm Ben Gotkin A link? I'll probably have a link to the blog after we go live 3:25pm Joshua Letourneau yeah, great suggestion, susan - every brand impression with candidates should include a link 3:25pm Maren Hogan so that's a semi-yes Susan for clarity 3:25pm Slouch I don;t think you need a ton of people in a talent network, you just need good candidates who understand the value of what the community brings and over time you can set up that community to foster certain community participation which ultimately=hires Susan Burns Ben - yeah a link to even drive traffic to your blog 3:25pm Jason Gorham three words for you....seo, seo seo 3:26pm Jason Gorham for the blogs 3:26pm Susan Burns Jason - and overtime that community will attract more people through conversations and there will be organic growth 3:26pm Joshua Letourneau in my eyes, the real value of the community is the OD element - imagine the pot of gold you'd be sitting in in terms of talent market intel 3:26pm Susan Burns Hi Jason G 3:26pm MN Headhunter In the few ads I run I include blog, Rss feed and Twitter addresses 3:26pm Ben Gotkin I think we see our talent networks being much stronger at the college level. We do alot of early ID efforts that will drive in traffic to our community-building efforts 3:26pm Susan Burns SEO - absolutely! Another very cost effective way to drive traffic Jason Gorham hello 3:27pm MN Headhunter Ben, outside of your industry who does this well? Who else is doing this? 3:27pm Susan Burns So, if we go back to securing internal support - do people feel they can get what they need or are there obstacles 3:27pm Jason Gorham you can get a blog indexed quicker in a search engine than a typical website 3:27pm Ben Gotkin Paul - how are you using Twitter to build community? I showed it to my boss on Friday and he wasn't sure what to make of it 3:27pm Joshua Letourneau well, to steal from my (not) girlfriend Giovani of Ning . . . the point of the community is also viral expansion 3:27pm MN Headhunter Ben, it's not a bout building a community but participating in a general conversation 3:28pm MN Headhunter for me The Talent Hunter From a corporate perspective, I think this proposal would receive a lot of static 3:28pm MN Headhunter that builds followers, name recognition, awareness 3:28pm Joshua Letourneau just twitter out every update with a tinyurl back to the community/blog/social network 3:28pm Maren Hogan I heard the other day that it is less about content now than conversation, hmmmm 3:28pm Jason Gorham Correct static 3:28pm Susan Burns Ben - Twitter is a great example of joining the conversation first, moving to community and then engaging to get hires... 3:28pm MN Headhunter Talent Hunter yes, Ben who else is doing this that you know of? 3:28pm Jason Gorham it's all about value now 3:28pm Susan Burns Also re Twitter - its a biz conversation first before a recruiting conversation - 3:29pm Jason Gorham With so many sites...social networking etc how will you provide value? 3:29pm Susan Kang Nam resistance.. The Talent Hunter Of course, a lot depends on the resources available within an organization and their level of edge-y thinking 3:29pm MN Headhunter Josh, yes but many poeple get ornary with the links only. Too self promotional, not adding valued content 3:29pm Susan Kang Nam Jason G - that's what I am curious about as well. 3:29pm Ben Gotkin Paul - don't know of many, still bleeding edge 3:29pm Susan Burns Talent Hunter and Susan - what do us anticipate as the objections Jason Gorham If you build a community...site or recruiting drive...go with one idea 3:30pm The Talent Hunter resource allocation, afterall time equals money 3:30pm Susan Burns Jason - re noise w/ sites - the opp is in finding a niche and energizing it - and giving people a voice 3:30pm Jason Gorham and with that one idea drive around that 3:30pm Chet Volpe . 3:30pm Joshua Letourneau well, if the community is for recruiting, then the 'product' (job) better be HOT - people will reject a meatball sundae like a bad kidney! 3:30pm The Talent Hunter 25% of time spent on a new project equals 25% less expected performance of core competencies\ 3:30pm Jason Gorham if it's college what makes you difference? Maybe you go green, maybe you have ipods etc 3:30pm Susan Burns Talent Hunter - what would u need to deliver re ROI to get the investment time needed Jason Gorham roi = cost per hire 3:31pm Susan Kang Nam I just have value questions about it.. at the end of the day, it's the result.. so how to show it..etc.. 3:31pm Jason Gorham or employer of choice 3:31pm Joshua Letourneau susan, maybe i'm old school, but great recruiters and talent acquisition pros will MAKE TIME to do this as opposed to trade off other things, right? 3:31pm The Talent Hunter you would need evidence that it has worked in the past, or show a documented timeframe of ROI to even be considered a viable avenue, IMO 3:31pm Susan Burns Could roi also be future - time to hire, reduced advertising costs, higher quality.... Joshua Letourneau p.s. remember that the notion of return can be qualitative as well (not just quantitative) 3:32pm Susan Kang Nam Talent Hunter - agree 3:32pm Ben Gotkin ROI probably starts with #hits on your community site, time spent on site. It is challenging to track as a source though, ask Microsoft 3:32pm Maren Hogan I agree with that! I almost got "community time" yanked but finally, two months ago, we started seeing real results. I even took a pay cut to focus in on it. 3:32pm Susan Burns Josh - I think many will but I've also seen great recruiters that are pulled in so many directions they never get a block of quality time Susan Burns Maren - how long had u been investing time before seeing it tip to a plus 3:33pm Slouch Maren, did you take a pay cut before you started seeing results or after 3:33pm Susan Kang Nam Maren - really.. hmm. 3:34pm Susan Burns Talent Hunter - Paul can give u the ROI - 6 mo to hire via blog, 10 days via Twitter, 2 months via mySpace - did i remember that Paul? 3:34pm Maren Hogan it was over six months susan, maybe 7? I was learning too. Maren Hogan Before, like four months before. They lovin me now tho! 3:34pm The Talent Hunter for his sized organization...what is size and reach 3:34pm Susan Burns 6-7 months is not bad at all - how many hours/week? 3:35pm Maren Hogan oh the four months was how long before results I took the pay cust, to clarify 3:35pm Joshua Letourneau candidates go through periods of 'progression' (cold,warm,hot, etc.) . . . so the community is a way to maintain conversation with them 3:35pm Susan Burns Talent Hunter - can I call u TH during the chat ;-) Susan Burns Paul - r u still there? 3:35pm Maren Hogan probably (does blog writing count here?) >15 3:35pm The Talent Hunter absolutely...or confuse everyone and call me Mike 3:35pm The Talent Hunter 3:35pm Slouch Josh you are right. that's key 3:36pm Ben Gotkin Josh - BINGO! Our blog and our alumni network will serve that very purpose 3:36pm Susan Burns Josh - YES!!! absolutely - community ensures people stay warm and can then be moved to hot much more quickly 3:36pm Susan Burns Thanks Mike! he Talent Hunter i believe that creating an online community is a lot easier and quite possibly more effective from a TPR standpoint than from a corporate standpoint 3:36pm Susan Kang Nam Josh - definitely 3:37pm Maren Hogan if you work contract (which do) there is also the roll-off time to consider 3:37pm Slouch not everyone is in a position to change jobs now and having a place you can stay in touch and deliver a message while letting them network is a good thing 3:37pm Susan Kang Nam TB (Mike) - TPR? sorry getting use to all this lingo.. 3:37pm Susan Burns Mike - is i was a corp recruiter today its would be one of my top 3 prioritse and would move resources to make it happen 3:37pm Slouch third party recruiter 3:37pm Joshua Letourneau sometimes a warm candidate can get hot when they read a success story - my thought on communities is that they can serve as subtle infomercials 3:37pm Susan Kang Nam I meant TH (Mike) 3:38pm Maren Hogan which is why RSS feeds WITH VALUE are awesome (part of comm, not as replacement) 3:38pm Susan Burns Oh - there were lots of typos in that last note ;-( 3:38pm Susan Kang Nam Jason - thanks 3:38pm Susan Burns Josh - yes, that and the viral aspects build a lot of momentum 3:38pm Maren Hogan We gotcha SusanB 3:38pm Joshua Letourneau every marketer i know LOVES an infomercial - it's crazy people like us telling us that we can be rich and lose a bunch of weight just like them 3:38pm Susan Kang Nam lol 3:39pm Joshua Letourneau ok, i went off on a tangent - sorry! 3:39pm Susan Burns Depending on your company's brand there is lots of value that could even extend beyond recruiting which in turn adds more value to the recruiting team 3:39pm The Talent Hunter susan-i agree that it is the wave of the future, but i also think that an Amarr Garage Doors will have much less success than a Lowe's Home Improvement 3:39pm Susan Burns Josh - maybe there's a "will it blend" for recruitment! 3:39pm The Talent Hunter 3:40pm Joshua Letourneau an infomercial probably isn't the best analogy . . . but there is something there we could use 3:40pm MN Headhunter I think the reason a TPR can do this is we do not need permsission from so many layers of mgmt. But time to build community is much less I expect for a large company 3:40pm Susan Burns Mike - depends on what Amarr Garage Doors brings to the table? The other big key - what differentiaties...what adds value...what engages...what energizes 3:41pm Maren Hogan Wow, it's almost over and we haven't talked about alcohol once. We are maturing! 3:41pm The Talent Hunter MN - agreed 100% Ben Gotkin Alot of podcasts and corporate videos are 'infomercial-like' 3:42pm Susan Burns That's the part art part science question of community - What do people want, who is talking to them, who is engaging them in conversation - listenting to them Susan Burns Also, many big companies have stubbed their toes while testing the waters - they try to PR it or marketize it and its bit back 3:44pm Joshua Letourneau the 'smaller' niche org (like Amarr) may wind up the winner here . . . perhaps not on quantity of hires, but perhaps better match or QOH.?. that would be a great case study 3:44pm Maren Hogan you know, I just really disagree with that. I think the true (forgive the namby pambyness of the word) "essence" of community has to be created by someone passionate about it MN Headhunter . 3:45pm Maren Hogan And whether it's a one man shop, or small business or large corp, the time to engage is the same there just might be less people to do it 3:45pm Susan Burns WalMart had their PR agency - Edelman - writing their blog - bad idea, esp when its not done so visibly 3:45pm Joshua Letourneau maren, good point. and i could be wrong here, but one thing i've observed about today's 'community' versus those of the late 90s' are about user empowerment 3:45pm Maren Hogan sorry this is kind of directed at Paul because I sort of feel your pain. I think you are right in that the communty stuff (website, chat function , blah, blah, print junk) is 3:46pm Ben Gotkin Walmart used a PR agency? too funny 3:46pm Joshua Letourneau giving 'them' the ability to create content, upload video, etc. (i.e. youtube.com/dunkindonuts) 3:46pm Maren Hogan easier to set up but the engagement will take the same amount of time 3:46pm Maren Hogan and I think engagement is far more a community element than the "stuff" 3:46pm Susan Burns Ben - yes - google Edelman and Wal-Mart - wasn't a pretty site. They've learned and are now letting employees blog 3:47pm MN Headhunter Yeah, I think about how much time I have put in for me and wonder if I did it for someone else what kind of footprint that could be 3:47pm Joshua Letourneau sorry, i meant today's communities are more about user empowerment than simply the creators 3:47pm Joshua Letourneau it's like handing someone a paint brush as they walk into the sistine chapel 3:47pm Susan Burns Josh - YES, and its those companies that will listen and allow people to be heard that will win 3:48pm Slouch MN, your efforts here make a huge difference 3:48pm Susan Burns Oh, I like the paint brush analogy 3:48pm Maren Hogan yeah but if there were someone else doing the "work-work" stuff and you did the comm building and socnet stuff, it would seem like less but you have to do it all so it feels like more 3:48pm MN Headhunter What I mean is, if in the beginning I was spending 15 hours or more for my little brand. What 15 hours could do for a big company. I have to think a Best Buy would have huge returns 3:48pm The Talent Hunter MN - i agree with that 3:48pm Slouch im not retracting my statement 3:48pm MN Headhunter Jason, I appreicate that. And this is an examnple of how a community should be. How it should start, evolve, content, etc The Talent Hunter they have the established brand and customer base 3:49pm Maren Hogan Of course they would, it's becoming increasingly valuable AND that's why so many people are hiring social media managers or the other thing you said earlier comm mgrs 3:49pm Joshua Letourneau paul, i agree - a huge brand isn't starting from ground zero, so 'velocity' is easier to achieve 3:49pm MN Headhunter absolutely 3:49pm Ben Gotkin Paul - You bring up an interesting point. So few large organizations have embraced this, but they would probably stand to benefit the most if done correctly. 3:49pm Susan Burns So have we made any headway in helping to create a compelling case to get time/resources and set expectations for an ROI? 3:49pm MN Headhunter I have always believed it harder to start with no reputation than it is a good/bad pone 3:49pm Maren Hogan oops gotta go, read transcript later! thanks everyone! 3:49pm Joshua Letourneau p.s. hey, there could be some major liability with the larger brands too, though 3:50pm Susan Burns Thanks Maren - great contribution as always! 3:50pm Susan Burns Josh - there is risk but more if they don 3:50pm MN Headhunter Josh, yes and I do get that barrier 3:50pm Joshua Letourneau there are a lot of people that love to 'bash' an employment brand with the huge retailers (i.e. walmart) 3:50pm Susan Burns oops - more if they don't engage - then someone else creates their brand Susan Kang Nam Joshua - how so? 3:50pm MN Headhunter But they will anyway so why not put out the good stuff to combat it 3:51pm Susan Burns The "talk" will happen with or without the company's involveent but without they are sure to lose Joshua Letourneau p.s. i agree with paul that the larger brands have immense advantage in the early stages 3:51pm Ben Gotkin very true Susan 3:51pm The Talent Hunter Josh - i can see the community backfire, people going ther to slam the company...at that scale it would need to be actively monitored 3:51pm Susan Burns At least if they "play" they can share their story and if done authentically over time it will quite the other voices 3:51pm MN Headhunter I think it is worth the risk 3:51pm MN Headhunter should not shock anyone I said that Susan Burns Additionally, the community will help to quiet the disconnected - again, if the company is acting authentically 3:52pm Joshua Letourneau susan kang name: WalmartSucks.org 3:52pm Ben Gotkin I was very encouraged at our firm recently when our Marketing director said that he would be OK with some negative comments on the blog, as long as they are not damaging or inaccurate usan Kang Nam Joshua - got it! 3:52pm MN Headhunter I think to engage and address them is a good thing 3:52pm Susan Burns Josh - #2 facebook fan site for Deloitte is "Deloitte is why I drink" - it was #1 but is now #2 becuz Deloitte started to get more involved 3:53pm MN Headhunter but not some PR release person but an actual person who is passionate about the company Susan Burns Ben - that's great! 3:53pm Ben Gotkin We'll address and engage regardless, but you have to moderate some to prevent unnecessary bashing 3:53pm Joshua Letourneau paul, great point - i just read an article about starbucks blowing it because they didn't respond and engage! 3:53pm Ben Gotkin Susan - that's my favorite Deloitte site ;-) 3:53pm Susan Burns Was that with their new MyStarbucks site to collect feedback? 3:54pm MN Headhunter Seems to me people say bad things whenever they can. Might as well pu some good stuff out there too Susan Burns Ben - I thought it would be ;-) 3:54pm Joshua Letourneau susan, i need to check that out - will be back to your email later 3:54pm MN Headhunter Ben, will you be in Mpls again? 3:54pm Ben Gotkin Was just there last week for a quick in-out 3:54pm MN Headhunter where's the love/ 3:55pm MN Headhunter ? 3:55pm Ben Gotkin Hopefully next time I'll have more of a chance to get out 3:55pm Slouch lol 3:55pm Slouch lets not go there 3:55pm The Talent Hunter hmmm 3:55pm MN Headhunter (my bad) 3:55pm Susan Burns Question for all of you about next Chat unity site - sound good? 3:56pm Susan Kang Nam ouch.. 3:56pm The Talent Hunter definitely 3:57pm MN Headhunter A case study would help and something others can look at 3:57pm Ben Gotkin Anyway, Paul - one of our Mlps recruiters was at your last Roundtable, said he had a great time 3:57pm Susan Kang Nam sounds good Susan & Jason... 3:57pm Ben Gotkin Susan - sounds good 3:57pm Susan Burns Paul - lets talk about the case study - r u around later today? 3:57pm Slouch Susan, we can send out details late or early this week about where and when 3:57pm Susan Kang Nam I would be interested in reading more case studies - agree with MN 3:57pm Slouch we can build a private talent community and I can let a targeted group of people know about it all in the same industry 3:57pm Susan Burns Absolutely Jason - lets figure out the details and then we can send all the info 3:57pm Slouch we can develop it over time and I can bring real orders into it 3:58pm MN Headhunter today, no. But if you are up for a later night conversation, yes. 3:58pm Slouch to be filled of course 3:58pm Susan Burns Paul - perfect - I'll give u a buzz 3:58pm MN Headhunter Susan, you sure you want to chat with me 2 days in a row? 3:58pm Susan Burns Sounds great Jason! 3:58pm Susan Kang Nam For Defense - I would recommend Bill Murphy highly... 3:58pm Susan Burns Paul - I'll take the risk! 3:59pm N Headhunter you are a saint 3:59pm…; Added by Susan Burns to Talent Synchronicity at 5:33pm on June 24, 2008

Topic: Transcript - Talent Talk Cafe: Week of Nov 10th - Suzy Tonini on Competitive Intelligence: ollow and would appreciate any feedback to know if its something that we should continue to do. So, sit back, grab a coffee and enjoy the conversation! Don't forget to join us and participate in the live Chat each week on Tuesday's and Thursday's at 3pm ET / 12pm PT. Susan Burns Hi Everyone! Stick around for Talent Talk Cafe with Suzy Tonini - topic is compeititve intelligence. Starting in 5! 1:59pm Irina Shamaeva Hi 1:59pm Suzy Hi everyone 1:59pm Maureen Sharib Hi Suzy. 1:59pm Maren Hogan Hey Suzy! 1:59pm Suzy Susan will you be the emcee here please? 1:59pm Susan Burns Hi Irina - Hi Suzy - Hi Maureen - we'll begin in a few 2:00pm Slouch Hey Suzy, Thanks for spending an hour with us 2:00pm Dorothy Beach CI was whart caught my eye 2:00pm Irina Shamaeva I'm Suzy's follower on twitter - enjoy it, very informative 2:00pm Suzy Hi Maureen, Irina, Maren and Jason-nice being here virtually 2:00pm Susan Burns Hello Everyone! Its time for Talent Talk Cafe! Our special guest host today is Suzy Tonini from Deloitte 2:00pm Amybeth Hale Hi Suzy! 2:00pm Susan Burns A couple of things and then we'll get started 2:00pm Suzy Hey Amybeth! 2:01pm Suzy So I'm just going to say one big group hello 2:01pm Susan Burns You can click on Chat in the blue nav bar to pop the chat out and make it bigger and easier to follow 2:02pm Susan Burns Also, if you haven't already heard......drumroll.....Talent Talk Cafe is now on twice a week - Tues and Thurs with 6 fabulous new voices and another one to be announced soon! 2:02pm Susan Burns Our guest host today - Suzy Tonini - is a wealth of information! I learn something from her every week thanks to all her fab tweets! 2:02pm Suzy Cool beans! Can I ask a few questions to your group then? 2:03pm Susan Burns Take it away Suzy! 2:03pm Susan Burns Hi Amybeth! 2:04pm Amybeth Hale Hello Susan :D 2:04pm Suzy BTW:Tweets are 140 chat msgs on Twitter in case you dind't know that by now. One of my fav tools for gathering CI. OK for you TPR'sdo you add value by providing CI to your Clients? If so, what do you provide and what tols do you use? 2:04pm Suzy excuse lame spelling 2:04pm Susan Burns What are TPRs - exscuse the lame acronym knowledge ;-) 2:05pm Jeff Gauthier third party recruiters 2:05pm Susan Burns Thanks Jeff! 2:05pm Suzy Was that too big of a question....?Yes, Third Party Recruiters/Agencies etc 2:05pm Shannon Myers yes and no 2:05pm Eric Gilson We provide CI information regarding salaries to our clients. We use the phone as a tool to gather the information. 2:05pm Jeff Gauthier as a tpr, we share salary/offer info as appropriate from competitors 2:06pm Shannon Myers Agreed more info as related to marketing the position - salaries, benefits, etc 2:06pm Suzy So you wouldn't provide org charts of sorts as an added value? 2:06pm Shannon Myers with names or just to show structure? 2:07pm Suzy well, names are always juicier;-D 2:07pm Jeff Gauthier we would be more inclined to keep that to ourselves 2:07pm Irina Shamaeva We get paid on a contingency basis. I wish we were also paid for providing CI 2:07pm Eric GilsonIt's not that I wouldn't, I just don't currently 2:08pm Kay Hi All, can sombody tell me how do i remove a blog? 2:08pm Paul DeBettignies I share who is hiring, laying off, new products, news not yet out in the community 2:08pm Maureen Sharib I think it's a BIG income area that sourcers can tap into (if they're so inclined). 2:08pm Shannon Myers I think more CI is offered depending on relationship you already have with a client and whether it is for a new position you are recruiting for or more general 2:08pm Kay I mean I posteda blog a couple of days ago now I want to delete it from my page 2:08pm Susan Burns Hi Kay - you can write to Jason through his profile. This is a scheduled chat so they'll be focused on set topic 2:09pm Suzy OK- for corporate recruiters then-is there a CI function w/in your company and do you gather primary research info (phone) and disseminate back to your team and leadership? 2:09pm Kay oops!!! 2:09pm Suzy Thanks Maureen- good point 2:09pm Suzy Paul- that's good stuff you are sharing 2:09pm Dorothy Beach No CI function and yes primary info is given back to team 2:10pm Paul DeBettignies (but I do keep theorg chart to myself) 2:10pm Maureen Sharib CI could be a direct link between recruiting and business devt with outreaches to devt and marketing. 2:10pm Irina Shamaeva Suzy, we work with 2 of your competitors and our relationships with them are good very structured. 2:10pm Irina Shamaeva good but 2:10pm Dorothy Beach Most companies aren't organized to receive much from Recruiting( 2:10pm Suzy Dorothy-can you expand on that thought? 2:11pm Maureen Sharib Most companiesdon't tHINK about what information recruiters and sourcers come across on a daily basis... 2:11pm Paul DeBettignies or that it is as valuable as it is 2:11pm Maureen Sharib Zakly 2:11pm Susan Burns Often recruiting doesn't offer up the info to the right people though - they have to take the lead sometimes 2:11pm Dorothy Beach I meant as far as CI is concerned. 2:11pm Susan Burns If you have the knowledge but don't share it ....who would know to ask? 2:11pm Suzy Yes- so in essence a structured CI function that works hand in hand with recruiting would be ideal, correct? 2:11pm Maureen Sharib They don'tknow howtohANDLE the information for the most part - how toact on it - a lack of criticalthinking IMO 2:11pm Paul DeBettignies yes 2:12pm Irina Shamaeva Yes 2:12pm Eric Gilson I guess that we do provide information on some of our clients competitors. Which verticals or horizontals consulting firms seem to be hiring in. But I would hope that they would already know who they are competing with out there? 2:12pm Suzy Eric- you'd be surprised 2:12pm Paul DeBettignies I know of a big company here in Mpls that calls it the rumor mill. They ask recruiters to pass on any information they ehar about to the VP operations 2:12pm Dorothy Beach No place in an ATS that can capture it and then be serached for - it miiht be illegal to even put it in there? So where to put it? 2:12pm Maureen Sharib My thots zakly Suzy! 2:12pm Susan Burns Suzy - how do you see CI intersecting with workforce planning? 2:12pm Eric Gilson SAP for example.... 2:13pm Suzy Paul- well, that's innovative! 2:13pm Maureen Sharib Illegal? 2:13pm Paul DeBettignies nothing formal, just pass it on 2:13pm Suzy Susan- can you maybe rephrase? 2:13pm Maureen Sharib Big audience today Suzy! 2:13pm Suzy HA! Thanks Maureen 2:14pm Susan Burns As you see CI working closely w/ the recruiting function do you also see it working closely with the workforce planning group or person? 2:14pm Eric Gilson How do you use and distribut CI internally Suzy 2:14pm Suzy Dorothy- hmm...yes, good point. ATS might not be the spot for CI-perhaps a newsletter? 2:15pm Suzy Eric- that's for me to know and for you to find out:-0 2:15pm Dorothy Beach I am thinking of risk for a company to let that out - advice on how to handle that kind of info? 2:15pm Susan Burns Suzy - are sharepoint sites being used too? 2:15pm Dorothy Beach Adding this info to a Sharepoint site that has hiring manager access? 2:15pm Suzy Susan- I see CI being used pretty much in all functions of a company. Yes, I've heard of internal Sharepoint sites being used 2:16pm Shannon Myers I would think some CI would be vital to attracting/retaining talent and has to be discussed somewhere 2:16pm Susan Burns what about CRM? Could it be set up to manage the info as well? 2:16pm Suzy I would like to hear fromothers on Dorothy's question...? 2:16pm Irina Shamaeva Suzy, we talk about CI and hopefully we all understand it similarly - but would you mind saying a definition, or listing items? 2:16pm Dorothy Beach You mean CRM like Salesforce that others have access to? 2:17pm Suzy Irina- competitive and business intelligence- what your competitors are doing, hiring, firing, planning on doing, salaries, benefits etc 2:17pm Dorothy Beach Before I forget there is Paul Houston - from SCIP - who specializes in Recruiting and CI 2:17pm Susan Burns Dorothy - yes but access can be protected if needed/desired 2:17pm Irina Shamaeva Thanks 2:18pm Suzy Paul Houston- well check him out- I too am amember of SCIP 2:18pm Suzy Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals 2:18pm Suzy So how does your company leverage CI to source candidates? 2:19pm Suzy And- when does gathring CI become unethical, in your opinions 2:19pm Dorothy Beach Right now it is the simple stuff - layoff reports, industry reports, analysts reports ... 2:20pm Susan Burns Suzy - do you like what LI is doing with the corporate beta project - is it a good CI resource? 2:21pm Irina Shamaeva We know the competitors and what they are good at so look for candidates there; know when they are about to layoff or are being acquired etc 2:21pm Paul DeBettignies I found staying within my ethics is simple. I always ask people, "what do you know" 2:21pm Dorothy Beach If you go to a new employee and he/she is apporached about their last company but doesn't want to talk about it - the recriter/CI person might push for info too hard - then it might be unethical 2:21pm Paul DeBettignies rarely have to dig further although I may be missing the "really" good stuff 2:21pm Suzy I like what LI did very much- it's not 100% but it certainly gives you som good basic data to work off of 2:22pm Susan Burns Curious - if your working with a prospect that easily offers up info - how do you feel about presenting them to a client? 2:22pm Susan Burns the person that is who just disclosed a bunch of proprietary info ;-) 2:22pm Dorothy Beach Not sure what the corp beta project is? 2:22pm Eric Gilson I would coach him to be a little more tight lipped 2:22pm Suzy I like yuor approach Paul-keep it simple 2:23pm Susan Burns Dorothy - click on a company name in someones profile and you'll see 2:23pm Suzy Agreed with Eric 2:23pm Dorothy Beach Oh you mean the link for company info - yes very interesting and could be expanded 2:24pm Suzy I'm curious- oes your company try to obtain CI from new hires and is that process established? 2:24pm Susan Burns Good question Suzy! 2:24pm Suzy This would be for corporate recruiters 2:24pm Dorothy Beach Not established - 2:24pm Eric Gilson If I was internal, I was ask each new hire for a list of the best people he/she has worked with over the last few years. 2:25pm Eric Gilson every hire 2:25pm Suzy Good one Eric 2:25pm Dorothy Beach Corporations have a hard time just getting employees to put profiles into the address book! 2:25pm Susan Burns When I've seen it done its more informal and inconsistent but should be an established part of the on-boarding process like asking for referrals 2:25pm Dorothy Beach It seems it takes a lot to get info from new employees - maybe because they stress about on-boarding. 2:25pm Amybeth Hale When we hire new people, we use that opportunity to get referrals for hires 2:26pm Shannon Myers Dorthoy - LI is using data from LI users and updates from Capital IQ to be able to show who is where coming and going if you click on some of the companies - still in devp't 2:26pm Amybeth Hale and often in that process we discover good CI nuggets :) 2:26pm Susan Burns Amybeth - how are the CI nuggets shared 2:26pm Amybeth Hale Such as if our competitors do investment hiring, if they've recently had hiring frosts, or perhaps certain areas of their business where they are ramping up (potential new client gains) 2:27pm KarenM / Hirecentrix.com question, does anyone ask if there the candidate signed any non disclosures before asking questions? 2:27pm Suzy That would be a good question, Karen! 2:27pm Susan Burns Karen - would also expect that has come up prior in the hiring process 2:27pm Susan Burns or previously ;-) 2:28pm Dorothy Beach Oh yes, especially in an Exec Search Practice and if the search is confidential 2:28pm Suzy I would asume any self-respecting hiring manager/recruiter would do that 2:28pm Jason C. Blais How much time and how often do people engage in CI activity? 2:28pm Amybeth Hale Precisely. Those things are determined going through the hiring process to begin with. 2:28pm KarenM / Hirecentrix.com another question, then, the candidate has said agreement, and they expose information, what would you do as the recruiter or hiring manager? 2:28pm Suzy Jason: it can be a full-time job or it can be an extension of your recruiting -ask probing questions 2:29pm Susan Burns Amybeth - can u share more about how the info gathered is put to use.....shared with key people..... 2:29pm Eric Gilson My HM's have shot a guy down for this when the info shared was actually public knowledge 2:29pm Jason C. Blais (sorry I'm late to the table- I was at an HR meeting acquiring CI from Corp HR Prof's and Consultants) 2:29pm Susan Burns Suzy - can it overlap with a sourcing strategist role too 2:29pm Eric Gilson yeah yeah 2:29pm Susan Burns So, Jason - you have lots of new CI to share with us then ;-) 2:30pm Suzy Susan- yes indeed Sourcing and CI should go hand in hand 2:30pm Amybeth Hale I'm just a simple researcher. I share what I learn w/ my manager and let him decide what to do with it. 2:30pm Susan Burns Amybeth - u underestimate yourself ;-) 2:30pm Jason C. Blais (reading my ethics and morality book now, trying to determine whether it's okay to share, and if so how) 2:30pm Eric Gilson How about TPR using CI to attract passive candidates? 2:30pm Suzy Amybeth: you are NOT just a simple researcher @:^) 2:31pm Dorothy Beach You mean Eric about the company they are in? 2:31pm Susan Burns Seriously Amybeth - I could see u developing a secret insights book each month that goes to the Board! 2:31pm Eric Gilson "I hear that your current company lost that account or is about to...." 2:31pm Eric Gilson yes 2:31pm Suzy To Karen's point: what would you do if candidate has NDA and exposes info anyway...and the answer is? 2:31pm Jason C. Blais I'd like to hear more about what is done with the CI once you have it- white papers? Meetings? Strategic implementation? newsletters? 2:32pm KarenM / Hirecentrix.com jason that is a good one, and also to add to that, what does your company do to protect themselves if they become privy to info they may not have 2:32pm Suzy Jason- I beleive all of the above would be an ideal mix 2:32pm Susan Burns Suzy - re last Q - (a) shouldn't ask out of respect but (b) if they share I'd say bad hire! 2:33pm Suzy OK- one of MY fave topics- what tools do YOU ue to uncover CI?? 2:33pm Susan Burns Many companies have written policies stating that the information can not and should not be used and its grounds for separation 2:33pm Amybeth Hale When we are made aware, either through a tip or a public press release, that a target company has started rounds of layoffs, the other researcher and I set about looking for individuals who work for that company, gather their contact information, and pass it to our recruiters or do initial outreach to them. 2:33pm Dorothy Beach Yes, what is professional in manner? Especially if candidate is to go to a high position 2:34pm Jason C. Blais If there are public layoffs, isn't it appropriate to contact the HR at the location and offer to help with career transition? 2:34pm Susan Burns Suzy - before we go on - wondering if it would be helpful to discern between CI that is appropriate to collect and share and CI that is not appropriate to collec and share 2:34pm Dorothy Beach Now see I have gone straight to the outplacement companies to ask what titles for example are being released 2:34pm Dorothy Beach What the timing is 2:35pm Susan Burns Jason - YES! 2:35pm Dorothy Beach Usually someone in HR in the targeted company that is laying off will tell you which outplacement firm they use 2:35pm Dorothy Beach The onlycompany I haven't been able to get that from was P&G 2:35pm Dorothy Beach But I got it from other sources 2:36pm Suzy Well appropriate is A)anything that is on the internet (for the most part) is fair game and can be shared and B)inappropriate- I guess I don't know since I've never gone there! 2:36pm Dorothy Beach so one should search th einternet before disclosing? 2:37pm Susan Burns So, is information shared during conversation appropriate if its simply offered up and there is not an NDA 2:37pm Jason C. Blais we work with ouplacement firms, to provide "online job hunting tips" to those outplaced. Often they haven't searched for a job in quite some time. As a job posting service, we know we have had exposure to a group from a certain background, and our sales calls other companies to sell access ot our RezDB. Is that commonly agreed to be appropriate? 2:37pm Irina Shamaeva Suzy - what is you get somebody's password to a closed source? 2:37pm Susan Burns I guess there is also a fine line between legal and ethical. Recall hearing of someone getting a hold of a doc online that should not have been available - do you use it or not? 2:38pm Suzy Irina- that sounds un-ethical to me if I hear you correctly 2:38pm Jason C. Blais A little bird told me? 2:38pm Dorothy Beach It seems to me Susan that happens less and less often 2:38pm Amybeth Hale Who's the one to determine if the doc should/should not have been available? 2:38pm Eric Gilson I use Jason's line 2:39pm Suzy Jason & Eric- and that actually flies as an answer? 2:39pm Dorothy Beach so how does one reveal sources of information that might be delicate? 2:39pm Eric Gilson example: A candidate tells me the name of their best Client Partner. I ask if I can use the candidate's name when contacting them. They say no. 2:40pm Jason C. Blais:-! not exactly. Though sometimes the value of the information will bend people's sense of ethics..s 2:40pm Susan Burns AMybeth - in the ex I shared - it was part of an SEC filing for a financial inst - full org chart with names and titles 2:40pm Jason C. Blais ..so i try to avoid those situations as best as possible. 2:40pm Jason C. Blais susan- wow. 2:41pm Suzy And Susan- how did you know it wasn't supposed to be up? 2:41pm Eric Gilson I don't come out and say a birdy told me, what I tell them is that their name was given to me by a individual that I am currently assisting in a confidential job search. 2:41pm Susan Burns Suzy - don't know for sure but it was requested with the filing and I would expect the company did not anticipate it to be an accessible document 2:41pm Eric Gilson Your name came up as someone who is very good at what they do. ALl I can say is that I will offer you the same level of confidentiality that I offer all executives that I engage with. 2:42pm Maureen Sharib full org chart with names and titles That's unusual in an SEC filing. ALL the employees? 2:42pm Dorothy Beach A SEC file not accessible? 2:42pm Eric Gilson and yeah. That works everytime 2:42pm Susan Burns May be more common now with SOX - not sure 2:42pm Jason C. Blais I'm trying to build more CI into our company. I am a member and on the board of HR associations. I attend trade and chamber activities. I build trust and gain info and insight. 2:42pm Susan Burns Maureen - not all but a lot! 2:42pm Dorothy Beach Ohhh - something to look into... 2:43pm Susan Burns Suzy - I think we got off track - you had another question for us 2:43pm Jason C. Blais I become very wary of handing that intelligence to our sales team, as I don't want to burn bridges. We need the info, but have to be tactful on how we use it. 2:43pm Suzy Jason- that sounds like a very good path you're on 2:43pm Irina Shamaeva Someone told me recently that examining source code for web pages is not right, you agree? 2:43pm Jim - medXcentral jumping in late again.. sorry. 2:44pm Amybeth Hale Isn't source code considered to be public domain? 2:44pm Suzy My question was: what tools & techniques do you guys use to gather useful CI? 2:44pm Eric Gilson The telephone 2:44pm Amybeth Hale I love press releases personally - online paper trails. One usually leads to several others 2:44pm Suzy Irina- why is that not right? If anyone is able to view them... 2:44pm Jason C. Blais In a previous life, I worked for a travel broker that guaranteed loweest rates. 2:44pm Maureen Sharib I have allowed my thoughts to wander -my mind to drift - here: If a corporation is a public entity then doesn't the "public" (who holds stock) deserve to be privy to the employee info? I know it's a pipedream...a fantasy...but it sure would be nice! :) 2:44pm Jason C. Blais There was a whole dept devoted to calling all our competitors every day and filling a spreadsheet with rates 2:44pm Dorothy Beach Usual stuff - SEC filings, websites, blogs, LinkedIn sometimes, etc 2:44pm Susan Burns Twitter, LI 2:45pm Irina Shamaeva Say on zoominfo you can view source of your results and emails will not be truncated, easy to get all at once, like cheating 2:45pm Suzy Maureen- nice dream for sure!! 2:45pm Susan Burns Maureen - guess it comes down to intention. Transparency is very good but protecting assets protects the shareholders as well 2:46pm Jason C. Blais Old school but effective. Now there is much more activity on the web, but it's become less reliable. Published info, particularly on the web will always be tainted with spin.. 2:46pm Suzy I'm sure RSS feeds are used as well-I like to be on top of things and disseminate to my team ASAP 2:46pm Susan Burns Ultimately - if ee are happy, engaged and taken care of they won't leave. if they want to leave its only a matter of time 2:46pm Jason C. Blais Suzy, do you think more people should have access to CI tools like RSS feeds, or fewer? 2:46pm Susan Burns RSS is going wild - although I heard it may peak at 11% usage 2:47pm Susan Burns Suzy - do u by that # - 11% of Internet users will take advantage of RSS 2:47pm Suzy Jason-it takes a certain type of info-maniac to really stay on top of things, but yes people should have access to RSS feeds by all means! 2:47pm Suzy I know- not that many RSS users kind of boggles my mind- just gave a webinar on setting them up etc 2:47pm Jason C. Blais I mean to say: will productivity suffer from analysis paralysis? Too much time in research, not enough time in action? 2:48pm Maureen Sharib Is there a single most important piece of CI? 2:48pm Susan Burns Jason - good point - comes down to roles and structure to take advantage of it 2:48pm Suzy Jason-that is why Internet Researchers such as Amybeth and I are of great value-let us do the legwork 2:48pm Susan Burns Maureen - do u mean of the data collected or of how its used? 2:48pm Dorothy Beach Yes, how to manage it all - I think you have to try enough venues to understand what gives most pointed info and then cut out all the rest 2:48pm Maureen Sharib The data collected. 2:49pm Susan Burns Suzy - this really emphasizes the importance of how a recruiting/talent function is structured. Much more sophisticated to then previously 2:49pm Charles Bretz Suzy, any tips orbest practices for compiling and sharing your CI - what about storage and access 2:49pm Suzy Thanks Susan- very true. 2:49pm Dorothy Beach Goof Q Maureen - is there such a thing as a single best CI site/blog/whatever? 2:50pm Amybeth Hale Jason: agreed w/ Suzy. Professional researchers know what to do with the mountains of information that would be daunting to most people. It's good to have people like us on staff to filter through these important bits of information. 2:50pm Jason C. Blais In our business, I am the funnel for info from blogs, associations, networks, RSS feeds, etc, for the higher level strategic data collection. We turn that data into seminars accredited by HRCI, offer the seminar, build trust, get leads. 2:50pm Maureen Sharib Or what piece of CI is most valuable? Any opinions? 2:50pm Jason C. Blais However, our sales managers spend a % of time on sales CI... 2:50pm Suzy Charles- well hello there! Ideally, a corporate social networks comprised of RSS feeds, blogs and wikis would be the best way to disseminate CI- IBM has something really good up and running w/even a Twitter like function 2:50pm Susan Burns If someone is on IE could you try and copy the chat stream and send me a doc. I can't get it with Firefox or Safari 2:50pm Dorothy Beach So would a CRM typically used by sales people be a one stop shop? 2:50pm Jason C. Blais Charles- I'm interested in the same- storage and dissemination 2:51pm Amybeth Hale Suzy, do they use Yammer? 2:51pm RecruiterGuy Video for my friends here on RBC... http://www.recruitingblogs.com/video/recruiterguy-the-what-before 2:51pm Amybeth Hale Yammer not has groups you can moderate w/i you company. Great way to get info quickly to large, or small, groups of people 2:51pm Susan Burns Dorothy - to some degree - yes, what biz dev and sales is putting into the CRM it could be very informative 2:51pm Jason C. Blais Susan, I can capture this stream on Firefox. Highlight the first line. Then hold the shift and click on the last line, copy paste 2:51pm Maren Hogan oh good I was gonna say that Chris just put up a really cool post on slicin g and dicing the RSS feeds you get 2:51pm Suzy IBM uses something proprietary called Beehive I beleive-I've tried Yammer- it's OK 2:52pm Susan Burns well thank you Jason! 2:52pm Susan Burns Jason - still can't get it but I'm on a mac - is that why 2:53pm Susan Burns Suzy - is beehive avail outside of IBM or proprietary in dev and use? 2:53pm Suzy Maureen- as far as best piece of CI-all relative to your company... 2:53pm Jason C. Blais I'll get it at 4... though I only came in at 3:12, so missed some. I'll send it to you 2:53pm Charles Bretz I can copy and paste the thread. who should I send it to? 2:53pm Suzy Susan- Beehive is their internal twitter tool 2:53pm Susan Burns thanks Charles - talentsynchronicity@mac.com 2:53pm Charles Bretz You'll have it at the end 2:54pm Susan Burns You data junkies (me too btw) may also be interested in a new book called the Numerati on how companies, esp IBM, are using data to make a lot of decisions about team structure and project deployment - some good internal. Not sure how much may be CI related but possibly Suzy Thanks Susan- will look into it 2:55pm Susan Burns Suzy - do you have any closing thoughts or last questions 2:55pm Amybeth Hale Numerati was recommended to my by a prominent analyst relations professional as well. As you are the second person to recommend it, I guess I should go buy it :) 2:55pm RecruiterGuy Susan seriously?? By BAker? 2:56pm Suzy BTW- I thank all of you for being here and chatting and I hope it was all worth your while 2:56pm Susan Burns You can read an excerpt of the book in BusinessWeek - or Newsweek - forget which one 2:56pm Eric Gilson Stay happy Suzi. Thinking about you guys! 2:56pm Jason C. Blais I'm glad to know that CI is blossoming and i'm on the right track! 2:56pm Jason C. Blais THanks 2:56pm Suzy Thanks Eric- it's gorgeous out here and you need to come visit 2:56pm Eric Gilson Keller was last night! 2:56pm Eric Gilson I didn't go 2:57pm Susan Burns Suzy - this has been a great chat! Thanks much for all of your insight! I know this was a tough day for you with the loss of your dog and appreciate you spending time with us 2:57pm Suzy Aww-thanks Susan- it was a good distraction 2:57pm Susan Burns Thanks everyone for joining Talent Talk Cafe today - lots of great insight about CI, the value it brings and how to navigate some sensitive areas…; Added by Susan Burns at 1:16am on November 14, 2008