Amitai Givertz's Blog (371)

On managment trivia and leadership "small talk"...

Quote for the Day: Thursday, July 5th, 2007

"This is a serious malaise. Managers feel comfortable discussing trivial issues because there's less at stake. Important issues cause trouble because discussions about them can lead to people taking difficult decisions. Difficult issues don't usually need experts to solve them. They need willing people to try to understand, evaluate, make a decision and then do… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on July 5, 2007 at 7:30am — No Comments

On Human Capital, you get what you pay for...

Quote for the Day: Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007

"The problem with the term “Human Capital” is that it perpetuates the notion that human beings are interchangeable anonymous widgets. People who are treated as if they were capital, start to behave like capital. They move to the source of the highest return as quickly as possible without regard to loyalty."

John Sumser, Strategic… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on July 3, 2007 at 8:00am — No Comments

On recruiting passive candidates, not...

Quote for the Day: Monday, July 2nd, 2007

"I really do hate to buck this week's trend, but passive candidates are no better than active candidates. Passive candidates are simply people

who are not looking to change jobs, but that does not make them better

candidates any more than it makes active candidates bad because they

are looking for another opportunity."

Howard Adamsky,… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on July 2, 2007 at 8:00am — 4 Comments

Quote for the Day: Friday, June 29th, 2007

On HR going hungry at the table, bellyaching...

"If you are unlucky enough to work for an organization that doesn't recognize the value of HR, one of two things may be at play: Either you work for a bad company and should immediately move to one that is looking for talented HR folks, or maybe you're the problem."…

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Added by Amitai Givertz on June 29, 2007 at 9:26am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Thursday, June 28th, 2007

On "just-in-time" recruiting...

"The goal of recruiters and the organizations they work for is to have quality talent (Q-Talent) ready for current and future opportunities – a steady flow of the right people, ahead of the company’s demand for them. Picture an airport with airplanes circling overhead. The talent organization is the control tower. It needs to know who is on the horizon, what their… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 28, 2007 at 7:29am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Wednesday, June 27th, 2007

On leadership development, nature or nurture...

"If authentic leaders are a consequence of their early life experiences does this mean that leadership development books, tapes, learning programs and business consultants are a waste of time? And does this explain why so few of them are not sticky?"

Scott McArthur,… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 27, 2007 at 4:28pm — 4 Comments

Quote for the Day: Tuesday, June 26th, 2007

On "actions speak louder than words"...

"That's a key thing to remember. Having the idea is only one part of the thought leadership story. Execution and demonstration are the other pieces. Ideas, in and of themselves, are a dime a dozen and the province of writers and inventors. Actually doing the thing in a way that others can emulate is worth a million bucks."…

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Added by Amitai Givertz on June 26, 2007 at 8:08am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Monday, June 25th, 2007

On the recruiting technology "Productivity Paradox"...

"The bottom line is that in order to have a successful recruitment system implementation, the recruiter still needs to know how to recruit, and the system needs to be perceived as a valuable tool in managing the workload...ultimately a recruitment system will only be as good as the people using it."

Ed Newman, The Myth… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 25, 2007 at 6:40am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Friday, June 22th, 2007

On sucky recruiters' excuse-making...

"We've heard all the reasons why you can't deliver strong candidates — not enough money, too many skills and requirements, not enough time, bad ads, candidates don't want to relocate, etc. Enough already! We don't need to pay for recruiters who can't find top candidates. This is your #1 job! Get creative...Just stop making excuses."…

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Added by Amitai Givertz on June 22, 2007 at 8:30am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Thursday, June 21th, 2007

On the brain drain...

It's a fools bargain. Foreign or younger workers cannot replace what the older workers contribute in the way of institutional memory, long-term relationships and applied creativity. The company loses both the knowledge capital… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 21, 2007 at 7:00am — No Comments

From the Archives: Tuesday, July 15th, 2003

Top Ten Online Business Networking Tips

"Clarify what you have to give and what you want to gain from your online networking.

Identify your purpose and objectives for joining and participating in an online community. Make sure you are clear about what you have to contribute to the community as well as what you can gain from being part of the community."

Scott Allen,… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 20, 2007 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Wednesday, June 20th, 2007

On Feng Shui and retention best-practice...

"If we had cubicles or even individual offices with walls dividing us, the recruiter may have been able to hire away a valuable member of our team. He failed because in an open office environment it’s awkward to take a call from a recruiter and talk numbers, during work hours. Everyone can hear you.…

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Added by Amitai Givertz on June 20, 2007 at 8:35am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Tuesday, June 19th, 2007

On the future of recruiting technology...

"The hope is that, in not too many years, human brains and computing machines will be coupled together very tightly, and that the resulting partnership will think as no human brain has ever thought and process data in a way not approached by the information-handling machines we know today."

J. C. R. Licklider, Man-Computer… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 19, 2007 at 9:02am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Monday, June 18th, 2007

On communal blogging and "free speech"...

"Yes, you own your own words. But you also own the tone that you allow on any blog or forum you control. Part of "owning your own words" is owning the effects of your behavior and the editorial voice you foster...Shock radio hosts encourage abusive callers; a mainstream talk radio show like NPR's Talk of the Nation wouldn't hesitate to cut someone off who started spewing… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 18, 2007 at 7:04am — 2 Comments

From the Archives: Monday, October 31st, 2005

68 Posts

" 'What the hell are you thinking?' Why put in the effort and time and heartache when it [blogging] doesn’t make any money?

Actually the math is pretty simple. I am investing in my network, contributing to my community of practice (in this case my community of practice is people who believe that talent is more valuable than capital) and want to be part of the next… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 17, 2007 at 7:30am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Friday, June 15th, 2007

On defining quality employees...

"Most organizations do not have any definition of a "quality employee," nor do they even have a performance management system that is anything better than a popularity contest….suffice it to say that before any performance can be assessed, the organization has to have a clear idea of what good or exceptional performance looks like. It needs to have longitudinal studies of its best performers so that a pattern of actions,… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 15, 2007 at 9:23am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Thursday, June 14th, 2007

On slacking off...

"Slack allows innovative projects to be pursued because it buffers organizations from the uncertain success of these projects, fostering a culture of experimentation"

Nitin Nohria & Sumantra Ghoshal, The Differentiated Network: Organizing… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 14, 2007 at 12:55pm — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

On outsourcing and knowledge workers...

"If by off-loading employee relations, organizations also lose their capacity to develop people, they will have made a devil's bargain indeed."

Peter Drucker, They're Not Employees, They're People

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 13, 2007 at 7:39am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Tuesday, June 12th, 2007

On lying...

"Of course I lie to people. But I lie altruistically - for our mutual good. The lie is the basic building block of good manners. That may seem mildly shocking to a moralist - but then what isn't?"

Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant

[Note: It seems that lying is a preoccupation for recruiters.… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 12, 2007 at 9:30am — No Comments

Quote for the Day: Monday, June 11th, 2007

On personal brand…

“You're hired, you report to work, you join a team -- and you immediately start figuring out how to deliver value to the customer. Along the way, you learn stuff, develop your skills, hone your abilities, move from

project to project. And if you're really smart, you figure out how to

distinguish yourself from all the other very smart people walking around with

$1,500 suits, high-powered laptops, and… Continue

Added by Amitai Givertz on June 11, 2007 at 10:30am — No Comments