In this uncertain economy, a startup is often caught in a Catch 22 situation when it comes to staffing and team building.  What do you do when you have a lot of work now, but you cannot predict whether the work will be there in 6 or 12 months?

Nobody likes to let good people go.  A decision to take on a permanent new hire is not something I take lightly.  To avoid hiring on spec, a lot of people turn to hiring consultants or contractors to get the work done while mitigating risk.  The thinking is that we can plug the current need with contractors now without resulting in a long term bump in the company’s operating budget. If the work stays and there is budget for it, wonderful.  If not, no hard feelings – we simply part ways when the work goes away.

This method can work wonders, but I have seen it being taken so far.  In extreme cases, a company could have developed all of its product platform with consultants and contractors whose contracts are terminated once the work is complete.  This certainly minimizes cash burn, but it also creates a serious problem: there is no retained core competency generated as a result of the product development process.

This is particularly problematic if some specific and esoteric domain knowledge is required to build the product itself.  So the next time the company needs to get something done, they have to go outside for help, incurring a whole new learning curve.  This is terribly inefficient.  It also puts the company in a precarious situation where they can be held hostage by their previous vendors, who have all the knowledge and know it too.

I believe in striving for balance between the conflicting needs of not overhiring and not building core competencies. I like the following model:

• Hire contractors with domain expertise to address specific and transient project needs
• Hire excellent generalists to become permanent members of the team. Do temp-to-hire if possible so we can test-drive the relationship and make sure the team member will thrive in the company in the long run.
• Have the contractors work with in-house staff to complete their projects.  The project is done as quickly as possible, the in-house staff is cross trained in a new area they are unfamiliar with, and the company gets to build up its core competencies. It’s a win-win situation.

How have you addressed this challenge in your company?

The way we view change and the strategies of how to manage change are many, and reading the book “Breaking the code of change” I have seen an inspiring way of structuring these approaches to change that I would like to share with you.

The authors call it the Theory E and O of change. – E stands for Economical Value and O for Organizational Capabilities.

Curious? Read more…

Theory E sees change initiatives as a mean to optimize shareholder value and maximize profits. Leaders set goals based on the expectations of the financial markets, and as one leader puts it. “I have a goal of $176 million this year and there is no time to involve others or develop organizational capabilities.”

Leaders of this approach do not trust lower-level managers with tough, strategic decisions, and do not have the time to build consensus through participation. The natural focus is on achieving results by changing strategies, structures and systems – the “hardware” of the organization.

Capital market expectations force a short and tight schedule for change and the change will most often be a carefully planned, well-sequenced program for change.
Theory E changes rely on financial incentives to motivate a singular focus on creating economic value.

To achieve rapid and extraordinary improvements in economic value, companies often hire large consulting firms to infuse specialized knowledge, market knowledge and best practice across industries.

Theory O change aims to develop organizational capabilities – especially the capabilities of the employees to become involved in identifying and solving work-related problems and challenges. A main driver is emotional commitment to the change and to improving the performance of the company.

Leading change from this perspective involves a high level of involvement and collaboration at all levels of the organization. Involvement is seen as vital for building the partnership, trust and commitment that key to long-term performance improvements.

Theory O will see the main challenge as changing culture, belief systems and values that over time has given structure and systems legitimacy. There is a natural focus on values and behavior and top management will use these to shape the company culture and guide employee behavior.
The change is managed by a clear vision and values and will be implemented with local participation and experiments – providing a space for a more emergent, bottom-up process that is well anchored in the reality of every business unit.

Focus will be on providing personal incentives with less emphasis on financial incentives and more on skills and collaboration. The consultant role in Theory O change initiatives focuses on designing and facilitating processes, being an experienced resource and sparring partner for how to move the change along as we learn, adjust and get better.

——

As the authors point out, it’s not necessarily an either or situation but a matter of integrating both approaches in the design for change. But at the end of the day, I believe that we must choose which initial path we are taking and what underlying principles we use when looking at change and working to see it come true.

I have to say that I’m a believer in the “O” way of working with most change initiatives. What about you?

1. What is a Virtual Assistant (VA)?

2. Various business support services that a VA offers.

3. Most importantly, how a VA can help YOU grow YOUR business!

 
Start 2010 off right by being more organized and energized to concentrate solely on your business! 

Simply send an email to info@YourDependableVA.com with the heading “Webinar”

Seats are filling up…..register now!

This article by me appeared in yesterday’s Sunday Times.

The Department of Health is refusing to back down over pay cuts, denying hospital consultants a salary rise to which they claim they are contractually entitled.

Last week, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) said its members would accept the pay cuts in the budget if they were first given the salary increase, which they said had been owed since June. The consultants claimed the rise was due under the terms of a new contract which came into force this year.

But the department has told The Sunday Times that no rise in pay will be given to any high-earning public servant, including consultants, until at least 2012, as recommended by a recent government report. In effect, payment of the increase would negate the budget cut for consultants. Brian Lenihan, the finance minister, announced a 15% fall in pay for public servants earning more than €200,000 a year, which would include most hospital doctors.

Donal Duffy, spokesman for the IHCA, said the outstanding money ranged “between 10% and 18%”, depending on speciality and location. Under the terms of the new contracts, a pay increase for consultants was to be introduced in three stages: the first between June and September 2008; the second by May 2009; and the third last June.

Mary Harney, the health minister, deferred payment of the third strand pending the publication of the report by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector, which has advised cuts in top-level pay.

Harney met with the consultants last Tuesday. The Department of Health said that “apart from the reductions in pay, the Review Body recommends that there be no increases in the pay of the higher public-service groups, including any adjustments that might otherwise arise under national agreements, before the end of 2012”.

The IHCA declined to comment on the content of the discussion.

The consultants claim that the HSE is “in breach of their contract” by not paying the June increase. Two hospital consultants are taking legal action over failure to pay.

The IHCA said it would wait until the next meeting of its national council in January to decide its course of action.

Consultant Name : Uma

• 7+ years SUN certified Sr Java/J2EE Developer.
• Domain experience includes Investment Banking, Global Securities services, Custodian, Forex, Online Reconciliation, Shares, and Bonds.
• He has worked with clients like Citigroup, Bank of America, Fidelity Information.
• He has very good experience in Java, J2EE, JSP, Servlets, EJB2.0, Struts2.1, Springs, IBM Web Sphere, Web logic, Apache Tomcat, MQ Series, Hibernate and XML.
• He has Development methodologies like Xtreme Programming, Agile Scrum, RUP, JUnit.
• He is in CA and he is available immediately for the project.

Consultant Name : Prem

He has worked with clients like Lehman Brothers, Dun & Brad Street, Emirates Bank, KL Mutual Fund.

He’s committed and competent having 8+ years Sr Java/J2EE Developer

JAVA, J2EE, SYBASE, FLEX, PERL, ( Servlets, JSP, JDBC, EJB, XML,JMS), SQL, PL/SQL, Spring & Struts, OOAD, WebLogic, Websphere, JBOSS, Eclipse, Hibernate, ANT, AJAX, Apache, Tomcat, Swing.

Well, he’s done it again.  Seth Godin has unleashed an idea virus.

People like him have tremendous clout and power because so many people follow his every move.  But he also is able to utilize his power effectively because he doesn’t abuse it.  He doesn’t ask people to do things very often.  Most of the time he is giving out things, like wisdom, helpful hints, big ideas, links to others’ big ideas, sharing stories of amazing people, and so on.  This builds his respect and increases the number of followers.

Then, when he decides to make a real splash, he launches a request to his fans, which then become his army.

Except this time, he’s not just promoting his own book , but he’s using a multiplier of 70 major thinkers who have huge followings themselves, to promote his book and to promote their material.

He has brought them all together to publish a free e-book called “What Matters Now” and has asked everyone to spread it, tweet it, blog about it, and share it (oh yeah, and read it.)

Seth has found a way to tap into millions of people by collaborating with many leaders.

Yeah, it may look like I’m just a follower, but there is so much to learn here.  And his message is that every one of us can be a leader.  That feels good.

So what are you waiting for?

Download the free .pdf: what-matters-now

I had an interesting discussion with an acquaintance who is currently looking for a job.   He had worked for a large financial institution for the past fifteen years until his department was closed and relocated to India.  I am sure that this story may be familiar as it is played out daily across America, as more and more jobs are sent overseas.  

In my new book, Kicked to the Curb, twenty simple rules are laid out to assist those who have been impacted by our imploding job market.  Names of companies or job sectors really don’t matter, as this is an across the board phenomenon that is reaching epidemic proportions as the government becomes more and more intrusive in the private sector.   While not diverging into how today’s society was scarily foreshadowed in Ayn Rand’s cult classic Atlas Shrugged, it is important to share the parallels that are occurring. 

The job market is not going to pick up anytime soon for the simple reason that the government feels the need to control decisions that should be left to executives.   As companies get pushed further and further into a corner, they are forced to make decisions that are having an impact on employment.  With exhorbitant tax rates and excessive regulation, companies are offshoring more of their business.   From their standpoint this makes all the sense in the world; but it doesn’t create more jobs. 

The next issue is healthcare, which may soon be a mandated part of doing business in America.   This high cost proposition has employers warily watching for an outcome.   If healthcare becomes a mandate, look for increased unemployment because even more of our job functions will be moved overseas.   In addition, there will be a decrease in traditional full time employees as companies look to hire independent contractors to whom they won’t owe healthcare benefits.  

During our discussion, my acquaintance was becoming ever more uneasy which is a natural response when your primary source of income has dried up.   As suggested in Kicked to the Curb, check your fears at the door.   Never before have there been so many opportunities to make money.  With a little courage and a good plan, anyone can become independently wealthy; even in these tough economic times. 

By understanding the direction of our nation and the changing demographics it is clear that government will play a bigger and bigger role in the private sector.   This happened under George W. Bush and it is happening under Barack Obama.   The reality is that this has been happening for the last eighty years and it will continue.  A change in political leadership will do nothing to alter the current direction because Washington is about nothing more than power.

Knowing this, you now have to develop a plan to capitalize on this direction.   By understanding that double digit unemployment is here to stay, it is probably not wise to look for another 9-5 job where your new employer may kick you to the curb and you’ll be right back to square one.   My advice is to avoid the status quo and think outside the box.   Understand where your talents lie and then utilize them to assist others in industries where you have a level of expertise. 

My background is in the financial sector where I have demonstrated to past employers my ability to dramatically impact their bottom line.   Rather than finding millions for just one company, I am now sharing my proprietary methods with many companies resulting in their finding millions of dollars that had otherwise been left on the table.

Sharing my journey and plan seemed to have a positive impact on my acquaintance who is now giving some thought on various ventures that he could enter into.   As Vance Havne said, ”the vision must be followed by the venture.  It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.”

Chris Tidball is a former executive for multiple Fortune 100 companies and the author of Kicked to the Curb: 20 Essential Rules for Coming Out On Top When Your World Has Been Turned Upside Down.  For more information visit www.christidball.com or email chris@christidball.com.

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The cruising world is celebrating the arrival of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas!

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Founding Member Deadline is December 31, 2009. The LIFETIME Royal Cruise Matrix Membership Club offer will no longer be valid after this date. You will then have to pay an annual fee, so ACT NOW!  You’ll be glad you did.

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1. What business are you in? Do you know?

You do? Are you sure?  You are in the business of marketing your business. You’ve got a great opportunity. But do you have great marketing? Great marketing is the key success. There is power in combining Great Opportunity and Great Marketing!

2. About marketing.

This is an absolutely essential task that you must take responsibility for.  You’re the only one who has the passion, drive and ambition to build a successful business for you and your team. Marketing is challenging, but don’t ignore it.  If you do you will not reach the level of success that you desire. You need to become the expert on marketing your business through social media as well as face-to-face word-of-mouth.

3. Everything needs to be balanced.

You need to develop trusting relationships with others and constantly add value to your team and those looking at your opportunity.   Invest your time creating innovative and clever posts. There is no need to spend a lot of money marketing.

4. Plaster your unique message on every internet wall and tell everyone.

That’s how important it is. It anchors your business and is the cornerstone of your strategy. Are you uncertain as to what your unique message is? That uncertainty will certainly cause problems. What is the solution?  Stay close to your leadership attend all educational, motivational and informational meetings and conference calls, then share that information with others so you own it yourself.  You don’t own what you have learned until you have spoken it to others.

5. Do you have a plan?

It doesn’t have to stay the same. It will change and evolve. Without a plan, how will you know if you’re on track or lost in the woods?  Your team will respect you for having a plan and knowing where you’re headed.

6. Joint partnerships and alliances are a must.

You’re working for yourself because you want to be your own boss and not be enslaved to an employer, but you’re in a large jungle. You’re going to need some help to survive in the wild. Find joint partnerships and alliances with positive success minded people of action. Join several mastermind groups, and find a mentor. Actually, find two!

7. Your business is you’re your responsibility.

You are the King of the jungle and you need to lead with courage and boldness. Your business needs to complement your personality and you need to be confident in yourself, if you are not, you’ll tend to be reactive rather than proactive. Your creativity and perseverance is what nourishes you.

No one said it would be easy, what worthwhile thing is, but it is simple if you follow these principles.  But, of course, you were aware that your ultimate success required you to take action and responsibility. The promise of wealth and freedom makes it worth every minute you invest.  So don’t spend your life wishing, invest your time conquering.

Recommended Empowerment Tools:

• 10 Days to Complete Financial Breakthrough, Pastor Kenneth Copeland (guide w/CD’s and DVD apx $15) http://www.kcm.org/store/index.php?p=store
• Believe That You Can, Pastor Jentezen Franklin (book apx. $20) http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/cart/product.php?p=238&c=432
• Secrets of the Millionaire Mind (I recommend the CD’s apx $25, book is $20) http://www.millionairemind.com

To all who are in Christ, you are new creations! You have been fearfully and wonderfully made. You have been made in His image and His likeness. The authority that has been given to you is the authority of Jesus the Christ. We are joint heirs with Christ and we were designed to rule and reign on earth. The authority we have is released with our words. When spoken in faith, believing when we pray, we will have the same effect with the Word as Jesus had when He spoke. The greater works we will do.

All of creation waits, it travails for the sons of God to come forth. The time is now, now faith is needed, our communities and the world need us. Run through the camp and tell everybody “Get Ready”. This is not the time to waver, or stand double minded. For me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We put our trust in God, fully, uncompromising. We believe the prophets and know that we will prosper. We stand like trees planted by the rivers of water, and whatsoever we do shall prosper.

Above all, we love the Lord. We know likewise, that we owe no man anything, but to love them. This Christmas, do not undervalue, or fail to understand, the price Jesus paid for our restoration, and sonship.

It is my prayer that the eyes of your understanding be opened to this magnificent truth of God’s redemptive plan for you and the family of God!

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Yes, Maverick is hiring and looking for people with smarts and attitude. If you fit the bill contact us.

In South Africa today there are few consultants who offer services to corporate that focus on online marketing. Search Online Consultants offer their clients the ability to do their own online marketing which has the benefits of decreased costs of management fees which other external Online Marketing companies charge as management fees.

Running ones own Pay Per Click campaign can save huge costs and creates an extra level of flexibility which you cannot exercise with an external online marketing agency. However if a client does not wish to write search engine friendly articles or update their own Blog Search Online Consultants can manage all the services on the clients behalf.

In South Africa today corporate should be spending a minimum of 20% of their marketing budgets online but tradition advertising mediums have people caught up in trying to measure their return on investment from mediums that are not accurate.

Online marketing is an every growing market; however online consulting is a new and exciting avenue that will see huge growth in the next 5 years.

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I have not written in a while, but December is a crazy month for about anyone in the industry between brides and corporate events we go a little cocooo!! Christmas is around the corner and wedding even closer. All of you gals that thought that had 8 more months to their wedding well you are almost in 2010! Yikes!

Considering that during the holidays most people put on a few pounds especially between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have joined forces with Crossfit West Houston into creating a BRIDAL BOOT CAMP. We have not finalized the times or dates of when they will begin, but we are letting you know there is a solution to all that Holiday EATING!!

Keep posted for details!!!!!

An interview with Dr. Duane Broom, Carolyn Broom and Deneige Broom of Operation Promised Land, a financial empowerment outreach ministry of Everlasting Covenant Christian Center, Apopka Florida.

Watch the Video interviews on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Bring2Help2#p/u/3/1PZjMnCx-RY

The Brooms explain the simplicity of a rescue mission to empower individuals across the world as well as educate Pastors how to empower their members and increase Church tithes and offerings. 

Membership in Operation Promised Land training ministry is completely free to all.  Members are educated and empowered on how to succeed in the direct selling industry (30 billion dollar industry U.S. and over 100 billion Internationally).  The plan is simple, strategic and systematic.

Dr. Broom said “Operation Promised Land has been able to offer its members a very concise business model that works, its mathematical.  I believe with our program and our strategy, anyone whose willing  can be successful with the business model that we have developed.”

Consultant Name : Sushil (Sr Java/J2EE Developer) [HEAVY Finance Client]

Skill : Java, J2EE, SQL, UML, DB2, JSP, Servlets, Struts, spring, JSTL, Apache, Tomcat, Tibco EMS, Hibernate, JBPM, JNDI, Java Mail, XML, XPath, XSLT, XSD, JAXB, XML, Unit, JavaScript, Shell and Perl, JUnit, Mockito, CVS, Eclipse, Ant, Hudson, JProfiler, YourKit, Aqua Data Studio, Autosys, Team Forge, Microsoft Office Tools, Textpad, VI, Sed etc, Windows XP, Linux

Domain experience : Equities, Fixed Income Bonds (Bill, Note,                                                                       Bonds), Forex, Options and Market Data.

Clients Worked for : Goldman Sachs and Fidelity Investments.

Current Location : Jersey City, NJ

Relocation : Open to relocation (NY, NJ, CT, MA, RI)

Availability : Immediately

Years of Exp : 6+ Years

I had a recent discussion with a client about  the financial uncertainty they are facing during these tough economic times.   Sales are down nearly 30%, and they have had to scale back employee work hours.   They are concerned about letting talent go because of a very justified fear that they may not be able to get that talent back when the market picks up.  

This is a dilemma faced by an increasingly large number of employers who recognize the peril of terminating talent.  With unemployment officially at 10% and realistically closer to 18% when you factor in the under employed and those just not looking for work, it does appear that many employers believe that there is no alternative.  

The reality is that virtually all organizations can increase their bottom line by decreasing staff.   Be it the bloated federal government that many estimate to be 30% overstaffed to the small mom and pop that needs nine employees instead of ten, opportunities to shed heads abound.   But is it the right thing to do?

The one certainty for all organizations is that they have two ways to increase their profitability; increase sales or decrease costs.   During times of economic malaise it is unlikely that sales are going anywhere so the focus must be on reducing costs.  

There are a number of ways that companies can do precisely that, but more often than not management is wary of things that appear to be too good to be true.   A great example is a company called Total Energy Concepts that uses the concept of power factor correction to reduce electric bills by a guaranteed 15% with no new money required from customers.   By reducing the utility bill, a portion of the savings pays for the system installation while the company gets the difference as new found money on their bottom line.   Learn more about this awesome way to save money and go green at www.energy-pure.com.

As I was sharing with my client, opportunities like this abound.   The key to finding this money is to think outside the box, which often means doing more than reducing staff.  Don’t get me wrong;  poorly performing or complacent staff should always be reduced during good times and bad.   But that is a topic for a different day.  

Look around your organization and see where organizational optimization can occur.   Some of it will be staffing, but more often than not it is something, such as your electric bill, that is right in front of you.   Leverage your business to business relationships with experts in workflow optimization and learn how you too can be on the path to finding millions. 

Chris Tidball is the Vice President of Business Development for Sequoia Financial Services of Glendale, CA.   He is a former executive for multiple Fortune 100 corporations and is the author of Kicked to the Curb : 20 Essential Rules For Coming Out On Top When Your World Has Been Turned Upside Down.   He can be reached at (904) 742-9031 or via email at chris@christidball.com