Do you know who your most profitable clients are, and do you respond to their needs accordingly? Are you paying for work that has little to no chance of providing revenue? How firms manage and deliver against job orders significantly impacts it’s competitiveness and bottom line. Studies from Lean Six Sigma consultancies estimate services firms who do not actively manage … Read More
Drivers for Sales Success
Identifying key sales drivers and being able assess the health of those drivers is critical in building and successfully managing a sales force. There are many staffing executives who believe that most sales issues begin and end with the quality of their sales force. While the quality of sales personnel is an important factor it is not the only one. … Read More
The Strategy Focused Organization (Part 3): Mobilize Change Through Executive Leadership
Today’s CEO is wrestling with unique market challenges. These challenges have forced many leaders and employees to question current business models and are looking at change not as a threat but as a necessity. This openness to change provides an opportunity to inspire their team to a better destination. However, many changes are complex and can reach to the heart … Read More
The Strategy Focused Organization (Part 2)
Principle Three: Make Strategy Everyone’s Everyday Job Does this sound familiar? A company crafts a strategy. They develop a thorough presentation to communicate the strategy and motivate the team. They call a team meeting and present the strategy. Employees are excited about the new direction seeing a better future ahead. Then the excitement fades, old habits reemerge, and six months … Read More
The Strategy Focused Organization (Part 1)
In 1991 Kaplan and Norton wrote the highly influential book called “The Strategy Focused Organization”. One of the first things they address is the key principles a company must hold in order to create a break through strategy that drives profitable growth. There are five principles overall, today I will write about the first two. Principle one: Translate the Strategy … Read More
What role does Strategy have in Staffing?
Staffing at its roots is an entrepreneurial industry. Some of the most successful staffing companies can point to strong leadership, aggressive execution, and ambitious production personnel as keys to their success. It is an industry defined at many levels by its shear will to succeed, and through the nineties that seemed to be enough. Over the last decade, we have … Read More
In the Driver’s Seat – Staffing Industry Review
Most staffing managers will admit that even though business continues to grow, that growth is not a cause for unbridled optimism. The staffing industry faces headwinds that are driven from multiple forces beyond its direct control. Clients continue to ask for more while paying less; new regulations and stronger enforcement of existing regulations increase the cost of doing business; and … Read More
Understanding the Competitive Forces Impacting IT Staffing Published in SI Review
In speaking with staffing companies across the country one thing is clear. Job order numbers are increasing and placements are starting to follow. This is welcome news; however, many executives see a rapidly evolving industry fueling concerns about the long term prospects for growth independent of the state of the economy. This article will discuss three of Michael Porter’s five … Read More