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Guidance for a successful, healthy, and fulfilling career.
Higher Attrition Expected in the Workplace
I was reading the McKinsey Quarterly today and found a fascinating study by 3 principle consultants. It was a follow-up to the “War for Talent” research completed by McKinsey in 1997. McKinsey indicates that “…finding talented people [is] likely to be the single most important managerial preoccupation for the rest of this decade.” “People in this group see their professional careers as a series of two-to-three-year chapters and will readily switch jobs, so companies face the risk of high attrition if their expectations aren’t met.” To me, this is not surprising. Richard Florida, Penelope Trunk and many other experts have shown that Gen Y has a new set of requirements for personal fulfillment in our work life. The great news is that frontline business analysts like McKinsey are beginning to recognize this.

McKinsey mentions “To a considerable extent, executives must blame themselves for their current talent woes.” “Since investments in talent intangibles are expensed rather than capitalized, managers may try to raise short-term earnings by cutting discretionary expenditures on people development.” I think this shows some of the ties to Wall Street that can severely harm long-term corporate performance. High turnover hurts corporate performance but is tougher to quantify than direct training expenses. How do you quantify the cost of on the job training from year to year because your employees keep leaving?

Knowing this, executives can utilize this information and improve their respected organizations by potentially measuring their HR managers or line managers on talent retention (not only operating profit or jobs filled). My calculus professor once said "Assessment drives performance." Talent retention assessment could help include the focus on long-term performance in addition to quarterly or even monthly operating performance. Executives could also offer incentives for employees to move around within their current company if they choose to do so. The younger generation values career freedom, so while seemingly counter-intuitive, this could help increase profitability in the long term by decreasing employee turnover.

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Posted by Evan Woolard at 1/27/2008 4:23 PM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
The Top 5 Reasons it "Pays" to Develop Functional Expertise

Not long ago, a friend said to me, "If I become an expert in [a logistics software program], I’ll be too valuable in that area and won’t get promoted. The company will need me to run the software." He went on, "If the company changes software, then they won’t need me and will hire someone else who is an expert." After some more discussion, he pondered, "If I’m a generalist, I’ll keep my job and if I work hard, I’ll make it to upper management."

So thus begins the classic generalist versus expert argument. What would you rather be and who is more valued? What is the path to management? Companies want experts on the lower level and generalists to manage them, right?

I don’t think so.

1.) Because functional expertise isn’t the same as software expertise. Mindlessly clicking on logistics software buttons to complete your job isn’t functional expertise. My friend must learn the ins and outs of the logistics profession, not just the software. By doing so, when the company changes software, he won’t be clueless. His functional expertise will allow him to transfer his knowledge and just use another software package.

2.) Supply and demand drive your salary. In the spirit of economist Adam Smith, I would say experts are in low supply, but in high demand. True experts take weeks or even months to find and hire. Not to mention, your company better have the clout (read: money, location, work-life balance) in order to obtain this person. Why do petroleum engineers earn above $100,000 per year? The supply of this type of person is very low since less than 20 schools in the country offer a petroleum engineering degree. However, the oil business is one of the most important industries for the modern economy; thus, petroleum engineering demand is high. If you need a generalist, you can find one tomorrow. By the way, when have you ever seen a job description mention, "We are looking for a top-notch generalist"?

3.) You will be remembered by your management. Since companies identify themselves as having functional expertise, the successful people in those companies must have functional expertise as well. Proctor & Gamble has the best marketers in the world. Dell Computer has the best supply chain. General Electric has the best finance people and Apple produces the most innovative products. The list goes on. If companies are known worldwide for their functional expertise, your top brass will remember you for your expertise. "Jack is the best polymer chemist in my division. I can’t answer your question, but I know he can."

4.) Job security. When have you and your colleagues at work had a conversation similar to "What will we do without Brenda? She knew everything about the XYZ product market. I don’t know how we will continue to make market-based decisions without her." Chances are if Brenda was the market expert and is no longer with the company, she was not fired, but rather left on her own accord for a better job, promotion, etc.

5.) Being an expert is the path to management. Being remembered is great, but what where will it get you? Think of it like this. Average managers are a dime a dozen. Do you think the Vice President of Engineering of a large company will have been a generalist all of her life? From the high-level managers I’ve met, they have developed expertise in their functional area earlier in their career. In this example, the VP of Engineering became an expert, got promoted a few times, and now knows what it takes to become a functional expert and will more readily hire and develop experts in her division.

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Posted by Evan Woolard at 3/24/2007 1:46 PM | View Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
"The Resume as a Marketing Tool"

I hope everyone is doing well in school or your career so far! I was reading a column on Yahoo Finance and thinking about what else I could do with my consulting business, 20/20 Resumes, and it came to me… A newsletter! Each month, I’ll have a theme with how it relates to resumes, career advice, etc. This is my chance to connect, keep in touch with you, and maybe… make a difference in your career!

For those of you that aren’t familiar with 20/20 Resumes, it is my Resume, Interview, and Career Consulting business I officially launched not long ago. A brief story of how I got started can be found on my website if you are so inclined (http://2020resumes.com/).

Anyways, this month I thought I’d start off with a quote from a woman who writes a new column on Yahoo Finance. She provides excellent (but sometimes harsh) career advice. She starts off the article with her most important statement, "The resume is a marketing tool, NOT an autobiography"  (http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/19128). Keep this in mind while you are writing your resume. Using your resume as a marketing tool means:

   1.) Tailor each resume (or cover letter) to each company or graduate school. Show the reader (maybe your potential boss) that you care!

   2.) Don’t be afraid to be different. The world is full of sameness and mediocrity. On the other hand, the resume with "Hire Me!" written in bright rainbow colors at the top might not necessarily be the best idea

   3.) Vince Lombardi once said "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm." Be excited, and convey it by bragging about all the great things you’ve accomplished in your career or as a student/volunteer. That goes for the interview as well as the cover letter.
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Posted by Evan Woolard at 2/1/2007 9:29 PM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
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