ResearchGoddess

A friend recently shared with me about his work review. I know this friend to be an amazingly talented individual, so I was shocked when he shared that he’d had a less than stellar review from his boss and essentially was being put on probation. We started talking about work reviews and feedback and came to the conclusion that there were mixed messages being sent to him. With mixed messaging (or NO messaging) coming from several different sources, how is an employee supposed to succeed?

Failure #1: Waiting until review time to provide critical feedback. Unless your ultimate design is to get rid of an employee (and if that’s the case, perhaps you should re-evaluate your hiring practices) feedback on areas that need improvement should be given before reviews come around to allow employees the opportunity to make changes. Think of a large ship – the further you let it go off course without correcting its coordinates, the longer it’s going to take that ship to get going in the right direction. Blindsiding employees with critical improvement areas on which their employment hangs only at review time sends the message that you’re really not interested in helping their career development or assisting them in being successful at their work, which would benefit the company as a whole. If you’re a parent, would you wait to correct your child’s wrong behavior until the bi-annual ‘family meeting’, or would you correct it as you see it so they could learn to change? Continue reading “Failing At Managing” »

Last Friday, I gave a presentation to the Technology Alliance Group for Northwest Washington, otherwise known as TAGNW, on how to attract technical talent to Bellingham. Bellingham, for those of you who don’t know, is a small-ish city halfway between Seattle and Vancouver BC with about 70,000 residents. Our claim to fame is ski-to-sea – we’ve got skiing at Mt. Baker within an hour’s drive of Bellingham Bay, where one can go ocean kayaking, waterskiing, or charter a whale-watching boat in the summertime. In addition to that, we’ve got a series of interurban hiking and biking trails and boast one of the best mountain biking spots in the nation. Not to mention all the waterfalls, county and state parks, camping, dining, concerts, scenic drives, wineries, and wonderful local companies that make this city such an awesome place.

So, why the need for a presentation to attract people to this oasis? What I just described sounds like heaven on earth, doesn’t it? Continue reading “The Intangibles of Recruiting: My @TAGNW Presentation” »

Want a couple of simple tips to make your blog posts more social? I’ve been messing around with a couple of aggregation tools and I’ve discovered two quick ways to get your content in front of more eyeballs in the process. These techniques are simple and will help you to become more findable through some social channels – Twitter in particular. Continue reading “How To Instantly Make Your Blog Posts More “Social”” »

As I step into my new role with ERE as Editor of The Fordyce Letter and continuing my duties as Editor of The Source Newsletter, I wanted to flesh out a couple of observations I have made in recent months regarding the sourcing world. I have heard several people, including a number of sourcers, express concern for the future of our function. These concerns have ranged from automation to irrelevance due to the vast number of social technologies at our fingertips. While I do agree that our roles are certainly changing, I would like to offer up a couple of predictions I’ve been rolling around in my mind regarding these concerns. Continue reading “Two Predictions For The Future of Sourcing” »

Over the past eight years, I’ve gone from working with search and placement firms to working with corporate recruitment organizations, conducting research for high tech industries, financial services, construction, PR & marketing, and telecommunications among others. I’ve blogged, tweeted, Facebooked, LinkedIn, and shot video in hopes of sharing knowledge with all of the wonderfully interesting people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting throughout my career. My Research Goddess blog grew wings and took off, and helped me establish a well-known and well-respected online presence. Each chapter of my professional career has ended with a paragraph leading seamlessly into the next chapter. And the end of this chapter is certainly no exception…

Next week, I will be joining ERE Media, Inc. as the Editor for The Fordyce Letter as well as The Source Newsletter. I will also be helping out with organizing the Fordyce Forum and SourceCon conferences. I’ve had a long-standing relationship with the founders of SourceCon, serving as the editor for the newsletter since 2007 after the first conference was put on. When ERE Media purchased SourceCon last year, I continued in this role on a voluntary basis, and when the opportunity came recently to join ERE as an employee and also take on The Fordyce Letter, I couldn’t say no! I’m super excited about this opportunity – not only will I get to continue working with SourceCon, but I will also get to return to my roots by working closely once again with recruitment search firms and helping bring relevant news and information to both worlds.

As the daughter of an English teacher and a card-carrying member of the Grammar Police, being an editor is a natural fit for me. This new chapter is an ideal next step for my career – I have the opportunity to be a change agent in sourcing and a part of the grand tradition of The Fordyce Letter. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, The Fordyce Letter has been the gold standard for search and placement firms for the last four decades. It was purchased by Paul Hawkinson in 1980, and a few years ago ERE acquired it from Hawkinson. The newsletter has always delivered high quality articles from some of the most successful search professionals in the industry, and I intend to see this continue.

I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed my time with AT&T – I have learned and grown so much professionally over the last year and I am grateful for all of the wonderful relationships I have been privileged to build while there. My experience with AT&T I really believe will help me be successful in my new role. I will miss my AT&T colleagues, but as I’ve said before, changing companies doesn’t mean friendships end! I plan to keep in touch with everyone there and hope to see many of you around the conference circuit.

My first duty with ERE will be attending the Fordyce Forum next week in Las Vegas. I am looking forward to reconnecting with those of you who will be there.