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3rd Quarter 2005 I have waited until Fall of this year to post my CEO Letter on our website to ensure that the initial surge in marketplace activity that we have witnessed in the first half of 2005 was indeed going to remain steady. And, the good news is that it has been steady and it appears that it will continue through the end of the year. That said, the following is a mini-essay sharing some thoughts about the historical view of the past few years… Wishing you continued success…
Expanding Corporate Budgets - Increased Competition For Top Talent: Where Will the Right Talent Come From Now? Prior to 2004, there were a significant number of corporations that experienced contractions in their workforce – communications, investor relations, and marketing positions did not escape this trend. However, as the economy and stock markets experienced the first sign of light in the fourth quarter of 2004, numerous companies found themselves in the initial stages of a talent quandary as they faced the beginning of a new year – a lack of talent to adequately tell their story to myriad constituencies, both internal and external. Corporations were faced with the daunting task of filling key roles while maintaining budgetary controls. This factor prompted a fair number of corporations to conduct searches utilizing their in-house human resources staff. In the beginning of 2004, corporations could obtain numerous qualified resumes for investor relations, corporate communications, and marketing positions simply by posting the job requirements on their website or corresponding industry job boards. Even with a glut of talent from which to choose, because these positions differ greatly from other corporate functions, and understanding the subtle nuances that accompany them is critical, hiring continued to be an arduous difficult task. TRRG experienced a significant growth period in 2004, not only through traditional growth channels, but also through assignments from numerous corporations (especially in the fourth quarter) that were unable to find the right candidate after months of searching. This trend has increased tremendously in 2005, due in part to the shrinking number of qualified candidates responding to websites and job boards – and, resources in the marketplace fell short of talent’s expectations, which resulted in professionals losing faith that utilizing these strategies for their job searches would be productive. Spring 2005 marked a turnaround in Corporate America’s nearly four-year hiring freeze, and the hunt for top talent now dominates most senior executives’ agendas. Corporations are continuing to expand their investor relations, communications, and marketing departments, which is creating a significant amount of competition for the top talent. We have noticed that many candidates are pursuing more than one opportunity at a time, a trend we have not seen in more than five years. So not only are there fewer qualified candidates from which to choose, but talent has returned to some of the shrewd thinking displayed in the dot-com boom era, although it is not as aggressive as in the past. Current trends highlight the need to use broader and deeper strategies to reach out to the candidate base. This is only accomplished by a continual networking system developed over the course of time. It’s not about posting the job description on the website, it’s about knowing the talent, knowing who would be a superior cultural fit for any given corporation, and knowing the intangibles that human capital brings to any given position. |
