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Life doesn’t come with a guarantee
Last week, one unstable man caused the deaths of two patrons in a Sydney, Martin Place café. For about eight years I worked in Sydney in an office located about 300 metres from Martin Place. I have consumed countless cups of coffee in Martin Place cafes over the years. I have never had anything close to…
Read MoreThe Daleks are coming and many high skill jobs are not safe
Every time I shop at my local Woolworths, I join the self-service checkout queue to pay for my shopping. I don’t need or want any social interaction (‘How’s your day?’) when I shop. I am happy to scan and pack my own shopping. When I do this, I am indirectly undermining a cashier’s job at…
Read MoreCEO recruitment is broken and no solution in sight
Continuing my search to understand what underlies the decision making mistakes made by boards of large companies, I turned to the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), the preeminent educational body for public, private, and not-for-profit company directors in Australia. I collected a copy of the AICD Professional Development Handbook (July 2014 to June 2015)…
Read MoreThe premortem: How to avoid ‘stupid acquisitions’ in one step
My mid-October post about the performance of the ASX-listed recruitment agencies drew a lot of comments on my LinkedIn profile, through emails and in conversations with recruitment industry leaders. One of the common topics of conversation has been the performance (or lack of it) with respect to acquisitions made by the boards of these listed companies.…
Read MoreWhy most small recruitment agencies stay small
Our industry is one that is dominated by small recruitment agencies. Yet, I would imagine that most of the owners of these small agencies would like to grow if they could grow profitably. Unfortunately much of the growth, if it does occur is not profitable growth. The Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB) Report has 126 members…
Read MoreAre you delivering niche marketing or corporate blanding?
I was MC at the ATC Sourcing Conference in Melbourne last week. It was, as usual, an excellent day of learning with a varied array of speakers who made the audience think carefully about the future of recruitment through the lens of sourcing. Here’s a summary of the major points I took away from…
Read MoreWhat I learned from my son’s first recruitment experience
Last week was a momentous one in my life: My eldest son, Guy, was offered his first job. Then twenty-four hours later he was offered another job. Given what I have dedicated my working life to, it has been a fascinating experience to observe the process of my own child attempting to enter the workforce…
Read MoreRecruitment tenders and PSAs: Please get out of your own way!
I’m right! Yes, it does happen occasionally. I now have substantial evidence from a highly credible global consulting firm that supports one of my more common rants; the ludicrous waste of time and money that a vast number of tenders and PSAs prove to be . Wasteful recruitment tender and PSA processes are…
Read MoreWhy a strong industry body creates a powerful industry
One of the most significant events in a series of events that lead to the replacement of Kevin Rudd by Julia Gillard as Prime Minister in mid-2010, was the massive anti-mining super profits tax campaign run by the Minerals Council of Australia. Minerals Council’s (now former) CEO, Mitch Hooke, was already known as a formidable…
Read MoreHow to waste your time at work
Time is money. It’s a statement you’ve probably heard many times. This is because largely, it is true. Regardless of our age or how much money we have or anything else superficial, we all have access to exactly the same amount of time each day, each week and each month as every other person. One…
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