Monday, January 20, 2003

The Talent Myth, Part III

Thank You for your continued patience and support for my blog. Your emails have been encouraging. I have no excuse for my lack of content here, other than the crazed pace I've had in my personal and work lives. This blog doesn't pay, you see, so sometimes other priorities prevail. I promise to be more attentive. Please keep your feedback coming, it really does motivate me and I do consider all of it in crafting my little corner of the web here.

So far in the The Talent Myth we've touched on the Corporate Executives (Part I) and their role in the myth. We've just begun to scratch the surface regarding Human Resource Executives and teams (Part II) and some attributes of theirs that contribute to the myth. Today, more on HR and their role....

In both Parts I and II I haven't painted the most complimentary of pictures regarding Human Resources. What you are about to read won't seem any more positive. My comments aren't intended to be negative, but really to define the state of the "market" as I see it. In many ways the Human Resources executives, leaders, and teams have been put in a no-win situation.

My view of the HR professional and the state of the market is not incredibly unique - I only intend it to be uniquely honest. My perspective has been developed over 15 years of experience in the market, and it has been refined and validated in conversations and dealings with a large part of the HR community in the Global 2000, with the consultants, writers, and analysts they trust, and the vendors they look to for help. My intent here is to be honest about the situation, and possibly offer some thoughts on navigating out of, or around, it. But before I get ahead of myself, on with Part III.

In Part II we left off talking about the consultants that the HR Professionals and Executives surround themselves with for that feeling of security when asked "Why is this our strategy?". When it comes to the Talent Management space, the consultants available are generally self-proclaimed experts with little in the way of pedigree or real consulting experience to offer the HR team. Now, I'm not referring to the Human Capital Management consulting firms like Watson Wyatt, Hewitt, Towers Perrin, or the HR practices at PWC, KPMG, and such... I'm talking about the handfull of small firms that have sprung up in the last few years claiming to help the HR and Staffing teams with Best Practice Process Design and Re-Engineering, Vendor Evaluation and Selection, Implementation, and ongoing advice in the way of Talent Management.

The HR Execs go to these firms for unbiased advice and broad industry expertise to help navigating through a surprisingly long list of narrowly differentiated vendors within this space. Unfortunately the HR Execs receive anything but what they are paying for from these firms. More on these firms in a forthcoming chapter. The advice these firms give the HR Exec is generally slanted towards the vendor they are either most comfortable with or the one offering the largest dollar amount with regard to a referral fee OR implementation dollars on the back end. Their industry experience tends to be very limited, specially with regard to the number of Talent Management systems they actually have experience with, never mind their experience in HR & Staffing in today's, or any, business climate.

HR Executives have to begin to realize that they are getting what they pay for when it comes to consulting. If you pay boutique dollars for consulting you get boutique advice. As I mentioned, more in an upcoming chapter on these consulting firms and the long term problems they are creating for HR Execs and their teams when it comes to Talent Management. We'll talk abouth their role in the state of the market later. Let's move on to another layer of the saftey blanket for the HR professional - The Analysts.

Like the consultants referenced above, there are a handfull of self-proclaimed Industry Experts and Analysts that have sprung up in the last few years. Somehow the price of being considered an Industry Expert or Analyst is now equivalent to the cost of hosting your own website and publishing some business cards (business cards optional). There are a number of individuals and websites that have appeared in the last few years, owned and operated by folks that decided they had an opinion to share. Unfortunately this opinion, in some cases, isn't based on any real Staffing or HR experience, but just an opportunistic approach on a market with a lack of consolidated information and a desire to capitalize on the HR Execs and Teams ongoing need for a safety blanket made up of third party advice. Equally disturbing are the Industry Experts and Analysts that are nothing but an extension of a vendor selling goods and services in the space (by ownership or by the fact that they are in a vendor's pocket). The conflict of interest here is incredibly obvious to anyone that follows the market, however there seem to be a number of HR Execs and Teams that don't seem to notice. I'm not willing to assume that the HR Execs and Teams don't care, that would be truly disappointing. I just don't think they know any better as unsophisticated buyers in this regard.

There are incredibly reputable Analyst firms like IDC, Gartner, The Meta Group, Yankee, etc. that offer truly well documented industry reports and analysis. This information costs more than what is offered by the armchair analysts and experts that have sprung up in our little market here, but is far more valuable and unbiased than what the HR Exec seems to be currently paying for. Even a self-executed survey of industry peers would give you better data and input than the opinions being cast out on an ongoing basis by the SO CALLED analysts the HR Exec and teams seem to follow so blindly.

The armchair consultants and analysts in this space keep this market from realizing it's full potential and stifle it into remaining the Cottage Industry that it is viewed as by so many reputable sources in the Technology Industry as a whole. The HR Exec must begin to take increasing their level of sophistication as a buyer seriously, by working with credible industry and market players, and gets away from the incestuous world of Provincial analysts and consultants they are currently wasting their time with. Unless this happens, they will continue to perpetuate the problems they are facing in the market and go down a spiraling cycle of re-engineering themselves on an ongoing basis based on the sub-par guidance received from these sources.
Could it be any worse? Well, it gets worse when you look at the quality, or lack thereof, of the industry press and writers covering our space. Now you know about the next installment of The Talent Myth. Part IV is about the Industry Press. See you then....

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Thursday, January 16, 2003

Part III of The Talent Myth is on it's way, but for now another question for you to consider:

How do you demonstrate your value on a daily basis? even over a month, quarter, or year?

If you are in Corporate HR or Staffing I would love to get your perspective on that.

If you're in HR you might need a little nudge so here goes: How do you demonstrate on an ongoing basis that you are: lowering a companies costs, or helping to increase top-line revenues? getting the product out the door more quickly? getting the company more presence in the market? helping the brand? etc.

As much as my question is rhetorical, it's asked very selfishly. Your feedback will be very helpful for The Talent Myth.

Check back for Part III....

Feedback? talentblog@hotmail.com



Wednesday, January 15, 2003

I apologize, to myself mostly, but I do apologize. I have not been paying attention to my blog. The holidays, business travel, family, and friends have kept me away from continuing The Talent Myth. I am getting ready to publish Part III! It will go up this week!

In the mean time here is a question I've been pondering. All the buzz in the market about outsourcing in Human Resources has me wondering if HR executives, professionals, and vendors had found a way in the last 20 years to empower the profession into a more strategic place would the market forecast for outsourcing of HR services be approaching $80B as it is today, or would it be much less? Are you (we) responsible for creating the wave that puts your job at risk?

Stay tuned for Part III....

Feedback? talentblog@hotmail.com