Talent Talk

It won’t be a quick fix – it simply can’t be - but if this Government is smart, they will precipitate fast learning programmes to provide the “local” resource to fast-track the reconstruction.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that rocking up in a tee-shirt and jandals (I exaggerate for media effect) and knowing diddley-squat about the company wouldn’t stand you in good stead to sweep the job from the other 500 applicants.

 

"How you think becomes how you operate within your company, and ultimately how the organisation stands  in the market in the eyes of your customers.  And the combined “thinking” of your people is imperative to be aligned with your company objectives, otherwise it simply won’t work."

"We’ll often spend more time deciding on where we’ll live, what car we’ll buy, or the clothes we wear, rather than on our job or career direction. And we’ll tolerate jobs we don’t like, whereas if we don’t like our house, we move."

2010 is shaping up as an "interesting" year.

In 2010, securing the right talent will be crucial.  It could be worthwhile to start looking now.

Have you wondered why some in our sector make some of the most fundamental mistakes?

There’s been a lot of talk recently about doing things differently in all spheres of our life to comply and align with the “new order” that we are faced with every corner we turn. I don’t need to list these as the list will be almost endless and because everyone is affected differently in their own way.

I think you will agree that events in the world over the last six to twelve months have created a new paradigm for business. Amongst other things, what people seem to be reacting to the most is real or perceived unfair business practice. This has manifested in many ways. Take some common examples such as banks and their high mortgage break fees, supermarkets and their resistance to lowering food prices, the likes of an "iconic New Zealand company" seeking to be propped up, and migrant workers being given preference over resident New Zealanders. This is not even mentioning the dodgy and sometimes illegal business practices that have been exposed and made headlines recently.

Whilst I don't want to down-play the seriousness of the world recession and its impact on the New Zealand economy going forward, the media has certainly painted a picture of a blanket "doom and gloom". My view is that like in "boom times" people go out of business, just as much as some prosper during "gloom times". Not wanting to sound a bit cliched, but it's about turning adversity into opportunity, and some people are good at that.