RPOlosophy

Next week will be my 1 year RPOlosophy blogging anniversary.  I truly enjoy the opportunity to share my unsolicited thoughts with you and I really appreciate your opinions, comments, and feedback.

Sometimes when work is overwhelming (like this week) blogging is truly difficult. However, it also seems to come together by some sort of divine intervention.

Here is a case in point. Yesterday, I heard a great piece on NPR by Barbara Bradley Hagerty entitled Blog Tips For Pope: Give Us This Day Thy Daily Post .

Clearly this story has nothing to do with Recruitment Process Outsourcing.  It’s all about communication and sharing your message. But wait….isn’t promoting the Pinstripe brand and extending the RPO dialogue my goal? Maybe this article has everthing to do with RPO.

Most importantly, after listening to this story, I now recognize that each of Ten Commandments would be perfect for Twitter’s 140 character limit.  Someone was really thinking ahead!

We have a mantra at our company: “Be more like Pinstripe…and less like everyone else.”

I must hear this 10 or more times a day. So I got to thinking, how does “Be more like Pinstripe…and less like everyone else” impact the RPO sales process?

In the RPO industry, it seems as if suppliers are sounding more and more alike. I frequently check out the competition. I go through their websites, read their brochures and case studies, and check them out at trade shows. From these activities, I have observed a uniformity of sorts. I am losing my ability to distinguish one Recruitment Process supplier from another. Also, it must be getting more and more difficult for potential buyers to make decisions if all their down selected suppliers sound and look and alike.

Pinstripe has chosen not to conform. Some might think we are being different just for the sake of being different, but that is far from true. We chose to follow our own path because that is who we are and, hopefully, potential clients will both appreciate our authenticity and further realize that our uniqueness will carry over into their RPO programs.

It is probably an unconventional strategy to “stick out” as much we do; however, in the long run, it is a benefit. The benefit is that potential buyers can quickly determine if we are the kind of RPO supplier they want to partner with. If they want bold and innovative, then Pinstripe is a yes. If they want gradual evolution and are philosophical late adopters, then Pinstripe is probably not a match.

It is about culture and culture fit. And this is our way of helping organizations in their RPO selection process.

The tragedy in Haiti is horrific.

It is beyond belief that anyone would try to exploit this suffering for any sort of gain. And yet, it didn’t take long for conservative firebrand Rush Limbaugh to use the crisis in Haiti to attack President Obama politically. On his radio show Limbaugh said the earthquake in Haiti will play right into Obama’s hands by allowing him to play up his “compassionate” and “humanitarian” credentials, and that the President will use this crisis to “boost his credibility with the black community.”

While Recruitment Process Outsourcing in no way equates to the plight of Haiti, our industry can learn from Rush Limbaugh’s self serving actions during the past week. We can learn that when other RPO providers falter, lose accounts, and, in a few select situations, go out of business, there is no need to comment or publicize for our own gain. Having compassion and restraint is a sign of maturity and confidence. Successful companies and people have all four. Rush Limbaugh is obviously severely lacking.

Also, I think White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded appropriately to Limbaugh when he said: “I think in times of great crisis, there are always people that say really stupid things. I don’t know how anybody could sit where he does, having enjoyed the success that he has, and not feel some measure of sorrow for what has happened in Haiti.”

My daily commute to Pinstripe is about 18 miles each way.  Last week while driving into work, I got stuck in a major traffic jam. It wasn’t due to severe weather or an unfortunate accident. It was just because there were lots of cars commuting to work. The highway was simply congested with vehicles.

I was sitting on Interstate 94 West (by the Petit National Ice Center) with nothing but my lukewarm coffee in my cup holder and NPR on the radio. I had lots of work waiting for me at the office and if things didn’t get moving soon I was going to be late or miss my 1st meeting of the day.

As nothing was happening, I began to get more and more aggravated.  I was wasting so much valuable time. Time that could be spent selling Recruitment Process Outsourcing  to people truly in need of our services.  My daily mission and routine was being interrupted. It seemed all I could do was look at the unwashed Quadruple A Plumbing van directly in front of me and wait impatiently for something to happen. Read the rest of this entry »

I started writing the below blog back in early December and just can’t seem to finish it. It seemed so promising when I started, but the more I worked on it, the worse it got.

I have about 1/2 dozen of these partially completed blogs sitting in a folder on my desktop. I think this Popeye one is salvageable.

Can someone help me? Here is the intro. Please feel free to write an ending. Thank you for the collaboration!

Popeye had Spinach. What does a Recruitment Process Outsourcing salesperson have?

December 8th 2009 was the birthday of E.C. Segar. Segar died in 1938; however his best known work, Popeye the Sailor, has lived on for more than 80 years.

Popeye’s strange and comic adventures take him all over the world, and place him in conflict with his archenemy Bluto. Popeye when faced with adversity (and losing Olive Oyl to Bluto) is able to summon extraordinary strength by eating spinach. This spinach consumption inevitably leads Popeye to victory and a happy ending.

Often in the Pinstripe RPO sales process, like Popeye, I am faced with challenges and adversity. While I don’t use spinach to overcome my obstacles and prevail, I do have…..

It is the beginning of another year, my 12th in Recruitment Process Outsourcing. The holidays are over, the celebrations are done, and our SalesForce CRM is reset to zero.  The opportunity to pause and reflect on the past year is gone, and I need to set my 2010 RPO sales resolutions into action.

Normally, I keep my RPO sales resolutions private; however, I decide that if I went public then it would increase my likelihood of success.  When I talk about my goals it helps make it more of a reality and I’m also more likely to hold myself accountable for reaching them if I’ve mentioned them to others. Also, this year I’m going to put my list someplace where it’s visible. Hopefully, looking at my goals will help me keep them top of mind and remind me to work towards them every day.

So here are my top 5 RPO New Year’s pledges:

1. My list of resolutions will be finite and achievable and yet still a stretch.  2010 will be about increased focus. Increased focus on those industries and organizations where Pinstripe can make the most impact and be most successful.

Read the rest of this entry »