RPOlosophy

Yesterday, while grocery shopping with Samuel, my oldest son, he manipulated me into buying him some Grāpples®. Grāpples® are grape infused apples. They are made by soaking Washington Extra Fancy Gala or Fuji Apples in a bath of concentrated grape flavor and pure water. The end result is a grape flavored apple. Honestly, I don’t get it. This creation has no appeal to me.

Here’s how they advertise the product:

Apples are a fantastic snack. Grapes are a wonderful snack. Try a Grāpple® brand apple today, and enjoy the best of both of them in one!

I agree that apples and grapes are fantastic snacks; however, I don’t understand the reasoning behind combining them. I have never had a simultaneous urge for both fruits. Sometimes I want apples and sometimes I prefer grapes but I’ve never craved them at the same time. There is just something inherently wrong about messing with these celebrated fruits.

More importantly, I’ve witness the Grāpple® effect in Recruitment Process Outsourcing. Read the rest of this entry »

I was reading an article on Slate.com the other day about expirations dates on food being useless.  The premise of the article, Ignore Expiration Dates by Nadia Arumugam, is that regardless of the “Sell By” or “Use By”, or “Best if Purchased By” date, the reality is that the onus lies with consumers to judge and maintain the freshness and edibility of their food—by checking for offensive slime, rank smells, and off colors.

Basically, the piece is about people using common sense. If something smells and looks ok, then eat it or drink it.  If it is putrid and rotting then toss it away. You don’t need a “stamped on date” to tell you what your nose already knows.

Can the same be said of Recruitment Process Outsourcing?  Obviously, if things are going well, you’re going to stick with it. Most of us consume 99% of what we buy. Right?

However, what happens when things slightly sour? What happens if services really curdle? Are we committed to fixing the issues? Unlike food, can RPO “decomposition” be reversed?

Fortunately, most RPO programs are not rotting like old bananas but are doing fairly well. However, if you are the key stakeholder, the onus is on you todecide. You will be held accountable for the success or failure of the talent acquisition function. You are the one who needs to decide what stays and what goes. You are the judge.

So, is RPO analogous to the food in your fridge? I say… Read the rest of this entry »

Being in Recruitment Pricess Outsourcing sales and business development, I use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM ) tool to help me manage the selling process; however, after listening to Atul Gawande discuss his new book, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, I am considering increasing my reliance on the traditional checklist.

In his compelling book, Atul Gawande, surgeon and writer, expands on the ideas popularized in his 2007 New Yorker essay about the remarkable impact of simple checklists on medical care. Fundamentally, he notes, there are two reasons for failure: ignorance (not yet knowing how to do something) and ineptitude (failing to apply what is already known). The former can be forgiven, but the latter rightly arouses anger and judgment. Read the rest of this entry »

The other day as I was watching Aaron, my almost 5 year son, color Star Wars pictures at the kitchen table. He was working out of a huge plastic box of crayons that he inherited from his 2 older brothers.  As he was drawing the Emperor’s red lightsaber (fyi – I just learned that the energy color of your lightsaber is a critical), I started to wonder about just how many different Crayola crayon colors existed in the Universe.

Here is what I learned about Crayola crayon colors:

When first introduced in 1903, there were just eight colors Crayola crayon colors. By 1949 there were 48 colors. In 1958 the number of colors increased to 64 (this is my 1st recollection). Eight fluorescent colors were introduced in 1972, increasing the total number of colors to 72. In 1990 the total increased to 80 colors with the introduction of 16 new colors and the discontinuation of eight colors. The number of available core colors was increased to 96 in 1993 and to 120 in 1998.

I decided to take the investigation one step further and do a RPO experiment based on my crayon query. My RPO experiment was to determine how many RPO service delivery names exist in my limited Universe:

Here was my scientific protocol:

In 15 minutes, I would search and find as many RPO service offering names (colors) as possible. I hypothesized that I could find at least 1 RPO service offering name per minute excluding duplicates.

The first 4 were easy. At Pinstripe, we provide Talent Spectrum, Project Focused Talent Spectrum, Talent Point, and Talent Accelerator.

Others names I discovered during my trial were Hybrid RPO, Enterprise RPO, Selective RPO, On-demand RPO, Lifecycle RPO, un-RPO, Project RPO, Global RPO, Customized RPO, 2nd Generation RPO, Optimized RPO, Complete RPO, Adaptive RPO, and Strategic RPO.

In exactly 15 minutes I was able to aggregate 18 unique RPO “colors” that are synonymous, in some way, with RPO service offerings. I exceed my goal and I had hypothesized correctly. 

I also surmised that RPO service offering names could learn a lot from crayon names. Instead of all the duplicative Enterprise RPO, Selective RPO, and On-demand RPO, maybe Recruitment Processing Outsourcing organizations would be better served with names like Blast Off RPO, Sonic RPO, or Screamin’ RPO.

Recently, Smith Magazine invited writers “famous and obscure” to distill their own life stories into exactly six words. It All Changed in an Instant is a collection of very, very brief life stories from Smith. The six word memoirs are “both a moving peek at the minutia of humanity and the most inspirational toilet reading you’ll ever find.”

While clearly an autobiography in six words is the ultimate challenge, I thought it would be really interesting if, in the spirit of Recruitment Process Outsourcing, our readers and friends could share their RPO story in exactly six words.

Here’s my stab at it:

Pinstripe’s RPO is Uncatchable – Unmatchable – Unbeatable.

It takes a lot to astonish me. I hang out and work with extremely talented people so I’m used to keen observations, witty comments, and insightful assertions. After awhile you just take it for granted. It is as if you build up a tolerance for excellence and each new revelation must exceed the previous. Sometimes I feel desensitized to things that should astound me.

So when my cousin, Debra, sent me a link to her new website I routinely clicked on it. By the way, Debra is an artist and is very talented. However, it was probably a sense of obligation that got me to check out her website. After all she is my cousin.

For the first time in a long time, I paused to appreciate something extraordinary. Her photography, sculpture, and art amazed me. I didn’t realize her incredible gift until I saw her collection of work aggregated in one place. I was able to look at the world as Debra sees it. It was remarkable and I’d like to share it with you.

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.”