Looking for a dynamic HR role? Stay away from the entrepreneurial tech sector.
January 1, 2012
In a recent survey of HR graduate students, the technology sector rated among the most coveted destinations to ply their trade. It is viewed as a world of innovative people, technologies and approaches where progressive talent management, OB/OD and related HR work awaits.
The Cry to Replace RIM's CEOs – A Truly Dumb Idea
October 13, 2011
Leaving aside the recent service outages, the shellacking of RIM in the press is a tad surreal to behold.
For the few Luddites not familiar with the firm, Research in Motion is the successful Canadian smart phone pioneer with revenues of $20bb per year, no debt and cash in the bank. They manufacture products that remain popular around the world and continue to boast technological innovations unmatched by any competitor. Their most recently launched smart phone devices have been well reviewed and appear to be selling well. And though the company's first version of its new tablet, the Playbook, has room for improvement, it is a promising piece of technology.
Context: When Companies Confuse Start-up Experience for Start-up Experience
October 7, 2011
I had the occasion this week to chat with an entrepreneur still licking his wounds from a stalled startup venture. His tale is a reminder of how easily companies misunderstand organizational context when hiring. For startups, such a misunderstanding can be fatal.
The CEO Hiring Practices at HP
October 3, 2011
The press tells us that Hewlett Packard is the largest technology company in the world with revenues of $126bb. Impressive as those numbers may appear, they do not seem to impress HP's Board of Directors. You see they do not believe that any of the firm's 324,600 employees are capable of leading it. Not one person. Not this year or last year when CEO changes were made. In fact they were apparently not capable six years ago or even eleven years ago when CEO changes were also made. But before summarily indicting the firm's succession planning/leadership development programs, it is useful to consider the track record of the external candidates who were considered better choices than the firm's internal candidates. This analysis decidedly shifts the spotlight to the competence of Hewlett Packard's Board of Directors.
The Folly of Believing What You Read
September 19, 2011
Some time ago we posted a blog titled ‘So you REALLY want to be a CEO?' which looked at the human costs of climbing the upper rungs of the management ladder. The blog was based on a series of articles immediately following the ‘resignation' of Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler. All of these articles presented a cautionary tale of life in the fast lane, the long hours, the extensive global travel, and the shareholder pressures that accompany an uncooperative stock price. They also spoke poignantly of the physical and emotional toll that such unrelenting pressure took on the Pfizer CEO who eventually resigned in order to attend to his family and health. As it turns out however, much of this narrative may not have been true
Before sending us your resume (and then getting frustrated with us) ask who we work for
July 25, 2011
A friend of mine is a trustee in bankruptcy. As his title suggests, he and his firm serves those contemplating the ‘cleansing' process of personal bankruptcy. Potential customers compare service providers, select one, and then pay the chosen firm a fee to initiate and manage the ensuing process on their behalf. However, as soon as the relief-seeking customer signs on the dotted line, the trustee's allegiance shifts to the creditors for whom they then seek to maximize debt recovery. This shift in who works for whom must be a tad unsettling for people who already have a heap of problems and stress on their hands.
What Dating Services Can Teach Companies About Hiring
June 1, 2011
Executive-level hiring is a decidedly aspirational endeavor. Organizations idealize their workplace cultures, select for attributes that will fit into those romanticized environments, and then immerse unsuspecting hires into their ice-cold reality of their works-in-progress.
How to Survive a Startup - by Jill Ram
April 20, 2011
If you're an executive and you're thinking of joining a start-up, know what stage of a start-up to join. If the company is in its first year or so, don't expect to make significant changes. If you join after the company is somewhat established and mistakes have been made and learned from, you'll likely be more successful from the outset. If the founder has stepped aside, well, by then, the company is likely not considered a start-up anymore. It won't be functioning like a big company yet, and it won't have all the structure in place that it needs, but it will be run with more practicality and with less emotion. Timing is everything so choose it well.
Good News for the Old, Overqualified and Overlooked
March 18, 2011
It is expected that a significant percentage of the baby boomer generation will drive right past the Freedom 55 highway exit. For many the goal of early retirement will have proven to be unattainable hype, while for others the ups and downs of working will appear more attractive than the prospects of working up and down the local lawn bowling leadership board.
Pressed for time? Blame those Benedictine Monks.
February 24, 2011
It is among the principal reasons candidates tell us they are open to consider a change in employers. They are tethered to it, yet somehow it still flees. It is time, the most precious of resources, and for many harried executives they want some of it back.
Though their relationship with time may be strained, it is worth pointing out that it was not always this way. In his fascinating book Time Wars, Jeremy Rifkin chronicles the evolution of our modern relationship with time. He points out that in traditional agrarian and pastoral cultures, time was a very naturalistic notion maintained in cyclical, repetitive, biological and even sacred terms. The ‘passing of time' was cued via the changing seasons, biological lifecycles and lunar patterns and thus, the cadence and tempo of those societies were finely tuned to the cyclical rhythms of their physical environments. As he states, "Our early ancestors coveted the circle, perceiving time as eternal return, a ceaseless repetition of an endless cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth". Since these cyclical rhythms could neither be accelerated, nor altered, the cadence of these societies' was natural and harmonious.
The Talent Game in Venture-Backed Firms
November 13, 2009
Last week I met the CEO of a recently funded tech firm (yes, it still happens) who described at length his plans to build his business. As he spoke of his young executive team, its successes to date, and his plans to lever the new funding round to conquer the world, he exuded the sense of invincibility that comes with youth and the validation of funding. Afterwards, as I reflected on our meeting, part of me hoped that underneath the bravado was an individual who was as least a little frightened, for if he bothered to peruse his new venture partners’ playbook, he would know that he is anything but invincible.
Venture firms assess technologies, markets, and management teams for the likelihood that they can come together to generate returns on their investments. Home runs are the hit of choice and these require, at minimum, aggressive swings. While strikeouts are expected, make no mistake that firms receiving venture funding will swing, and they will swing hard. Venture firms are also mindful of the timelines in which they must generate returns to their own investors and thus the clock is always ticking, always compressing the business cycle for everyone involved.
Racing against time, venture firms have limited patience to indulge their investee companies in countless cycles of trial and error learning. While they value the innovation and energy of founders, they much prefer the sure hands of proven executives who can take their ideas to the marketplace, scale the enterprise and stickhandle it to a profitable exit. Serial CEOs are especially in demand for they bring not only the wisdom of experience but also a network of proven executives who can be called upon for specific tasks as the business grows. Since both the marketplace and pool of proven talent is far larger in the US, not to mention the venture capitalists who matter most, the gravitational pull for Canadian firms and their CEOs is always from the south.
These realities have several implications for the founding CEO and his or her team. First, it means that the length of rope with which to make mistakes is cut short on the same day that the investor cuts the cheque. It also means that the math is simple for the founding team: you either learn as fast as your company grows or you will die. In other words, the founding team members must be cognizant of what they know now, what they need to know as their business grows and they must be committed to somehow bridging the gap. Venture capitalists are not insensitive to the problem and may inject operational wisdom at the board level or even encourage company leadership to find mentors. But they will make it clear that this is not elementary school. At the end of the day it is the executive team’s responsibility to assess themselves as the context changes, and adjust (dare I say grow) as their business changes. It is their responsibility to figure out what they have to learn, and either learn it, hire it or get out. Few CEOs and founding team members understand this responsibility and even fewer are up to task, especially in the limited time given to them.
Venture funding can be a powerful accelerant for a company seeking to grow. But as with many catalysts it is also extremely flammable and must be handled with care. Early stage CEOs who are too cavalier and ignore the warning label are sure to get burned.
Robert Hebert is Managing Partner of Toronto-based executive search firm StoneWood Group (www.stonewoodgroup.com). He can be reached @ rhebert@stonewoodgroup.com or at 416.365.9494x777