Archive for February, 2008

Archives for Workplace

Somewhere between bankruptcy and profitability the airlines lost their way. And somewhere between the tarmac at JFK and the friendly skies, the thought strikes me that the time for sympathy has long since passed.

In response to heavy losses earlier this decade, management sought to balance the books by reducing quality and costs. They cut back on customer service – often in petty ways – and slashed pay for airline workers, and then, despite high fuel prices, they slowly crawled back toward profitability. And investors are happy – air travel is growing by 7 percent each year.

Of course, I’m neither a shareholder nor an employee – I’m just an economy-class customer struggling to work on a six hour cross-country flight. I’m average height; my knees are buckled against the seat in front of me. If the guy in front of me leans back any more my laptop keyboard will be on my chest. And if I don’t work, I won’t get much sleep tonight.

The government regulates safety, but personal comfort and productivity is a free market issue. “We do not mandate comfort. It is up to airline how they want to configure seats,” says Alison Duquette, FAA spokeswoman. “As far as how many seats an airline can cram in there or configure it’s up to them.”

Read More

Archives for Job Testing

Landing the perfect job is a life-altering event, one that can improve your career, raise your socio-economic status and boost your self-esteem. But standing in the way between you and a job offer is a pre-hire test, one that may play a pivotal role in your future.

Is it possible to prepare yourself to score higher on a pre-employment test? While the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ for tests that measure subject-matter expertise, the answer becomes a little fuzzier when the question at hand is your personality itself. On the other hand, sometimes the questions asked are transparent and test-savvy applicants can mold themselves to seem more collaborative or empathetic.

Dr. Karine Schomer, president of Alameda, Calif.-based Change Management Consulting & Training, contends that pre-employment tests are not for eliminating applicants, but rather for gaining a better understanding of their skills and aptitude.

Of course, flunking an aptitude test for something like Java programming sends a message to applicants that, in those situations, they can always seek further education.

Read More

Archives for Branding You

Those who can’t do, teach;
Those who can’t teach, blog;
Those who can’t blog, Twitter.

Archives for Globalization

When we last encountered Shai Agassi he resigned from his position in software product development at SAP AG and was bashed by the Wall Street Journal “as a failed change agent.”

Agassi’s second act will be far more memorable than his first. He’s raised $200 million in venture capital to build a “new kind of electric car” initially for the Israeli market and then eventually to other countries in the next several years, according to a BusinessWeek article by Steve Hamm.

What strikes me as especially clever about Agassi’s initiative is his idea of separating the battery from the vehicle. “That will allow drivers to pull into a battery-swapping station, a car-wash-like contraption, and wait for 10 minutes while their spent batteries are lowered from the car and fully charged replacements are hoisted into place,” Hamm wrote.

Agassi’s company, called Project Better Place, is based in Silicon Valley. Agassi is also a blogger and certainly worth watching as an innovator. While I hope Agassi’s successful at reinventing the car, I wonder if there’s a third act in his future what it might be. We will be watching.

Here’s a video that introduces the concept.

Archives for Employment

Check out this funny, possibly prescient look at the latest Internet bubble. It’s amazing how many people – especially here in the San Francisco Bay Area – aspire to live the dream of building a social app and getting it funded.

Let’s hope the Web 2.0 bubble doesn’t burst too soon!   

Archives for CV/Résumés

Video résumés may seem like the next big thing to hit the job world but many hiring decision makers such as HR chiefs, recruiters and executives would rather hit the eject button than view another one.

Until video presented itself, the pre-interview screening process of comparing one résumé versus another was comfortably black & white and decidedly lacking in color. Consider the fairness of an automated résumé screening process where candidates with the right keywords rise to the top.

Still, it’s tempting to call video résumés a classic example of a disruptive technology that rubs old school managers the wrong way. But it’s really not a technology issue – it’s more a matter of process. The video résumé potentially biases an otherwise black & white talent judgment by recruiters and hiring managers.

Read More

Archives for Biggest Employers

If you want to work in – or build – a multiculturally savvy organization, it’s a good idea to look closely at HSBC bank.

The bank, which operates in 82 countries, expects its “high-potential” people to work in at least several diverse cultural environments, according to the authors of a June Harvard Business Review article called “Make Your Company a Talent Factory.”  

A Talent Factory implements “rigorous talent processes that support strategic and cultural objectives.” The good news for global careerists is that these objectives won’t simply mirror your career goals they might pave the way for you. For instance at HSBC, a Brazilian manager is currently on loan to China and an Armenian citizen is in India, the article states.

The “World’s Local Bank,” as HSBC would like us to know it, has established company-wide processes for assessing and recruiting tomorrow’s leaders. The authors, Douglas Ready and Jay Conger, say HSBC has a system of talent pools to “track and manage the careers of high potential’s in their firm.”

Read More