Whilst carrying out some research on a number of clients last week, I was surprised by just how much clichéd jargon they had all managed to cram onto their web sites home page. Whilst I do fully appreciate that the web editors want to portray the company in its best light, do they really believe that people these days are impressed by, or even fully understand, phrases such as: “leveraging deep seated industry expertise” or “an enhanced global delivery model” or “an empowered pool of outward thinking individuals who deliver customer centric solutions”
Surely it must actually be simpler and will ultimately deliver a more “customer engaging experience” if they stuck to simple English? A quick snap shot of colleagues and friends on their reaction to these web sites reveals a near unanimous decision to move onto an alternative company. None of these companies offer a product that is unique and so a potential customer has just walked away with a negative impression and taken their potential business elsewhere, knocking onto the sales and profit figures.
This over use of jargon is not exclusive to big conglomerates or to small businesses starting out and trying to make an impact, but still seems wide spread; so whilst I go and re-check our own web site for inappropriate jargon, if you have a few choice examples then please let me know and I’ll write a follow up piece next month.
Wednesday 30 June 2010
Thursday 10 June 2010
Culture eats strategy for breakfast
Last weekend I was sitting around with a couple of friends, who all work in a diverse cross section of businesses, discussing the current economic situation and how it impacts upon each of us, when the subject line of this blog was dropped into the conversation.
The instant response from most of us was: no! Or words to that effect.
However, once you actually start to dissect it and think about it, then yes it does make an awful lot of sense. Strategy, as always, comes from the top and really it doesn’t matter how good or how cutting edge your strategy is; if you don’t have the people with the right attitude (culture) the there is little or no chance of the strategy working! Unless you have a massive personnel change first.
Over the years, whilst discussing recruiting for them, I’ve heard an endless number of clients tell me how unique their culture is and I’ve always wondered about it. I vividly recall the consolidation phase that the big accountancy firms went through and the fallout from the ‘mergers’ as the cultures between the firms clashed. I started working with a client when it only had 3 employees and watched it grow to 100+ and helped it develop its own culture from scratch rather than by buying firms to create itself. The MD really did have the opportunity to shape the strategy and culture of that business; but was it unique? Or was he creating a culture that simply mirrored his own personality?
After much discussion and batting ideas back and forth, the majority of us had changed our opinion from a definite no to a fairly clear yes.
So, if you ‘d like to discuss with InterSearch in the UK how we can work with you to help develop your culture and strategy through the recruitment of key personnel, then contact one of the Directors at www.intersearchuk.com
The instant response from most of us was: no! Or words to that effect.
However, once you actually start to dissect it and think about it, then yes it does make an awful lot of sense. Strategy, as always, comes from the top and really it doesn’t matter how good or how cutting edge your strategy is; if you don’t have the people with the right attitude (culture) the there is little or no chance of the strategy working! Unless you have a massive personnel change first.
Over the years, whilst discussing recruiting for them, I’ve heard an endless number of clients tell me how unique their culture is and I’ve always wondered about it. I vividly recall the consolidation phase that the big accountancy firms went through and the fallout from the ‘mergers’ as the cultures between the firms clashed. I started working with a client when it only had 3 employees and watched it grow to 100+ and helped it develop its own culture from scratch rather than by buying firms to create itself. The MD really did have the opportunity to shape the strategy and culture of that business; but was it unique? Or was he creating a culture that simply mirrored his own personality?
After much discussion and batting ideas back and forth, the majority of us had changed our opinion from a definite no to a fairly clear yes.
So, if you ‘d like to discuss with InterSearch in the UK how we can work with you to help develop your culture and strategy through the recruitment of key personnel, then contact one of the Directors at www.intersearchuk.com
Wednesday 2 June 2010
The ‘Oh no, not another world cup blog’ Blog!
Having absolutely no interest in football (I’m a Leeds fan after all!) I’m already bored with the daily information overload that it’s almost impossible to escape from. With 11 days to go until the start, we’ve gone from drip feeding World Cup News (hereafter known as WC News!) to a veritable cascading torrent of it. I’m dreading what it’s going to be like if we reach the semi and finals.
All of which leaves me to find something else to write about. Have you seen the price of beer these days? When I were a lad…..
In all seriousness there are some key issues floating around that will have a major impact upon our economy and recruitment issues thereafter. The new government(s) has already announced some tough cuts in budgets that are already having an impact upon infrastructure funding and the public sector is now realising that it cannot continue to carry so many employees who for years have been playing the system. Which commercial organisation would have written into an employment contract an allowance of 21 days sick leave?
Fears of a double dip recession are still very real and it places even more importance on ensuring that your business either currently employs or goes out and recruits the best person for the job; whether that’s someone from a competitor or someone who comes in with a fresh perspective.
Whilst we have seen an upturn in assignments won in April and May, we’ve also seen a sharp rise in discussions about interim management as clients discuss holding off permanent recruitment until they are truly confident in their own market economy. Either way, InterSearch in the UK has the consultants with the expertise who can work with you to deliver the best employee to your business.
All of which leaves me to find something else to write about. Have you seen the price of beer these days? When I were a lad…..
In all seriousness there are some key issues floating around that will have a major impact upon our economy and recruitment issues thereafter. The new government(s) has already announced some tough cuts in budgets that are already having an impact upon infrastructure funding and the public sector is now realising that it cannot continue to carry so many employees who for years have been playing the system. Which commercial organisation would have written into an employment contract an allowance of 21 days sick leave?
Fears of a double dip recession are still very real and it places even more importance on ensuring that your business either currently employs or goes out and recruits the best person for the job; whether that’s someone from a competitor or someone who comes in with a fresh perspective.
Whilst we have seen an upturn in assignments won in April and May, we’ve also seen a sharp rise in discussions about interim management as clients discuss holding off permanent recruitment until they are truly confident in their own market economy. Either way, InterSearch in the UK has the consultants with the expertise who can work with you to deliver the best employee to your business.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
