As we gear up for a great 2011, we are adding key people to our team. I would like to introduce three team members that joined us most recently:

Robert Walker joined as a Business Development Manager. He is located in Dallas and has extensive creative staffing experience both in DFW and nationally. Broad experience across multiple industries including healthcare, finance, pharma and retail. - Robert.Walker@paladinstaff.com

Pam Maret is our new Regional Manager for Paladin NYC. Pam was a top producer for a competitor before relocating from Charlotte to New York. Prior to entering the staffing industry, Pam was a Manager and sales executive in corporate advertising. - Pamela.Maret@paladinstaff.com

Don Schneider has joined as an Executive Recruiter. He will focus on senior level direct-hire roles in Marketing, Creative and Communications fields. He has over 15 years of experience in marketing managing account, creative and production teams on both the client and agency side. - Don.Schneider@paladinstaff.com

We are excited to provide Robert’s, Pam’s and Don’s expertise to you, the Paladin community. We believe that they will be invaluable partners to clients and candidates.

Please join us in welcoming all three to our team. And look forward to more new talent to join Paladin as we grow in 2011.

On Friday I had the pleasure of taking part in a panel discussion with graduate students from Northwestern University’s Masters of Science in Communication program. The topics covered included: career paths, job search and the effects of the current economy for recent graduates.

Here are a few of the insights that I gathered and shared with them:

 Masters of Communications vs. MBAs:

We ran a quick pool of several senior level marketing and communications professionals to get their take on the value of a Masters of Communications.  As of today 51 have responded. Nearly 50% said it gave a professional a leg up or was “a must”.  Only 17% said other degrees are better.  The poll is still live. Feel free to participate and check out the results: Poll

Compensation:

One of the trends we are seeing is a polarization of compensation. The top 10% of earners within marketing and communications make at least 50% more income than the average earnings of the bottom 90%.  An article in Marketing Week from the UK gives a global view of this trend: ‘A New Age of Austerity Hits Pay Packets Hard‘

 Where the Money is: 

• US owned companies compensate these Marketing and Communications roles better than their European counterparts.
• Digital natives (those who have worked within online marketing from the beginning of their careers) earn a significant premium in compensation.
• High performing employees may be in a great position to negotiate. 70% of companies reported that they were concerned that these high performing employees may leave.

The Economy

Yes, the economy is difficult. But the anxiety caused by high unemployment numbers is often worsened by media oversaturation. The staggering numbers (8.4 Millions jobs lost since the recession began – Bureau of Labor Statistics) do not provide a  perspective on how communication  professionals will be effected. While white collar workers did experience some of the wrath of the poor economy, they were not affected to the same degree as those without a bachelor’s degree. Bureau of Labor Statistics Education Pays Graph.

 On the bright side:

• The Unemployment rate recently fell to under 10%.
• In January there were 5.9 job seekers on average competing for each job -  a significant decrease from the pervious month
• There were 2.5 million job openings in December 2009- a significant increase from November
• Even with 14.8 million people out of work, there are an estimated 137 million employed.
• A Towers Watson survey released Dec. 2009 states that the number of polled companies that plan to freeze or reduce hiring dropped by half to just 33%. Click here to see the Study
• Marketing, creative and communications professions make up only a very small percentage of the total work force and unemployment rates among those ranks are generally much less than the national averages.
• In surveying the January job postings for Communications roles several groups were up. For example- Internal Communications increased 9%, Communications Managers increased by 10%.

So take a deep breath and start regrouping for the big surge ahead that will surely follow this economic turmoil.  It is time to get back to the hard work – figuring out what you are truly passionate about. Trying to guess the direction of the market, following the hot industries of the moment will never create the foolproof career plan. Being passionate about your chosen path will make you more attractive to employers regardless of which way the current trends are blowing.

Employee vs. Contractor

Temporary employment is becoming the new norm. As companies remain fiscally conservative and credit strapped, they are reluctant to bring on a permanent head count. Marketing, creative and communications departments have had experience with this model for years. This will continue to be a growing trend into 2010 and potentially far beyond. From junior assistants and mid-level specialists to the most senior level strategic directors – contract vs. employee is an important part of the mix. Check out two articles on the subject:

‘Temporary CMOs are Here to Stay – for Six Months or So’ - Brandweek

‘Recruiters See Jobs Pickup in 2010 Despite Concerns’ – Wall Street Journal

As always, I came away from the panel discussion super charged. The talent, dedication, drive and passion these professionals have reminded me why I love this field so much- a big Thank You to the school for inviting Paladin to participate.

You know that the time will come when the “employer market” will change back to a “candidate market”.  My friends, that day is fast approaching!  For those of us who went through this cycle in the 90s (yes, I was there), it was a great time for qualified talent to make a change but not so good for companies who had invested thousands of dollars and years into cultivating the talent.  Firms were often in bidding wars over candidates and many times there would be 2-3 offers up for consideration.  Sign on bonuses, relocation packages and stock options were commonplace, not the rare exception.

There are some basic steps you can take as an employer to solidify your relationship with your employee so you don’t find yourself looking for help when you didn’t see it coming.

1. Make sure your employee knows where they stand in your business.  Tell them how you feel about them.  Show them they matter in their pay, benefits and involvement in the decisions of the business.
2. Be flexible with things like time off, work hours and virtual work when possible. Today’s workplace has changed dramatically and employees are juggling much more in their schedules and the employers who offer the most flexibility will grab more of the top talent.
3. Don’t try to play the bidding game with an employee who is already looking on the outside.  If they matter to you, counter quickly and decisively if necessary but be willing to let them go their own way.  If their decision to leave is all about more money, the desire to get more will continue to be there.
4. Promote your best people and give them a clear career path that is set in your firm.  People who have been patiently waiting through the Recession for those long ago promises will not be so patient moving forward. 

As a candidate looking to make a change there are also key factors for you to keep in consideration.

1. Have your resume always up-to-date and references available.  Some jobs will appear out of the blue and you don’t want to keep a potential employer waiting.
2. Keep your social networks open and always looking for new potential matches.  Remember, other people will have the same idea as you.
3. Don’t just “kick the tires” to see what is out there.  While as a candidate you might have the upper hand, you can burn bridges and get a bad reputation with recruiters and clients that will spread like wildfire.

The bottom line is that things are improving and the market will be much more competitive for the top talent and keeping the people you already have in place.

Now is a good time to do some “soul searching” and make sure you haven’t capitalized too munch on the current market and irreparably strained the staff relationships that your business needs to continue to be successful.

Lately, I’ve been reminded that business Web sites often come in one of two flavors.  Perhaps you can recognize them:

1. What we do – These are sites that focus on attracting business.  They devote most of their pages to describing their services, human capital resources, success stories and the like.
2. Who we are – These are the sites that have chosen to focus on attracting talent.  A significant percentage of the site is devoted to recruiting, so they showcase the work experience, profiles of their office locations and career opportunities.

These are broad brush-strokes and there’s nothing inherently wrong with either approach.  Of course, some overlap occurs when talking about the work experience (showing a potential client how thorough you are) or describing your services (showing potential recruits the level of impact they can have).  Many sites dedicate space to both services and recruiting.  But they could be so much more.

The best sites offer a third option, one that combines the flavors above with a way that keeps clients, prospects and potential new hires coming back again and again.

The knowledge site

Call it the Neapolitan solution because it’s three flavors in one – services, recruiting and knowledge.

The difference, of course, is in what knowledge you make available.  The idea is to make the knowledge you share valuable and useful without giving away the store.  Give them just enough new information on a regular basis – or provide access to a database of information if that aligns with what you do – to whet the appetite or keep you top of mind when the time comes to actually purchase your services.

If you’re a design firm, for example, you could offer case studies on how good designs have made a difference between success and failure in a campaign, or offer tips for how to approach branding, color or layout.

Professional services firms can present examples of best practices in operational efficiency or performance management.  Publishing companies can offer reviews and insights culled from their latest editions.  Industry news, white papers, articles, summaries of round table events – the opportunities to position your organization as a valuable resource are endless.

This isn’t a difficult or particularly new concept but for some reason it’s a rare one to see being utilized.  But examples can be found: just look at what Paladin is doing by publishing these blogs.

What kind of a Web site are you?

It’s not easy to do this.  It takes imagination, management appetite, resources and, just as important, maintenance.  It takes collaboration over the long haul to create the content and promote its existence on a regular basis.

It’s long past time when a company could get away with being an electronic brochure.  The war for talent and the fight for business demand that you reach out to clients and prospects – or give them a reason to reach out to you.

Small businesses are especially vulnerable these days and are looking for ideas to generate revenue.  The good news is that those ideas are right in front of them, in the knowledge gained through the experience of their people, the tools they use, and the services they provide.  The not-so-good news is now that knowledge needs to be transformed into a format where it can be shared.

But it can be done.

Do you have any examples of favorite sites that exemplify the Neapolitan approach?  Remember what your mother said about sharing…