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.

Over the last few months, several of our corporate clients have discussed significant changes in how they execute their marketing and communications efforts. Several are planning to drastically shift how they use their agency partners and will bring key projects in-house. Others are looking to outsource marketing and creative functions to concentrate on their core business. These clients differ across industries and size including global b-to-b manufactures, financial services firms, non-profit organizations and professional services firms. Because of the number of clients grappling with the same issues, we want to dive in further to find out if these are unique occurrences or growing trends.

We are turning to the marketing and communications community to hear from you. How are you executing marketing and communications efforts?  Take our poll and check back for results: TAKE POLL NOW

In the mean time, here are a few articles I have come across recently on related topics that may also be of value in this discussion. Feel free to share your comments, insights and opinions on the topic here and on our poll.

Tough economy forces marketers to reorganize http://tinyurl.com/yfjghjd

Small ad agencies go over big http://tinyurl.com/yg98soe

Down economy drives small businesses and EAG http://tinyurl.com/yghcv6h

Marketing Business Services in Down Economy http://tinyurl.com/yl8etfc

Avoid the temptation to cut marketing budgets http://tinyurl.com/yf9ahe2  

In-house SEO vs. SEO Provider http://tinyurl.com/yf87yr9

Whether you are a frequent Twitter user or not, you most likely caught wind of the new Twitter trend known as “Twitter Lists.” It recently launched and I’ve already found it useful for personal use as well as for Paladin. A Twitter List is a new way of categorizing the people you follow and their tweets by your own preference.

Over the past few months, I have helped oversee the social media networks for Paladin with most of my focus on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I find Twitter to be useful as a quick, interactive site to connect with our candidates and clients. The Twitter Lists now help us organize tweets from candidates, clients, marketing/creative/communiations associations, publications, news, events, etc.

Are you ready to create a Twitter List? Well, do you follow someone, but they are often overwhelming your home page and keep you from noticing other updates? Do you follow a variety of tweeters, such as celebrities, news, and job search firms? Are you ready for more organization within Twitter? If so, it’s time to get started! So…how do you create a Twitter List? I’ve listed a simple version, but if you are a visual learner, like me, the website below will give you detailed version: http://tinyurl.com/yjkle2n

1. Click “create a list,” a dialog box should pop up on your screen
2. Name the list to a category you want your followers to fall under
3. Search and start following tweeters under your list
4. Another way to search is to go through your followers’ profiles and click the button on the right labeled “manage lists” and add to your specific list (this option also allows to create a list in case you think of something on the spot!)

Twitter will give you the option of making the Lists private or public. If a List is public, you can follow other tweeters’ Lists and groupings.

Will this make Twitter more confusing? We don’t think so, in fact it makes Twitter more friendly and organized. The guys behind Twitter are predicting it will increase the number of new users. Twitter also promises the the roll out of List descriptions within the next week so public lists are easier to understand and, in turn, create more followers.

Let us know if you have created a Twitter List. Why did you decide to create a list and has it been helpful? @PaladinStaff has already been added on others’ Lists under the labels such as career, HR recruiting, work, etc. We also have started our own Twitter Lists to help us categorize marketing, creative and communication news/updates. Follow our Lists and let us know what you think.

@PaladinStaff/marketing

@PaladinStaff/creative

@PaladinStaff/communications

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…