Dr. William J. Rothwell, professor of workplace learning and performance at Penn State University and co-author of “Lean but Agile,” agreed to speak with us about these very topics. In a recent interview with The Seamless Workforce, Dr. Rothwell calls for companies to move beyond basic succession planning and focus on annual, comprehensive workforce evaluations. He also reveals more than 50 creative approaches that companies can use to get work done efficiently, including the use of seasonal employees, teleworkers, and even part-time help from retirees.

Dr. Rothwell had a lot of great information to share, so we decided to break up our conversation into two easily consumable podcasts. Hit play on the audio player below to listen to the first part, and check back in a few days for the conclusion as well as an opportunity to win your own copy of the book. Alternatively, if you’ve got some time on your hands and would prefer it, you can download the full 28-minute interview.

What’s the verdict? How many of the workforce solutions that Dr. Rothwell mentioned has your company implemented?

“Solutions” refers to the act of problem solving. As a consultative partner to clients, much of my daily work is based on creating solutions. An effective RPO provider partners with clients and gives them the flexibility to choose the best approach for their recruiting needs.

Currently we are partnering with a client with an interview-to-hire ratio that is in line with the industry standard of 3-to-1. However, there is a disconnect between the applicants that we recommend (based on the skills and qualifications outlined during the call to discuss the job scope) and the manager’s hiring decision. After examining the disconnect, we discovered that each of the company’s many locations that we are supporting is marked by unique characteristics that alter the selection process. To address the variation, we’ve implemented several solutions — with the support of our client — to ensure that our final slate delivery is tailored to each specific location.

Here are some of the solutions that we have implemented.

• A detailed and multi-method analysis of each candidate through a packaged one-page summary
• An accurate method to measure the effectiveness of each interview event so we can identify and understand common themes and trends
• A new process using Skype, in which we interview the top internal performers in each location for the positions we are supporting — in other words, learning from the best

Our strategy, while simple to incorporate and practice, delivers high-quality outcomes. We want to be known for our mastery of pre-qualification. We don’t expect our client to hire every candidate we submit, but we want to minimize the disconnect so we can be a true partner helping our clients achieve their hiring goals.

Just simple solutions that work.





The takeaway? Not only are there two kinds of spurs, there are also two kinds of staffing companies. Consider the comparison in the areas of process, fulfillment, and approach and decide which kind of staffing company you’d rather work with.

Stale process (coming in through the door). Some staffing companies are content to enter by door with a method that they’ve employed for their entire professional existence. A stale staffing company plays a numbers game. The provider will load up job requisitions with candidates and hope that one will stick so it can get paid.

Dynamic process (coming in through the window). Seek out a staffing company that does not simply trot out tried-and-true methods. The provider should insist on a more labor-intensive investment to understand not only the black and white of a job requisition but the story behind the need. A staffing company that enters through the window understands its clients’ talent demands and works to complete an objective, not just fill a seat.

Silent fulfillment (coming in through the door). The unlucky assailants in the clip were focused on entering silently but were betrayed by their spurs. Too many staffing companies take a silent fulfillment approach. They never check in to see how the resource is performing or to ask if the client needs assistance with onboarding. It’s a mystery why some staffing companies take the silent approach, but what is perhaps most telling is that if there is an issue with billing, the company will be on the phone very quickly.

Focused fulfillment (coming in through the window). Tuco’s success was not his silence but his focused approach. By understanding that his target would be preoccupied with the door, he selected a stealthy entrance through the window. A staffing company needs to have this focus when serving your organization — a focus created by the company’s wealth of experience. Experience enables a company to understand every detail about successfully sourcing talent to yield the right level of quality for an acceptable cost.

Vendor approach (coming in through the window). The assailants coming in through the door were on a paid mission: Go upstairs, eliminate the target, get paid. Perhaps their motivation for payment prevented them from asking important questions about their target. Was he a formidable foe or easy pickings? What sort of pistol did he carry? Had they asked, they might have completed the objective. Beware of staffing companies that don’t ask enough questions or share their best practices.

Partner approach (coming in through the window). Tuco, on the other hand, is extremely forthright with the man with no name. He explains exactly why he was successful — his best practices, if you will. Your staffing company should be quick to investigate all the details of the assignment. And it should share what it can about success (and if necessary, failure).

The moral of today’s movie clip? It ought to seem pretty simple at this point. Make sure your staffing company’s spurs are at the window and not the door.

As a result, business leaders are looking to strategic sourcing options that focus on tools, resources, and technologies to reduce the time and costs associated with talent acquisition and hiring.

A solution at arm’s length

A managed staffing program, which manages the contingent labor hiring process with a technology-enabled solution, is an option that is gaining momentum among innovative business leaders. Many companies already use vendors to supply contingent staff but have found that it’s not enough. These organizations need someone to help manage their contingent workforce by applying the right technology platform, creating consistency among staffing vendors, and standardizing the contingent hiring process.

A managed vendor’s technology helps standardize talent acquisition processes and manages talent while providing extensive HR metrics to track expenditures and deployment. Through a single managed staffing program, organizations can acquire, implement, and enable the technology. A company can also have the solution tailored to its unique environment by a provider that understands the scope of its contingent labor needs.

The results are often quick and tangible. For example, immediately after introducing a managed staffing program, a global software company saw annual savings of more than $1.4 million. The cost savings also came with a more than 10 percent reduction in time-to-fill and a 10 percent increase in the quality of the vendors.

Selecting the right partner

Whether your organization already utilizes a managed staffing program or is just considering the option, remember that not all managed vendors are the same. A successful program delivers in three key areas.

1. It supplies talent quickly and efficiently. The right partner can deploy staff quickly through the use of specialized screening and training tools to ensure that each worker is well suited and prepared for high job performance.
2. It secures high-quality workers from all staffing vendors. The right partner will focus on quality assurance, efficiency, and continuity when using competing and often incompatible staffing vendors.
3. It adjusts to meet your needs. No two companies have the same structure, so avoid managed staffing programs that take a cookie-cutter approach. The right staffing partner will customize the managed staffing program to meet your needs.

As competition for quality talent grows more intense, winning will require an increasingly comprehensive approach. For maximum efficiencies, implement a managed staffing program to help your company realize greater time and cost savings through process improvement, efficient talent delivery, and the provision of higher quality contingent workers from all staffing vendors. The only way for your managed staffing program to reach maximum effectiveness is to choose the right partner.

Leslie Tell is a National Account Director at Yoh.





Why? There are so many companies jumping on one bandwagon or another, or touting things that are faster, better, compact, easy, and mobile, that the choices for a CIO, CTO, or IT manager are abundant and varied.

The problem is that a company will need a new set of skills once its CIO or IT manager changes course, adds a new system or technology, or changes the IT infrastructure. However easy the new system might be, the technology still needs to be set up, maintained, or upgraded by qualified IT staff.

I can see why some companies have trouble forecasting or don’t revisit their staffing plans often. If they did, they might be shocked to find that they need more people and different skills every time they look.

Here are a few more observations from the show:

One of my favorite lines that I’ve heard a few times is “We are the only … ” followed by how the speaker’s company is the only company that does this or has that capability. True or not, some IT person will ultimately sign up for the service or buy the product, and it will be up to the buyer to make it fit into his or her organization. And again, it probably will require new or different skills.

Service is another theme at Interop. Many companies are in the cloud or using software as a service (SaaS). The benefit of these technologies is that they reduce the need for a large physical IT infrastructure. However, I can’t help but wonder how much of what the companies are selling is more in their heads than in the cloud. It gives new perspective to the term vaporware.

Mobility is everywhere you look at Interop. Everyone wants you to be able to access your data, interact with others, or perform a transaction with your portable device. The focus on mobility is funny only because while we are surrounded by booths touting mobility, we still had trouble getting a Wi-Fi signal at our booth.

On another note, our booth is right next to BlackBerry’s. The company’s booth is the same size as ours (relatively small, approximately 10 feet by 20 feet) and not well trafficked. I didn’t really think about it until the second day, but that’s not a great sign for BlackBerry.

However, the BlackBerry booth is a good example of how an IT skill can be in demand and seem like it will never go away one day, and the next day people are talking about the skill’s demise. It also shows how IT staffing plans have to be agile and ready for anything, whether the trend is coming or going.

Interop is a great show for all things IT. But to me the event is a perfect illustration of how, while smart people can come up with great technology, it still takes a whole bunch of smart people to make the technology work.





Here are five challenges that many of our gaming clients face when ramping up project teams for their next title.

1. Continuous and rapid technology advancement. Historically, console-based games had the luxury of at least two to three years before a new console was introduced. But now gamers expect the experience over smartphones and tablets, and developers need to create a gaming experience that lives beyond the console. Since tablet and smartphone manufacturers rapidly release new software and hardware, those in the games industry have to ensure their workforce is properly exposed to new computing alternatives.
2. Multiple and varying platforms. A recent Forrester Research report projects that there will be 760 million tablets in use globally by 2016. The report also highlights that tablet and smartphone adoption will be extremely rapid across emerging markets. This growth will continue to complicate computing platforms, and international expansion will require greater and faster localization and translation efforts. 
3. Changing monetization models. Pay-to-play is driving the business model of the games industry. Video game companies must have talent on hand that can develop software that enables varying business models. Companies must also have business development resources available in order to exploit the model that will deliver the most revenue.
4. Increasing mobility expectations. Because consumers expect higher performance on their mobile devices (and because bandwidth and wireless infrastructures do not always keep pace with expectations), companies in the games industry need to focus on wireless bandwidth. Companies should have a hybrid of development resources that understand and execute development, ensuring a desirable experience for gamers regardless of network.
5. Broadening of socialization across all platforms. Consumers expect to be able to integrate game play with their digital social footprint. Developers must decide how much of a social layer their title will include. Certain sectors of the games industry might lack the wherewithal to adequately introduce a social layer to their offerings.

The games industry is at an incredible inflection point. Each of the above challenges indicates that talent has the potential to be a differentiator in the survival of the old games industry guard as well as games industry startups. Strategies must include a sound workforce and companies should identify the outlets they will use to nurture talent and augment the workforce on demand. Failure to adequately foster talent development and sourcing strategies could inflict irrevocable damage on the objectives of games industry players.







Choices. That’s what it’s all about. Everyone wants choices. But what people really want is to choose from their choices. In other words, people want to choose the exact thing they want, which is why bring your own bottle (B.Y.O.B.) is great when you eat out. Not only do you pay about half of the menu price for a bottle of wine, you also get to drink your wine of choice.

Enter the concept of B.Y.O.D., with more workers taking their own devices to work and consumers accessing information on a variety of platforms. All of these choices — the different devices, applications, and platforms — will create challenges for IT hiring managers and those supporting IT staffing. While there will be some constant needs, IT departments will look for a wide variety of specialists as well as people who can bring it all together.

From B.Y.O.D. to unified networking to big data, success will depend on skilled IT professionals and the companies that can find those professionals. Here are a few tips for people in IT staffing and recruiting on how to work with IT in this new, dynamic environment.

• Stay up on IT plans. Plug into your IT department’s objectives for the next six months to a year, as well as its three- to five-year plans. Find a way to continually be in the loop on what’s on the department’s plate and the issues it is dealing with. You will gather valuable clues on how you should prioritize your staffing resources.
• Evaluate the impact on IT staffing resources. IT departments often work on a lot of big projects that can affect many different areas, creating a number of smaller projects. Work with IT to figure out the skills and the number of workers that the smaller projects require. Balance the requirements against the resources you have and use today to find the necessary workers.
• Create contingency plans and line up resources. Once you know what skills and positions you will likely need, evaluate the needs against your IT staffing resources and their ability to actually deliver those types of workers. You might need to expand your vendor population, outsource some positions or areas, institute a bigger effort such as recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), or engage a managed services provider (MSP). Whatever you do, be honest. If your depleted HR or recruiting staffs can’t find these workers, what will you do? Start planning now.

You’ll notice that these tips are about forecasting rather than reacting to open jobs right now. Forecasting is crucial to avoid an ongoing talent deficit, or a situation in which you can’t fill jobs month after month and some positions never get filled. Working with IT and other departments on their talent acquisition needs must involve some type of forecasting to avoid creating or adding to a talent deficit.

Trends like B.Y.O.D. will continue and IT will play a big part in how companies effectively deal with these issues. But the people involved with IT staffing will play a bigger part. If a company can’t find the IT people they need to run the business, forget B.Y.O.D. The company might be S.O.L. (which stands for sooner or later — as in, sooner or later they’ll be out of business, of course). What did you think I meant?





A new book recognizes this issue. In “Lean but Agile: Rethink Workforce Planning and Gain a True Competitive Edge,” William J. Rothwell, James Graber, and Neil McCormick note that “few organizations undertake any comprehensive and systematic approach to work or workforce planning. Instead, they deal with staffing needs on a case-by-case basis.” The result? “The collective competencies and talents of the entire organization’s workforce are never assessed against the requirements needed to achieve the organization’s strategic goals.”

In other words, few companies know what talent to hire — or the extent of the talent they have — because they haven’t figured out what skills they need. Companies facing the unpredictability of talent needs, business environments, and the economy, the authors claim, need to look beyond their workforce needs to the entire purpose of their business.

The basic philosophy of “Lean but Agile” is this: Companies that are truly productive and successful are the ones that define, optimize, and manage their goals, roles, and accountabilities. They know the essential work that they do — or need to do — to meet their objectives. These companies can then plan backwards from that definition to optimize the productivity, quality, and cost-effectiveness of their workforce.

Once they establish this premise, the authors dive into ways to make it happen. The book offers detailed charts, templates, and worksheets for assessing your own organization’s essential work.

Ultimately, “Lean but Agile” is a guide, supported by case studies, FAQs, and templates, that offers suggestions for rethinking workforce planning and for staffing a company to run as efficiently as possible. The takeaway is fairly simple: If you’re not regularly assessing your workforce needs and the business goals your employees are trying to accomplish, it’s time to start.

It’s a great read, particularly for business leaders challenged with building and managing a highly efficient workforce in today’s new economy.

Stayed tuned in the coming weeks for an in-depth interview with one of the book’s authors, as well as a chance to receive your very own copy.








Fast Company: Path.To’s Social Media Mojo Transforms Your Facebook Posts Into A New Job

Last week marked the launch of Path.To, a service that sorts through a job seeker’s online activity and resume to calculate how well he or she matches the jobs that are posted on the site. Path.To shares the results with the job seeker and gives employers a list of the top candidates for each position. Interestingly, candidates are awarded bonus points for online activity. I can’t help but wonder: At what point will a candidate’s strong online presence cease to be a bonus? In many industries, online presence is already a must.

AP: In Weak Job Market, One In Two College Graduates Are Jobless Or Underemployed

Hope Yen reports that 53.6 percent, or about 1.5 million, of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 were jobless or underemployed last year, the highest rate in 11 years. College graduates that studied zoology, anthropology, philosophy, art history, and humanities were among the least likely to find jobs that reflected their level of education. Among the most likely were graduates with degrees in nursing, teaching, accounting, or computer science.

USA Today: Want a job? Act like you want it, in everything you do

Columnist Andrea Kay discusses a recent new hire and explains why it was an easy decision to bring the person on board. Of all the qualified candidates Kay considered, the candidate hired was the one that acted like he wanted the job most. “When it comes to hiring, yes, experience and skill matter,” Kay writes. “But even if you’ve got the so-called ‘right’ experience, education and technical know-how, you will never get hired if you don’t act like you want the work.” This is a good reminder and one that echoes the advice Mark Murphy shared with us last month about hiring for attitude.

Have a great weekend, and if you’re going to Las Vegas, come visit us in the Interop exhibitor hall at booth No. 1959!





Seattle, like most tech niches, is a candidates’ market. The candidate sections of job boards are sparse. Gone are the days when too many applicants respond to a posting. Companies just can’t find the right people to hire. Yet for several of my clients, the time it takes to hire a candidate is increasing.

Companies that act quickly and use efficient interview processes are getting the candidates they want. Meanwhile, organizations that lag, require candidates to jump through a ring of fire, or give interviewees an unorganized (and sometimes impolite) candidate experience are struggling.

Here are five tips to create a positive candidate interviewing experience.

1. Be on time. You expect your candidate to arrive five minutes early. It’s a two-way street. You’ve invited this person to meet with you and to consider joining your company. He or she fought traffic, prepared an outfit, and rehearsed interview answers, all to make a good impression on you. You should want to do the same.
2. Be a host. When someone comes to your home, you offer that person a beverage. Be sure to do the same in an interview. It shows you are accommodating. Besides that, interviewees get parched when they talk.
3. Shut up and listen. Apply the 80-20 rule. You do 20 percent of the talking and let the candidate do the rest. Show a general interest in what interviewees are saying, and make it conversational. No one wants a manager who fires off question after question. The best interviews tend to flow conversationally.
4. Don’t be boring or repetitive. One time I interviewed with an interactive entertainment company in Seattle and was there for six hours. Each hour a group of people asked me the same exact questions as the group before them. It was exhausting. If you are going to have several smaller groups conduct an interview over a few hours, plan ahead the questions each group will ask.
5. Provide closure. At the end of each interview, ask the candidate if he or she has any questions. Leave enough time for this so the interviewee doesn’t feel rushed. Set a clear expectation for what your process looks like moving forward. This will keep a candidate engaged. If you don’t expect to make a decision for two weeks, let the person know. Then make sure you follow through. The most detrimental interview infraction on the side of the employer is never following up after the interview.