SimonStapleton.com» recession

Job Scams: How To Avoid Them

Simon — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:40:42 +0000

Do you know how to distinguish between job ads/offers that will bring you genuine income from those run by sheisters who will take what little cash you have left off you? Here are some tips to help you. (And check out my recommendations for 2 superb books that share genuine home-based business ideas and guidance, at the end of this post…)

In tough economic times where unemployment is on the rise, there grows a population ever more desperate people to earn an income to keep themselves and their families in food and shoes, and with them, comes unscrupulous blockheads that try to rip them off.

Have You Been Scammed?

Have YOU become a victim of one of these scams? How did you feel about it when you found out? Please share your story and help other people avoid them, by leaving your opinion at the end of this post.

Actually, they’re not blockheads at all. Most of the scammers that prey on desperate people are intelligent, creative people who have chosen the dark side of the force.

If I can help just one person avoid being ripped off, this article serves its purpose.

Most of the common scams you’ll find on the web today involve an offer of easy work with high pay, yet you need no skills or experience to do the work. Work like that is typically one of two types:

Work that no rational person would ever do – dangerous, unethical or distasteful jobs like a naked janitor in a high-security jail, or a food taster for Osama bin Laden.
Work that isn’t work, just a reason to get money from you – the job is fake and offered to get some upfront cash from you

OK – I assume that you would spot which jobs fall into category 1, yes!

Jobs in category 2 are often just as easy to identifiy too. As I said, these jobs are often listed as lucrative, but you don’t need experience and skills, and you can work from home. Sounds great, huh? But these ‘jobs’ come to you with a ‘registration fee’ or some kind of upfront payment. It’s this money that the scammers want from you.

Some of these jobs, instead, require you to buy raw materials from the scammers to produce a physical product and then sell back to them. Great! But of course, their ‘quality control’ rejects your product, no matter how great it is.

You might have seen some ‘data entry’ jobs advertised. These are a scam too. The offers are designed to get you to impart some cash, and the work doesn’t materialize… well the cash certainly doesn’t. The same goes for the jobs where ‘all you have to do is post links on Google’.

There is a ‘filter’ I want you to develop in your mind, and it looks like this:

Why sell these amazing money-making schemes to us when they can keep them, and the money they generate, for themself?

If the ‘systems’ and ‘jobs’ that so many people are telling us about (and they want us to buy the information to learn how), are so lucrative (those that say you can earn $45,067 in less than 5 days) then why don’t they keep them quiet and use them just for themself?

These people are not community-sprited and small-time philanthropists. That’s for sure!

If you’re still not convinced, maybe some simplified economic theory might help explain it.

Economic Theory: Perfect Competition

In economics, there is a theory called ‘Perfect Competition’ which I will explain by discussing carrot farmers. (Yes, carrot farmers) The thing about carrots is that there is very little to differentiate the carrots from one farmer to the next. A carrot, is well, a carrot. Not just that, but the practices used by one carrot farmer and the next are pretty much alike too. And then the raw materials are the same – carrot seeds, muck, water, sunshine and maybe some way of getting rid of the bugs.

So from any carrot farmer, you would expect the same product, the same farming practices, and the same raw materials. Once you know this, anyone can become a carrot farmer. The barrier to entry is just making sure you can get this stuff and some land to grow the carrots in. Demand will typically track supply, unless there is some kind of major disaster.

If one farmer decided to hike his price up, then he wouldn’t last long. Because the market (carrot eaters) can get carrots from other farmers at a lower price, then nobody would buy at his price.

This is perfect competition. No farmer can distinguish their product to allow a rise in price. The cost of a carrot will be very little above the production costs.

You might be wondering where I am going with this. Well here goes…

In the jobs where skills and experience are not required (just like the scammers say) then many, many people can provide the labor. The raw materials (your time, maybe a PC with an internet connection and some electricity) are available to most people too. Everyone, to draw a parallel, can grow these carrots. There is a massive labor pool willing and able to do these jobs. So…

… why would they pay so much? Surely they would pay just to cover your costs and a little bit more? If it was a genuine job, then they would pay little, and be honest about it. Because the ‘employer’ could gain such a massive labor force then they wouldn’t need to pay much at all. There is perfect competition for the jobs.

But they tell you that you can earn mega-bucks, don’t they?!

So walk away. It’s a scam. Leave well alone. Look for that janitor or food-taster job instead.

As Rachel Zupek quotes on the CNN Living blog : if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Two great resources for genuine home-based businesses

1. Start & Run a Real Home-Based Business is a full-on practical guide that avoids the hype and is based on sound business practice, especially on the marketing side.

2. 450 Home Business Ideas is jam-packed full of inspirational business ideas to run from home and in your part-time.

Stay Tuned…

I’ll soon be discussing the things you can do that are genuine ways of supplementing your income. Subscribe to my RSS feed to find out when!

Recession Survival – Lessons From Nature

robhorlock — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:40:30 +0000

Many parts of the world regularly suffer from drought and famine. People and wildlife seem to adapt well (as a matter of course) to what is a cyclical phenomenon.

So is economic recession. There are many common characteristics between recession in the economy and the natural world, yet an economic downturn seems to come as a surprize and unprepared for. Why?

Nature – people and wildlife – has found rehearsed strategies in order to survive:

They use their resources sparingly.
They may migrate to regions which have more abundance. The annual migration of the wildebeest in Africa is one of best known examples of this.
They understand and anticipate the side effects. These may range from an increase in disease or plagues of mosquitoes and locusts, to a rise in food prices (exacerbating the situation) and on to land degradation, bush fires and ultimately, social conflict and widespread death and destruction.
They adapt, as best they can, to their new, temporary environment.
They take advantage of unexpected opportunities – crocodiles and lions wait in ambush for the migrating wildebeest.
Outside agencies attempt to alleviate the problems or at least, reduce the effects – Aid Agencies and other NGOs offer food and shelter in the worst effected regions.

As economic recession continues, are there lessons that we, in the business world, can learn from the natural world? Let’s take another look at the above strategies and see how they can be applied to the business environment…

They use their resources sparingly – This lesson has obviously been learned by most of us. Spending is down (which is, of course, deepening the recession), many people are overpaying their mortgages every month and credit card debt is being paid off faster than before. ‘Eating In’ is the new ‘Going Out’ and the large supermarkets and take away chains are the main beneficiaries. In the workplace, budgets are being cut and we are all asked to ‘do more with less’.
They may migrate to regions which have more abundance – Many people will look around for a new job, either at home or abroad. Whilst vacancies are more limited at the moment, those of us working in IT with strong transferable skills are better placed than most to take advantage of new opportunities.
They understand and anticipate the side effects – The side effects, of course, include redundancies, and longer working hours for those who survive the cull. Personal relationships may suffer as a result of this and you must recognize if this is becoming an issue in your own relationships, both at work and (more importantly) at home.
They adapt, as best they can, to their new, temporary environment – this point is absolutely key to your survival during this recession. Here are some thoughts for your consideration:
They take advantage of unexpected opportunities – If your line manager leaves, for whatever reason, you may find yourself running the team in a ‘holding capacity’. Take the initiative and do more than just ‘hold the fort’. Make your own decisions and add your own stamp to the team. In times of recession, it is more likely that you will be offered the job permanently, if you show promise, rather than recruiting externally. Budget cuts may also offer opportunities for you to develop skills which are currently under-utilized. Perhaps you know some html or java but don’t use it at work because web development is outsourced. Offer to help with support and development – you never know where it may lead.
Outside agencies attempt to alleviate the problems or at least, reduce the effects – In the business world, the government(s) is responsible for tackling the recession. They do this in a number of ways. Currently, interest rates are extremely low. If you have a mortgage that’s not on a fixed rate, overpay your monthly payments. You will be pleasantly surprized how this affects the length of your mortgage term. If you are on a fixed rate mortgage, check out how much you will pay in redemption fees to move to a Tracker mortgage. This may be worth your while.
And haggle! If you’re buying something over and above the usual weekly shopping, ask for a deal. You’ll often get something off the price – it all helps!

There are many survival lessons to be learned from the natural world and a whole lot more that apply in our world. The most important lesson of all is that in YOUR life, it’s up to YOU – Nobody’s going to do it for you!

Common Mistakes Made In A Recession, And How To Avoid Them

Simon — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:58:54 +0000

I’d be lying if I said the recession isn’t a stressful time for many folks, or that it doesn’t cause us to go about our business with some ‘unusual behaviors’.

There are things that we can do that won’t help our situation, even though it might feel a relief at the time. Below, you’ll see some of the typical ‘unusual behaviors’ observed in a recession. When I say ‘observed’ I have only had to look in the mirror for some! See if you recognize any of these behaviors, in yourself or your colleagues.

Gossip – The rumor mill grows in a recession. I’m sure you noticed! Most people wonder what will happen to their organization – whether it will survive, will there be job cuts, will they be outsourced… and when worried people get together, rumors begin. A little bit of information is made to go a long way! Sharing gossip gives temporary comfort that we’re not alone, and that other people are in the same situation. Safety in numbers. Guess what though, the relief is short lived. Rumors, once they start, can have a devastating effect. Worried people slow down their work. Their brainpower is spent worrying, and not working. And when you’re not working productively, guess who managers look at to give the elbow, should it come to that? Worrying and rumors can create a self-fulfiling prophecy! I know it’s hard (believe me, I know!) to not get involved in rumors. But it’s a slippery slope. It’s much better to walk away – don’t even try to argue the opposite case. It’s that simple – walk away.

Avoiding discussion – no I haven’t gone mad or become forgetful. This is different from being a member of the rumor mill. Avoiding discussion is when you close yourself off to information about the impact of the recession and any changes happening. During a recession, you need more quality information, not less. Changes will happen, so it’s much better to know the context in which they’re happening, mostly to accept them. Talk to your boss, or your Human Resources department. Or any senior manager. Become informed, so you can cope with changes.
Expecting no change – recession (strangely) always seems unforeseen. This means, well laid plans will change. Funding is withdrawn for projects, people move around, or people go. This is a fact. Expecting no change at all is foolhardy. The way I deal with this is to consider (but not necessarily act upon) all possible changes, and visualize myself having gone through the change. Visualization is a powerful technique!
Searching for other jobs – people do this for the wrong reasons. Mostly because of one of the above. Apart from the stress and distraction this causes, searching for another job can be a waste of your time if you have no solid reason to. If you find yourself looking at the job sites, think about why. Are your reasons grounded in fact? Are you reasons definite, or just a possibility? Are you acting emotionally?
Holding out for severence – equally irrational is when people hold on in the belief that their big payout is due. OK, this might happen, but in the mean time you’ll be stressed, anxious and looking for every opportunity to walk. You might just be one of those people who is asked to stay. If severence comes, it comes, but in the meantime focus on your work and contribute to the success of your organization. This will only do your future opportunities and your confidence good in the end!
Not leaving when the signs are there – not really a counterpoint to the above, but sometimes you just KNOW that your organization is on its knees. Staying around is just pretence. And dangerous for your prospects. When your organization does eventually go under, guess what? There are loads of people from your organization on the job market and you’re in much heavier competition. Is this a risk you want to take?
Not getting help – this is the biggest mistake to make of all. We can’t all get through recession by ourselves. It’s a tough, stressful time. If you just stew in your own juices, will you make rational decisions? I don’t think so. Getting help is a positive way of gaining control. You need to have a clear head to make rational decisions. It’s much better to get help and not eventually need it, rather than when you’re desperate for it! Have a private word with HR, or talk to a trusted friend, spouse, or coach.

Maybe you recognize some of these behaviors? If you do, then try following my advice. Best of all, get help!

Is It Time To Prepare For The Upturn?

Simon — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:05:44 +0000

Recession is as certain as death and taxes (I wish taxis were as certain on a cold winter’s night at 3am!). And guess what – so is the upturn. But who is talking about it yet?

Good News people: according to McKinsey’s Quarterly Survey , we are getting close to the bottom of the trough we call recession (although European business leaders say that there is still a longer, bumpier road ahead).

The cycle of boom and bust (which nobody can really stop) will turn full circle and the upturn will be upon us.

There is light at the end of the tunnel…?

But are we looking in that direction yet? My personal experience is No We Are Not . We are not looking towards recovery.

The current battle with keeping business going is consuming all the energy, all the air-time, and all the focus of management, at least in my industry (Financial Services). I am still seeing cycles of re-plan after re-plan to cope with declining budgets and lackluster sales. Do me and my colleagues see the light yet? No.

Get this though – just because I don’t see the light yet, I know it’s coming.

Not preparing for the upturn will mean that we will be caught with our pants down when it comes… whilst our competitors are running ahead in their jockstraps!

Here’s the rub. Even talk about this evokes comments from blinkered colleagues on the lines of ‘Fiddling Whilst Rome is Burning’.

It could be political suicide to try to initiate new projects with the blind assumption that the upswing will be soon upon us. It takes someone with tremendous courage, political leverage and credibility to sponsor these projects, which will almost certainly disrupt current projects that are aimed at stabilizing core business. Is that you?

This is a major stifler of innovation. The fresh business ideas that would normally emerge in boom-times are being quashed. Growth opportunities are being put on the back-burner. When recovery does start, we’ll all be so beat and scared, we won’t be ready to begin that journey!

Hey, what about our people? The most worrying thing about not preparing for the upturn NOW is what our people will do when it starts. Will they want to stay in an organization still inward looking at the balance sheet, or a competitor that is going places with exciting new products and services? This is a Real Danger which we cannot ignore! I doubt we’ll even have cash to offer as a retention incentive. Our people will be GONE!

I wonder, who is going to be brave and put the first foot forwards into the future?

If you don’t believe in the phrase ’Fortune Favors the Brave!’ – well, there are a few things we can do now to begin preparing for the upturn, without embarking on taboo projects or appearing to meddle whilst Rome is in flames.

Later this week I will be publishing a follow-up post which shares ‘5 Immediate Actions To Begin Preparing For The Upturn, Without Being Found Out ‘. You’ll know when it’s published if you subscribe to my RSS Feed .

Check This Out…

Here is a great clip from the Jeff & Mike radio talk show on the subject of the upturn.

Laid Off? 7 Essential Things To Do Immediately After a Lay Off

Simon — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:59:17 +0000

If you’ve just been laid off, or are in the process of it, you’re probably shocked and worried. If not, maybe you know someone who is. The probability of either case is growing. Yikes! What if I could give you some some practical steps to turn the situation around? Here are 7 things to do to turn your situation around and get yourself right back into employment.

1) Firstly, don’t panic! This is very important – here’s why. When panic sets in, all sorts of things happen. People in panic behave irrationally and do strange things. This is a time for a level head and some calculated action. The worst outcome is to make matters worst by doing something you will later regret. I’ve known several people go into a panic state; one friend of mine booked himself onto a training course at the cost of $4,000 (paid out of his severance pay check) – he didn’t need the course and it was a waste of precious funds. Another got herself onto a pyramid selling scheme and lost over $10,000! Both of these people are typically rational people (much more than myself!)

2) Next thing to do is to take a break. I don’t mean a coffee break, but a proper leave from the shock of your layoff. You’ll need this time to set some things into action, but also not set too high expectations of yourself. You’ve had a trauma and you really need some time to get over it. You should give yourself a week or two.

3) At the start of your break, go get a lined, hard-backed book. A leather-bound one would be a nice investment. You will need this to write down your to-do list, and notes you will need to take, and journal your next journey.

4) Now you need to give yourself some actions to take over your break. There are some housekeeping activities to undertake, as well as beginning your job-search. Here are the tasks you should aim to complete before you move on:

Notify and negotiate with any debtors you own money to, such as your mortgage company. You need to get your debts under control, and it starts with informing those organizations about your new situation.
You’ll need to work out how much of your severance (if you received one) you will be committing to paying off debts, and how much you’ll reserve for running capital. My advice is to always pay off as much debt as you can afford. There is a simple financial fact that debts are always more expensive than your gain in savings. So if you can, pay off credit card bills and short-term loans. Get them out of the way so you can budget for your next phase of job-seeking. I also advise to reserve enough capital for 3 months.
Write up a list of other domestic jobs you have been putting off. Why? Well this list will be your back-up of tasks if you run out of time, energy or inclination to apply to your job-search. What you’re looking to do is to not be idle! A sustained completion of your domestic jobs will keep you busy, avoid moping, and boost your confidence when the jobs are complete.
This is the more nitty-gritty stuff now. You should now be looking at your next term of employment, and what you want (and don’t want) from it. I urge you to write a list of things you like and didn’t like about your previous job (being as objective as possible) and add on a list of things you do want, and don’t want, from your next job. Once you have this list, sit on it for a day or two and revise if necessary.
Looking at your want and don’t want list, now consider if you want to continue doing the same type of job, or if a different job is more suitable. Write a list of job types/roles you are keen to do next. This is a great opportunity to take a ‘course-correction’ in your career and pursue the roles that will bring more fulfilment and happiness. You could consider taking on freelance work and the lifestyle that goes with it, or conversely, go permanent following a stint of freelancing.
Once you have your list of roles, consider alternative roles that are on the same vein. For example, if you are keen to continue your role as a Unix administrator, could you turn your hand to becoming a Microsoft administrator? Although the technology is different, many of the management practices, processes and activities are very similar. Try to avoid pigeon-holing yourself into a technology, but instead consider what job-family you want to join. Much less percentage of ‘work’ is done on a specific technology than you might think.

5) Before you begin your job-search, you need to make sure your personal marketing is top-notch. You’ll want to capitalize on every opportunity that comes your way! The kinds of things I mean are:

Dust off your resume and get it updated. See my post ‘9 Highly Effective Habits of Great Technical Resume Writers’ to see how to create a kick-ass resume
Your resume is still important, but it is just one tool in your arsenal. Your social profile is very important in today’s business climate. So you’ll need to register (or update) your LinkedIn profile and get your experience, interests and skills in there. Take a look at ‘Make Your LinkedIn Profile Really Stand Out’ to learn more.

6) The next step to take is to engage your network of contacts and tell people that you’re available. Tell as many people as you can! This step can really pay off as it’s much easier to get counsel and a sniff of job opportunities from people you know. Don’t just look at this as a means of learning about job opportunities; instead use your network to get feedback on your experiences, opinion on the kinds of roles you are suitable for, and general support and wisdom about beginning your job search. Why is step at #6 and not earlier? Well the reason is that if you do get wind of an opportunity from your network, you need to be ready to pounce on it. And to be ready, you need to have prepared yourself using steps 1-5. You’ll need your resume, your profile, and a firm understanding of the roles you are looking for, and not looking for. Otherwise, you could lose those opportunities, and worse still, piss off a contact.

7) The sooner you get on with your job-search, the better. But only once you are ready! The approach you will take depends on how much time you can buy yourself financially. If you have a couple of months, then I suggest you start with a very targeted campaign. To begin with, I thoroughly recommend you use the method I discussed in my post ‘How To Search The Invisible Job Market’ to find the jobs in the companies you want to work for. This takes a little longer but the outcome will be far better. If time is of the essence, then you have to get your foot back into the workplace as soon as you can, and build your career back up from there. Therefore, I recommend you follow the method I described in my recent post ‘7 Essential Steps To START an IT Career in a Recession’. Sure, you’re not STARTING your career, but you are starting from a similar position of needing to get gainful employment. This isn’t a desperate tactic – it’s a means of laying solid foundations to build from. Does this go against advice I gave above? I don’t think so. Sure, you might take a job on that isn’t in a role you want, but the job is an opportunity to get there. So I strongly suggest that if you do take on a job that isn’t ideal, that you talk to your employer BEFORE you accept the job about your plans and ambitions, and check that the path of progression is a viable option.

Here ends the list. Follow these 7 steps immediately after your layoff and you’ll be giving yourself the best chance of getting right back on your career track.

Before you go, I just wanted to share a comment from a good friend of mine, Andy Shultz, who was laid off three weeks ago from his Web Developer job:

When I learned about my layoff, it was a shock. I can remember the adrenalin rush and to disbelief. It took me over a week to come to terms with the feeling off loss. It wasn’t just losing the job or the income – I lost friends at work and the feeling of belonging to something. I had to turn it around, quickly, as I am heavily in debt with my mortgage. Thankfully I hooked up with Simon and he helped me work a plan which has turned my attitude and feeling of loss around, and now I am looking to a bright future! – Andy

More posts which will help you in your new journey!

Secrets of a Well Run IT Department

Simon — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:55:23 +0000

Yesterday I offered a challenge I really don’t want you to accept: How Far Can You Drive Your IT Department Into The Ground? There are some pretty dumb things you can do to bring your IT department to its knees. OK – now I know what NOT to do, what instead should I be thinking about?

Once again, I’m going to suggest you read a great post on the Business of IT blog, by Dr Jim Anderson . He is becoming a hero of mine by the minute! This time he shares with us 3 Secrets That Oil Companies Use To Run A Great IT Department , which are the thoughts of Peter Whatnell, CIO of Sunoco.

Whatnell has been CIO of Sunoco’s IT since 2001, right in the midst of the big ‘dotcom crash’, as Dr Anderson explains. Back then, the crash predominantly impacted only IT and didn’t turn into a global recession. The interesting thing about oil companies, though, is that they have become used to (and expect) severe fluctuations in their financial environment due to fluctuations in oil price. You could say that these guys are well used to boom and recession in a tea-cup. They have become very competent in upsizing and downsizing as the market dictates.

Whatnell recognizes that the global recession is putting severe strain on IT departments, and we’re all familiar with the modern mantra of ‘do more with less’. Dr Anderson comments on Whatnell’s acknowledgment that if he had to go back to the drawing board he would consider using services like Google mail instead of his own heavyweight email systems, for example.

To extend Dr Anderson’s post, I believe that IT must challenge the long-lived assumptions that we have to have total control of our apps in order to deliver them securely. Cloud Computing and SaaS are the current challengers to this. As Dr Anderson states, security is the key enabler to support the move to the Cloud, and potential significant cost control. 2009 is the year where this will become real, and IT leaders globally are being forced to initiate projects in this area.

The ‘Secret’ of a well run IT department, today, is about using technology effectively rather than delivering all the bells and whistles a business user can conceive (and probably not use). It has to be about VALUE.

Read Dr Jim Anderson’s post on his blog here: http://www.thebusinessofit.com/it-strategy/3-secrets-that-oil-companies-use-to-run-a-great-it-department

How To Make Your Career Recession-Resistant

Simon — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:01:42 +0000

If you’re feeling like your future is uncertain and your job could disappear at any moment, then you’re probably feeling pretty gloomy. If you watch the constant flood of media alerts on businesses closing and layoffs happening left, right and center, then it’s easy to fall into a trap of the self-fulfilling prophecy: folks who believe they’ll lose your job vastly increase the chance that they will. Wait – I’m not talking about an effect of ‘The Law of Attraction ‘ or anything like that – but if we accept a future where we’re out on our ear, it will change our behavior and we’ll actively look for the signs of this happening, and respond to them.

To change this situation, what we have to do is actively change our beliefs. Sure, we can say to ourselves it won’t be that way , because we say so (and it may even work) but I am suggesting that to overcome the trappings of the recession that we pursue different activities that are much more positive and constructive. And they’re really simple too.

This is where I want to hand over to fellow blogger and new ‘friend’, Dave Crain . He wrote a post back in November that is even more relevant now in 2009. What Dave shares with us are 10 highly effective and powerful activities we can undertake, at our convenience, to turn things around.

For example, Dave recommends that we redo our resume (something I have written a lot about on this site) and sure enough, this does have a very positive effect on us as we’re reminded of what we have achieved in our careers. There is also something psychologically rewarding about applying creativity and progress into your resume. Don’t believe me – try it. You could also look it like this – if you still believe you’ll be laid off then you’ll need to get your resume into shape anyway. If you don’t have much time, then try this resume builder I experimented with which does most of the boring work for you!

Dave also recommends that we invest in a career coach to work with us through tough times and develop long-term career plans. Using the services of a coach, I believe, will pay the most dividends during difficult times like this as a coach will skilfully hold you to account for your development and help you avoid slipping further into doldrums and a victim mentality. If you’re looking for a coach, then try me! I offer career coaching services at very reasonable prices – get in touch with me for more details. I don’t bite!

‘Bolster your brand ‘ is another key piece of advice from Dave, and I totally agree with it. Building your external profile and brand is such a powerful way of getting noticed by top organizations. This is something I’ve written about a lot also, so check out my other articles (see below) on how to do this.

So I’ll finish this post by thanking Dave for his article back in November. Check out Dave’s post here and see how to make your career more recession-resistant!

Why Isn’t ‘Staying Employed’ in the Top Ten List of CIO Issues?

Simon — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:07:51 +0000

InformationWeek just announced the ‘Top Ten CIO Issues for 2009 ‘ and I was wondering why ‘Staying Employed’ didn’t feature on the list!

If you believed everything you read in the newspapers or watched on TV, then we’ll all be out of work in 3 months. The economy will grind to a halt, so we’ll all have to grow potatoes at home and produce our own energy. So why isn’t the media suggesting that the biggest concern for IT leaders is keeping their job?

What they don’t want you to know, because it doesn’t sell stories, is that people are tougher than that, and that tough people and determination will pull us through the recession. CIOs aren’t afraid of losing their jobs – and like all IT workers, they realize that technology is the answer to economic challenges, not the cause.

All my experience and insight tells me that IT will be the fulcrum of change in 2009 that pulls us through the recession. IT isn’t the cost-center that needs reigning in, it’s the business investment that will pay dividends.

The ‘recession’ has triggered the corporate survival instinct. Business issues aren’t just those concerning customers’ needs and the marketplace; they’re also about the basic hygiene of running an organization – capital, fixed costs, a focus on core activity, and automation.

Just look at the InformationWeek article . The Top Ten issues for CIOs in 2009 are:

Customer-Facing Innovation
Attacking the 80/20 Ratio
The Challenging Economy
The Strategic CIO
Cloud Computing
The SaaS Effect
Virtualization
Outsourcing
Green Computing
Radical Desktops

What do you see? Six out of the ten listed are about cost avoidance:

‘Attacking the 80/20 Ratio’ challenges the spend on fixed costs and infrastructure, and aims to free up more budget for innovation.
‘Cloud Computing’ is a long-term investment to reduce the amount of capital needed by IT and to put the management of technology into hands of experts at lower costs.
‘The SaaS Effect’ will continue as CIOs look for higher-value alternatives in software provision, reducing overall cost of ownership.
‘Virtualization’ will bring infrastructure costs down, assisting in ‘Attacking the 80/20 Ratio’ too. It enables CIOs to sweat hardware assets and to lower the costs of backup and DR services.
The goal of ‘Green Computing’ is to reduce energy consumption (and therefore reduce energy costs), as well as encourage recycling.

Looking at the list again, you could say that some of the greatest challenges for IT departments this year is maximizing the value of IT investment, by focusing on efficiency and just as importantly, effectiveness . The two mantras will be:

Doing things right (efficiency)
Doing the right things (effectiveness)

Haven’t CIOs and IT professionals always been asked to behave this way, though? Haven’t these technologies been around for a while now, but weren’t taken seriously or de-prioritized below more ‘sexy’ innovation?

Good questions (I tell myself), but taking the cynicism away, the point now is that the economic situation we find ourselves in means we have to take the things IT has been talking about FOR YEARS very seriously now. The world has conspired against itself to put these issues, (no) these solutions , at the forefront of the agenda. No longer are there solutions waiting for a problem!

This New Age of realization that we have to take technology innovations seriously, is upon us. The challenge is to make sure it’s a sustainable investment , which is why (quite rightly) a big issue remains on how the CIO becomes (or maintains) the position of a ‘Strategic CIO ‘. Interventions to bring about Efficiency and Effectiveness shouldn’t just be tactical. A long-term plan of continuous innovation in the above areas is needed.

I like what Eric Brown says on his blog, who also comments about InformationWeek’s article. To quote Eric:

If CIO’s focus on the three main areas of Leadership, Strategy and Technology,then the “Top 10 Issues for 2009? or “Top 10 Issues for 2020? will be easy to solve. Why? Because the CIO and IT Leadership should have been leading the IT group to a proper technology strategy that aligns with the business strategy.

The twist I’d add is that the recession has brought some forgotten truth’s into business:

We must run efficient and effectives organizations and exploit technologies that enable us to do that AHEAD OF THE ECONOMIC CYCLE.

So a key element of ‘Business Strategy’ should be to always ensure that operations are efficient and effective whilst also pioneering in their market, in whatever the organization does. Doing so means survival and stability in tough times, and the truth is, that’s what customers want – not bells and whistles!

‘Staying Employed’ must the last concern of CIOs right now – there is a lot of work ahead!

How To Ask For a Fair Raise or Pay Increase During a Recession

Simon — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:05:08 +0000

Asking for a raise during a recession can give good reason for your boss to think you’re totally out of touch with what’s happening in the global economy, or maybe they’ll think you’re just insensitive to business issues. It’s a risky thing to do. What if you’re struggling to make ends meet yourself; perhaps you have no choice? Here are some tips on how to ask for a raise during an economic downturn.

First things first.

If you don’t need a raise, then don’t ask for one. Venturing into this territory has risks, so don’t put yourself at their mercy if you can avoid it. You might want more income, and so do most other people. You should only ask for a raise if you really need it.

Why might you need a raise?

Until recession really bit (Sept/Oct 08), inflation was high. In the US, inflation hit 5.6% and other countries such as the UK, Germany, Canada saw similar figures. Although inflation has gone down significantly, the effect of high energy and food costs, for most people, we are worse off. If it’s costing more to live now, workers who were just keeping their financial heads above water early last year will be struggling right now.

Is this you?

What’s a ‘fair’ raise?

It’s essential to know the value of your role, based on your skills, experience and don’t forget location. You’ll likely observe a band in which your role pays based on these factors, and if you’re asking for a raise that lies well within that banding then you’ve got a good case, particularly if you’re currently earning below average. Try using Payscale.com (US), Salary.com (US), mysalary.co.uk (UK) or search for one in your country.

Once you’ve assessed the band you can negotiate in, you can calculate the ‘fair’ raise you’ll ask for. In a economically challenging climate, fair is to ask just for what you need and no more, providing it falls within the band. It should be a number you can justify and feel confident in asking for a raise with integrity. PayScale.com offer a neat tool for working out your cost of living . You can use the tool for free here .

Here’s another important thing: comparing yourself to your colleagues isn’t a great way of assessing a ‘fair’ salary. This rarely works as a bargaining tactic in my experience, and you’ll land your colleague in the shtuck – disclosing salary is not a prudent thing to do. It’s much better to compare yourself against the benchmark rather than an individual.

Asking for the raise.

Bill Sturrick, a HR manager in NYC, says “If you don’t ask for a raise right now, then you’ll be lucky to get one. You should ask though, if you need it.”Sturrick believes that asking for a raise now shouldn’t expect a hostile response, “People have to eat and put a roof over their heads, and often the raise needed is peanuts!”

The tip is to lay it out to your employer. Don’t hold back on asking for what you need, but don’t be pushy or greedy. Prepare your case before you ask, and demonstrate why you need to raise to make ends meet. Be honest with yourself and your boss when making this assessment though. Trickery just won’t work. Offer any data you’ve gathered to your boss during negotiation – in fact any information you use to base your case for a raise on you should share. You’ll expect complete transparency from your boss, so you should do the same. Any information you have must be open to challenge.

Also consider your uniqueness in your organization. Are you what’s known as a ‘key-man’? (or maybe ‘key-woman’, but it’s just a turn of phrase!) If you are irreplaceable, then you certainly have leverage to ask for a raise. Strong words of advice though – don’t over-use this, or even mention this during negotiation! Your employer won’t like you have them over a barrel, so only use this as a means of confidently negotiating, not as a negotiation tool itself. If you do, then I can promise you this situation will be short-lived whilst your employer reduces their risk.

It’s much better to emphasize your uniqueness and value by discussing the results from recent performance reviews/appraisals to show you are exceeding your employer’s expectations, and bring in any 360 degree feedback to the same effect. Sturrick advises “Use documented evidence of your value during your negotiations and let the opinion of your boss speak for itself.”

Alternatives to a Raise

Many employees won’t ask for a raise when they know that their employer is in financial difficulty. This is a stressful time for employee and employer!

Guess what though – there are alternatives than a raise which can help out with financial strain.

Take a look at personal expenses that are made in the course of employment. Many of these costs are in commuting and childcare. If a raise is out of the question for you, then ask your employer if you can telecommute (that’s work from home) a couple of days a week, which will save on your travel costs, car parking, possibly childcare and even on small costs like eating out for lunch.

You may also want to try negotiating other benefits to reduce your costs, such as additional healthcare and other insurance. Look for expenses that cost you a great deal but are low for your employer under bulk discount.

Negotiation?

I’ve used the word ‘negotiation’ in this article a number of times, but perhaps we shouldn’t see it as a negotiation? This word rings of a win-lose outcome. A discussion about pay during a recession is about searching for a win-win, where you as an employee take home a fair pay that you can live on, and your employer enjoys the benefits of your skills, knowledge and experience for that price. Understanding this can mean you have fair and open discussions with your boss and your HR department – you’re looking for a workable solution to a shared problem.

How To Cope With A Headcount Freeze

Simon — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:17:26 +0000

The Global Financial Crisis continues, and Managers are being asked to do more with the same, or less. The inevitable ‘Headcount Freeze’ has been mandated in many organizations putting pressure on managers to maximize the return on investment. Holy Cow it’s getting tough!

There are a number of interventions that will ease the pressure. And it’s all about people.

A Headcount Freeze is established to limit costs. It tends to apply across the whole organization indiscriminately, and frozen headcount means that the whole organization must take a look at its people costs and utilization. With recruitment on hold, managers really have to get wise about how they use their people and ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness. How is this done?

Look at this as Business As Usual

Microsoft recently denied that they had frozen recruitment. Whether that’s true or not, Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman said “What is true is that we are evaluating hiring as we always do and we might make projections that are different than perhaps we had at the beginning of the year.” Microsoft, like many large organizations, understands that we are in a typical business cycle and managers must adapt accordingly.

Assessing resourcing against growth is what business is all about, whether we’re in growth or recession. So remember, this has happened before and as recent as the early ’00s after the dotcom bust. This means that for most organizations there is a track record of coping with a downturn and that this is not the first instance of this challenge.

Action: Dust off the records from the last downturn; bring in the veterans from the dotcom bust (and the recession of the early 90s) and discuss how it was back then and what interventions were made. Use those times as solid lessons and use that experience in strength.

A powerful mechanism is creating the top five lessons learned, assessing your status against each, and putting actions into practise. This may even require you to reshape or reemphasize your organization’s core values if they are in conflict with your new mandates. Don’t forget to make sure that confusion doesn’t arise!

Make your people most effective

Just because there is a hold on recruitment, it doesn’t mean that your people can’t be moved around into the gaps. This is an excellent opportunity for the ambitious to progress. It is a calculated risk to ‘promote’ your people into more responsible roles. This is a time to get support from your HR department in managing this risk. I put the word ‘promote’ in quotes back then because it isn’t always necessary to increase position or grades; it is normal to see structures flatten and to become more collaborative. HR support comes in when agreeing the ‘psychological contract’ you’ll make with your people who are given new opportunities – no doubt an expectation on increased pay and benefits will emerge yet you won’t necessarily be able to honor it.

I remember, following the early ’00s and 9/11, I was put in charge of a department despite my lack of experience. It was a gamble for my boss, and myself. I knew that the promotion was out of necessity, and that there was not extra cash to be put into my pocket. So I looked on the opportunity as a learning experience, a valuable asset for my resume and a way of opening new doors and networking. So I immersed myself into the new role with gusto. The gamble paid off in the end as I eventually gained credibility in the role and emerged triumphant.

One tip to share is that people who are put into more responsible roles without prior experience need all the support they can get, and a key aspect of this support is to provide regular feedback and appraisals. Their new responsibilities will be challenging and also an important learning opportunity, so maximize your investment and manage the risk by helping these people learn from their new experiences.

Times like these require you to limit key-man dependencies in roles that are expensive to recruit for. You’ll also need to limit the impact of absence. How do you do this? Cross-skill – get your people to train up their colleagues in order have stand-by deputies for coverage. Knowledge Transfer, though, is not as easy as saying it will happen! A reality of people management is that workers can often feel threatened when they’re asked to share their knowledge. This often happens before roles are outsourced or made redundant. Knowledge is power, and it isn’t always shared. Requests to share knowledge need to be preceded by positioning of the organization’s challenges, and where possible, commitments that jobs are safe (but if this isn’t true, don’t say it). Consider incentives and rewards to encourage knowledge sharing.

One word of caution (and this is where HR support comes back in), be careful of ‘constructive dismissal’, or the perception of it. In a nutshell, this is when people are put into roles in which they will underperform, and then sacked. The perception that this happens is far greater than genuine instances! Conversations about new responsibilities need to be carefully managed because of this.

Action: Look at the roles you were looking to recruit for, and then consider who in your current workforce could fill them. Flatten the structure if need be, and use collaboration instead of singular accountabilities. Cross-train people to give yourself greater coverage for key roles and use appropriate incentives to make it happen. Remember that people need support in adapting to new roles and give them regular feedback.

Renegotiate Service-Level Agreements

Do more with the same is a great management mantra, but it isn’t always possible. Let’s face it, SLAs are agreed with the assumption of a steady state. Reality bites when you’re asked to make do, and so should your customers. If you believe that meeting SLAs is genuinely under threat then it’s best to come clean and renegotiate. It’s better to do this now rather than wait and see red warning lights on your management console.

If you don’t have SLAs for services you’re providing, then perhaps curiously it is a time to implement them. Setting the standard means you’re setting clear expectations. It’s often the case that when a service doesn’t have a SLA associated with it then the expectations of that service are the most unreasonable!

The alternative option is to increase recharges for these services. Presenting the option, at least, may help build the case for relaxing the SLAs.

Outsource ad-hoc, discretionary work

Even though you can’t recruit because of a Headcount Freeze, you can still make discretionary projects happen. If you have the budget but not the headcount, consider offering the work outside your organization by outsourcing it.

I wrote about Freelancer Marketplaces such as Elance and Rentacoder last week – these are labor exchanges where jobs are posted and then bid for on a platform. What I like about them is the breadth of potential suppliers of professional services.

Freelancer Marketplaces create genuine opportunities to do more whilst maintaining your headcount levels. Because you can buy services at a fixed cost, you can set budgets. The number of people it takes to deliver the project by the supplier is irrelevant (providing you get the results.)

All kinds of work can be commissioned through these platforms. I do recommend though that only standalone solutions are purchased that require little or no integration into existing technology.

Tips for using external suppliers through Freelance Marketplaces are:

Appoint a manager from your organization to buy and manage these services. This person might be a Project Manager, or a Vendor Manager already. Or try a Subject Matter Expert in the appropriate field with support from yourself.
The more complete and accurate your job posting is, the higher the quality of bids and finished product you will receive. Consider a job posting as a functional specification and business requirement, and include any restrictions on the choice of technologies.
If you need to use a local supplier, say this in the job posting. Elance, for example, allows you to specify the geographies in which you need supply from. Sometimes a face to face meeting is the best way of initiating projects, so specify this as a requirement.
Consider very small projects to start with, such as building an intranet application, whilst you build up your confidence in buying services this way. It limits the risk too.
Make the project completion contingent on successful testing!
Support your supplier as much as possible, but be wary of your own internal costs in managing the relationship.
Very important: remember that your organization has to maintain solutions after they have been built! Full documentation must be secured as a deliverable of the project, including the source if the solution has been programmed. Avoid solutions where your organization is then dependent on the supplier.

Action: Take a look at the discretionary yet high-value projects in your portfolio and consider whether you can lift and drop them onto an external supplier. The best ones are those which stand alone and don’t require extensive integration into your existing technology stack. Provide as much of existing documents (such as requirements and design) as possible. Appoint a manager whose responsibility will be to manage the purchasing of services from suppliers and be a single point of contact for them. Remember ongoing maintenance!

In conclusion a Headcount Freeze creates a management challenge but it isn’t an insurmountable situation. It is business, after all. These situations are typical in an economic downturn, so the lessons of the past can come to bear. The key is people effectiveness, so get your people doing the highest value activities, and if possible, outsource the rest.

Learn more about Elance
Learn more about Rentacoder