From Silly to Absurd

The economy has redefined many job descriptions and I've written about position consolidation before. This one takes the cake. I spoke with a recruiter yesterday looking for the following  skill sets in one person.

Account Executive
Industrial Engineer
Brand and Marketing
Digital Pre-Press
Consumer Products
Graphic Design
[Discipline] Engineer

I'm afraid to ask, "how many more disciplines can you get in one person?" Okay, I can't resist. They forgot plumber and physical therapist. Now it's complete.

Auto Response

Here is a sad commentary on how some companies approach job candidates.

This is a real auto-response from an internet job submission. This company is so benign, they didn't bother to populate the required fields, before uploading to their system.

Dear Jack DeLine (no punctuation)

We have received your resume submission for the Director of Marketing position at (add company name). We will review your resume within (add timeframe) and contact you should your qualifications meet the requirements of the position. Your submission will be kept on file for (add length of time).

In addition to considering you for the Director of Marketing position, your resume will also be added to our applicant-tracking database and we will review your qualifications as new opportunities develop. You are welcome to apply to future job postings if an opportunity interests you.

Thank you again for applying!

Regards,

Name deleted

(add company name, link to company website, other contact info as appropriate)


Pretty soon we can just have self-directed submission responses and rejection letters.

Toyota Lessons

What have we learned, from the Toyota quality meltdown? In the 80's Japanese cars were superior to American cars in quality. 30 years later, the Japanese manufacture many cars and parts in America. The quality of the two countries have converged.

Here are the questions:

- Where did Kaisen, Six Sigma, ISO, Lean Manufacturing get us? Companies have spent millions of dollars on these programs to increase quality, from car manufacturers to advertising agencies.

- Where is the cost/quality line on ROI?

- What is customer satisfaction worth?

- What is the cost of "packaged" practices (besides hanging a banner on your building)?

Which is a good business practice?
A. Listen to your people to improve quality
B. Buy the latest "management del ano" book and force it on your company associates

(Hint: Who will implement the program?)

Are We Too Lean

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal was questioning the "Lean" manufacturing system. A valid question. Have we reduced our "x" (insert: costs, people, suppliers, insert anything that's applicable), to the point of losing quality or even efficiencies?

As a organizational structure and process expert, I'm all for efficiencies. I'm also a fan of Jim Collins. In his book, "Good to Great," he expresses having the right people on the bus. Also, it's important, in having the right people in the right seats on the bus. But, what happens when you take seats out of the bus?

In one of my organizations, I proved we could add people and reduce overhead, by having the right people in the right places. Do you?

Diversity

In last pages of Leonard Sweet's book, "The Three Hardest Words in the World to Get Right," he struck home many points I've covered in my blogs, but none more rooted than diversity. Here are some poignant quotes from the book:

• "Every one of us is different, even when we're doing the same thing."
• "Cloning is the abolishment of diversity. And think about organizational cloning and social cloning, as segments of our culture celebrate enforced sameness."
• "Sometimes it's our eccentricities that prod us into our greatest contributions."

Interesting he used the word, "cloning." My same word describing many companies hiring practices. Doing what you've always done, will get you what you already have.

I love this last quote!

• "Sameness is a one-way ticket to extinction."

WaterBrook Press