Comments on: The Connector’s Departure

By: Leif Wennerstrom

Leif Wennerstrom — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:47:22 +0000

Nancy is right on. Pick up the phone and surprise them.. You’ll get a lot of good information and actually create a relationship BSing about their city, weather, etc.. This is why top headhunters will continue to bill in this market where college graduates now think it is “intrusive” to call someone cold rather the send then a text..

By: Keith Halperin

Keith Halperin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:00:39 +0000

The two valuable lessons I got from the article are:
1) Treat people decently
2) Make sure no one is indespensible to your operation.

Cheers,

Keith “Restating the Obvious Since the 20th Century” Halperin

By: Martin Snyder

Martin Snyder — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:21:37 +0000

Rachel, you hit an intersting point about both performance management and pre-hire assessment; namely that you can’t assess individuals apart from the groups that they operate within. One prima dona may be great to motivate a team, but two can destroy one. One connector can be important to bring a team together, but two may be a waste of money.

Some workers may produce very little by way of measurable output, but they may be the ones that keep others on task and looking toward the goals at hand……

I have known more than one salesperson whose production falls of a cliff when a favorite admin goes away, and I have seen whole groups of software engineers change attitudes and performance via the addition or subtraction of a single player…..how is assessment or performance review practice going to describe those real-world effects ?

By: Rachel Schneider

Rachel Schneider — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:11:41 +0000

I agree with Nancy. The story is very good with a point well taken – be very careful about who you terminate and reasons. If John was seen as invaluable because of his “computer time” then he was sorely underestimated. I have seen small businesses collapse because someone who was thought to be “just there” or is “easily replaceable” or “non strategic” actually had key knowledge and made very important, yet less visible contributions. Unfortunately, this happens more often than not. And many times, the ending is exactly what was noted – they work for competitors or start their own companies. John was not the right person to reduce in a layoff, his employer is very shortsighted.

To Nancy’s point, a good sales or marketing person will be able to get to the purchasing manager. In fact, too often those managers are circumvented because they do exactly what that Manager does – limit the circle which also has the effect of limiting the competitive bid and quality of newer or other vendors. That type of limitation tends to hurt companies in many ways. The point, however, that the Purchasing Manager was connected in other ways is also well taken. In addition to the fact, that having connections in other areas via social networking could have led to an introduction anyway.

Social networking is another tool, not the be all or end all of communication. With some of Shally (JobMachine) Steckerl’s techniques a person can easily find people whether they are on LinkedIN and part of the network or not. Plus there are numerous phone and other internet search techniques that will turn up the desired contacts quickly. Pick up the phone and CALL. Purchasing is probably one of the most accessible departments along with Sales! If you don’t get in one way, there is always another.

This example company deserved to fail because clearly they may have a good product, but are very mediocre in their marketing, networking, and employee assessment capability. :) One other small note, using social media to flame former associates and posting company information can lead to serious legal issues…again, the point is well taken.

Nice illustrative example!

By: Martin Snyder

Martin Snyder — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:09:29 +0000

Nice reply Nancy. Nobody loves to blog and comment more than me, but I dont confuse the cart and the horse; If my extrusions are the best available for the money, the social networking will take care of itself one way or another.

And as far as John flaming me all over the web: I dont care what you say about me, as long as you are talking about me !

By: Nancy Anton

Nancy Anton — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:34:42 +0000

Frank, Excellent story…
You did forget one part though.. its when the talent acquisitions manager, while waiting for all the co-workers to search through their contacts, actually picked up the phone, called the company directly and asked for the name of the Purchasing Director. The Purchasing Director answered the phone, since now a days they get far more in-mails then calls, and the conversation, personal as it was, voice to voice, turned into a start to a real relationship. Social networking is truly amazing…but without a phone… its not as powerful as a real conversation. Use both. As Krista Bradford suggests: “A email takes the cold out of the call and a call takes the email out of Spam”. Wise words for sure.

By: Alan Whitford

Alan Whitford — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:26:43 +0000

Hi Frank

Great scenario building – and some scary real world examples.

Best regards

Alan

By: Maureen Sharib

Maureen Sharib — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:17:48 +0000

“Everyone agreed to look.

When she checked Linkedin, she couldn’t find anyone in purchasing in Aluminum Windows, and only a few people in the company at all. Never mind, she thought. Someone else can probably get to her.

The water cooler beckoned, and his search was abandoned.

Jean, in production planning, ignored the request from the Sales Manager on principle.”

A good, real-world scenario.