Early warning, or you can’t find what you’re not looking for

The resignation of India’s security chief raises a question that appears in almost every crisis: could we have avoided surprise? For companies, the answer has implications for a host of issues:

“People with valuable talent are obvious”

While he focuses on getting hired, this is a great read for anyone who ever has to sell anything…which means all of us.

Bringing social media to your organization

A nine-step playbook from a guy who clearly knows his stuff:

Retaining talent in the Chinese economy

Many organizations in China report that they are under performing in terms of revenue, growth and profit expectations. A key reason for this is the challenge that Chinese organizations are facing in the area of talent retention. The skills shortage in China means that salary bills are soaring as key employees hop from job to job, attracted by ever higher wages.

It is now clear that on its own, pay is not an effective tool for employee retention. Hay Group argues that in order to retain key staff, organizations must resist the temptation to use ever higher salaries as the primary employee retention tool. Instead they should focus their attention on two key areas. First, they must look at how they can increase employee engagement. Then they need to provide better support for success of their employees.

Read more (registration required). 

To recruit or not to recruit…

Interesting post in the NYT this morning, entitled “Why Should Recession Stop the Recruiters?”

Some good points:

• “For one thing, word spreads quickly when an employer lets a lot of people go or rescinds job offers. That can hamper future recruiting efforts.
• Companies do not just lose appeal as employers if they lay off younger workers or freeze hiring. They may also limit their ability to develop future leaders.
• Scarce talent will still be scarce when the economy improves

European v. US CEO pay

Chief executives in the US have total salary and incentives packages typically one and three quarter times the size of those of their European equivalents – almost €9.7 million compared to €5.6 million in Europe. Base salaries for chief executives tend to be lower in the US than in Europe – but bonuses and long-term incentives are much bigger in the US. Hay Group conducted a study of the pay of chief executives which provides a clear picture of their rewards.  The report (requires registration) analyzes executive compensation data from the largest European and US companies (50 of each).  It covers:

• Base salary
• Annual incentive plans
• Total cash
• Long-term incentive plans
• Total direct compensation

The report also looks at fees paid to European chairmen and non-executive chairmen.

No wonder Obama won

My friends at Saugatuck Technologies published some interesting stats on the Presidential campaign and Social Media Utilization:

Figure 1: U.S. Presidential Campaign 2008 – Social Media Utilization

Network	Barack Obama	John McCain
Facebook Friends	3,169,386	608,447
MySpace Friends	963,114	221,162
Twitter Followers	133,163	4,852
YouTube Subscribers	141,678	29,013

Source: Saugatuck Technology, Data as of 11/18/2008

Obama’s first 100 days

My Hay Group colleagues, Scott Spreier and John Larrere, culled this advice for a Business Week article from their experience studying and working with leaders around the world: he should immediately start taking the following six steps, so that by the end of his first 100 days in office he has established his credibility as a global leader and has begun moving the country forward:

1. Assume a dual leadership role of figurehead and visionary.
2. Create a solid, sustained narrative to “sell” his vision and drive it forward.
3. Quickly grasp the scope, complexity, and diversity of his constituencies.
4. Maintain a healthy sense of curiosity and an openness for new ideas.
5. Create an effective leadership team that can help drive his vision.
6. Create a unique “Presidential” self-image.

Read more here.