A quick thought
I use a ton of software and beta test a ton more. It’s a little hobby of mine. Apparently, I’m really good at breaking things.
As an early adopter I’ve seen a lot of models in how a particular application is paid for, whether they be a one-time fee as in the case of boxed software, licenses, subscriptions, to the Web2.0-ish ad-supported models. Don’t even get me started about open source.
So the question nags, so please feel free to educate me on this and at the same time excuse the ignorance as necessary - but I’m hard pressed to think of any other application where the end user is NOT the one paying for the use of the app, in one form or another.
Just a thought.
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The Chimes Conundrum in a nutshell
It’s all about the payments.
The Chimes conundrum shows that the TOTAL OUTSOURCING of an organization’s contingent workforce activities - including and most especially payments - can prove disastrous should something happen to the vendor.
There are many reasons why a company should use a VMS or an MSP: streamlined processes, risk mitigation, supplier management. An MSP can be a cost-effective interface to simplify processes for a client when dealing with multiple vendors. Keyword being INTERFACE.
Siphoning payments through a single entity is not only unnecessary, it makes as much sense as depositing money in an uninsured bank.
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From my inbox
I would like to share a few e-mails that I have received in the last couple of days. Since they were sent to me via e-mail and not left as comments in my blog posts, I will NOT make attributions here.
Update: just got my permission, the following e-mail was sent by Bret Bass from Agile1.
I thought he was spot on, and thought I’d share with the rest of you.
I agree with much of what you’re saying here, and there are a couple of points I’d like to throw out for consideration. First, having come from a different industry (I’ve served in senior management levels at Tyco, GE, et al.) there’s certainly a case to be made for minimizing disruption and potential damage to any industry’s “interdependent ecosystem.” Acquiring the assets of a distressed company is a poor substitute for organic growth. When companies begin down the path of acquisitions to replace sales efforts, little good comes from it. This is also the lesson Axium should have learned itself. The purchase of Chimes was an $80 million mistake, designed to bolster a company that had not enjoyed the benefits of much organic growth. We used to call this “re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”
My main point, however, is that companies slavering over the morsels left in the wake of Axium must remember that they are seeking to replace a product that often received high marks and much customer praise. Simply offering a replacement doesn’t mean that the new product will be as good, as cost effective, or as feature rich. In my experience, many companies will turn predatory quickly when such an opportunity arises. Desperate customers may find themselves saddled with a cumbersome, expensive, and poorly performing VMS because it was there. In such an instance, problems far worse than buyer’s remorse await an impetuous business owner.
Legal teams for companies who relied on the Chimes product are also advising their clients against using the applications for fear that accessing it would cause funds paid through the system to be claimed by the bankruptcy courts. Many of these companies are being urged to use manual processes in the meantime. What I’m taking this to mean is that there will be no quick and easy VMS replacement for Chimes. Without access to the data, everything will need to be entered into the new VMS by hand…a long and resource-laden process. VMS providers would be well advised to approach this undertaking not as a “transition” but as a new implementation. I’m not sure they will. It may be that we’ve not yet seen the darkness that they say precedes the dawn.
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A word on swag
It’s that time of the year for swag.
Being from the marketing side I hear the requests and suggestions for promotional items from sales who want to use the holidays as an excuse to drop by their clients and prospects and “leave something behind.”
I was in sales in my not too distant past and I could never have enough of these giveaways. It gave me an excuse to see people, and even those who normally don’t grant me an appointment all of a would let me come by and give them a present.
But now that I look at it from the marketing point of view, I don’t think swag is such a good idea. I believe there is a time and occasion for giveaways, but relying on promotional items to sell staffing actually hurts more than it helps.
1) One of the main things that hurt staffing firms today is that contingent labor is becoming more and more of a commodity. The process of bringing 30 people to work for company XYZ is not that much different from ordering reams of printing paper. We try to drive home the message that this is not the best approach, but yet we reinforce staffing as a commodity by sticking our logos on dime-a-dozen items like pens and calendars and mugs and other little items that offer absolutely no value to the recipient. Sure, your client sees your logo, and ok, maybe that item will remind the client of your company. But a client knowing what your logo looks like doesn’t necessarily equate to the client seeing the value of your services.
2) If you feel like you need to give your client a promotional item just to get them to see you, you haven’t demonstrated to that client or prospect exactly what value you have to offer. I think it’s nice to have something to leave behind. But if the main reason for the meeting itself is just to drop off a present, I’m not sure how effective that would be in getting not only that prospect’s attention but more importantly, his or her recognition of your brand’s value.
But that’s just me. If you’re a client on the receiving end or a hiring manager, how many times have you chosen a staffing firm to work with because they gave you a promotional item? Or how many times have you found yourself with a staffing need and thought of the staffing rep who gave you that mug last Christmas?
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How do you choose a staffing firm?
I frequent geeky new technology events and the most common question I get right after I tell people that I work for a staffing firm is - what am I doing there?
Why, I’m there to learn about new technologies and meet new people. In that order.
Most assume that when someone from a staffing firm comes to a tech event, that we’re there to harvest leads. Why it’s so unbelievable that I’m there to actually learn is beyond me. What’s there to learn? Plenty. Why learn? As someone who earns a living placing people to work on your stuff, doesn’t it only make sense that I know what your core business is about?
Which brings me to another myth about staffing firms. A recruiter’s job entails more than just matching keywords with resumes or making sure that our candidate has great communication skills to impress a hiring manager during the interview.
The staffing firm is an organization’s representative to a candidate. It’s cliche but considering the number of hiring managers who have told me that all they really care about is whether we can find the people for a reasonable price, maybe it isn’t so obvious.
There are so many things that ride on the hires we bring in. The cost of each wrong hire can mount quickly and the damage that the wrong staffing firm can bring to your company’s employment brand can be irreparable.
How do you choose a staffing firm? I will write posts about this, but just to start, “the right staffing firm” isn’t going to come in the form of the lowest bidding responder to your RFP, nor will it come as the vendor with the best looking brochure or website.
But before I put in my two cents, if you have found The Staffing Firm for your organization, how did you find them and how did you know they were The One?
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Technology and staffing
I went to the Nokia Mobile Mashup event today and was just thinking about how technology relates to staffing.
The event focused on how mobile applications are being used to enhance social networks, connecting people with one another.
As staffing services become increasingly commoditized, it seems technology as it relates to staffing, is going the opposite direction. It isn’t quite connecting people, instead it automates and creates barriers to these human connections. Take VMS, for example. While VMS creates efficiencies in some areas, in a lot of cases it eliminates communication between suppliers and end users. Which really doesn’t make sense because staffing is all about people. We’re not selling office supplies. We sell human capital.
I’m eager to see new technologies that will increase communication between suppliers and end users without sacrificing efficiencies.
IMHO, that will be the next big thing in staffing technology.
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Contingent Workforce Summit — discussions about contingent workforce but without contingent staffing suppliers
Staffing Industry Analysts, Inc is holding its annual Contingent Workforce Summit in October
Notice the “important note” on the bottom, in bold:
This conference pricing is available only to employees of organizations which are major buyers of contingent staffing and/or related services (e.g. Fortune 1000 companies). If you are a staffing/VMS/MSP (or related) vendor, supplier, analyst, or consultant, please contact Diana Gabriel (650-232-2376).
I did call to see what the terms were for those representing staffing suppliers. Dana Gabriel said staffing suppliers are “not qualified to attend” and may only participate as exhibitors. Someone please tell me I misunderstood, because that doesn’t make sense.
It’s like a publisher telling a person “you can’t purchase it at newsstand price, the only way to get it is if you advertise.”
I looked through the conference brochure to look at the session panelists. Fortune 100 companies were well represented, of course, that’s who it’s geared for. VMS providers and the large MSPs are also present in the panels. Then a few lawyers.
There’s one case study presentation moderated by a staffing supplier representative, Maria Goyer, Director of RPO and MSP Services, ASAP Staffing, LLC.
On the Attendee Discussion Tables portion, a few topics revolve around VMS and MSP including implementation and best practices, and there are some topics about suppliers. These discussion tables are limited to “buyers of staffing services.”
I understand nobody wants to be sold to, but contingent workforce programs (VMS or not) consist of so many different components: purchasing, human resources, end users (hiring managers), the VMS provider, the MSP (assuming they are separate), the staffing suppliers, and many more, depending on how many levels you want to drill down to.
Contingent workforce programs are ecosystems of interdependent participants. That said, does it really make sense to exclude staffing suppliers?
What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment.
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LinkedIn profile pics: you CAN turn it off
This has got to be the most useful feature from LinkedIn. Not only do you have the ability to set your photo’s visibility on LinkedIn, you can also choose not to view OTHERS’ profile pictures. It’s definitely a valuable tool for those of us who feel that the photo feature could compromise anti-discrimination hiring practices/expose corporations to possible discrimination suits (from the few sue-happy folks who will use just about any excuse to squeeze a buck).
The option is under your account settings and is the very last option under privacy. Or. You can just click here.
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LinkedIn users divided on pictures, recruiters don’t like it
(Note on all the self-linking: not trying to overly promote myself but I have written about this not just here but also on my other blog so much so just trying to avoid being redundant).
Check out the discussion on LinkedIn’s new feature: pic on profiles, question was posted by LinkedIn user, William Uranga. I posted my thoughts in this post.
Just as expected, recruiters are wary about the ability to view pictures. I had a casual discussion with LinkedIn’s Mario Sundar several months ago on this. That discussion happened just days after the Facebook Developer Platform was launched. Wasn’t a big deal quite yet…right before Silicon Valley fell into Facebook hypnosis. 
(Not exactly sure when this happened. But notice the post on the platform announcement simply said that Facebook was the “Anti-MySpace.” It’s hard to even put the two on the same boat now. You just can’t. ).
I know I started out this post by talking about photos on LinkedIn but I can’t help but be amazed at how little time has passed since that conversation with Mario about profile pictures (Chris Salazar just happened to be right there with a camera. How cool is that?) I can’t believe all the F8 craze is barely three months old.
So many things have happened since. Or little. Depending on how you look at it. LinkedIn has since hinted at opening up their developer platform, and even that is still at least another 4-6 months away (I’m basing it on their “within nine months” statement). LinkedIn Groups is now live (though I think it’s useless). And now photos.
Not sure where LinkedIn is going with all of this. I have mixed feelings about a LinkedIn platform. On one hand I’d like to see applications like Causes but on the other I’d hate to see apps like Zombies (both apps were, by the way, were from the same developer — met him at the Facebook Mixer a while back). And then sometimes, I just wish LinkedIn would just stay the way it is, but maybe with better messaging tools. Or maybe an RSS feed for LinkedIn answers.
I wish there wasn’t so much pressure for LinkedIn to catch up with Facebook. There’s room for both in my book. But how do you say that to LinkedIn, when their position as the leader in business [social] networking is at stake?
Tough choices.
More coverage of LinkedIn Photos:
LinkedIn Photos: Good or Bad Idea? ZDNet
LinkedIn Photos Allows Photos After Resisting - CNN
Job References You Can’t Control - WSJ
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A word on my blog
I’ve received a few comments and quite a bit of e-mails about the VMS series. Quite a few readers have pointed out that I have wrong or misleading information and a few have said I shouldn’t be writing about it because I really don’t know what I’m talking about.
I’m not writing as an expert but as someone who want to facilitate a discussion, which is clearly happening, based on the amount of e-mails and phone calls I’ve received about my VMS posts.
- So a few housekeeping notes here about my blog.
- This is my personal blog. I work for a staffing firm, but as it says on my sidebar, what I say here is my personal opinion and not that of my employer. I am writing from the point of view of someone who has about 10 years of experience in the contingent staffing industry. That experience pales in comparison to those with 20-30 years of experience. I have a lot to learn and I’m using my blog to give people a platform in which they can converse with me, and in effect, educate me. My blog is my listening tool.
- Now that I’ve explained the “personal” label…yes. Of course. It benefits my employer, albeit indirectly. But this is not my employer’s propaganda outlet. None of the stuff I say here is pre-approved by anyone. This blog is not even hosted on any of our servers. So how does it benefit my employer? I’m in marketing. To do my job effectively, I have to continuously educate myself. I have to listen to conversations. I have to keep tabs on the industry. I have to know what the industry is doing. This is my listening tool. Please see #1. Some of us go to conferences, some read trade publications, some attend webinars. Me? I blog.
- Also, I just happen to love blogging. I have another blog where I write about almost anything, and I started this as my career blog. What’s a career blog? Jeremiah Owyang, a senior analyst at Forrester, talks about it here, and I wrote a post about it here. Someone commented to me over e-mail that this blog could very well benefit my employer. I’d like to think so, because I do aspire to be a value to my organization. I write knowing that my personal brand affects my employer’s brand. But other than that, this is NOT part of my employer’s marketing arsenal.
- In addition to my blog being my listening tool, this is also my public notebook. I’m a big believer in the power of collaboration. It’s the Web2.0 way. I post my thoughts and people weigh in. I ask questions and people respond with their opinions or sometimes they will point me to a certain direction. Sometimes they will point out certain things I haven’t really thought about. It’s just like going to the library. I’m not going to try to read all the books they have available on a subject, but I will ask for help. I will ask for the librarian’s help, I will ask other people in the aisle which books they recommend. Those recommendations mean more to me than the database search results. So in addition to my blog as a listening tool, my blog is also my research tool.
- And a few housekeeping notes about the VMS series:
- I work for a contingent staffing supplier and my experience with VMS comes from that perspective. I’ve recruited for VMS accounts in the past. Some were great experiences. Some were horror stories. My intent is to highlight what made the first group great experiences, and highlight the reasons why the second group were horror stories. The end result, hopefully, would be that we’d work with more with accounts from the first group, and hopefully those who stumble upon my horror stories will avoid those mistakes.
- There are those that said since I work for a staffing supplier, that I must be anti-VMS and that my ultimate goal is to discourage prospects from using VMS. I recognize that VMS will be around. There are a myriad of reasons why companies implement VMS. Theoretically a product or service will not exist in a free market if there was no real value for it. But any solution is only as good as the way it is implemented. A few have pointed that out that it’s quite a lofty goal to aspire for some sort of VMS best practices that will benefit all parties – clients, MSP, VMS, suppliers, HR, purchasing, hiring managers and contingent staff – and a few have said it’s not going to happen. That may be true, that it’s too much to aspire for, but the conversations that result from the postings whether they be on my comments section or via e-mail, are priceless.
- A few have pointed that out that someone’s gotta be paying for my blog to come so high up on Google’s search results. I’d like to take that as a compliment to my SEO skills, but the real reason behind it is that there isn’t much information about VMS on the Internet. There are plenty of whitepapers and there are plenty of corporate sites that talk about it, but it isn’t addressed much in the Blogosphere and Google’s algorithms tend to have a preference for blogs due to their high trust ranking. But no, there is no advertising at all to drive traffic to this blog.
To summarize all of the above, this blog is my conversation tool. I’m glad you’ve found my blog and I’m grateful to those who have weighed in and pointed things out to me and to those of you who have taken the time to e-mail and call me. That right there, is this blog’s main goal.
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About This Blog
Lisa Amorao is currently the Marketing Programs Manager for ATR International, a Silicon Valley-based contingent staffing firm.
Lisa has held roles in recruiting and sales before moving on to her current role in Marketing.
The opinions expressed here are her personal opinions and does not reflect those of her employer or any of its clients.
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