Articles

“Purple squirrels” are well known as tough challenges for IT recruiters, even in a down market because purple squirrels are techies with very specific, very hard-to-find skills in technologies that are in very short supply—in other words, candidates who are perfect fits for what the job requires. Often software developers in the newest technologies such as Python, Ruby or Scala and even “older” Net are as scarce as the other species of purple squirrel. Read more

Cultural diversity is becoming increasingly important with local businesses striving to penetrate and establish strong presence in the ever-changing international market. With businesses crossing borders day by day, there is an enormous demand to understand and respect different cultures. There tends to be a fear among employees who are new in cross border assignments. There is a definite lack of knowledge, experience and blatant insensitivity towards cultural diversity, which all lead to a major collapse of businesses. Read more

Many people have heard the expression “the business of life” and wondered exactly what it meant. For me, that phrase has a great deal of meaning. It's how I forged a successful career in the corporate world based on the lessons I’d learned overcoming a variety of personal challenges. Perhaps not surprisingly, these lessons and insights have not only helped me with personal struggles but they can also be directly applied to the workplace, as I discovered during my career in the business world. Now, I’m enjoying sharing those lessons with others, to spare them some of the pain that I’ve experienced over the years – and also to provide a few “short-cuts” to the success they envision. Read more

Rebecca Mieliwocki, this year’s Teacher of the Year, who was recently honored by President Obama in a ceremony at the White House, didn’t start out pursuing a career in education. Now, after 14 years of teaching, Mieliwocki still says about her career: “It was everything I wanted it to be.” What would it take to follow your career dreams? Read more

Throughout the weeks and months in which I played regularly in the early evening with the drum circle, we’d always be surrounded by a large and diverse group of people who spontaneously joined in our music making in whatever way they could. It was not about playing correctly, or inventively, or even beautifully. All that mattered here was communicating with other people and creating a sense of community. Talk about team building. Read more

The best solution to our problems may actually be the nearest and the easiest. Sometimes it seems so easy that we doubt its effectiveness. It is high time we shifted our focus from the basic compensations and benefits approach in order to solve the talent issues we face. Read more

Have you ever wondered why many “managers” do not get the most out of their employees? The answer is simpler than you think. Read more

In the recruiting business, we face many challenges related to sourcing top talent. Among them are chasing elusive candidates, assessing culture fit and dealing with disengaged hiring managers. There is, however, a more concerning issue lurking within the walls of many large corporations -- the surprising absence of clearly defined strategies that drive process execution. Read more

There are untold ways that people show disapproval. Some may roll their eyes, insinuate without completing a sentence, or use sarcasm. If you have ever been hurt by what someone has said or done, read on. This article offers some concrete steps for effectively transforming even the most provocative personal attacks into something constructive. Read more

Attracting graduates has been a great challenge for many organizations. Famous companies like Microsoft, Pepsi, and Google do not face difficulty in this arena since they always have a long line of fresh grads ready to join them. They look for consistency in educational history and background of the student, extra-curricular activities, and so forth. The candidates who are not selected stand in line for other companies-- it must be agreed that brand name plays a large role in attracting graduates to any organization. Read more

GCC countries have long recognized that dependence on a large expatriate workforce has serious long-term political, economic and social consequences. However, little has been achieved in the private sector. So far, the private sector’s response to nationalization has usually been to resist and if pushed hard, by government, it will be with small-scale programs as quotas system. However, recently, very few leading private sector companies recognized its role in the national labor market, and hence nationalization for its economic, political and social consequences. Read more