HRmarketer.com Acquires HRVendors.com and HR Vendor Phonebook

L to R: Kevin Grossman, Mark Willaman, Dr. Joe Outcalt, Jonathan Goodman.

I'm proud to announce some exciting news - for HRmarketer and more importantly, for HRmarketer customers.

We have acquired Outcalt & Associates, Inc., the owner of HRVendors.com and the HR Vendor Phonebook and Directory. Press release here.

The products we have purchased will expand HRmarketer's wide-ranging menu of service and give our customers additional means to reach human capital decision-makers.

HRVendors.com and the HR Vendor Phonebook will retain their current product names but will be merged into HRmarketer.com. The phonebook is considered a foremost directory of human resource and employee benefits vendors, with more than 4,500 vendors listed in the 2009 edition. It gets distributed to thousands of human resource decision makers (who have requested it) twice annually.

This product and it's sister service (a web-based, lead-referral service) HRVendors.com boosts HRmarketer.com’s ability to help HR vendors reach HR professionals and decision-makers via web sites, print media and e-mail—as well as enabling HR vendors to increase their online visibility, web site traffic and sales leads.

In terms of integrating with HRmarketer this is about as perfect of a fit as one could ask for - the old saying "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" most certainly applies here and as more details are released (and our development team completes their integration work) our customers will see why. There are some really terrific things about to happen at HRmarketer over the next year or so. We have big plans for these products :-)

This was also one of the most pleasant business transactions I have ever participated in thanks to Dr. Joe Outcalt, founder and president of Outcalt & Associates and a man of great integrity and ability. This was an all-cash transaction that required no debt so the strong financial position of Fisher Vista, LLC will not be compromised as a result of this deal. Joe built a wonderful and highly respected business over the last 30 years. Frankly, I was fortunate to have met Mr. Outcalt and we are privileged to continue his tradition. And thankfully, Joe will be staying with HRmarketer to make sure we continue in his tradition.

While I was busy building my business, I choked the life out of it

It’s been a long but productive week. Things are rockin’ at HRmarketer with the new SEO Center and Lead Referral Program and much more.

So the other morning I’m working out in the home gym (aka, garage gym) while watching the Today Show. A commercial comes on – one I’ve seen many times of late. Maybe you’ve seen it too.

While I was busy building my life, crap was building up in my arteries choking the life out of me…

Okay, not exactly what the commercial says, but it bugs me. So, while you were busy building your life you weren’t taking care of yourself planning a healthy future for you and your family?

Apply that to building a business in today’s climate. Are you too busy building your business to keep your website search-optimized and fresh with new content for your prospects? Are you too busy to develop and execute content-rich print and email marketing campaigns? Are you too busy to send out search-optimized press releases? Are you too busy to set up a Facebook or LinkedIn group (for free)?

Are you too busy to Tweet? C’mon, even Oprah’s doing it.

We talked with a company the other day that said their marketing budget was slashed to zero.

Zero?

What are you doing to generate visibility and leads then?

(Crickets chirp)

We’re just working on our current pipeline. We’ll pick things back up when things turn around.

Do you know how hard that’s going to be when your competitors shooting ahead of you online and elsewhere?

(Crickets chip)

We’ll keep working on our pipeline. Thanks.

Ironically working on your pipeline with no other marketing in play is gonna choke the life out of you, but good luck.

Sigh.

Focus on the future and keep your business in good health.

Happy Friday!

Post by Kevin Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn)

Managing a Business in a Recession. Or Not. Lessons from Johnson & Johnson.

The most recent Fortune Magazine has an excellent story titled J&J: Secrets of Success.

I love the intro:

Are you having a tough year at your company? Sorry to hear it. If it makes you feel any better, they're also having a tough year at Johnson & Johnson. How tough? Well, it appears - though it's not certain - that sales may actually decline in 2009, and that hasn't happened in 76 years. Profits will probably decline too, which hasn't happened in 25 years. But don't worry about the dividend. The company will almost certainly manage to raise it this year, just as it has done annually for the past 46 years.

Okay, that probably doesn't make you feel any better. Those facts show the extent of the damage at J&J during the economic collapse, and if it seems laughably mild, then you're beginning to see why this company is worth much more attention than it usually gets.

J&J easily makes my top five list of best managed businesses in the world. It would also make my top five list of stocks I want in my investment portfolio.

After getting my MBA back in the 1990s I spent four years at J&J so the company is near and dear to my heart. I learned a lot at J&J and still reap the benefits from those lessons.

The Fortune article discusses how J&J doesn't seek the spotlight, but its extraordinary track record - and how it pulls that off - is a wonder to behold.

How extraordinary?

"The Fortune 500's profits dropped 85% last year. J&J's profit increased 22%. As remarkable as that record seems, you get a more impressive perspective by stepping back - way back. Not many companies can give you their 100-year compound annual growth rate, but J&J can. It's 10.5%....if you'd bought a single share when the company went public in 1944 at its IPO price of $37.50 and had reinvested the dividends, you'd now have a bit over $900,000, a stunning annual return of 17.1%.....".

Wow.

So what are the company's secrets to success and what can HR vendors learn from J&J about managing a business in a recession? The Fortune article gives five lessons:

1. Diversify within a single industry. J&J realizes benefits by staying within one broadly defined industry - healthcare. I remember a former CEO of J&J stating "Our approach is very straightforward: protect and strengthen the leadership positions we have established in our base businesses, and use them as foundations for building new platforms for growth". Brilliant.

2. Focus on the future. Too many companies are obsessed with the short term. Not J&J. Their R&D spending within the pharmaceutical business is the highest in Big Pharma. There are too many HR vendors in this recession who are in panic mode and making decisions that will hurt their long term success.

3. Let the experts run the business. J&J consists of about 250 operating companies. And J&J management lets to business heads run their units. Even a small HR vendor can learn from this decentralization strategy - it's how you develop leaders, and get things done. Note to CEO's: let your managers run their business.

4. Stay financially disciplined - always. Robert Wood Johnson (founder of J&J) insisted that "reserves must be created" and "adverse times must be provided for." The Fortune article states "That's why J&J borrows little and won't even go near endangering its triple-A credit rating. Says Leerink-Swan analyst Rick Wise: "They're thinking 10 or 20 years out. They have the financial flexibility and staying power so that even when they make a mistake short-term, they have the ability to hang in there."

5. Have a purpose beyond profits. J&J invented the mission statement and has the most famous "credo" in business. But lots of companies have these things right? Yes but unlike most businesses J&J actually lives their credo. J&J's CEO Weldon says, "Some of the best business principles ever written were Enron's. It's just an extraordinary document." The key isn't adopting the principles, it's believing them."

The Fortune article says:

"Keeping the Credo alive takes work. Weldon travels around the world with J&J's HR boss and general counsel, talking with employees who are moving into leadership positions about real-life problems and how the Credo applies. Weldon says, "It's an open dialogue about 'How could this have happened? Could it have happened in your area? What do you do to ensure it doesn't?'"

Yes, the HR department has a "seat at the table" at J&J.

Read the article - it's a good one.

New SEO and “Marketing” Web Sites Article (and a podcast to boot)

Irony: most HR suppliers agree that they need to be found online today - which means within the first 10 pages (optimally page 1) - but 50% have lousy SEO.

Really. I was shocked as well.

Company web sites have become the leading source of sales leads—yet many sites in the human capital marketplace offer little more than online “brochures.”

We released a new article that explains how vendors can use search-optimized web sites and marketing activities to attract and engage customers.

It's the first in a three part series titled SEO and Marketing Web Sites: Internet Best Practices for Human Resource Vendors (no registration required).

The article walks HR suppliers through the basic steps of search-optimizing a Web site, as well as effective branding and messaging, the elements of a strong “marketing” site and how to choose the right keywords. A checklist of common missteps to avoid is included, along with an overview of keyword research and ranking tools. Together, the information will help HR vendors increase their Internet visibility, Web traffic and search engine rankings—all of which translate to increased sales leads.

Keep in mind that the first impression a potential customer has of your company is often formed when viewing your Web site. A visitor (potential buyer) should be able to understand what you do, how you’re unique, and be motivated to download your valuable content without leaving the first page.

The complimentary article is available to download at http://www.hrmarketer.com/home/wp_article_SEO_Marketing_Best_Practices.htm

Other highlights include:

• Selecting the right keywords
• Updating page titles and Meta tags
• Using keywords in URLs
• Page and site content
• Proper use of internal links
• Best practices for image use and the dangers of all-Flash sites
• “Black Hat SEO”: What not to do

The latest HR Market Share podcast is also ready for your listening pleasure below. It's a special podcast episode dedicated to the launching of our new SEO Center.

We’ve got interviews with Scott Johnson and Noel Geren from ZoomRank, our ranking tool partner, and HRmarketer’s founder Mark Willaman. Chock full of vital SEO information that everyone should know about.

If you'd like to be interviewed on our podcast about what's working in marketing and PR or anything about the HR marketplace, or if you have feedback and suggestions for the podcast, please email me at hrmarketshare(at)hrmarketer(dot)com or kgrossman(at)hrmarkter(dot)com.

Subscribe to the series in iTunes and look for regular posts to our blog and on the HRmarketer.com site. You can also subscribe to all our past interviews and episodes via Hipcast.

Thank you and enjoy!


Post by Kevin Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn)

HRmarketer.com Webinar with John Sumser: Regional HR Marketing and PR - Tailoring Sales to Market Realities

You ever wonder where your customers are and why? And whether or not that should affect your marketing activities? And if so, how? What the heck are the realities of workforce demographics anyway?

Well, if you’re asking these questions then you need to join us for a complimentary HRmarketer.com webinar titled Regional HR Marketing and PR - Tailoring Sales to Market Realities.

Our special guest speaker is John Sumser, founder and CEO of Two Color Hat, Inc. His firm provides product analysis, market segmentation, positioning, strategy and branding guidance.
Many of you know John as the sometimes acerbic but always big-thinking thought leader in recruitment and staffing and HR technology. (He’s a really nice guy, too.)

The Webinar will be on Thursday, May 7, 2009 from 10-11 am PT (1-2 pm ET). Register here.

In this new HRmarketer webinar, John will talk about the realities of current workforce demographics, how they affect HR vendor sales efforts and the following interrelated topics:

• Over the past decade, the composition of the country has been changing
• The drivers are Aging, Mobility in the college educated workforce, fertility, regionalization of industries and vocations
• Big trends include migration to the coasts by the college educated
• The result is a very niche-y mosaic: The US (in particular) is no longer a single culture
• There are more than 100 discrete regional cultures in the US, maybe as many as 250
• They vary by age structure, ethnic structure, educational attainment, life expectancy, manners, core industries, religious orientation
• You can get to know a lot about them by looking at the structure of their population and economy.
• Effective business development strategy tailors your process to the region you're working in
• A regional focus allows you the capacity to build momentum while holding down costs
• A regional focus is a cost effective marketing approach
• And much more

And if this isn't enough coolness, then you should also listen to the Total Picture Radio interview on the state of the recruiting industry with John Sumser and Jonathan Goodman, recorded at the spring ERE Expo.

"The State of the Recruiting Industry is dismal. Nobody is working. Recruiting has been practiced as a reactive sport. But with all of these out-of-work recruiters comes this enormous explosion of entrepreneurial creativity."

--John Sumser.

Post by Kevin Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn)

Traversing the Brave New Business World: Who Are You Today and Who Are Your Buyers?

These unprecedented economic tectonic shifts we keep experiencing will forever change the way consumers buy goods and services. The financial services, retail and hospitality industries have been decimated and we still haven’t hit bottom yet.

The HR marketplace has experienced it’s own shifts as well and recruitment services have been decimated, although there is a tree of opportunity as Jonathan Goodman pointed out from the last ERE Expo.

The point being: what we used to think of as economic cyclical normalcy has been replaced with an unrecognizable footprint every day.

And that’s all of us traversing through this brave new business world.

When was the last time you sat down to review your company’s core messaging? Budget tightening has restricted HR’s direct buys and CEO’s, CFO’s, CTO’s and COO’s are calling more of the shots, so have you mapped out who your current buyers and influencers are and what they’re new world pain points are all about?

We’re in the process of doing that ourselves and I highly recommend the exercise. Again, this is a brave new business world and it’s not just about deciding on your marketing message to your prime buyers and occasionally revising per marketing/sales team input.

The media and analyst landscape is changing rapidly. Newspapers are dying and online visibility is critical. Trade shows and print advertising are dead. Social media marketing is integral to being part of your buyer conversations. Blogging and commenting on blogs continues to be important. Best practice content marketing is how you win the hearts of minds of your buyers and influencers, not with free trials and discounts.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Do you have a mission statement?
• What business are you in? What business do you want to be in?
• What are your business objectives? Marketing objectives?
• Who are your audiences (buyers and influencers)? What are they like? Prioritize and rank the audiences based on importance to your success.
• What are the trends that will impact your market as a whole and your company? Technology trends, market trends, social trends.

And that’s only the beginning, but don’t stop innovating and marketing just to do this kind of core business analysis.

Think of it like riding a tandem bike with yourself uphill. It’ll be a blast when you get to the top.

Post by Kevin Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn)

The Tree of Opportunity: Reflections on ERE Expo Spring 2009

If any one image captures the zeitgeist of our times as well as the mood I sensed while attending the recent ERE Expo Spring 2009 in San Diego, it’s this one courtesy of the Future of Talent. Executive Director, Susan Burns walked me through the imagery.

Here I stand in “my current world.” The “winds of change” are blowing hard around me. In the distance I see my “tree of opportunity.” But in order to get to the tree I must pass over the “bridge of obstacles” under which rages the “river of recruiting challenges.”

Marketers take note. This booth cost the least to produce and and stood out the most. Maren Hogen flagging attendees walking the aisles helped too – you can’t discount good booth staff!

Once I took in the scene I was hooked and had to engage.

This is the stuff that drives our great narratives in literature and film. It’s also a framework, either consciously or unconsciously, that keeps managers, recruiters, executives, and all business leaders ever hungry to hit the next goal, target, and milestone. These days, that goal may simply be to stay in business another quarter. For many job seekers connecting with recruiters every day, it’s even more personal and more dire.

But not everything is so gloomy.

Take for example, a series of remarkable stories and conversations from Peter Clayton and his reporting for Total Picture Radio. HRmarketer.com sponsored Peter’s reporting from the ERE Expo. Each conversation implicitly addresses the “winds of change” around us all – and in their own unique way, how billion dollar companies and newly formed non-profits alike are finding ways to cross the “bridge of obstacles” over the “river of recruiting challenges” toward the “tree of opportunity.”

I recommend listening to each of these interviews. If don’t already know about JobAngels, then the first interview is in the category of can’t miss.

• Charee Klimek, Chief Marketing Officer, Guardian Angel of JobAngels
• Scott Pitasky Corporate Vice President, Talent & Organizational Capability at Microsoft
• Shally Steckerl, Chief CyberSleuth of JobMachine.net and Arbita
• John Sumser of Two Color Hat, (along with Jonathan Goodman of this blog post)

While you’re at it, you should also subscribe to Total Picture Radio – Peter always has more to come.

Finally, it was great to see familiar faces and friends from CollegeRecruiter.com, Improved Experience, Arbita, JobTarget,Bernard HODES Group, HRchitect, Qualigence, Simply Hired, and many others. While no hand painted murals hung in their booth space, they had a valuable presence and made a real show of the great people that stand behind these great brands of the recruiting industry.

Lastly, times are tough all over and it’s probably an impossible feat to attract anywhere near a “normal” years attendance. (I just read in BusinessWeek that there is no more normal). In any case, the team at ERE Media is a first class bunch and this event was as well.

I look forward to seeing everyone out for ERE Expo Fall!

Drop us a comment to say hello or to add to the discussion!

50% of HR Vendors Have Lousy Search Rankings. What are Your Rankings?

As many readers of this blog know, we recently launched the SEO Center on HRmarketer.com that gives users the ability to track their SEO effectiveness and schedule one-on-one education/training sessions with HRmarketer SEO experts.

Hundreds of HR vendors are using the SEO Center which is giving us a unique lens on SEO in the HR marketplace. What we are seeing is quite interesting.

• About 20% of HR vendors don't even rank on Google, Yahoo! and MSN. This is defined as not showing up on first 10 pages (100 rankings) for any of their keywords which were pulled from the HR vendor's META tags and web site copy.
  

• An additional 30% of HR vendors ranked on just one or two sets of Keywords but not on the first two or three pages of search results. Again, ranking being defined as showing up on the first 10 pages of Google, Yahoo! and/or MSN.

This means that about half of HR vendors have lousy SEO. Not good considering HR buyers (and consumers in general) go to the Internet first (maybe second to peers but not always) when researching products and services they intend to purchase.

The good news is about 50% of HR vendors had good SEO being defined as ranking on the first several pages of major search engines for their top keywords. These are the companies being found first. So if your competitor ranks and you don't guess who is getting the leads?

• Lastly, about 15% had exceptional SEO defined as having page 1 rankings for at least two or three keyword phrases.

What was even more interesting was a correlation between top ranking HR vendors and the amount of search optimized press releases they sent. Obviously this alone will not guarantee high rankings but considering the cost of sending search optimized releases is so minimal (especially for HRmarketer members) you should be sending at least one per month.

How are your rankings?

If you are an HRmarketer customer login and visit the SEO Center. If you don't like what you see schedule a free one-to-one to start improving your SEO.

If you are not a customer just do some searches on major search engines for your keywords and see where you show up (and give us a call if you'd like some help).

The Lastest HR Market Share Podcast: Interview with Kevin Herring from Ascent Management Consulting

The latest HR Market Share podcast is ready for your listening pleasure below. Subscribe to the series in iTunes and look for regular posts to our blog and on the HRmarketer.com site. You can also subscribe to all our past interviews and episodes via Hipcast.

This podcast series covers what's hot in the HR space; recent mergers, acquisitions and earnings; recent HR supplier news; what's working in marketing and PR and what's not; interviews with HR suppliers and other marketing/PR/business thought leaders.

The latest episode includes marketplace news, what's new with HR products and services, seemingly random acts of marketing and PR, and the podcast main feature is my interview with Kevin Herring, President of Ascent Management Consulting.

Kevin Herring talks about why cost cutting and layoffs are a losing strategy, how to discover untapped potential in every workforce, and what it takes to create remarkable leaps in innovation and performance to thrive while competitors are failing. Listen to the podcast for all the insight.

If you'd like to be interviewed on our podcast about what's working in marketing and PR or anything about the HR marketplace, or if you have feedback and suggestions for the podcast, please email me at hrmarketshare(at)hrmarketer(dot)com or kgrossman(at)hrmarkter(dot)com.

Thank you and enjoy!

Interview with Kevin Herring, President of Ascent Management Consulting.

• The coolest collection of HR-related news and content found online is in our HR Community (get a profile up if you're not already there)
• News for HR Newsletter
• Firms Try Alternative to Hourly Fees
  
• More HR marketplace news here and here
• John Sumser Webinar: Regional HR Marketing and PR - Tailoring Sales to Market Realities
• The SEO Center has launched!
• Cause-related marketing
  
• Ascent Management Consulting

Post by Kevin Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn)

SHRM Global Conference in Toronto – March 30 – April 1, 2009

I had the pleasure of attending the SHRM Global Conference in Toronto on March 31^st, and saw immediately that it was of the usual high standard of content and organization that SHRM is recognized for. Though the facility itself was large and not as well marked as it could have been, once you got to the registration area, everything flowed very nicely around that central hub.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend any of the educational sessions, but the session list indicated that the range and diversity of topics and speakers would have touched on many of today’s painful global topics. From: “A Survey of HR Global Ethics” to “Don’t Get Lost in Translation” to “Global Immigration Laws.” YIKES! I do not think that a full week of content would cover all of the issues that need to be discussed. What was important is that the HR practitioners could write their GPHR at this conference.

I did however walk the floor in the exhibit hall, and what I loved was the intimacy of the space. No one company seemed dwarfed by some of the larger companies that perhaps had a bigger budget. Even the big “M” job board/talent management company was a 10 x 10, table top in the row with a small global relocation firm. Of course the larger budgets were seen with the sponsorships of the breakfasts, refreshments and big dinner extravaganzas, but not in the exhibit hall.

I am sure you are wondering about the exciting new things in the Global space – well, there was no huge launch; no dancing dogs introducing the next best of the best, somewhat subdued I would say, however, I did catch a couple of things that might interest you.

• The Pasha Group - www.pashagroup.com - was introducing their new “MoveMetric Domestic” however I have not been able to find any press around it – so this may have been their first intro of it to the space.
• Multi Law Association – www.multilaw.com – an association site of 55 lawyers around the world who co-operatively work together and refer their fellow colleagues when a global client has a specific country need. I love the ‘zen-like’ feel of this group.
• Ataway – www.ataway.com – Global consultancy for People, Process and Systems with some very strong systems and technology partnerships. Interesting company, started by a number of people who had worked together at another large consultancy, (not the only company in the space where this has happened from that particular large company) then pulled together and started Ataway. This was their first conference, ever – and they had a nice presence.

The big question may be – “So what was the attendance like?” and from what I saw – not very large. However consider this – the state of the global economy begs for companies to be responsible with their budgets, and travel and conference budgets have been cut from both HR practitioners and vendors alike. My understanding from the vendors that I spoke to, the first night of the conference, the exhibit hall was very busy. The attendees came to speak briefly with the exhibitors, but the hope of the vendors was that they would return over the remaining exhibit hours. I did not see that happening on the second day of the conference. It was the only other day for the attendees to come visit the exhibitors and they just did not come in. SHRM tried very hard to drive them into that room – refreshments and lunch was served in there during the day. The educational sessions did not overlap very much with the exhibit hours, again kudos to SHRM for considering the investment of the vendors – BUT they just did not go.

Why? – Well here are my thoughts, and it could have been all/combination/one of these things:

1. attendees taking that time to catch up at the office
2. the sessions were so great that the conversations spilled out in the hallways after the session completed (I mean, how often are you going to discuss face-to-face with your peer from South Korea)
3. Toronto is such a beautiful city, they just needed to step out to see it
4. jet lag – catching up on those zzzzz’s
5. needing that time for let the information for the session soak in
6. they were preparing for their GPHR exam
7. they just don’t need to go into the exhibit hall because a marketing savvy vendor will have all of the information needed on their content filled, SEO ready website and they will just check it online.

As usual, SHRM delivered – Conversations happened – now it is up to the vendors to make the investment strong – how is your follow up marketing coming vendors?

Posted by Rita Jackson

Edison would be proud of HR vendor innovation (and the SEO Center)

One of my favorite Silicon Valley tech journalists is Chris O’Brien. His columns are refreshing and optimistic in an otherwise sauerkraut-gone-bad business climate.

His latest article is all about the lessons Edison left us about innovation and building a solid business.

I love the first line of the article:

Thomas Edison, the spiritual godfather of Silicon Valley, still has a lot to teach us about innovation and entrepreneurship.

I think that’s especially true in the HR marketplace. Most things workforce management have taken a significant hit over the past year, particularly recruitment and hiring, but as I mentioned before in my podcasts and previous posts there are definitely ice age hot spots in our space.

This is a perfect opportunity for vendors to reinvest in their products and services and their current customers. Besides immediate cost cutting that includes layoffs, salary reductions, furloughs, organizations are doing everything they can to improve workflow processes, decrease administrative waste and increase revenue per employee.

What a better time for vendors to develop innovative new products and services. Whether it’s adapting to mobile technology like Workday and mjob, or incorporating social networking platforms for better employee communication and collaboration like SilkRoad Technology, or launching a new SEO Center that will help HR vendors improve their company's SEO and track their keyword rankings on Google, Yahoo, and MSN like HRmarketer.com – get busy kids!

(And don’t forget the marketing; you have to be found online. Or your competitors will.)

According to O’Brien’s article, Edison developed a clear, repeatable system that he applied to a range of problems, through every stage of his work, from the lab to the marketing of a new product.

Based on a 2007 book by Sarah Miller Caldicott, Edison's great-grandniece, and Michael J. Gelb titled Innovate Like Edison: The Success System of America's Greatest Inventor, here are five basic lessons we can learn from Edison:

• Be passionate and optimistic. Edison pictured solutions to problems, and then figured out how to build them. More importantly, he took great joy in the process of discovery, with all its ups and down.
• Always question your assumptions. Edison kept volumes of notebooks detailing even the smallest of his ideas to keep his brain engaged, and then reread them to see if he could view the ideas in a different way. Caldicott calls this "kaleidoscopic thinking."
• Change things up to recharge your batteries. Edison placed heavy demands on his employees, something he balanced by organizing group outings, singing or other playful distractions (particularly important with thinned out, overworked teams).
• Learn to collaborate. Far from being the isolated tinkerer in a solitary lab, Edison took great care in surrounding himself with other people from different disciplines. He also thought about how these people would work with each other and sought to establish a place where the free flow of ideas was encouraged.
• Don't forget the customer (hug them!). Edison wasn't some mad scientist inventing things in isolation. He was constantly trying to understand demographics and the behavior of the public so he could identify their needs and try to focus his innovation on those needs. It was this method that made Edison a successful inventor and entrepreneur.

And lastly according to O’Brien, it's worth remembering that Edison's life spanned several periods of financial panic and economic upheaval. Yet he never let them stop him.

Organizations will always have to tend to their talent, so opportunity abounds for HR vendors to innovate and partner with their client organizations – not just sell them the same old software or services.

Post by Kevin Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn)

The Power of Customer Service: Lessons From Victoria’s Secret

Last weekend I went to my local mall. The second I walked through the door of Macy’s, the cashier greeted me with a friendly, “How are you today?” Weird, I thought; that hasn’t happened before. Then she told me to let her know if I needed any help. Umm, okay.

Same thing at the next store I visited. At still another store (I was on a jacket quest), the clerk pulled a jacket out of the back room that wasn’t on display yet, and the store stylist knocked on the dressing room door to see if I needed help or ideas. Store stylist? I’ve been shopping here for 15 years, and they’ve never had a stylist before. I didn’t need her help, but that’s where I bought a jacket.

On to Victoria’s Secret, which handily won the Customer Service Gold Medal. After I’d selected a few items, a sales gal approached and asked if anyone had explained the specials to me. She quickly explained the two-for-one deals going on, and that I would get $5.00 off any purchase just for trying on their new bra—the one Heidi Klum is currently hawking on TV. While I was in the dressing room, she brought me several styles I hadn’t seen, in the colors I was looking for. I also noticed a service bell button in the room, in case I needed immediate assistance.

When I was done, the sales gal took a card off my door and marked for me the styles I had chosen. This card folds and fits in your wallet so you can easily find the styles you like on your next visit. At the register, I used the $10.00 discount card that I get every month for being a VS card holder, plus the $5.00 discount for trying on Heidi’s bra. I went in for one bra and left with three. I spent more than I’d planned, but that’s because I took advantage of some great deals. In my bag, I found another discount card to be redeemed the following month and a six-sample pack of their new hand lotion line.

Attentive, helpful sales staff. Innovative specials and extras. Had I somehow been transported to Stepford? No, I had entered Recession Land. The folks at the mall understand that consumers are less free with whatever discretionary income they may have left, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get it. They are being creative, resourceful and energetic in their efforts to remain employed.

How about you? What is your company doing to retain current clients and woo new ones in light of today’s tight economy?

A good example that comes to mind of working with the recession instead of against it comes from HRmarketer. No, don’t gag; they don’t pay me extra for this. At the beginning of the year, Mark and Kevin launched a reverse layaway plan for new members: sign up to get what you need now and pay for it over time. How’s that for flexibility? Then there’s the car company that promises to cover your payments for three months if you get laid off—and you can return the car after that if you still can’t pay. That’s just plain unheard of.

These efforts suggest that the companies actually care about their customers. People respond well to being cared for and about. Great customer service creates good branding, which leads to customer loyalty, which makes for successful businesses. Sure, companies exist to make a profit, but I’m betting that the companies that come out on top when this recession ends will be the ones that tried harder and did more—for their customers. I’ll be buying my unmentionables from Victoria’s Secret for years to come.

Posted by Heath Havlick (The Grammar Ninja)