Baby Boomer Rainmakers - Are you writing them off as candidates?

Everywhere I look there are headlines shouting about the baby boomers retiring:
VARs Face Brain Drain as Baby Boomers Retire
Job market to boom as baby boomers retire
Preparing for Baby Boomer Retirement

But the truth of the matter is Baby Boomers don't really WANT to retire! At least, many of them don't. Unlike the days of our fathers when the average life span was about mid-50 to mid-60, baby boomers are still healthy and active now in their 50's and 60's. And they want to keep working - in the same industry as they have been in or in a new career altogether - they just aren't ready to lay around all day.

More often than not, it is the perception of employers that stands in the way of these baby boomers remaining in the workforce and ultimately that is going to be the cause of an economic crisis when these experienced workers are forced to retire.

Not long ago a potential client told me that he didn't want someone too experienced for his job opening because they thought they knew it all and wouldn't learn new ways. I asked him how much his average "entry level" sales person was selling and he gave me a number that seemed very low to me. I pointed out how much more an experienced person was likely to bring to the table with very little "learning".

So, how can you take advantage of those baby boomers who are looking desperately for new jobs?

Hire them!

Allow them to share their experience with your less experienced sales people and turn all of them into Rainmakers too!

Don't let your biases stop your company sales from soaring. The job market might boom, but it will take twice as many people to make those sales until they get up to speed. Do you want the job market to boom? Or your sales to boom?

Finding and Keeping the Best Employees

After posting my follow up comment to Ford Harding this morning, I saw this fantastic article from Mark Hewitt of Allyis on Workforce.com's Blog. This company appears to really "walk the walk as well as talk the talk" where their employee's are concerned. Having a retention rate of 95% is the "proof of the pudding", as my grandma used to say!

Read the full article here Finding and Keeping the Best Employees: 3 Ways To Ensure That Employees Stay

The Cult of the Best

Is it the people or the system?

When I read this article by Kevin Wheeler (who is one of my favorite experts on recruiting, by the way), the very first paragraph made me sit up and take notice:
"If there is one phrase that almost every recruiter, hiring manager, and executive uses, "We only hire the best people" would be it."

I admit it - I'm guilty of using the phrase myself in the past. I try to find the best person for every job order I get. But how DO you really measure the Best person for the job? Check out Kevin's article here: The Cult of the Best Is it the people or the system?

Marketing Is Not A Cost – A CEO Who Doesn’t Understand Marketing Is!

In all my years of recruiting, I've noticed one thing happening over and over. The more sales drop, the more layoffs occur. And one of the first departments to suffer (get laid off) is the Marketing department. What happens as a result is a very unhappy Sales department as they can no longer do "their" job - SELL! They have to spend more time finding new leads because there is no longer a Marketing department doing that for them. Have you ever noticed that?

Not too long ago, a potential client contacted me to find a VP of Sales and Marketing for them. The job description included a personal sales quota "until the department is up and running." Huh??? I asked several questions to be sure I was understanding the person's role correctly. They would create all marketing brochures, web marketing materials, recruit, hire and train new sales people, AND have a sales quota of their own. After trying to provide some insight into the actual separation of the two roles, I had to tell them I didn't think I was the right person to conduct that search for them.

I could see a long and frustrating relationship in the making with everyone being unhappy in the end

The article by Michelangelo Celli of The Cornucopia Group starts out:
"If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard a CEO say, “we want to get as much marketing as possible for the least amount of money,” I would be a rich man. Believe me. I have measured it. Why is it that so many CEOs and their management teams are still approaching marketing from the position that it is a cost? Because they have absolutely no metrics to justify how they are spending their marketing dollars."
Marketing-Is-Not-A-Cost--A-CEO-Who-Doesnt-Understand-Marketing-Is
This is the last of a 4 part series and I think it's a must read if you want your company's sales to soar.