Sometimes, God shuffles the deck.

Survey the sit-rep, get your bearings, create a roadmap, and execute. A wise Chinese proverb says “Hungry man waits with mouth open long time before roast duck flies in”, and sometimes, God shuffles the deck. There's a lot of distractions right now, and maybe it's not top of mind so...

HR has recognized that hunting key talent is typically not perato-optimal for them - not the 20% of their activity that nets 80% of their results. Additionally, with all the phenomenal recruiters in our market today, vying for top talent is like being a gunslinger in the wild west. The professional recruiters put on their Roy Rogers chaps and pick off dragonflies at a hundred yards, and you’ll only see a twitch and glint from the colt peacemaker between it's unholstering and when it belches smoke. There goes another LSSBB BSME/MBA off the market. If you're a fast draw, good for you if you can find the talent, but managing the process through to the start date at a lively cadence is the rest of the story. So we all know it’s been getting tougher.  

I used to think it was Amazon gobbling up the lean talent pool, but I did my homework and it’s really the automotive players and GE. Amazon’s employee to LSSBB ratio is around 235:1. Hmmm, says I. Danaher credentialed BB ratio? 112:1, Fortive 145:1. Interesting. Parker, Honeywell: 76 and 75:1 but GE is around one LSSBB for every 43 employees - 5,000 LSSBB. By the Linkedin Recruiter data, almost ? joined GE in the last 5y and ? (approx 1600 LSSBB) appear to have been brought onboard in the last year. Larry, you sly dog, (ps. I’m still for waiting for that promised followup call from Cara, though she’s obviously getting good help from somewhere else). GM 46:1, Ford 62:1, and Caterpillar 12:1, is there a time when the apples overburden the tree? Remember Cinderella’s mouse Gus-Gus as he struggles to hold one more piece of corn?    

All the hiring authorities are counting cards, and they know there ain't many aces left in this six deck shoe. Staying at the table is getting expensive, but it’s more expensive to sit on your hands and refuse to play. Then God shuffles the deck. The question is, how much good talent will be let go to protect profits despite revenues, and are you ready to find and talk to them while disruption is in the air? (pssst, I can help)

Charlie: “Now casinos have house rules: they don’t like to lose. So you never show that you’re counting cards. That is the cardinal sin, Ray.” Ray: “Counting cards is bad.” Charlie: “Yes.” Raymond: “I like to drive slow on the driveway.” Charlie: “If you get this right, Ray, you can drive anywhere you want as slow as you want.” - Rain Man (1988)

If you’ve been counting cards, you’ll know it could be a great time to add the right talent. Our head of talent coaching Joel Hall, a John Maxwell evangelist, pointed out that this is a crucible moment. I love that analogy. While he was talking specifically about leadership, it could be said for many aspects. We all have a lot to think about. A lot of great talent out there is singing “should I stay or should I go” under their breath, especially in my PE circles where an equity stake is part of the equation.

Message me on Linkedin: If I could help bring one key player to your leadership table, what would that professional look like?