It is better
to not be on
the web than
to be on and
not know why
John Sumser

Reality
is more
complex
than
it seems.
John Gall

It's better to
do a few things
really well than
than to do
a lot of things
badly.
If you can't
make the necessary
commitments of
time and energy
to your
electronic
marketing
efforts
scale back
your plan.
John Sumser

OUR HOME

There appear to be two broad streams: profiling and text search databases. Slowly emerging is a class of analytical tool that act as a strategic overlay on the profiling/resume management tools. Unfortunately, profiles, analytics and resume databases are just enough to tell you how bad the problem is. We can't find anyone who is working on the next generation of the problem.

With deeply committed technical groups working furiously in the dark airconditioned development rooms, it's surprising that there's no intra industry collaborative forum. After all, the distinctions between 'platforms' are nearly inconsequential. Once the 'perfect' profiling, analytics, and database management tools are complete, we'll have just enough tooling to understand that we're in trouble. We ought to hurry up and get there (and, no, this doesn't mean that HRXML is a good idea).

At its roots, the problem isn't technical. And, that's the rub. All of the current development efforts are so profoundly rooted in history that the possibility of real innovation is slim. No matter how hard you try to improve on the classified advertising model, it requires candidates who are in the market for jobs. No matter how much data you extract from benefits systems and payroll, it's still all about traditional definitions of the firewall.

No matter how hard you try to reshape a candle, it will never become a light bulb.

Increasingly, we see a broad market opportunity from someone who comes in from left field. Large scale, data mining, direct marketing companies are, in some ways, closer to the solution than anyone in our space. Attracting and maintaining ready pools of potential talent involves touching lots of people who are not in our current systems. It means delivering real value to that group and building their loyalty in the way that traditional (non-internet) networks are built. It means knowing each individual in the network well enough to anticipate their moves. It requires experiments that take longer than a job board transaction.

Recruiting has become a strategic differentiator. As long as our industry only offers reactive tools, we will be guilty of dragging our customers to their extinction. What's required is intense Research and Development in areas that currently get no investment.

We expect to see the rapid emergence of R&D project arms of key innovative companies. The projects will involve rigorous testing of alternatives and planned positioning of the customers. They will combine facets of marketing research and technical improvement. Along with the movement of supply chain management thinking and total quality principles, the legitimization of Recruiting Research and Development will shape the next five years of our industry.

- John Sumser © TwoColorHat. All Rights Reserved.

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