TORC

Research

Recent research* by Bersin & Associates conducted in 2011 in the US and the UK has some very interesting findings:

1. The Cost of Recruiting – UK companies spend more than ₤5,300 per new hire, over twice the amount spent by US firms.

2. The Agency Model – the once-entrenched agency model in the UK is starting to decline mirroring the US where companies use agencies more selectively – particularly for senior level and hard-to-fill positions. More progressive companies are turning to professional networks, social media and candidate relationship models (CRM) as sourcing alternatives.

3. The Changing Role of In-house Recruiters – in-house recruiters need to act as true consultants to hiring managers. They will also need to understand trends in the labour market, use various sourcing tools to build talent pipelines, and be versed in engaging and converting high-quality candidates.

4. Job Boards – Not Dead but Dying – in the past job boards have been very successful in attracting “active” candidates ie those looking for jobs. Progressive organizations are reducing their spend on Job Boards in favour of new tools that source both active and “passive” candidates. These tools include professional networking sites, search engine marketing and CRM technology.

5. Internal Mobility – approximately one in every five UK and US open job requisition is filled by an internal candidate.

Recognising the importance of retaining top talent, progressive companies are creating and promoting internal mobility programmes – not only to fill vacancies but also to bolster employee engagement and generate fresh thinking.

6. Employer Branding – irrespective of economic circumstances, employer branding can convey a positive identity to potential and existing employees – reinforcing the image of the organization as a great place to work and helping the engagement process internally and externally.

7. Measuring the Quality of Hire – most firms are at least trying to evaluate new-hire quality by measuring metrics such as new-hire turnover, new-hire performance, and the satisfaction of both the candidate and the manager. The most prevalent means of measuring quality is through a 90-day new-hire assessment, used by nearly one half of all UK companies.

But while many companies talk about quality of hire, few companies have a comprehensive and systematic measurement approach. Even companies that do collect some kind of data often fail to properly distill the metrics and make changes necessary for sustained improvement.

* Source: Bersin & Associates; UK Talent Acquisition Factbook 2011

To download a complimentary copy of the Executive Summary of the report, click here

The Irish Context

1. The Burden of Process – my observation is that companies in Ireland are being strangled by unwieldly recruitment processes – too many people are involved in every stage from writing the job description, testing, screening, interviewing and also sourcing – too many external intermediaries are involved and only at arms length.

2. Decision Making – the old adage “too many cooks spoil the broth” certainly pertains. Perhaps this reflects the growing interest in collaborative management resulting in candidates needing to meet and satisfy not only the hiring manager and internal recruiter but also peers and other stakeholders.

3. Using the Consultant – a key problem is not making sufficient use of the huge expertise of the consultant and involving them fully in the process.

If you wish to review some relevant case studies, please see:

1. Talent Management
2. Head-hunting
3. Onboarding

Business stimulus forms part of Minister, Michael Noonan's, Budget 2012

Elements in last week’s budget geared to stimulating business activity are to be welcomed.

Though relatively modest in scope, the extra tax reliefs to revive the property market, as well as, the R&D and business development incentives to assist exports, should prompt some badly needed investment.  

These business-friendly proposals include:

1. Allowing first-time buyers in 2012 to get interest relief of 25%, with other buyers getting 15%.

2. Exemptions from capital gains tax on any commercial property transaction concluded before the end of 2013, if held for at least seven years by the new buyer.

3. Reduction in stamp duty on the transfer of commercial property from the current top rate of 6% to a single flat rate of 2%.

4. Introduction of a foreign earnings deduction for a person who spends at least 60 days a year developing markets in the BRICS nations

5. Inclusion of the first €100,000 worth of R&D expenditure, on a volume basis, for the purposes of the R&D tax credit.

6. Removal of the existing tax exemption for the first 36 days of illness benefit & occupational injury benefit – that was serving as a perverse incentive for absenteeism.

7. Improvements in the tax treatment of foreign expatriates under the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) to attract mobile skills.

However, business will also be asked to shoulder around €400 million in extra charges.

These  relate to changes in the statutory redundancy rebates, in the addition of employer PRSI for employee pension contributions and in the increase in carbon taxes.

A mixed bag, certainly – but, overall, this is the first budget in 4 years that has looked to offering any stimulus for business.

Now, let’s hope the international environment plays its part as well.

PS. For related Torc articles, please click on the following links:
1. Fiscal Emergencies: Ghosts of Christmas Past
2. Bankers: The Human Dimension
3. Innovation & The Smart Economy

A diversity of executive openings are requiring filling this month

Sales Director – RoI
Fantastic new role due to the steady growth achieved by our client in the Irish market. This UK plc has 4 major retail depots in Ireland handling sales & distribution of construction, infrastructure and landscaping products and supplies. Reporting to the MD – Ireland, the appointee will need to be ‘strategic’ but also dynamic, innovative and a team player.

Sales Manager – Germany
Another new role with a successful and long established Irish manufacturer and exporter in the transportation sector. They have been active in the German market for some years and, following recent successes, now wish to establish a full-time presence there. The successful candidate will have a proven track record in equipment sales to the large corporate sector in a European territory, ideally Germany.

Site Engineering Manager – Munster 
Reporting to the Site Director this is a senior management role on a large manufacturing site which comprises four product stream processing plants. Ideal for a candidate who is ready to advance to head of function level, this role will have a team of direct reports and a department of engineering staff, engineering contractors and external suppliers. Strong management and technical skills/qualifications are sought for this role which has excellent career prospects.

PS. For some useful tips on how to best navigate the various recruitment stages, please click on the appropriate link here:
1. interview preparation
2. panel interviews
3. assessment centres

PPS. To review case studies relating to career change and outplacement, please click here.

Sydney Opera House - becoming a familiar view for many Irish jobseekers

With opportunities scarce at home, Irish jobseekers continue to move abroad.

In terms of destination, the UK accounts for about 25%, the US for 5%, the EU-27 for 30% and the rest of the world (ROW) for 40%. 

Rest of the world (ROW) largest jobseeker destination
No doubt, the relatively high ROW figure reflects the reality that the UK, EU & US job markets have been having their own problems. 

And, the trend is likely to continue as we look out into 2012.

The most recent quarterly GDP growth numbers out of Canada and Australia have been particularly positive – at 3.5% and 4.8% respectively.

Unemployment levels in both countries are relatively low as well – with Australia standing at 5.2% and Canada at 7.4% currently.

Both countries continue to plan major infrastructure projects and have booming mineral, oil and gas industries.

Jobseekers look to Canada
Recent job fairs in Cork & Dublin hosted by Canadian employers point to a keen recruitment interest in the following sectors:  

-  Medical Professions (Dermatologists, Oncologists, Physiatrists, Radiologists)
-  Construction (Auto Mechanics, Electricians, Pipe fitters)
-  Engineering (Mine, Structural, Electrical, Project Engineers)
-  IT Specialists, Quantity Surveyors, among many others.

And, the Canadian Ambassador, Loyola Hearn, is quoted as saying that as many as 30,000-40,000 Irish may be needed in construction alone in coming years.

The current rate of Irish migration to Canada is estimated at 5000/year – with the visa quota being increased to 5,350 for 2012.

Jobseekers look to Australia
Jobseekers looking to Australia also have Visa considerations to overcome.

Currently, it is estimated that there are about 30,000 Irish on the two-year working holiday visa for the under 30’s.

From July 2012, a new Skilled Migrant Selection Model will be introduced. This is the open application route for skilled workers to live and work in Australia indefinitely. Here, applicants can use their qualifications, work experience and language ability to secure a permanent visa.

Net emigration totals 150,000 in 5 years
Overall, it is estimated that net emigration (ie. outflow minus inflow) from Ireland for the five-year period, 2008-2012, will total 150,000.

Coincidently, 150,000 is also the number estimated for the native-Irish cohort emigrating in this same period – ie. netting out the large number of foreign nationals who came here in better times, but are now returning home and being classified as Irish emigrants in the process.

This current migration trend is not expected to reverse itself anytime soon – until Irish growth rates start to get back on track (>3%).

Government projections suggest 2015, at the earliest.

If you have any jobsearch tips, relating to Canada or Australia, that you’d like to share – please leave details in the comment box below. Thank you! 

PS. For general tips on how to best navigate the various recruitment stages, please click on the appropriate link here:
1. interview preparation
2. panel interviews
3. assessment centres

PPS. To review case studies relating to career change and outplacement, please click here.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos & Apple's Steve Jobs - go Kindle to iPad

In spite of the phenomenal growth of the internet, book sales continue to flourish – both in physical and e-book formats. 

In the business category, books that integrate commercial & strategic learnings with some human interest angle are especially popular. 

And, in this regard, 2011 has given us another bumper crop. 

Fans of Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Starbucks & Facebook have been particularly well-served this year – with 6 notable new books delving deeply into what makes these companies succeed. 

1. Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography
This is the standout business read for 2011 – selling 383,000 copies in its first week of public availability in the US and taking just 45 days to become Amazon’s best-seller for all of 2011, across all categories. 

It has been  universally well-received. Time magazine says: 

2. Idea Man: A Memoir by the cofounder of Microsoft (Paul Allen)
This 358-pager, details the origins of Microsoft  from the pen of its joint founder, Paul Allen –  the person who came up with the  Microsoft name and negotiated the purchase of the QDOS operating system, that set in train their licencing relationship with IBM. 

It also details the many other adventures he has engaged in since splitting with Bill Gates in 1982 – in the worlds of sport, film, technology, philantropy, etc. 

His take on Gates is probably the most interesting part, but his account of how he managed to hold onto his Microsoft shareholding, securing his present day nett worth - estimated at $13 Billion – is especially memorable: 

Allen was prepared to cash in his entire shareholding to Gates for $10/share – but Gates was only prepared to offer $5. So, Allen stayed in and rode its stratospheric market appreciation – all by default! 

3. One Click: Jeff Bezos & The Rise of Amazon.Com
On the evidence of Richard Brandt’s One Click book, detailing the growth of Amazon, one has the feeling that had it been Jeff Bezos, instead of Gates, that was negotiating with Allen, things might have turned out differently. 

For Bezos is a person that doesn’t underestimate possibilities – in fact, ‘get big fast’ is his most colourful catchcry. 

In this vein, Brandt not only documents a) the success factors that have propelled Amazon to a market valuation of >$80 Billion, but also b) the thinking behind Bezos’ Blue Origin project – that aims to establish “an enduring human presence in space”. 

4. The Facebook Effect: The Real Inside Story of Mark Zuckerberg
Technology writer, David Kirkpatrick, tracks how Mark Zuckerberg’s  dorm experiment in Feb. 2004 has grown to have 500 million users – and an estimated market valuation of $100 Billion. 

In the same vein as Allen and Bezos, Zuckerberg is portrayed as stubbornly self-confident. The book presents a picture of a person who never doubts  the growth potential of his idea. 

This is most clearly shown in the manner in which he resists all offers to buy him out early –  holding firm in the face of opposition from colleagues and employees wanting to cash in. 

This book carries a 5-star rating among Amazon reviewers. 

5. In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
This is the book that peers most thoroughly into the phenomenon that has become Google. 

The author, Steven Levy, a longtime technology journalist spent three years with open access to the Googleplex HQ in Mountain View, California, researching the Google DNA. 

It is thoroughly informative on many fronts – the culture, the technology and the business – and carries a 5-star rating among Amazon reviewers. 

6. Onward: How Starbucks Fought For Its Life Without Losing Its Soul
Starbucks might appear light years away from the high-tech world of Apple, Google and Facebook, but the issues faced by its legendary CEO, Howard Schultz, are no less profound - in first building the small Seattle coffee shop  into an international blockbuster and then rebuilding it anew when the global recession hit in 2007. 

Schultz’s obsession with the ‘romance of coffee drinking’  is really no different to Steve Jobs’ obsession with designing aesthetically tactile computers - or to Jeff Bezos’ obsession with ensuring website visitors seamlessly click their way to whatever book their heart desires. 

In telling his personal story here, Schultz has won numerous plaudits – particularly, for his unwavering adherence throughout to the organisation’s core values. 

For some of the same reasons, he has just recently been named the 2011 Businessperson of the Year by Fortune Magazine -  with, Jeff Bezos, by the way, picking up the runner-up slot.  

Amazon reader reviews have been effusive in praise of the book and Strategy & Business magazine has described it as: “the pick of the 2011 harvest”. 

If you have other favourite business books from the class of 2011, that you’d like to share – please leave details in the comment box below. Thank you! 

PS. For related Torc articles, please click on the following links:
1. Trapattoni: some lessons in management                      
2. Management: Machiavellian Style  
3. The Leader as Teacher 
4. Leadership: Ready, Aim Fire  
5. Rebuilding Group Morale

PPS. For related training programmes, please click on the following links: 
1. The Leader as Teacher  
2. Leading with Emotional Intelligence
3. Leading with Teamwork & Collaboration
4. Leading with Innovation & Creativity 

A diversity of executive openings require filling this month

One of our clients is recruiting for a broad range of executive openings in the UK. Here is a selection of current positions on offer:

FINANCE
Commercial Finance Manager

Commercial Accountant

MARKETING
Brand Innovation Manager

Senior Category Manager

Product Insights Manager

Category Demand Planner

OPERATIONS
Manufacturing Manager

Technical Manager

Operations Planner

HUMAN RESOURCES
HR Manager (x2)

For further information, please contact Paddy Collins on 01-662 30 20 or email directly pc@torc.ie.

PS. For some useful tips on how to best navigate the various recruitment stages, please click on the appropriate link here:
1. interview preparation
2. panel interviews
3. assessment centres
4. career change.

Gregory Peck & Brock Peters in a court scene from To Kill A Mockingbird

On looking back on his career, Hollywood legend, Gregory Peck, is quoted as  saying:

“If …. the pictures had something to say and people could
carry home with them …. something they can chew on a bit and
maybe change their attitude … well I’d like that”.

His view that some of his characters might have something to teach us is certainly true of two of his most famous roles: as  Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Captain McKay in “The Big Country”.

Both parts place Peck in a tricky situation where he has to stand against the prevailing prejudice of his own tribe – in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, taking on the defence of an African American wrongly accused and in “The Big Country”, breaking with his future inlaws over a land dispute with neighbours.

Each of these roles see him epitomise what we now know as emotional intelligence – the ability to observe and manage (in the moment) the emotions in ourselves and others.

The underlying skills include:  empathy, impulse control, independence and resilience.

Empathy & Emotional Intelligence
Empathy is the ability to be attentive, to understand and to appreciate the feelings of others.

It is also one of Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” : seek first to understand, then to be understood.

And, it is core to the make-up of Atticus Finch – so much so, that it is the one piece of advise that he emphasises to his little daughter, Scout:

“If you learn this single trick, Scout,
you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks.
You never really understand a person…
until you consider things from his point of view.
Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it”. 

Further, we see him actually live it – in how he:

 -  prefers to save a client’s embarassment at having to pay his fees with vegetables in lieu of money

-  understands how the white crime victim has to concoct a lie to keep her secret of how she had kissed an African American

-  tolerates the racial bigotry shown by his town’s people, reasoning them to be ignorant rather than bad.

Impulse Control & Emotional Intelligence
This facility to so easily rationalise what lies behind the actions of others, forms the basis of his highly developed impulse control.

He simply refuses to be provoked by (what to the rest of us might appear to be) outrageous behaviour.

Thus, when the movie’s villain, Bob Ewell, spits in his face, Atticus holds his cool – reaching for a hankerchief rather than throwing a punch – reasoning that Ewell is more to be pitied than anything else.

The same theme is also very much to the fore in  The Big Country.

His Captain McKay character brushes aside the lassoing treatment meted out to him by the Hannessey brothers, much to the annoyance of his feisty fiancee and her fiery father, Major Henry Terrill.

The ensuing dialogue between himself and the Major shows up sharp differences in their empathy & impulse control:

 Major:           Your getlemanly forbearance is misplaced when
                       you are dealing with the Hannessey’s

 McKay:         Well, I can’t say I enjoyed it. But I have gone through
                       rougher hazing in College and at sea. I was keel-hauled
                       the first time I crossed the equator. They weren’t dangerous,
                       just drunk. I’ve run into Hannessey’s in ports all over the world.

Major:            That’s where you are wrong Jim. The Hannessey’s are trash.
                       There is no other word for it … they are as prolific as animals,
                       they live like animals Rufus the head of the clan is something
                       out of the stone age. They live like a pack of wild dogs up in
                       Blanco Canyon. They are a pest, a plague. Like Sodom &
                       Gomorrah,  it would be a blessing for this country if the
                       flood wiped them off the face of the earth.

Independence & Emotional Intelligence 
Independence is the third emotional intelligence quality shared by Atticus and Capt. McKay.

It refers to one’s ability to be self-reliant and self-directed in one’s thinking and actions and to be free of emotional dependency.

Atticus’s independence is clearly on display in how he:

- takes on the case of defending the innocent African American,  Tom Robinson, in the face of fierce opposition from his fellow white folk

- speaks out about the evils of racism in the trial itself & suggests that the true culprit is the father of the white victim

- respects Walter Cunningham  for the way he strives to makes ends meet for his family, but wont have any truck with his lynching intentions.

Capt. Mckay’s independence is equally on show in how he:

- does not allow his ties to the Major to stop him from doing the right thing

- breaks off his engagement with the Major’s daughter, when he realises it wont work out

- takes the initiative to buy for himself the piece of land in dispute between the Major & Rufus Hannessy.

Resilience & Emotional Intelligence
Resilience is the fourth emotional intelligence quality shared by Atticus & McKay:

Atticus is recently widowed and is exemplary in the attention he gives to bringing up Jem & Scout on his own.

And, he is not fazed either when the jury finds his client guilty – but,  instead, immediately prepares to appeal. 

Similarly, McKay shows no inclination to giving up regardless of the challenge thrown his way:

He keeps getting back up on the wild horse, Old Thunder, time and time again, until he finally breaks him into submission.

He shows a similar stubborness, when he finally comes to take on the Major’s foreman in a fist fight – he wins by  mostly refusing to stay down when hit.

Yes, To Kill A Mockingbird & The Big Country are two movies replete with emotional intelligence lessons.

We simply need to model the behaviours of the leading man -  in terms of empathy, impulse control, independence and resilience.

And, we can certainly see what Gregory Peck, himself, meant, when late in his life he was heard remark  that playing the part of Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird had:

“brought him closest to being the kind of man he aspired to be”.

PS. For  related Torc articles, please click on the following links:
1. Emotional Intelligence: Smarts, Humour & Pluck
2. Core Values & Decision-Making
3. Rebuilding Trust & Responsibility 

PPS. For related training programmes, please click on the following links:
1. Leading with Emotional Intelligence
2. Listening & Empathy
3. Leading with Resilience & Optimism

Smartphones have come a long way since the days of Maxwell's shoe

This month I want to take a look at some smartphone apps geared to personal productivity. 

6 simple categories immediately come to mind: a) note takers, b) list makers, c) business card scanners, d) receipt managers, e) time trackers and f) minute takers. 

Note-Takers
Evernote is the note-taker of choice of over 14 million users. It lets you make notes, including voice memos and snapshots and syncs with your computer. It is great for capturing creative ideas and design inspirations, for snaping photos of whiteboards, etc. – and, it has a solid management & retrieval system. 

List Makers
Checklist Wrangler allows you to create all types of checklists – whether it is your daily ‘to-do’  list, or contents of your travel bag, or tasks associated with preparing an event – that you can reuse and revise as needed. 

Omnifocus adds voice notes & image capture capability – as well, as allowing you to tag tasks by type. So, for instance,  if various ‘to-do’ lists require you to make different phone calls, you can summon up all the calls you have to make across all lists by simply tapping on the phone context. 

Things is another in this category. It is good for assigning ‘to-do’s’ to projects and areas of responsilbility and it has a handy facility to filter & sort by due dates. It also allows you to track any ‘to-do’s’  that you delegate to coworkers and teammates. 

Business Card Scanners
CamCard appears the most favorably reviewed app in this category. One simply takes a picture of a business card, and the app saves the contact information automatically to one’s addressbook. From there it can be manipulated as normal – exported to an excel spreadsheet, or used to make phone calls, send SMS, send emails, browse web pages and locate addresses on map. CamCard recognizes 12 languages including English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Hungarian.

Receipt Managers
ExpenseMagic is a good example here. You simply snap pictures of your receipts, tickets or anything else you need to claim your expenses and the app does the rest for you – even working out the VAT details for you. It also allows you to integrate the receipt with diary events in your calendar – and, if travelling overseas, it adjusts the currency for you. Ultimately, it allows you to aggregate all your expenses into one single claim form that can be automatically emailed to your employer for processing. 

Time Trackers
ClockIn is an app to track your time on different projects, replacing the tedium of timesheets. It can manage multiple projects/clients – storing their names, website and email addresses, etc. The time data for individual projects can be exported to excel for attaching to emails as needed.  

Minute Takers
Minutes.io is a simple app for organising meeting minutes on the fly. The template and drop-down menu provided lets you track attendees and add agenda items (to-do’s questions for follow-up, etc.), with due dates and owners. Then you can quickly email the minutes to all attendees with little or no delay.  

If you have other favourite personal productivity apps, please let us know – by leaving details in the comment  box below. Thank you!

PS. For  related Torc articles, please click on the following links:
1. Cloud Computing & Personal Productivity
2. Decision-Making: New iPhone Apps
3. Career Management: New iPhone Apps
4. Interview Tips: New iPhone Apps

PPS. For related training programmes, please click on the pertinent links here:
1. Mastering Personal Effectiveness
2. Management Supervisory Skills
3. Effective Interpersonal Skills
4. Business & Report Writing  

Prof. Dave Ulrich who headlined this year's HR summit in Dublin

Employee engagement was the topic for this year’s HR summit held in Dublin yesterday. 

Headline speakers, David MacLeod & Prof. Dave Ulrich, brought a wide-ranging perspective, offering insights and models based on the most up-to-date international research. 

This was interspersed with a number of inspiring case studies from some prominent Irish organisations: Depuy, Diageo & Brown Thomas/Selfridges. 

Some of the key insights emerging included: 

1. Real employee engagement is a tranformational activity. It is about fostering among staff new ways of running & doing business that involves everybody in delivering a common future – organisationally & individually 

2. Its starting point is the development of a strategic narrative – ie. leadership & staff painting a picture of where they want to carry the organisation, and why. 

Thus in 2006, Depuy found itself at a crossroads – though operating very much to the best practices of its industry, they realised that they would have to change, to face emerging cost and capital constraints. 

They work-shopped their situation and set themselves a new stretch goal: to double production within 4 years, operating with the same staffing levels and within the same plant footprint. 

3. Without engagement, management are simply an overhead to the business. Where engagement is high, the term frontline comes to mean everyone – whether aligning management & staff at Diageo & DePuy or front-of-shop and back-office groups at Selfridges. 

4. Hierarchical and functional structures can be barriers. Diageo combined its top 2 management levels into a single expanded leadership team. Likewise, DePuy moved to a value-stream structure – co-locating all resources & decision-makers around individual product lines, with their own P&L, etc. 

5. Employee Voice is critical – involving open, immediate and continuous communication, debate & feedback. This acknowledges the increasingly dynamic nature of business – and explains why DePuy prefers the term alterations rather than change, to underline the constancy of the changes needed. 

Depuy’s Jim Winters underlined the point with a quip from Will Roger’s: “even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there”. 

6. There has to be a keen focus on appropriate behavioural skills. Leadership has to ‘walk the talk’. 

Selfridges’ Paul Kelly advised: “never ask anyone to do anything that you are not prepared to do yourself”. Integrity & trust are key. 

And blame has no place. Depuy’s Jim Winters counselled that when things go wrong, focus on the process, not on the individual – leave room: to listen to one another, for everyone to feel free to ask for help, and to challenge one another’s expectations. 

Accepting responsibility for mistakes was another key, underlined by Diageo’s John Kennedy, who commented that “keeping a front up just alienates people”. 

7.  Engagement is not a destination but a journey. Formal processes to sustain momentum are key – especially face-to-face communication. DePuy utilises weekly ‘best practice’ sessions, Selfridges have ‘Good Morning Selfridges’ briefings and Diageo hosts company celebration days. 

8.  Engagement delivers extraordinary business results. In four years, DePuy has raised its productivity 80%, cut its absenteeism 34% and reduced lead times 76%; while Selfridges has doubled revenues and trebled profits in five years. 

The meeting concluded with a forum discussion revolving around experiences from three other organisations: Citigroup, Eircom and Etihad Airways. 

Cecilia Ronan emphasised the positive impact engagement has had on staff retention levels at Citigroup, while Marie Lee spoke of how engagement was key to the success of Eircom’s current transformation. 

Etihad’s Ray Gammell contrasted his engagement experiences between union and non-union houses – making the point that the need for thorough and granular measurement was common to both environments. 

The meeting was opened by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, who drew parallels between the engagement needs of the workplace and those of the country – in the face of current economic challenges. 

He underlined his own commitment by returning to the microphone as he left – to appeal to participants to come and discuss with him any job creation ideas that they might have. 

This was echoed by Prof Ulrich later, who exhorted the audience to move on from the experiences of the past three years – and, to vigorously embrace engagement to get Ireland Inc. really growing again. 

Please leave a message in the comment box below, should you need a free copy of David MacLeod’s recent report(commisioned by the UK government), titled: Engaging for Success – Enhancing Performance Through Employee Engagement.

PS. For related Torc articles, please click on the following links:
1. Employee Engagement – Recent Findings
2. Employee Engagement – An Unlikely Role Model
3. Employee Engagement Seminar
4. Delivering on a corporate strategy
5. Core Values & Decision-Making
6. Rebuilding Trust & Responsibility 

PPS. For related training programmes, please click on the following links:
1. Engaging Managers With Engagement
2. The Leader as Teacher
3. Change Management For Managers
4. Leading With Influence & Persuasion