Cornerstone Blog

We are at the beginning of a phase in which the way we (and goods) get around will drive enormous growth in the automotive industry. Autonomous driving immediately springs to everyone’s mind.  But the electrification of vehicles will have an enormous impact as well.  

Around 100 components familiar from the classic combustion engine are in line to be replaced by about 40 new components.  In the next ten years, EVs and autonomous vehicles are predicted to generate approximately $400 billion in sales per year.

The images of the classic automotive industry employee will recede into the past.  In many areas, specialists in software and EE (electrics/electronics) will predominate over classic mechanical engineering.  

However, we are already in the grip of too few skilled professionals for these changing requirements. The German automotive industry is faced with even greater challenges, ones not limited to this sector alone. As recruiters, we notice that many of our clients still refer to the failures of politics and see themselves in a victim role.

The immediate focus of the automotive industry should be addressed in−house. The industry has to tackle serious strategic issues regarding new products, manufacturing processes, and digitalization.  In addition, effective recruiting strategies have to be put in place.   

Product Strategies

How long will legacy products still be in demand? How dependent are current products on the technologies of yesteryear? What are a firm’s core competencies, its advantage over the competition? Which technologies can be vertically integrated into value creation processes to complement new products, components, or systems? Which new industries need new or legacy products in profitable batch sizes, and how can these needs be addressed?

Manufacturing Strategies

In the future, which locations will allow which products to be manufactured competitively? At which locations can product manufacturing processes be bundled to maximize efficiency (value streams, resources, setup times, tool availability, application expertise, logistical capabilities, etc.)?

Digitization Strategies

How can suppliers and customers be integrated into a simple “end−to−end” SCM software solution in order to map a smooth and quality−assured material flow and value creation process? How can new digital technologies available on the market be used in the future to develop and manufacture high−quality products faster and more effectively per employee? Only in this way will labor costs play a subordinate role in international competition.

***

These strategic issues are confronting not only the German automotive industry but other sectors of the nation’s economy as well.  The issues are, in fact, global.  So is the need for companies to deploy effective recruiting strategies.  

One month after Zuckerberg’s October 2021 announcement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella unveiled his company’s vision of the Metaverse at their Ignite Fall Conference – on video, naturally. 

Microsoft’s Metaverse will also be a place of creativity and fun, Nadella claims, but he focusses on the corporate potential of this digital world. “I can’t overstate how much of a breakthrough this is…It’s no longer just videoconferencing with colleagues, you can be with them in the same room.”  These immersive capabilities will be built into Microsoft’s applications like Microsoft Teams.  He announced a new layer to Teams called Mesh. “Mesh for Microsoft Teams will allow you to connect with presence and have a shared immersive experience directly in Teams.”

Nadella provides proof of concept by bringing in two executives from Accenture, the global consulting and technology firm prototyping Microsoft’s ventures in the Metaverse. Jason Warnke and Ellyn Shook’s avatars are very enthusiastic about how Microsoft’s digital advances can facilitate a traditional HR process like onboarding.  

A Gamechanger for Onboarding

Shook explains that Accenture onboarding involves about 100,000 people a year. “Like many organizations, onboarding has been remote for the past 18 months, so bringing new hires into this immersive environment fosters immediate and deeper connections.  It transcends physical boundaries and helps individuals experience a culture in a very personal way.  Our new hires meet many more people and grow their professional network much faster.”    

Warnke says that Accenture is implementing Mesh’s capabilities through Teams by installing it on all the company’s computers; they have also recently deployed 60,000 VR headsets throughout the network. “The integration with Microsoft 365 makes everything feel familiar. But on top of that, spatial audio makes everything sound just like it really would in person.  I love seeing our colleagues collaborating and whiteboarding, and using this space for productivity.” 

Back to Nadella, he “just loves seeing how Accenture has been able to re-create the human connection you feel around water cooler-type conversations and even the design and whiteboarding sessions you would typically have in person…. The Metaverse is not just transforming how we see the world, it’s changing how all of us are actively participating in it.”

Like Meta’s, it’s easy to look at the Microsoft video with a jaundiced eye. Its avatars are stiff cartoon-like creatures, missing the bottom halves of their bodies.  But Nadella does offer an interesting vision of how technology can have a positive impact on two major trends of work: hybrid (post-pandemic, people want a say in when, where and how they work) and what LinkedIn’s Ryan Roslansky calls “the Great Reshuffle” (workers want to reconfigure the real meaning of their work and will search for the companies which can provide them with this meaning.) You can follow Nadella’s thoughts about the post-pandemic meaning of work in the links below.  

What will be the implications for recruiting and search in the post-pandemic, at least partly Metaverse world we’ll be entering, ready or not? 

Stay tuned.

Read our previous post on the Metaverse…

Facebook Becomes Meta – The Dawn of a New Era? 

Read More
CNET Highlights, “Watch Microsoft’s Satya Nadella’s vision for the Metaverse (with Teams)”

Harvard Business Review, “Microsoft’s CEO on the Metaverse and Flexible Work”

What exactly is the (or a) “Metaverse”? Why do enthusiasts claim it is the dawn of “Web 3.0”, that it will render flat-screen technologies such as Zoom obsolete? Why did we start hearing about the Metaverse tsunami less than six months ago?  

In October 2021 Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg startled the world by announcing that he was changing his company’s name to Meta.  He explained his decision by pointing out that in just a few years computer hardware and software technologies had evolved from desktop to web to phones, and from text to photos to video as internet capacity increased.  But this isn’t the end of the line, Zuckerberg notes.  “The next platform and medium will be even more immersive, an embodied experience where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it.” This new platform will allow you to do just about anything: “get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create – as well as entirely new categories that don’t really fit how we think about computers or phones today.”  Hence his company’s change of name, signaling that Facebook realized its social media empire was receding into the background, but Meta was positively embracing the new. Until now, cyberspace was actually a two-dimensional flatland; now – soon – we would live in the 3-D splendor of the real cyberspace.  

The rest of the hour+ video is devoted to illustrating how Meta envisions this somewhat-hazy future.  Boiling it down, to enter Zuckerberg’s immersible VR world we will have to put on headgear such as his company’s Oculus 2 Quest headset, linked to your Facebook (sorry, I mean Meta) account.   Meta is working hard to reduce the cumbersome headset to a device resembling today’s glasses.  

While we’re there we’ll need to create digital versions of ourselves as 3D “avatars”.  Some avatars can be highly realistic, useful for business or talking to your mother.  But we can also create fantastical avatars for gaming ventures.  Currently Zuckerberg’s avatars tend to be cartoon likenesses showing heads, arms and torsos only.  Nothing from the hips down. The glimpses he shows of avatars conducting business in the Metaverse are cringeworthy.

The reaction to the prophecies the former wunderkind presented was mixed. The financial services/investment bank Jeffries positively swooned: “could be the biggest disruption to human life ever seen.” Others were more guarded: its future technology incursions could make Meta even more invasive of individuals’ privacy than the old Facebook.  Besides, other corporations such the gamers Roblox and Fortnite had beaten Meta to the punch with their own versions of the Metaverse.  Niantic’s CEO John Hanke condemned Zuckerberg’s vision as a “dystopian nightmare”; technology should try to augment reality, not replace it with a couch-potato version. On February 3, Meta stocks fell by 26%, a major unfriending by investors.

But the consensus is that we are indeed embarking on a new version of the internet, online destinations where (places like workspaces excepted) we pay with “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) based on blockchain technologies. This future is only in its infancy, hobbled with regulatory issues and questions of interoperability, but it will reach maturity in a few years. Already, CNBC reports, “Siemens and Hyundai have used virtual worlds for hiring and people management.” 

It’s worth keeping tabs on this serious implication for recruiting and working.     

FURTHER READING
CNBC, “Looking for a job? You might get hired via the metaverse, experts say”
Zuckerberg’s Vision of the Metaverse (YouTube)
John Hanke’s Objections to Zuck’s Dystopian Nightmare:  

As an executive coach I have long been interested in positive psychology, the scientific study of how humans can optimize their potential.  

I had studied evidence-based coaching at Fielding Graduate University, where their program was informed by the works of such positive-psychology scholars as Martin Seligman, Mihaly Czikszentmhalyi, Ed Diener, Tal Ben-Sahar, Brenda Frederickson, and others. 

By now a practicing coach, a few years ago I explored more deeply the strengths-based movement (also influenced by positive psychology) by training with The Marcus Buckingham Company (an ADP company). Now my coaching practice is firmly rooted in the strengths-based approach, a movement based on the latest research. I am proud to have been invited to become a member of the faculty of The Marcus Buckingham Company.

Here in brief are the principles of the strengths-based movement:

We help people recognize the abilities they already have and help them build on their uniqueness. Leadership starts with understanding oneself. Research tells us that those who engage with their strengths every day for a portion of the day will thrive. Not only individual but team engagement will increase. 

All of us have aspects of our performance that may require attention so that our leadership potential can be fulfilled. An effective method is to tap into and leverage strengths we already possess. In other words, we need to draw upon our latent resources to establish our agency. Knowing the kind of work that energizes you can be a source of resilience, an important asset in the VUCA world we live in.

Employees – those that companies wish to retain and promote – are interested in learning how to grow their careers. I believe that this worthy aspiration calls for a partnership approach between organizations, their leaders and individuals striving to get ahead. An effective way to initiate such partnerships: initiate conversations so that individuals can uncover and focus on their career aspirations. Facilitate these conversations so that they become more aware of their strengths and how these strengths can be actualized.   

During this trying COVID epidemic Marcus Buckingham is offering the StandOut^® Strengths Assessment free of charge. The Assessment can be obtained through www.marcusbuckingham.com

You can contact me for additional information on strengths-based coaching.

[Editor:  The instability in the world’s labour market has affected all levels. The new year is expected to see a significant increase in the re-positioning of executives and senior managers, by choice or otherwise. At Cornerstone Ukraine, Anna Nesterchuk and her team have developed a niche expertise in individual coaching and career consultation for executives.  She shares some of their findings here.]

A significant feature of a job search for executives is the period of search and negotiations. As a rule, this is a long process, always including several stages of interviews.  If it is an international company with headquarters in another country, it can be even longer. The process can take from several months to a year and more.

Accordingly, if an executive understands that the current contract is coming to an end, it is better to start preparing for new opportunities in advance. That would include being visible to the companies and projects you are interested in. 

How would you do that?  Let’s walk through the main methods:

• Constantly work on your own brand. Establish an active social position: participate in conferences as a speaker, in webinars, social projects and activities. It is important to do this regularly. You become visible, and Executive Search companies find you faster and start working with you.
• Networking. It is important not only to be visible but to create connections.  Attend conferences and   seminars, be member of specialized associations. Meet with the leaders of interesting projects.
• Take care of your professional reputation. It must be impeccable.
• Build relationships with recruiting companies. You can make a list of leading Executive Search companies and send your CV. Meet, write to them directly, declare yourself and your intentions.
• Reach out to leaders of those organizations that are interesting to you as potential employers. This way you can get into the competition for a job that the market may not yet know about.
• Monitor the entry of new players into the market of your country
• Have a good profile on LinkedIn and develop it. The profile must be well presented, but it is important also to be active in expanding your network of contacts. Good posts and interesting comments will always bring the right attention to your profile.
• Have a polished CV close at hand. Don’t overload the resume but give the following information: what industries did/do you work in, how large a company, your role and area of responsibility, how many subordinates, what tasks did you resolve.   Education is mandatory as is presenting important competencies such as knowledge of languages, specific advanced knowledge and experience.
• Use specialized resources for top managers to host your profile. A good example is the global career service BlueSteps operated by the Association of Executive Search and Development Consultants (AESC).

A successful job search for executives, and for you to appear favorably in searches by others, it is necessary to have your own clear strategy for moving ahead.

It is also always desirable to have your own career coach, with whom you can discuss any issues about your professional opportunities.

For more information on preparing for your next move, contact the author at anna-nesterchuk@cornerstone-group.com 

How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.

So how would you digest LinkedIn?  Right, one prospect at a time.  Pretty simple stuff.  But something many – perhaps even most – LinkedIn users ignore or never knew.

First, let’s look at the elephant.

• LinkedIn now has 756 million members in 200 countries and regions
• It made a profit of $8 billion last year, an increase of 19%
• Over 100 million work applications are sent out every month
• Over 57 million companies and 120,000 institutions have LinkedIn accounts
• At any given time, there are 14 million open jobs listed

That is frankly awesome for a concept with just one simple mission: to put like-minded professionals in touch with each other.  LinkedIn has become one gigantic, massively powerful, specialist device– for connecting with colleagues as well as advisors, building individual brands, generating passion from potential consumers and customers, finding employers or hiring supervisors.

But there is a catch.  A searchable pool of 756 million people, nearly all skilled, is a year-round Christmas gift for anyone seeking contacts or promoting an idea.  An amazing database makes it easy to locate a specific type of person with specific interests and in a specific part of the world.  So, hey! Let’s reach out to a whole bunch of them.

Back up. The many people who still utilize LinkedIn as a method for “cold-calling”, mass-mailing a cool sales pitch or deal, are totally in the wrong place. Most individuals on LinkedIn absolutely despise being pitched to.

LinkedIn clocks “interactions” and it counts over 1 billion every month. So, if you are looking for a person fitting a specific profile, there’s a good chance a few hundred other people are too and said person is now fed up with being pestered about something of little or no interest.

Conclusion: cold calls never warm up.

LinkedIn’s impact is expanding and it’s vitally important to get it right with regards to how you involve others. A burned bridge on LinkedIn is usually one that can not be rebuilt very easily. You have one possibility to make an effective and favorable impression.

“I directly obtain roughly 50 cold pitches weekly on LinkedIn,” says Kathy Caprino, an occupation and leadership trainer. “Only 1 in 500 is anywhere near to being something I want. Usually, I shouldn’t have been in the target list in the first place, due to the fact that I’m not a fit.

When my interest is piqued, it’s when the person went to the effort to create something special and appealing, and tailored to me directly. They revealed to me clearly exactly how they might move the needle for me and also my organization.”

Here is Caprino’s short list of how to make yourself welcome on LinkedIn:

• Don’t make the mistake of sending out an out-of-the-blue request to someone you do not understand, requesting an introduction or favor. Being attached at the very first degree on LinkedIn does not suggest you have a real relationship, yet. 
• Don’t push the “Attach” switch without following up instantly with a customized note
• When you’re making your very first outreach and sending an invite to link, do not simply click the “Connect” switch and leave it at that. Promptly, send out a longer note sharing information on exactly how you found out this person, why their work is of interest and supply some compelling factors for wishing to follow them.
• Make your message regarding them, not all about you.

“On the whole,” says Caprino, “the key takeaway is to remember to do the work and put in the effort to locate an authentic means to be of service, to develop a true link, and be gracious and handy.

“Don’t contact strangers with your vacant hand outstretched, expecting something that’s of benefit to you when nothing has been offered.”

For an eye-opening review of LinkedIn’s weird and wonderful components, take a look at 

Mind-Blowing LinkedIn Statistics and Facts (2021)

ATLANTA, Ga. Tuesday, Dec 7, 2021 – Cornerstone International Group, a global executive search organization, today announced changes in its leadership team.

“These appointments significantly strengthen our global network,” says President Larry Shoemaker. “Edwin steps into a role previously filled on a temporary basis by Simon Wan, our Chairman and Diego is an ideal choice to continue the successful leadership established by Alejandra.

“Allan brings a wealth of experience to our member development team with a focus on the southern hemisphere.”

Cornerstone International Group has over 30 years of experience as a global provider of talent solutions with a focus on executive search. It has members in 57 offices strategically located in the key business regions of 40 countries.  For information on the organization and its services, please visit the Cornerstone Group global website.

INFORMATION

Tami Fitzpatrick
Executive Administrator
tami-fitzpatrick@cornerstone-group.com 

For those unfamiliar with the terms, DEI is shorthand for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the workplace.

Inclusion refers to the practice of ensuring that people feel a sense of belonging, that they are supported by the organization.

Equity ensures that processes and programs are impartial and provide equal possible outcomes for every individual.

Diversity refers to the presence of differences in the workplace, usually meaning differences in race, gender, age and ethnicity.  For Robin Weis it stands for another special and often overlooked difference.

“Disability in some form affects 15% of the world’s population,” says Weis. “That is 1.5 billion people, not million, billion. It is by no means a niche topic.”

Weis was addressing an audience of Cornerstone professionals specialized in the Non-Profit sector.  He is the Public Sector Manager of the Zero Project, a global foundation based in Vienna which works to remove barriers – and empower the aspirations of persons with disabilities.

It does not disburse funds.  It engages directly with organizations, innovators and communities who can bring about impactful and innovative change for all – persons with and without disabilities.

“The disability is not the problem,” he says. “It is just a characteristic of the person. The problem is the barriers, both physical and mental, that they face every day.  We try to remove those barriers by creating and distributing innovative solutions that will democratize access to Innovative Practices and Innovative Policies.

We show what an actual world and environment with zero barriers looks like.”

Zero Project was formed in 2007, the year the UN drafted the UN CRPD – its benchmark convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.  Guided by the spirit of the UN CRPD, the Zero Project shares global good practices and curates, identifies, and awards 70-80 Innovative Practices and Innovative Policies on an annual basis

In the process, the foundation has become a global repository that captures Innovative Practices and Innovative Policies that have been peer-reviewed by a board of international peer-review experts. 

The Zero Project has curated 700 innovations from over 180 countries and has a network of 9,000 members.  Disability is universal and the project’s target area is an equally vast cross-section of opinion leaders and decision makers.  In a four-year-cycle, the research process focuses sequentially on Education, Employment, Accessibility, Independent Living and Political Participation.

The annual shift of thematic focus has allowed the Zero Project to amass a virtual library of good practices, especially, in the business and ICT sector.  

“The business case is made that it is actually to the benefit of a company and its bottom line to employ persons with disabilities,” says Weis. “If you are an SME and you want to find out how to employ persons with disabilities, then you can go on our website – zeroproject.org – and find proven examples of what works.”

The work of the Zero Project has special significance to the challenges facing professionals in the executive search business

“We at Cornerstone can help our clients understand from an employment perspective, how they might be able to incorporate this work into their Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives and in their employment practices,” adds Linda Gray, host of the call and leader of the Non-Profit practice at Cornerstone.

“Removing those barriers would allow them to open up a talent pool that we as recruiters haven’t necessarily tapped into as much as we need to.”

A transcript of the presentation by Robin Weis and the Zero Project  [link]is available here.

Alejandra Aranda, a core member of Cornerstone International Group, died peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday October 26, 2021

Cornerstone International Group is a global executive search organization, a tightly knit network of member professionals in 40 countries. Last week, we lost one of those core members unexpectedly.

Alejandra Aranda founded Humanitas Executive Search (Cornerstone Santiago) 16 years ago. For the last 10 years she was a member of the Cornerstone leadership team as Chair for the Latin America Region.  She was a director of AmCham, cited three times as one of the 100 Women Leaders of Chile, founder of the international organization Women Corporate Directors and a member for six years of the Americas Council of the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC).

The AESC is the body defining executive search and leadership consulting worldwide. On Friday President & CEO Karen Greenbaum, announced a unanimous decision to confer on Alejandra posthumously its most prestigious award honoring career-long achievement. (Read more)

“Alejandra and I met many times both in Chile and in New York,” said Greenbaum. “She made a lasting impact on AESC and on our profession. We at AESC will remember her—her enthusiasm and passion were infectious”

Alejandra was equally noted for her involvement in community and civic affairs, particularly the need to enhance human capital in employment and to further gender equality. Four years ago she was approached by the Gender Parity Initiative of the World Economic Forum to participate in a Code of Good Practice.

She went a big step further. She persuaded all eight of her top competitors in Chile to participate in signing a 10-point Code of Good Practice on Gender Diversity Management for executive search firms.

“Alejandra was not only a very accomplished search professional,” says Simon Wan, Chairman and CEO of Cornerstone International Group. “She understood how important a role our industry can play in improving the value and benefit of talented workers, especially minorities.”

Perhaps one of the persons outside of Santiago who knew her best is Cornerstone President Larry Shoemaker of Atlanta.

“We worked together over many years, during which I developed a great respect for what she did and who she was,” he says. “Alejandra’s dedication and professionalism taught us all how to be the best possible.  

“I know she will be always present in our hearts.”

Read previous articles by and about Alejandra Aranda

According to the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO), Covid took 225 million people out of the global workforce last year. That we understand.

This year we saw a new twist. In the US, 20 million walked away from the job they had, joined by millions more in Europe, Latin America and China. It is the year quitting became honorable. Covid and its resulting stress no doubt play a role but this message is more personal: “I’m in the wrong place.”

Are recruiters a part of the problem? Today’s professional is increasingly absorbed in ensuring the fit is optimal between the job and the job seeker. Did they get it wrong – 20 million times? An understanding of the recruiting industry would say no.

The recruiting business divides naturally in two depending on outcomes. One pursues lower levels of employee and middle management. It is being transformed by technology that aids in the identification, attraction, engagement, and nurturing of candidates into applicants as rapidly as possible.

The other half, often described as executive search, concentrates on high value leaders and managers. Since these represent critical and costly assets to the employing company, there is more personal involvement. The search process and the skills required to conduct it, are many times more complex. 

They left miserable jobs

Most, if not all, the resignations come from the first group. The majority of quitters (they are actually labelled “quits” by the US Dept of Labour) left miserable jobs in miserable front-line sectors such as health care, restaurants and food services where they worked long hours for sub-standard pay in highly stressful and often abusive environments. (Servers working for tips can be paid as little as $2.13 an hour in wages)

These are jobs unlikely to attract more than a resume submission from a recruiter. Deep background and compatibility checks are absent. So the extraordinary level of dissatisfaction cannot be laid at the recruiter’s door

But if the hiring process has little to do with where we are now, it is likely to have a greater impact on where we go from here.

If you think of the Great Resignation as a cry for attention, you would not be wrong. But that cry comes from a wider source of frustration than just the abused front-line workers. The face of work has become increasingly impersonal and the attitude of employers (and most recruiters) has been one of: ”This is the job. If you fit it, we’ll look at you”

Job seekers want more 

This year has told us this is not enough. Workers, especially the young, want more than just a paycheque for spending half their life in your service. They care what you do with the labour they are giving you. They want you to share their social concerns – for the environment, for the less fortunate, for equality of opportunity.

They view mankind as custodians of the welfare of the world we live in and want you to play your part.

Perhaps this is the idealism of the Sixties working its way through the fabric of society. Whatever the source, it is here and changing the employer-worker relationship in a profound way.

The restoration of the individual impacts both sides of recruiting. The volume merchants will continue to benefit from AI and best-to-fit technologies but will need to bulk up on more personal treatment of candidates. They will have to learn to listen.

The executive searchers, too, will have adjustments to make. They must look more closely at leadership profiles in search of empathy and a heightened sense of talent management. Team building abilities have always been high on the chart but now may have locked in first place.

Let’s blame Covid

Incumbent leaders will be forced to reflect. Reportedly, some senior managers do not believe the massive turnover is a matter of significance but regard it as an anomaly related to the pandemic. Some are unaware of the culture experienced by workers in all parts of their organization. They assume that since their own relationships are collegial, the same is true for all employees.

Leadership candidates hopefully will reach a more responsible conclusion – that the working environment is deficient. Employees walking away from a job without another one to go to are voting with their feet.

Both the candidate and the executive search professional will be looking harder than before at non-financial criteria — the quality of the current management, the company culture and the company mission, or purpose. Financial success and stability will be dependent on getting these right first.