by Renee Polk, SPHR, AHRMA 2013 President-Elect, Stepping Stones Coordinator
“The flavor of this presentation is Texas BBQ—simple, meaty, humorous, interactive and probably messy.”
This is how Dan Medlin, Talent Acquisition Leader for Samsung Austin Semiconductor, and Scott Beardsley, Market Manager for Technology Navigators, described their recent Stepping Stones to Enhanced Leadership session on Integrated Talent Management. Their 4-hour morning session focused on proactive strategies for “getting, keeping and growing” employees as an overlapping and continuous process that is both a human capital and business imperative.
Sounds impressive, but does the process work? Dan and Scott have refined their “Texas BBQ” of talent acquisition and human resources management for a combined half-century of success. Dan brings experience in corporate staffing, agency recruiting and as an independent headhunter. Scott brings experience in contingency search, contract staffing, recruitment process outsourcing, professional services/consulting and corporate staffing.
So, what did the Stepping Stones participants say about the session?
“The class was excellent. The speakers were knowledgeable, engaging and very well prepared. They gave us a detailed road map to build a successful talent management program. I love their top-down approach. I feel that I know now where to go and what to do. “
“Talent management is a very broad topic and the presenters did a nice job of covering the end-to-end integrated topic. Their direct experience made the subject very interesting.”
“The class gave us a general framework and a detailed action plan. We will use the framework for our company and prioritize the actions. It will take time to implement what I have learned during the class, but we can start, one piece at a time.”
“Our recruiting process sometimes takes a while and I hadn't kept in touch with candidates in the past unless I had something to tell them. Now I will keep in touch with the top candidates regularly, even if it's just to tell them we're still working through our internal process.”
“Even though we're a small company and can't afford a large, fully integrated applicant tracking system I found out there are some low or no-cost programs that may work for us. I've put implementing a system on my list.”
Stepping Stones to Enhanced Leadership is a 2009 Pinnacle Award-winning program created by the Austin Human Resource Management Association (AHRMA) leadership to establish a pipeline for AHRMA’s Board of Directors, provide professional development from best-in-class subject matter experts, and enhance workplace engagement and strategic partnership of program participants. Program participants attend nine (9), 4-hour workshop sessions focusing on a variety of strategic leadership topics. Stepping Stones sessions are certified for Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) credit.
by Dan Medlin
Originally published at Dan Medlin's Blog.
Reprinted with permission.
In the STAR Career Workbook, I discuss the “Barriers to Launching and Continuing your Career Transition.” Clearly, money is a major issue. And as I listened to Dave Ramsey say “You have to make money behave,” in one of his Financial Peace Workshops, I thought, “Do I control my expenses, or do they control me?” Now as I think through the planning involved in Career Transition, it becomes clear that you can take control of your finances during your job search, or your finances will control your job search.
You have a number of choices to make:
- in which job search resources you will invest,
- which networking events you might attend,
- what opportunities you will pursue, and ultimately,
- how you will negotiate for a fair offer from your next employer.
If you have your finances secure, you will be able to make the choices you want to make instead of those you are forced to make.
Here are 3 tips to start you on the right path:
1. Plan to reduce your expenses.
Career Transition will often require some investment of resources. If you have had an issue in the past with managing your finances or you are strapped with unnecessary debt, take time now to learn about budgeting and managing money. You might consider this a burden, or you might consider it an opportunity. Think about how you can reduce your monthly budget and start cutting those costs NOW, before they mount into your growing debt. In the STAR Career Workbook, I provide a simple worksheet with some suggested expenses you might reduce.
2. Continue the Discipline of Saving.
Dave Ramsey would also start you out on a simple path. His “Baby Steps” start with saving, which is a discipline that begins a harvest of peace. You might not consider a time of career transition, especially if you are in between jobs, a time to begin saving. Consider at least Baby Step 1, to set aside and maintain a minimum of $1000 in savings.
3. Create a Detailed budget.
If you have not worked out a detailed budget, it’s critical you do so during career transition. Every dollar should have a name on it before the month begins. Chart out your fixed expenses, your variable expenses, and your “God only Knows” (unexpected emergency) expenses.
Don’t let all this work go to waste by “pity-party” spending, lonely spending or unexpected emergencies. There are no unexpected emergencies when you have planned for them. Start practicing that beautiful ancient word, “No,” and remember that “it’s not in the budget” is also a perfectly acceptable response.
The STAR Career Workbook will help you get on the path toward a rewarding career. This is a workbook, not a romance novel. Get out your pencil and prepare to spend some time in here.
This is the tool belt for the whole career search lifecycle. Tools for direction, communication, networking, interviewing and negotiation.
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Dan Medlin is a Senior Human Resources Business Partner with 14 years of HR experience, preceded by 10 years in higher education administration and teaching. He is also author of the STAR Career Workbook, available on Amazon. Come meet and talk to Dan at the upcoming HR CareerConnects event on September 27, 2012. (http://bit.ly/HRCCtickets) He'll be moderating our 2nd-session panel.
