Category Archives: Finance & Strategy

Two Easy (And Legal) Ways to Gather Competitive Intel

By Mark Stelzner | Published: November 1, 2011
According to a February, 2011 Financial Times article, US intelligence sources estimate that industrial espionage will cost American businesses between $100-250 billion dollars annually. Increased global competition, pressure to rapidly and persistently innovate and pure profiteering are oft-cited motives for both physical and electronic means of securing proprietary information. Even the seemingly benign HR industry [...]
Also posted in General Thoughts, Human Resources, Public Sector, Research | Tagged , | 6 Comments

The Leadership Development Carnival – A Love Story

By Mark Stelzner | Published: February 7, 2011
The emotions attached to February 14th range from wide-eyed hopefulness and heart-pounding anticipation to downright disdain and overt hostility. As many attribute the same feelings to their organizational leadership, I thought we’d focus this month’s Carnival on our favorite Hallmark holiday. That’s right, it’s the leadership development carnival of love featuring fifty of the sweetest [...]
Also posted in General Thoughts, Human Resources | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

The Conference Economy

By Mark Stelzner | Published: September 13, 2010
My watch doesn’t boast a ton of features but I was still able to confirm the exact amount of time he spent vacuuming our 10′ x 16′ carpet — 1 minute, 14 seconds. The bill? $52.80. That equals an hourly rate of over $2,500… for vacuuming… from a guy that probably makes $15 an hour [...]
Also posted in General Thoughts | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Do You Speak CFO?

By Mark Stelzner | Published: May 28, 2009
First off I want you to just settle down and relax. This isn’t one of those typical blog posts bashing HR about the head for not becoming a strategic business partner. Instead, let’s enter a Zen-like state…breathe…and repeat after me: [Inhale]“There is no seat.” [Exhale] “There is no table.” Excellent. We are now free of traditional [...]
Also posted in Human Resources | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Are You ‘Power Hungry’ Or A ‘Peace Builder’?

By Mark Stelzner | Published: May 18, 2009
Many of you may belong to a social networking niche based on professional affiliation. You interact both online and offline, you exchange best practices, you develop relationships and over time you find yourself in a tightly woven group.   Then you join another social network which has little association with the first. It contains different [...]
Also posted in General Thoughts, Human Resources, Research | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do We Need A Corporate Alert System?

By Mark Stelzner | Published: May 4, 2009
For most of us, hyperawareness of alert systems came in response to the September 11th attacks. The first Homeland Security Advisory System release came in March of 2002 with a lovely shade of yellow for “Elevated”, part of a five Crayon palate that was highly criticized as confusing and largely misunderstood by the general public. [...]
Also posted in General Thoughts, Human Resources | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How JobAngels (And You) Have Changed My Life

By Mark Stelzner | Published: February 9, 2009
[NOTE - The demographics in this post were updated on June 5, 2009] This is the longest time between posts in the history of our little blog. If you’re thinking, “This is an outrage!”, I agree completely. So who is to blame for this travesty, this lapse in judgment, this abandonment of an HR community [...]
Also posted in General Thoughts, Human Resources, Public Sector, Research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 46 Comments

Quotes from The Crossroads

By Mark Stelzner | Published: November 12, 2008
My day has consisted of endless conversations with those who are at a crossroads.  For some it was an unexpected pink slip upon return from a long weekend.  For others it’s the heart wrenching decision to lay off staff in order to keep their business alive.  And for others it’s a question of whether they [...]
Also posted in General Thoughts, Human Resources | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Large Market HR Outsourcing Takes Another Hit

By Mark Stelzner | Published: October 28, 2008
The sheer magnitude of the quarterly write-down is unprecedented in the HR outsourcing industry – $272.9 million.  This is what Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) reported in their quarterly earnings announcement earlier today.   To put that number in perspective, this represents ~40% of CVG’s consolidated revenues for the quarter and is nearly 5x the quarterly [...]
Also posted in Human Resources | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Why Does The “Main Street” Metaphor Live On?

By Mark Stelzner | Published: October 10, 2008
According to my stopwatch, it has been exactly seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds since I’ve heard a “Main Street” versus “Wall Street” reference.  And what a glorious 7:39 it has been.  I’m not sure about you, but I neither live on Main Street nor Wall Street, and I’m getting tired of the gross oversimplification. According [...]
Also posted in General Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment