Click this link to view the complete agenda for our event we are hosting, Feb.28 at the Rodd Charlottetown

Island Recruiting have just completed their annual Prince Edward Island labor market survey. This survey started in 2009 and once again has surveyed almost 1,000 participants; results remain somewhat consistent year over year. The survey focused on collecting general business information and labor market opinions from various businesses on the Island for the current year as well as their projections for the upcoming year.

To frame the respondents; over 85% of respondents had been in business for more than 5 years. Less than 1% of the companies were newly established within the last 12 months, significantly reduced from last year’s figure of 7.5%. The majority of the companies surveyed are small to medium businesses with less than 10 staff members.

55% of the companies were either neutral or optimistic about their general sense about the economy and business environment in 2012, with provincial and federal government cut backs recognized as the greatest challenge for the year ahead. For over half of the companies surveyed, the number of employees did not change within the past year. However, 56% of the respondents have plans to conduct new hiring in 2012, with 11% of them having hiring expectation of greater than 12 persons. Among the surveyed companies, over 90% were rather satisfied with their performance in 2011.

Slightly decreased from last year, 63% of the companies have full-time employees making up the majority of their work-force. Around half of the companies currently employed youth and mature workers; while a third of the companies hired newcomers. The majority of the workers in the companies surveyed are aged 36 to 50.

According to the survey results, finding qualified candidates remain the most challenging aspect of hiring, nearly 50% of employers identified this as a bigger challenge than screening, interviewing or completing reference checks (this compares to over 60% from the previous year). Around half of the companies experienced difficulty finding and hiring new employees; however, only 22% reported that a shortage of workers affected their organization’s ability to secure projects or deliver work.

Most companies were not strongly impacted by employees’ retirement; as a result, the majority of the companies surveyed do not have effective strategies to replace key employees who plan to retire. Nearly 60% of the companies do not have a succession plan in place in the event of selling their business.

In general, businesses are relatively optimistic about the economic environment they operate in. Steadiness is a main aspect in their expansion strategy. Many are looking to hire more people in 2012, but not in a large scale. They expect the hiring process to be challenging and time consuming. Also revealing is the fact that the labor shortage will continue in 2012, so it is critical to attract elements of the workforce from other provinces, or even other countries.

For additional information contact: Blake Doyle

About Island Recruiting

Island Recruiting is a full-service HR consulting and recruiting agency, formed in 2007. With eight employees Island Recruiting has clients across Canada and recruits around the globe. Consulting services include compensation analysis, policy development, programming and HR tool implementation all of which are delivered by certified CHRP accredited professionals.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Blake Doyle, Island Recruiting, 902-367-3797 fax: 902-367-3798, www.IslandRecruiting.com

Go on – take a bite!

There is a lot of hype around Apple these days, and for good reason. Their stock is performing uniquely well and the products they produce are “cool”– even if they are designed to be replaced rapidly.

(If you look at the product life-cycle of Apple devices, it is very short. iPods, iPhones, iPads all have a shelf life of about a year before a newer better model emerges. This is called “planned obsolescence” and it is great for revenue growth and stock appreciation).

There is no denying that Steve Jobs is perhaps one of the great innovators of recent memory. In fact Walter Isaacson, Jobs biographer, goes so far as to state:  “Steve Jobs thus became the greatest business executive of our era, the one most certain to be remembered a century from now. History will place him in the pantheon right next to Edison and Ford”.

But how did Jobs grow his company? Despite his genius, he could not have achieved such success on his own.  In Fast Company’s recent magazine there is an article entitled “Steve jobs: If you want Change Agents, Hire Pirates”. This provides yet another glimpse into the vision and drive of the late Jobs.

“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy”. This was a quote that Jobs had made many years ago and it summed up his HR philosophy. According to the article, “A pirate can function without a bureaucracy. Pirates support one another and support their leader in the accomplishment of a goal. A pirate can stay creative and on task in a difficult or hostile environment. A pirate can act independently and take intelligent risks, but always within the scope of the greater vision and the needs of the greater team.

Jobs sought out people who were ambitious, non-conformists and passionate about what they were doing. The characteristics of a pirate were required in all functions of his business, whether it was accounting, administration or product development. As one of Apples older advertising slogans proclaimed “think different”, and this is what he looked for in all his people.

Jobs looked for people with diverse experiences and rounded backgrounds. His hiring was often made by gut instinct but he looked for people that could augment his team in non-traditional ways. A lifetime ago I was selected for a position with Microsoft, it was not because I had an innate understanding of IT but because I had an entrepreneurial passion and a liberal arts education; these were the rounded qualities that were driving Silicon Valley (and Redmond Washington). It is often these balances that are not considered in a traditional hiring process.

In our own organizations we should be careful not to be limited to the narrow requirements of a job position. Look more broadly at rounded experiences and how these may enable your organization to diversify and grow. Look for the “pirates” who will challenge the conventional ways of doing things but are also focused and committed to a team objective.

As we enter the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar – Happy New Year and perhaps our resolution can be to be more creative in our hiring practices.

Island Recruiting recently kicked off an Human Resource Business Engagement Project. The project is sponsored by the Atlantic Population Table and managed by the PEI Chambers of Commerce.

The objective of this HR pilot project is to make small businesses aware of pending and current HR challenges in the PEI market. Challenges include the impact of demographics and an aging workforce, managing expectations of different generational workforces, providing an inclusive and diverse work environment, understanding the foreign worker recruiting process and developing employment retention strategies.

Over the course of the project, Island Recruiting will be working closely with a number of Small and Medium Enterprises on PEI to assess their current HR processes and systems and at the end of the project to make recommendations on how to improve their internal HR resources.

A public forum will be presented to the Island business community upon completion of the project. If you would like more information on the project please contact Wendy MacIntyre at Island Recruiting.

Planning is often one of the first areas to be overlooked, but perhaps the most important element of any business. 

It is that time of the year. For most retailers the current six-week period is the make or break cycle of the year. In fact, a number of retailers will traditionally bleed money until the Christmas season, these couple of weeks will determine if their companies are in the black or red at the end of the year.

For most this is a very busy time. An observation I find true is that the busier people are the more productive they become. Look at your own circumstances. In times of lower motivation do you accomplish more, or are you more effective when juggling a number of responsibilities. While everyone is different, there is an old saying that is proven – if you need something done quickly ask the busiest person you know.

One of the most commonly overlooked issues in many businesses is strategic planning. Often, planning involves looking at historical sales when considering how much inventory to order for the coming season. It is hard to plan effectively while looking in the past. Growth will occur when examining a host of future indicators and accommodating both opportunities and challenges.

What better time of year to plan than right now? In the height of the chaos, when hours are extended and staffs are strained, lines of credit are bulging and the register is ringing, customers are frenzied as you try to keep the shelves merchandized.

Yes there is no time; but what better time? You have an intimate handle on your business and if business is good you are at the peak of optimism. Don’t concentrate on increasing your sales by twenty per cent next year, examine how you can diversify your business and reach new customers.

Most sectors have been constrained for almost four years. We have survived. Our economy will encounter more hiccups before the global recovery. We do know with some certainty that the global economy will recover, the Canadian economy will prosper and stronger sister provinces will continue their expansions. After a predictable lag our little economy will strengthen as well.

Business can wait and grow through the expansion or we can be proactive and plan for the growth now. Invest in people, equipment and technology ahead of the curve and maximize the benefits of a recovery.

Strategic business planning does not have to mean costly business investment. It may simply be a matter of examining ones business and considering new approaches and efficiencies. Being strategic does involve considerations in advance of being forced to respond to market conditions while being proactive with your business plans.

There is heightened sensitivity to the Federal government’s footprint on PEI and specifically impacts the capital city of Charlottetown. The chorus of concern started with civic leaders and the troubadours have grown to include civic, municipal, and provincial leaders as well as MP’s and even Senators ringing the alarm of potential cuts to public sector employees. Not surprisingly, the fall sitting of the legislature included minstrels Aylward and Brown are chiming in.
These concerns are not without merit. The danger is that the profundity of the issue becomes lost in the politics and opportunism not strategic thinking steals the moment of action.

Prince Edward Island, and in particular Charlottetown, has benefited disproportionately by the Federal government’s decision to decentralize departments in the 1970′s. In fact, Veterans Affairs is unique in being the only Federal government department headquartered outside of Ottawa. In 1979 the cost to relocate the department was estimated at $65 million.

Federal government jobs in our region bring Federal government pay scales; and as comedian Patrick Ledwell has eloquently stated ‘Veteran’s Affairs is like PEI Heaven, no one knows what goes on in there, but everyone wants in’. The average annual salary in Charlottetown is $70,000.

The estimated payroll for Veterans Affairs on PEI is in the vicinity of $100 million. In Charlottetown there were approximately 1576 positions in 2010, 1339 of those were full-time.

Politicians and business leaders are right to be concerned over any reduction in investment to our province. Federal government jobs provide an undeniable footing to our economy and small business sector. The Member of Parliament for Charlottetown, Sean Casey, is serving his constituents well by pressing this issue.

In my opinion, however, we are well beyond the point of lobbying this file. The decline in Veteran services is as predictable and as undeniable as the demographics on which they are designed. Equally predictable are the retiring workforce, and hopefully any job losses will be through attrition and not position elimination.

The current dialogue should not be focused solely on preventing contraction, but on substitution of this displaced investment. Now is the time where our leaders should be looking at new investments, new initiatives and growth portfolios. We are at great peril of falling victim to reductions in government investments, if we allow it.

One area which I am, regretfully, confident will not be declining is taxation. PEI’s only sitting government MP is Gail Shea, who just happens to be the Minister of National Revenue. Are there opportunities for expansion in the taxation and processing portfolio?

If you look at the 2011 Federal budget, are there areas PEI should be lobbying for in light of announced impacts to the department of Veteran Affairs? Is there growth in Service Canada program implementation, investments in research, innovations in energy efficiency and the environment, or realigning supports for our aging population?

The economy of Charlottetown will be dramatically affected if Veterans constricts in a meaningful way, I am not advocating this be uncontested. I am suggesting that the realities for this department are undeniable; we need to start looking to the next opportunity(s). Leverage the legacy of this investment into new areas that will support our province into 2020 and beyond; and most importantly do not allow this issue to disintegrate into a political battleground for Federal or Provincial agendas.

A collaborative, bipartisan, multijurisdictional solution is required. Without a rapid strategic approach to this challenge all of PEI will feel the consequence of realities and decisions which are well underway to implementation.

This past weekend I wandered by Province House wanting to bear witness to PEI’s contribution to the anti-business, anti-progress movement intended to emulate the popular Occupy Wall Street gathering in Zuccotti Park.
The PEI gathering was a respectable but small, mostly symbolic event orchestrated to ride the coat tails of the persistent US movement; a movement born out of frustration and exasperation by many disenfranchised US citizens.

So what is the purpose and objective of this movement? Can it affect any real change? Notwithstanding Kevin O’Leary’s(of the CBC) position on the issue; what is the essence of these sit-ins? Essentially people feel marginalized and powerless against the control and influence of corporate America; I believe the protesters are looking for a reformation and empowerment of the citizen.

Without question there are many agendas participating in this movement’ just as there were many agenda and independent movements in 1917 Russia. In principal the protest, borne of frustration, has a purpose however I am doubtful it will make any effective change in its current incarnation. (There are without a doubt some real issues that are deserving of this frustration).

On the business side, let me reference an article in the Economist from October 19th, 2011. One of the architects of the movement is David Graeber, an ethnographer, anarchist and reader in anthropology at the University of London. The purpose of the movement can be described as’ The defining aspect of Occupy Wall Street, its emphasis on direct action and leaderless, consensus-based decision-making, is most clearly embodied by its General Assembly, in which participants in the protest make group decisions both large and small”

On the counterpoint, this government by consensus group are advocating against the consolidation of wealth amongst the few. (Again sounds reminiscent of 19th century Europe). While many models of governance have been attempted through our human history it cannot be argued that capitalism does work. It improves the collective benefits to all society, albeit not necessarily equally. It provides equal opportunity for all citizens to participate and does not limit the potential of the individual to succeed. The overall success of the society does indirectly benefit all ‘a high tide floats all boats’.

http://employpei.com/news/13/Social_Movements_as_Catalyst_of_Change.php While the discussion of corporate influence, government intervention and empowerment of the individual is a discussion that will continue throughout our history. The fact that we can have open expression of ideas without violence, at this point, is also a very positive affirmation that our system of government does work.

We are at a defining period in the evolution of our economic system(s). There will be more disruption in society in the short-run, most likely including financial upheaval in Europe and prolonged low growth in North America. The duration of these activities will continue to limit corporation’s ability to invest in the economy and further frustrate those who feel marginalized. However, as the Guardian’s business columnist, it should be clear that I continue to recognize that a functional economy is entirely dependent on the strength and stability of a vibrant business sector. Business, both large and small, is what will pull us out of this downturn, spur investment, create employment and elevate society to the benefit of all.