NPA The Worldwide Recruiting Network

Courtesy of Recruiting & Staffing Solutions magazine, March/April 2009 issue

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Leveraging Your Network for Survival, Profitability & Growth
by Manny Rao, Chairman of the Board of Directors, NPA

Use your network to:

• Find work
• Expand the market you serve
• Seek advice and coaching
• Cut costs
• Benchmark results

These times are no time to go it alone. Businesses are failing at record pace and the current economic conditions are not likely to quickly recover. So, all business leaders, including recruiting and staffing executives are smart to examine new and creative ways to leverage existing assets to deliver improved results. Looking for ideas, help, feedback, and coaching from your established peer network is a logical first step. Recruiters that have built a strong network of industry partners will benefit from the knowledge and expertise these networks can provide with the challenges ahead. Continue Reading »

by Jason Elias

It is a truism that relationships are the key to success in economic downturns. Naturally your relationship with your NPA partners will be more important than ever; just ask Jim Sullivan who survived the 9/11 aftermath by working closely with NPA partners. Here are a few reasons why a strong recruiter network likeNPA is more important now than ever:

• Getting jobs on is getting tighter; your NPA partners are an instant source of active qualified openings.
• Developing new business is harder; your NPA partners can offer warm leads into existing clients to provide recruitment in your industry or geography.
• Pitching for business is trickier; NPA provides you with a comparative advantage over your competitors. Tell your clients you are willing to give away half your fee to help them find the right candidate.
• Business issues get complex; why not brainstorm with other owners or consultants whose experience and fresh perspective can solve your problem.
• Great candidates are coming out of the woodwork, but you may not have a role for them now. Share with your partners and convert opportunities into placementshappy candidates and clients lead to repeat business.
• You are never too old to learn; keep up your skills and brush up on the all too easily forgotten basics, with NPA’s training and webinars.
• Maintain the relationships in your recruiter network in a great collegiate atmosphere at meetings and conferences.

The Scenario:
Manufacturing company in Indiana needed sales and marketing GM in Australia.

The director of human resources was planning to make a trip to Australia to source candidates. He was nervous about a successful outcome since he had no contacts in Australia to help with the search. Continue Reading »

Laura Schmieder, Premier Placement Inc., NPA 1315

Long ago I read “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. It’s a philosophy/travel book that mixes discourses on Eastern and Western culture with the blessings/burdens modern technology bestows on us. It’s a quirky book but I often go back and think about the lessons I learned reading it. Repeated throughout is the conviction that you must live a life of quality but also give quality to life around you.

There are many precepts about life throughout the book. Things about not allowing technology to take over your life but using it to your advantage - to produce good work. To instill patience, care and attentiveness in my work are to achieve peace of mind. Peace of mind produces right values that produce right thoughts (stay with me on this). Right thoughts produce right actions that produce quality work. Continue Reading »

Gary Eastwood, Beck/Eastwood Recruitment Solutions, NPA 6770

One technique Beck/Eastwood has frequently employed as a best practice over the past 10 years has been to utilize contrary logic in order to pinpoint what exactly a client is looking to employ as a skill set for high level positions.

Huh? I know, it sounds bewildering. For us, it works like this:

When we take on a new assignment (we often work across the board in every discipline for our best clients) we ask for and receive the company published job description. This is one of the least helpful documents in talent acquisition in my humble opinion. Continue Reading »