State of the Union: Job Creation Key to Economy. Are you Ready to Out-Innovate?
by Neil Costa on January 26, 2011
The President mentioned “jobs” thirty times in last night’s state of the union address. He made it absolutely clear that the key to winning back our spirit and momentum as a country is tied to job creation. He stated:
“We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.”
In order to compete as a country we need to be the assertive, innovative nation playing to win. Whether you are a large or small business, adding new employees to your payroll probably causes some worries. It is time for you decide if you are recruiting to win. It probably feels like a hiring aggressively has some risk. Guess what, it does. Is this kind of risk irresponsible? No. This risk is required for us to grow the economy, grow our businesses and drive new jobs in the years ahead. The great part of recruiting and hiring for new jobs in your organization is that you have total control over who you hire. Find talent. Interview. Make aggressive offers. Show them how you plan to retain and reward them. Get in the game and hire the best talent available. If you think you can wait to hire the best, think again….
Best Buy has 14,000 job openings
Lockheed Martin has 5,700 job openings
Bank of America has 4,000 job openings
Intel has almost 1,200 job openings
All State has 580 job openings
P&G has almost 400 job openings
Harley Davidson has 70 job openings
Are these indicators of a sluggish economy? If you think this current market gives you the pick of the litter, think again. The hiring has begun and if you are not full steam ahead, you are falling behind. The best talent is being courted. The talent in your building is being courted. The environment today causes organizations to truly evaluate three key items related to their recruiting strategy:
1) Does my company have the employment brand & tools needed to differentiate our workplace in today’s recruiting marketplace?
2) Does my company understand the new channels job seekers use today – going beyond job boards to leverage search engines and social media?
3) Does my company have an aggressive enough plan to identify and connect with the right people in order to win the war for talent?
I wish I could tell you that you have more time. I wish I could tell you that what you did yesterday will work today and tomorrow. I wish I could say it is going to be OK. We are in for a dynamic and interesting time as it pertains to job growth, hiring and getting America back to work. This is a great challenge and a great opportunity for you, your career, your organization and your country. It’s time to out-innovate the rest of the world.