CEO Employment Index Rises Slightly




Chief Executive Employment Index (6 month r=.84 lagged)

 
















The CEO Employment Index and the CEO Confience Index reflect a slow but steady rise since it's bottom in Q2 one year ago. 

Q2 of 2010 shows an uptick, however modest, and with the survey one chief executive stated what I believe is happening under the radar.  He says, "For those that do have strong balance sheets and access to capital and liquidity, the environment is ripe with opportunity for acquisition, organic growth and capturing market share.“


This tracks other data points from the Private Equity industry as well as Challenger, Grey and Christmas in the report from CNBC quoted earlier in this blog.

What does this mean?

There is fog, there is reality, and it is up to you to know the difference.

Helpful hits:

• Don't listen to the media.  They have a vested interest in reporting that which will sell more advertising space.
• Know your industry and its challenges.  Each industry is going to have a bumpy recovery, but knowing the specifics and what you can do to create value is invaluable.
• Get out there and discover the truth.  Do your own personal research and know that those who really do make a difference will find opportunities. 
• Don't wait for things to turn around.  The absolute worst thing you can do is quit until things "get better."  Quitters never win and winners never quit!

Thoughts? Comments?

Why A Slow Economy May Be Good for Your Executive Career

I am not an economist.

But I do remember the 1990s (the first half, anyway) where growth was slow, about 2 to 3 percent per year. This was before the Internet took off and before we all got connected online. If we rip out a page from that time frame, we can see overall benefits to slow, steady growth.

1. Opportunities are real and based on true growth.
2. Productivity is based on actual revenues booked.
3. Investment is given to companies that have proven their success.
4. Customer demand is based on value, not hype.
5. Jobs are created when productivity meets capacity.
6. Prices are based on real demand and are competitive.
7. Growth is manageable and predictive. 

What is different today than 20 years ago is how people are to be employed, with lower barriers to enter the world-wide labor pools, and social networking creating interactive work flows rather than static work structures.

Therefore, executives must be willing to move away from the idea of a j-o-b and think in terms of how they can be engaged in the flow of fluid work, ignoring the method in which payment is received (wages versus income).

  

But here lies the rub.

Many of us who are in the executive ranks are so stuck in “…working for an organization…” when that very ideal organization is being re-engineered as we speak. It is being uprooted from within. Beyond the media reporting and government metrics is a whole underworld of opportunities. These opportunities are similar to the current in a river where, at the surface, it looks calm and placid, yet underneath is a ranging torrent of water that creates the real movement of the river itself.

The real economy today is the torrent of opportunities that run under the surface of traditional industrial-age job creation, including the metrics that give us an idea of what’s going on. In my opinion, these metrics are so out-of-date no wonder consumer confidence is at an all time low!

So…what’s the answer?

  

It lies in understanding how to be engaged in the flow of fluid work. Here are a few insights that I’ve gained:

• Work is being reorganized around essential tasks, not roles
• Tasks are viewed in terms of impact and return on investment, not functional expertise
• Labor is being hired based upon contractual outcomes, not job descriptions
• Hiring is based upon co-creation, not individualized responsibilities
• Money is flowing to value creation entities, not high-priced candidates

This fundamental restructuring of work and what work is valuable is moving away from what an individual can do and is looking for network pools of labor flows that can assist an organization to meet customer demand, keep overhead costs constant, and receive increased value for each essential task performed.

What does this mean for the “traditional executive”?

Let me know what you think and I’ll share your thoughts

Executive Opportunities: Is "Green" a Fad or Fact?

According to McKinsey Quarterly,

Many governments have been actively trying to promote growth, competitiveness, and employment. But policy makers who hope that advanced “clean” technologies can create work on a large scale will probably be disappointed, because these sectors are just too small to make an economy-wide difference. The local-business and household-services sectors are a much better bet: from 1995 to 2005, services generated all net job growth in high-income economies. Low-tech “green” activities, such as improving the insulation of buildings and replacing obsolete heating and cooling equipment, could generate more jobs than renewable technologies can.

The chart is shared and was published in August 2009.

• Is "green" a fad or fact? 
• What have you found? Are there more opportunities in "clean" technologies where you live?