Networking builds strong multi level marketing organisations, but there is another style of networking that is very focused on finding just one or two people, not an ever growing group.

Whereas traditional networking builds an ever increasing number of contacts, network search then continues the process; to bring those contacts back to just one or two preferred individuals.

In the ‘Search for Talent’, networking should be the natural methodology MLM companies use to secure top individuals for key their corporate and field sales positions.

No matter how talented an ad writer you are, how good an interviewer you are, and how clever you may be at picking a good media position for your internet or press job ad, networking with the best people remains the most effective way to find top people.

Effective talent searching need not mean “robbing from Peter to pay Paul” as this can lead to recycling of old ideas rather than the creation of new business strategies.  Thinking laterally can enable top talent from other related industry sectors to be identified, attracted to the Direct Selling industry and be to the immediate benefit of the hiring organisation. Sources can include Training companies, Franchise businesses, Health and Personal Care organisations, Suppliers, Clients, Industry Associations and so on.

 

So how do we begin the Search process?

As with any search you must know what you are looking for. This means we must define the important competencies, experience and prior achievements we expect our preferred candidate to bring with them. Do not take a too narrow definition otherwise there may be very few people who meet the brief, and you probably know them already. Remember, many skills can be acquired in just a few weeks, whereas other attributes are the result of many years of hard earned experience and personal development.

 

A few good names are all you need to get started.

They may be names suggested by current or former employees, your suppliers, customers, industry associations, or any other contacts who have held similar roles in related industries. These names are unlikely to be the people who are the right people for the job, but they may know who is and will know others who can keep the trail alive.

 

You need to create instant interest when you first connect on the phone.

Flattery is a great opening gambit. Introducing yourself as conducting an executive search assignment and telling them they have been recommended as being a person we should talk to, invariably gains their interest and support. They know that it is through such approaches that the best job opportunities usually emerge, and this might be the time.

Ask them if they can help you by suggesting who you should contact who meets the profile for an assignment and request their permission to summarise the nature of the brief. Once you are in conversation, good things happen.

 

Have a great 30 second message describing the opportunity.

Focus on the key attributes being sought and why the position will be attractive to the right person. Keep it brief and interesting. Avoid too much detail unless more information is requested.

 

Emphasise Confidentiality

Most individuals approached in this way will co-operate and, if they can, they will suggest more names for you to approach provided their identity remains confidential.

 

The Search for Talent gets results

It is a time-consuming process, but a very rewarding one. It generates tremendous market intelligence and identifies talent who would not normally respond to a job advertisement.

Yoga and meditation has more benefits than just greater posture and flexibility. Build your workplace stamina for the year ahead!

Over the last few years I have discovered the huge benefits of yoga in managing my career and business and raising a family with two very active sons. I have been running Mondo  business for the last 20 years and the last few years have been probably the toughest years that I have seen, as social media and new platforms become another tool to hiring and finding the very best hidden talent requires more espionage. Yet my sense of peace, well being and calmness about the business world has developed. It might be ageing but I think and truly believe my regiment daily to do some yoga (even if only 10 minutes) has significantly helped me.

At a previous global recruitment NPA conference with our executive alliance partners I met one business owner from the Philippines who had been running her business for 19 years, Nerissa Reyes of Avante People. This lady seemed so energised and delighted in her business, like it was the first day of start up. I asked her for her secret, and ironically she said yoga! Nerissa said “I used to have severe back pain due to work pressure. The doctors have done surgery to ease the back pain; it was to no avail until I discovered  the POWER OF YOGA.

In her words she said yoga does so many things but to name 4 benefits:

1. YOGA creates FOCUS

YOGA teaches us to stay focused .  It keeps us balanced and centred. There are so many activities that needs our attention daily, it is never. Yoga helps us do the balancing act between business and personal matters.

In the recruitment business, we can work 24 hours a day, especially with the global nature of business. Often, family life suffers while chasing that ambition to succeed in our business.  By a daily practice of YOGA, we re-focus on what is more important..What does it matter if we gain the world but lose our soul?

1. YOGA Breathing

YOGA breathing in & out comes from  the core of our body; it clears the mind and releases stress; it is liberating and relaxing. When faced with operations problems in the office, take a deep breath to release tension; the solution may come more easily

1. YOGA Meditation

YOGA teaches us to stay calm and listen to the environment. Just keep still and soak in the NOW ; the universe will flow through you and work itself out without pushing too hard.

1. YOGA teaches ACCEPTANCE

We learn to accept things that we cannot change. There is a master plan of the universe. What was previously perceived as a hopeless situation seemed inconsequential and quite manageable in the greater scheme of things.

Yoga is the connection of mind to body and in our busy worlds where we so often run so fast with mobiles and email and social media driving our thinking that you do need a mechanism to ” defrag” the brain.

Prince Ea recently cited in his book called “can we auto correct humanity” that the average  person spends 4 years of their life looking at their phone .  There are also recent studies showing that 15 minutes of meditation has more dopamine and ” happy emotions” released than an antidepressant tablet. So naturally it makes sense to consider yoga and meditation to support you in your everyday life.

The simple definition of the  word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means “to join” or “to yoke”( yoga.org.nz)

Yoga is a practical aid, not a religion. Yoga is an ancient art based on a harmonising system of development for the body, mind, and spirit. The continued practice of yoga will lead you to a sense of peace and well-being, and also a feeling of being at one with the environment.

A study led by scientists at UCSF found that schoolteachers who underwent a short, intensive meditation program were less depressed, anxious, and stressed, while also experiencing greater compassion and awareness of others’ feelings. The study was published in the April issue of Emotion.

In study researchers at UCLA found that long-term meditators have larger amounts of gyrification (folding) of the brain’s cortex, specifically in the area of the insula – an area of the brain whose many vital roles include emotional awareness, attention, self-recognition, decision making, and sensing. The researchers found a direct correlation between the number of years study participants had practised meditation and the amount of brain change, offering further possible evidence of the brain’s plasticity.

A groundbreaking study led by Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital in 2011 found that as little as eight weeks of meditation not only helped people experience decreased anxiety and greater feelings of calm; it also produced growth in the areas of the brain associated with memory, empathy, sense of self, and stress regulation.

The practice of yoga makes the body strong and flexible, it also improves the functioning of the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and hormonal systems. Yoga brings about emotional stability and clarity of mind. In the practice of Yoga the ultimate aim is one of self-development and self-realisation.

Think of this practice as being the means and tools to realign and re-balance your vehicle (body) on a regular basis. You take control and you can then become your body mechanic instead of having to pay someone else to do it (medical professionals). Because your body is finely tuned you will find that your chances for injuries and illnesses will drop as you are in a much more attuned state.

So when thinking about your year ahead – think about how you are making time to defrag your brain and what are your tools and resources to equip you with powering through the year ahead with ease.

Why is gender diversity and female participation on Australian boards and at senior leadership levels so rare?  Why, after  my experience of 23 years in Executive Search, has the gender landscape across senior management not expanded?

The Drinks Bulletin published Founder/CEO Simone Allan’s thoughts earlier this week. The article can also be viewed here.

Australian women have equaled or surpassed their male counterparts in upper secondary and tertiary education attainment, yet this still isn’t reflected in women leadership participation in the business community.

Women are not making it to the top of any profession anywhere in the world. Of all the people in parliament in the world, 13 percent are women. In the corporate sector, women at the top, C-level jobs, board seats – tops out at only 15- 16 percent. The numbers have not moved since 2002 and are going in the wrong direction. Even in the  not for profit world, a world we often associate as being led by women , women account for only 20 percent.

The national gender pay gap is currently 18.2% and has hovered between 15% and 18% for the past two decades.  This gender pay gap is influenced by a number of interrelated work, family and societal factors, including stereotypes about the work women and men ‘should’ do, and the way women and men ‘should’ engage in the workforce. Other factors that contribute to the gender pay gap include:

• Women and men working in different industries (industrial segregation) and different jobs (occupational segregation).
• Historically, female-dominated industries and jobs have attracted lower wages than male- dominated industries and jobs, a lack of women in senior positions, and a lack of part-time or flexible senior roles.
• Unpaid carer work -women are more likely than men to take on this challenge.
• Actual years in the workplace ( big hours).
• Discrimination, both direct and indirect.

I am one of the 14% of women who stayed in the workplace in Australia throughout the childbearing years. I have two teenage sons. I run an Executive Search Firm for 19 years and I am the most experienced  Female Exec Search Consultant in Sydney.  I call myself a social observer, with a degree in Psychology/ HR and a commitment to Mental Health Board work. I have interviewed over 22 000 Executives – both genders . I think the reasons for a lack of gender diversity are numerous and many reasons are  “elephants in the room”.

8 Key reasons why women won’t get want they want in the workplace – gender diversity and leadership opportunities:

1. The perceived look that you need to “ look like you work hard by being at the office”: discriminating against women working remotely and not publicly demonstrating deliverables.
2. Unconscious biases: “ jobs for the boys” & “old school ties”. This is may be due to single sex high schools that do not help men and women to  learn how to interact & collaborate together in the workplace.
3. The “nuclear family nuked generational childcare support”: rarely is there care for your children by older family generations – by people who are related and love them. This places pressure on parenting and mothers choosing to stay home and not drive a career.
4. Women say no and Men say yes! In my 23 years of Executive Search experience I see a difference in genders when people are “headhunted”.  Women always point out why they can’t do the job and what they lack in skills & experience and men will tell you what they can do -women say no and men say yes! This is well written about by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook who talks about why women don’t make it to the top. Women systematically underestimate their own abilities.
5. Pregnant women are not predictable: so much is ahead and no one can be assured of what is ahead – only the universe holds the future and this does not help future proofing an organisation.
6. Man the Hunter and Women are the Gatherers: Our long history of  heritage that prefers women  to push the shopping trolley and nest with our young? I like the saying that you never know the torment of flying the coup, if you have never built a nest!
7. “Men have egos and Women have pride”: This begs the question on whether that big job/promotion appeals more to a man than to a woman.Do women seek pride in delivering good work – doing a good job, ignoring the politics?
8. The power of the maternal gene is more ominous than the corporate ladder climbing gene. I know personally how many hours I have lay in bed tormented about how my kids are tracking at school, and if they feel supported and nurtured. I don’t know if these tormenting thoughts are experienced by a man? I open this question up to you fathers to share what keeps you awake at night. Is it a difficult staff member or is it that your child needs to improve at school?

At the Women in Drinks lunch event recently, with Mia Freedman, a statistic was quoted that equality in the workplace will not reach ideal levels until 2133! Will another 120 years see changes to these 8 challenges? I am hopeful, as so many of these listed  challenges are purely systemic.  At least the top 4 challenges can be worked upon.  At the same time,  I wonder whether the basic instincts of a mother and her desires to care for her nest will remain and hence the challenge of maximizing opportunities for women in the workplace will continue.

Women won’t fake it in the workplace!