Transitions, A Job Search and Designing the Future
Written by Susan Burns
Fall is a time of transitions. The weather changes slowly at first and then more dramatically. Trees light up spectacularly to deliver a magnificent display of color before revealing bare limbs. We begin to modify the way we dress and even nourish ourselves differently to acclimate and prepare for the coming winter. Seasonal transitions offer a time for reflection as we look back at how the year has progressed, what we want to accomplish before the year ends, and how we begin to frame goals for the coming year. During Fall 2009 I was in a state of reflection. I had given independent consulting a two-year run. During a tough economic environment I felt fortunate that I was able to not only build a stream of diversified revenue but also devote time to completing an intensive leadership program, enrich my personal yoga practice and complete a 200-hour residential teacher training program. I also made a discovery that led me to an important career decision – it was time to return to a corporate leadership role.
Insight
Gaining insight into what truly energizes you is an important discovery. I had come to realize that what truly energizes me, where my strengths lie and where I possess authentic passion were all pointing in a similar direction – leading a talent acquisition function again. I missed being closer to the heart and soul of an organization’s business. Being directly at the business : talent intersection, tapped into the daily pulse of the business, and being in a leadership position to deliver direct value through the talent acquisition function. I missed the opportunity to work with a team and collectively experience the ebb and flow of navigating the inherent challenges of delivering on and / or advancing talent strategies. And, celebrating success along the way. The future was calling. It was time to pursue an opportunity to broadly influence an organization’s talent acquisition orientation. Build an outstanding experience for job seekers, recruiters and business leaders. Support an organization’s strategic directives. And, help enable the future through the talent acquisition capability. Many of the same drivers that led me to transition from front-line business leadership to the HR function 12 years ago were pulling me back in. The opportunistic state of talent acquisition functions to deliver greater value to the business strategy. The candidate experience and void between recruiting and talent. And, the ability of technology to not only enable but also advance multi-dimensional relationships between organizations and talent.
The Search….in brief
I intentionally chose not to be fully public in my search. I chose to take a quieter search approach than many may agree with, especially in our connected, social environment. I reached out across my network and persistently scoured a number of sources, which probably resulted in a longer search. But I thought it was important to avoid unnecessary risk to existing and potential clients and to secure all possible revenue. I also wanted to fully absorb the job seeker experience. No surprise that the job search itself was not only interesting and informative but disappointing, to say the least, during a time of great opportunity for organizations. From an analytical perspective, my search revealed the long-term vulnerabilities across organizations of various size, industry, and brand stature inherently tagged to the organization’s brand through poor recruiting practices. Yes, it continues to amaze me how companies can invest heavily in areas like marketing, R&D, and customer development only to allow the recruiting process to dilute those very same investments through the job seeker / candidate experiences. My friends say it shouldn’t continue to surprise me. But, until someone tells me that there is no connection between talent and “business success”, and that talent is not “our most important asset,” I’ll continue to be amazed. Executive search has its own challenges and there are but a few true gems within a sea of transactionally-driven, “close the deal”, recruiters.
Perspective and Framework
From the job seeker perspective, it’s quite challenging to balance a strong desire to move forward with the patience, resilience and gut instinct to stay focused on the right opportunity, which for me included role, company, geography, leadership and, most importantly, culture. Its probably the one thing I can’t emphasize enough to anyone I speak with who is in a job search or considering making a move. Trust your intuition. Know your self well enough to know what you value and where compromises can be made. Most of what is learned during the interview process is only going to reveal part of reality and that part better be strongly aligned with who you are and what you want. Reflect on past experiences to clarify what energizes you and what drains you. Define the environment in which you can thrive and create a guiding framework. Then, be aware of what drains you to make smart compromises. A few things that comprised my framework:
- Enterprise-wide leadership role with broad scope and responsibility encompassing all aspects of talent acquisition
- Reporting line directly to the head of HR / Talent, who is a progressive leader
- A culture of and commitment to progressive talent strategies across the HR organization
- Commitment to, and / or desire to achieve excellence in talent acquisition practices across the organization
- An HR organization that recognizes COE interdependencies and respects the inherent SME value.
- Owning my budget
Stepping Into the Future
Around the end of September, I accepted a new role and just finished my first month as Director of Talent Acquisition with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). BPA is a self-financed, federal agency based in Portland – which also means I get to stay in one of the greatest cities in the country! BPA generates and transmits emission-free power to support about 33% of the Northwest, as well as transmitting wind energy to California. I’m already fully immersed in the benefit and challenge of learning the energy industry along with government practices. In my new role, I’ll be leading talent acquisition, internal talent movement, university recruitment, and diversity. I’ll also have the opportunity to further develop and execute on the Obama Administration’s Hiring Reform Memorandum, which by design enables government agencies to compete more effectively with private industry for talent. My own experience in applying for the job – 8 hours to complete the application – responding to a series of essay questions and short answers, resulting in a 9-page document, was quite revealing. At the same time, there are a number of good, transparent touch points within federal hiring and workplace practices that are well aligned with job seeker and employee preferences.
This is one of those unique opportunities to design a holistic strategy, develop a high-performing talent acquisition function, and enable the function to thrive and align with a critical business mission, which in this case will literally help keep the lights on! I’ll also be continuing with some outside work that doesn’t present a direct conflict or interfere with my role. The Talent Synchronicity blog will stay active and as I get settled will allocate more time to write. Talent Camp is still a possibility for 2011 so stay tuned and cheers to Transitions!
