SourceCast: Episode 43: I’m Sorry Dave
News You Can Use: 9/14/2016
- 5 Tips For Sourcing Success When Your Employer Brand Is Poor
Instead of: providing a generic pitch to candidates of what a great employer you are, what great benefits you have, how much people enjoy working there, when you know you can’t do so with any real enthusiasm,
You may try to: accentuate the positive aspects by speaking glowingly of the hiring manager and how dedicated he is to mentoring his direct reports. Also, you may try to highlight how much the specific division the job sits in has been outperforming the rest of the company, the unique culture of this particular team, division, and office, and how much this specific position, with this specific hiring manager, in this specific division, in this specific office, presents an exclusive opportunity for the right candidate to advance his career.
http://www.eremedia.com/sourcecon/5-tips-for-sourcing-success-when-your-employer-brand-is-poor/
- The jobs we’ll lose to machines — and the ones we won’t
- To avoid supplier disputes, VW reconsiders procurement strategy
The Irish Times explained that it is a popular practice within the auto industry to try and steer clear of relying too heavily on a single supplier. This decision, the source noted, is fueled primarily by the dispute that occurred between VW and Prevent – the parent company of the car maker’s two suppliers, Car Trim and ES Automobiluss – when Prevent licensed Car Trim to manufacture parts for luxury brands of vehicles. People familiar with the matter, the source explained, said that Prevent “retaliated by moving some of Car Trim’s financial claims against VW to Automobilguss.”
http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2016/08/to-avoid-supplier-disputes-vw.html
- GE buys supply chain software provider ShipXpress
ShipXpress provides cloud-based software solutions, which allow transportation, industrial, and commodities businesses to effectively operate and collaborate with their supply chain partners.
The deal is said to expand GE Transportation’s portfolio of solutions into the logistics value chain, helping to deliver information and transaction services for railroad customers across the globe.
- If You Work From Home, Do This Every Day
The art of not working requires discipline of a different sort than working. You have to discard the entrenched belief that being present at a desk is the same as being productive. And you have to become intimately acquainted with your mental needs. When it’s time to rest, you need to learn to do so without guilt. As a native New Englander raised with the classic Puritan work ethic, I can attest that this is harder to do than it looks.
Photo: Ian Schneider
News You Can Use: 8/24/2016
- Why outsourced call center roles are coming back onshore
While companies must pay more for onshore call center agents (offshore labor rates are typically 40 to 55 percent of onshore rates), increased automation has helped defray some of the extra expense of local labor. “While companies are ready to pay more for better quality services, increased technology leverage in a traditionally labor-intensive contact center space has offset some of the additional cost,” Bhargava says.
In addition, companies are increasingly adopting a work-at-home model for agents, which incurs lower operational costs than onshore full-time-equivalents (FTEs). Work-at-home agents are typically 5 to 10 percent cheaper than on-site professionals in the U.S., Bhargava says.
- What’s Next After Supply Chains?
http://www.onenetwork.com/2016/08/whats-next-after-supply-chains/ - More airline outages as carriers grapple with ageing technology
The reservations systems of the biggest carriers mostly run on a specialized IBM operating system known as Transaction Processing Facility, or TPF. It was designed in the 1960s to process large numbers of transactions quickly and is still updated by IBM, which did a major rewrite of the operating system about a decade ago.
A host of special features, ranging from mobile check-ins to seat selection and cabin upgrades, are built on top of the TPF core, or connected to it.
“They have surrounded that old industry infrastructure with modern technology,” said Bob Edwards, United Continental Holdings’ former chief information officer until 2014. “Those systems have to always reach back into the old core technologies to retrieve a reservation or to figure out who flies between Dallas and New York City.”
When a power outage shuts off that reservations system – as happened on Monday to Delta Air Lines’ “Deltamatic” system – TPF falls out of sync with the newer technologies that passenger service agents use to assist travellers, Edwards said.
- Exclusive: Honeywell explores acquisition of JDA Software
The acquisition would illustrate how Honeywell, a U.S. diversified industrial conglomerate, is keen to boost its automation portfolio after it agreed last month to acquire Intelligrated Inc, a U.S. distribution systems and logistics company, for $1.5 billion.
JDA Software’s majority owner, buyout firm New Mountain Capital LLC, has already explored a sale of the company to private equity firms, and there is no certainty its latest talks with Honeywell will result in a deal, the people said on Monday.
- SAP Targets Terrorism With AI
SAP National Security Services, which describes itself as an independent subsidiary of the German-based software giant that’s operated by U.S. citizens on American soil, works with homeland government agencies to find ways to track potential terrorists across social media.
“One [use] is the identification of bad actors: People that may be threats to us—people and organizations,” says Mark Testoni, president and CEO of SAP NS2, as the company is known. “Secondarily, once we’ve identified those kinds of players and actors, we can then track their behaviors and organizations.”
http://www.fastcompany.com/3062259/sap-targets-terrorism-with-ai
Photo: Nico Beard
News You Can Use: 8/3/2016
- AI and machine learning on social media data is giving hedge funds a competitive edge
Morse said sentiment derived from consumers about certain brands, which can also impact equity prices, is a new twist on the subject currently being explored and which we can expect to see a lot of in the future. Twitter can also gauge macro and geopolitical factors he said, citing a study last year which showed Twitter data predictive of unemployment levels in the US.
StockTwits, which provides real time commentary on individual companies, was the inventor of the cashtag, adopted by Twitter over time.
- This American Life: Choosing Wrong
Stories of people making the wrong choice, even though the right one is staring them squarely in the eye. Basketball players making a conscious decision to not do the thing that makes them better, pollsters refusing to see the truth of Donald Trump, and more.
This was a great podcast about doing the wrong thing and why it happens. Totally worth a listen.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/590/choosing-wrong
- The Government Buys $2 Trillion Worth of Stuff Every Year. Here Are 5 Ways To Do It Better
Promote smart risk-taking and innovation:
Almost all interviewees agreed that the procurement workforce’s contribution to solving complex problems is limited by a risk-averse, change-resistant orientation. Agency leaders must encourage creative problem-solving and invest in training and recruitment that promotes this approach. - Why I quit often…
”Now that you change jobs often, your resume looks like the sponsor page @ a fundraiser.” I get this often from prospective employers and and colleagues. It’s the elephant in the room…and I get it. It looks bad. They want to know: Why can’t you just keep a job? Stop jumping ship! My response is complicated. I don’t want to keep quitting. I don’t enjoy changing health plans every year, remembering more system login’s and passwords or proving myself over and over again – It’s not easy, trust me. It’s exhausting – but I need to be motivated and do what’s best for me. Similarly, you need to drive your career and once you surround yourself by motivated people, things will happen – for everyone.
- Supply chain problems can be solved through professionalization, innovation, speed
“The challenge we all face is that the rate of change is accelerating, often not in our direct control but with major consequences for our businesses. Global and local challenges are at the heart of competitive strategy and all institutions are being forced to confront them in an increasingly efficient and innovative way. The supply chain industry is at the center of operations in most industry value chains and therefore has a vital role to play.”
Photo: dan carlson
News You Can Use: 6/29/2016
- Automation, not cheap labor, is reshaping outsourcing
One process that has taken off is called “Robotic Process Automation (RPA),” a term given to a virtual machine that takes over some of the applications and workflows managed by workers. These systems don’t directly replace humans, but take structured tasks and automate them, with users saving as much as much as 15%, said Karamouzis.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3083264/it-careers/automation-not-cheap-labor-is-reshaping-outsourcing.html
What’s Next for Artificial IntelligenceWe need to update the New Deal for the 21st century and establish a trainee program for the new jobs artificial intelligence will create. We need to retrain truck drivers and office assistants to create data analysts, trip optimizers and other professionals we don’t yet know we need. It would have been impossible for an antebellum farmer to imagine his son becoming an electrician, and it’s impossible to say what new jobs AI will create. But it’s clear that drastic measures are necessary if we want to transition from an industrial society to an age of intelligent machines.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-next-for-artificial-intelligence-1465827619
- John Oliver on Retirement Plans (warning: bad language):
- Ignoring People for Phones Is the New Normal
The most interesting thing this study found was that people who reported phubbing more often were also more likely to be phubbed themselves. The authors, from the University of Kent, suggest several possible reasons for this. One is a simple retaliation—if you’re trying to talk to someone, and they’re on their phone, well, two can play at that game.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/ignoring-people-for-phones-is-the-new-normal-phubbing-study/486845/
Note: “phubbing”—a portmanteau of “phone” and “snubbing.” - Why Leadership Development Needs to Be Updated
As it is, 61 percent of North American employees surveyed by Achievers in 2015 said they don’t know their company’s mission. When coaches are in control, leaders receive inconsistent training that doesn’t align with company practices and values, and they can’t reinforce the mission to employees.
Employers need to take back the control and launch leadership development programs consistent with the company mission, values and goals. This way, development and training aligns with the ROI and metrics companies want — not what the coaches want.
- Building A High-Performance Sourcing Department: Hire High-Performance Sourcers
Before you can hire high-performance sourcers you need to know what the definition of a good sourcer. Great sourcers are individuals who possess two skills sets that might appear to be polar opposites. They possess strong analytical research skills and outstanding verbal and written communication skills. According to sourcing pioneer Harry Ensley, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Sun Life Financial, a great sourcer is often a strong recruiter, but a good recruiter is not necessarily a good sourcer.
Photo: Priscilla Westra