The Asia Pacific Headhunter

Top Reasons Why Executives Leave

"Show me the money!!" You remember that scene, right? Rod Tidwell gets Jerry Maguire to scream (rather awkwardly) into the phone to keep him as a client. But we all know that it's not just the money he wants.  Rod sticks it out with Jerry through the lean times. He stays because its the whole value he gets from his relationship with Jerry, and how Jerry helps him to become the best he can be and surpass his potential to the next level.

Keeping that in mind, it's no surprise that Salary is Rarely the Reason for Leaving a Job. According to a Korn/Ferry global study, the top reasons for executives leaving their jobs are:

• Lack of challenges or career growth (33%)
• Ineffective leadership (20%)
• Attractive job market alternatives (17%)
• Inadequate or inconsistent compensation (5%)

 

As an employer trying to retain the talented performers you recruited to join you, you really need to address those top 2 issues: challenges/career growth and leadership.

I think Jerry Crispin of careerxroads.com said it well in a podcast interview: that there really needs to be a culture of learning balanced with the pressure of performance. Learning, training, the facility to develop and grow personally and professionally should be a core tenant of a company, but that for every step in that person's development, the person needs to be challenged to perform to that new level. And in order to orchestrate that kind of flow requires good leadership.

Webstock Auction Won!

I'd like to formally announce that I will be the first ticket holder of the highly anticipated and exciting Webstock conference  that will be held in Wellington, NZ in May 2006! It was an intense 2 minutes as I bid head-to-head (or click-to-click?) on TradeMe's auction this morning for the first ticket (not yet sold to the general public) + an exclusive "Dinner with the Stars". These stars include many of the biggest names in the Web World who are lined up to speak, such as: Joel Spolsky, Kathy Sierra, Ben Goodger, Kelly Goto, Doug Bowman, Steve Champeon, Dori Smith, Darren Fittler, Andreas Gigardet, Joe Clark, NZ's own Rowan Simpson from Trade Me, web writing guru Rachel McAlpine, and PublicAddress mastermind, Russell Brown. That line-up right there is enough reason to attend.

I think it's pretty exciting stuff. As a newbie to blogging and an aspiring creative in applying intelligence, creativity, innovation and design to my professional work, I'm really looking forward to learning about what these professionals have to say and show us. I'm especially looking forward to meeting them in person. It's still 6 months away, but I'll take this opportunity to also be the first to welcome them to New Zealand!

Sports and Business

I love sports and I think there are some great analogies between sports and the working world. I heard a great comment today on ESPN. On their talk show "Pardon the Interruption" they were talking about Michael Jordan and his enjoyment of gambling on sports. Jordan is famous, some boring farts would say infamous, for betting huge sums on any sort of competitive endeavor. In particular on the golf course. The rumour is that when Michael is asked "how much do you want to play for?" he always  replies, "whatever will make you feel uncomfortable".

The essence of this is pretty profound in terms of competition. Despite Michael's ability that made him the best there ever was, there is that competitive spirit that is looking for every creative little edge over his competition. I hear a lot of "that's not fair" when talking to people about work and business but not enough, "that's really competitive". As long as people aren't hurting each other I think it is pretty good to have some competitive spirit. If you are saying to yourself "life isn't fair" perhaps it's time to get a little more competitive with it.

By the way, may favorite book on Jordan - For The Love of the Game - beautiful, hardcover volume with great photos and Michael talking about everything he enjoyed in his career up until the end of the Bulls era.