Staffing Blog

Time For Something New?

Friday, February 22, 2019  by Bailey

As advisors to both clients on the acquisition of talent and talent on career guidance, B&B is constantly measuring the stimuli for why career professionals seek and the reasons why accepting new employment. We call it the "Push Factor" and the "Pull Factor". To measure current trends, we recently looked at the last 100 hundred senior staff to executive level talent that B&B placed in accounting, banking, customer support, engineering, general management, human resources, IT, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and supply chain. Compensation packages ranged from $75,000 to $1+ million.

Primary reason motivating the reason to change employment:

#1 Not challenged enough in current setting; wanted a more impactful role to develop and showcase skills and abilities (43%)

#2 Wanted to be aligned with a company with a brighter future and more committed to growth (28%)

#3 Sought a company with better culture and leadership (17%)

Noteworthy was that 5% wanted to be closer to home, 4% were unemployed or underemployed, 2% want to gain global experience and 1% listed compensation as #1 driver.

Primary reason for accepting new employment:

#1 Opportunity to contribute in a more meaningful role (35%)

#2 Identified with leadership and culture (24%)

#3 Felt business and/or business model was more aligned to their interests (22%)

#4 Upside potential was excellent (15%) 

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Ready for a Raise?

Wednesday, February 20, 2019  by Bailey

It is a talent driven market which means that competition for companies to attract top people is at an all time high. In addition, companies are actively trying to retain the high performers in place. Employed talent may be in the driver's seat and feel that this is an opportune time to ask for a raise. However, even in the best of times, asking for a raise can be precarious. Here are some tips on how to navigate the conversation:

• Begin slowly. 1st quarter is an excellent time to ask your boss for a planning meeting. Discuss short and long term goals. Communicate your desire for more money this year in the context of adding more value to the company.
• Have the necessary information in hand by researching your worth. Understanding what other people in similar roles are making can help bridge the gap in salary. Be realistic with your numbers as average increases are within the 3-5% range.
• Set yourself apart from the others to raise your profile to the level you wish to be compensated. Exceeding expectations by contributing outside your role, mentoring others or becoming the point person in your department will carry more weight when asking for a raise.
• Communicate your contributions clearly with metrics and concrete examples for savings in expenditures, quick turnarounds and process improvements are key.
• Clearly define the salary increase timeline you are asking for and schedule the follow up meeting. Communicate that your ability to achieve the outlined goals are related  to the success of the company and merit the pay increase.

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Hiring Trends

Friday, February 15, 2019  by Bailey

• 75% of candidates research about firm's reputation and Employer Brand before applying for a job
• 83% of employers say that Employer Brand plays a significant role in their ability to hire talent
• 69% of candidates would not accept a job in a firm with a bad reputation even if that means being unemployed
• 97% of candidates who had a positive experience would refer others to apply
• 90% of global professionals are interested in learning about new job opportunities even though only 36% is actively looking

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Hot New Search!

Monday, February 11, 2019  by Bailey

Director of Continuous Improvement 

Bethel-Danbury-Newtown (CT) Area

Exclusive. Profitable and expanding B2B with sustained growth due to geographical expansion, new customers, and multiple acquisitions. This is a new role reporting to C-level and will lead and orchestrate initiatives that will improve business processes, efficiencies, systems, and controls. Join a decentralized business model with 70+ SBUs across North America and Europe. Partner across total company. The goal for this role is to identify and lead opportunities to improve financial and operational efficiency that will improve profitability and support continual growth. This will include evaluating all functions (e.g. accounting, human resources, supply chain, operations, fleet management, and contracts), making recommendations for change, leading projects and managing business applications. This will encompass:

This position will assist in developing a road map acting as a subject matter expert, internal consultant and business leader. Assist in the development of measurable goals and provide training, coaching, tools, and leadership to support change, process improvement, and evolution. 

• Drive continuous improvement across all operations to achieve results.
• Lead all shared service operations and facilitate 3^rd party resources
• Utilize Pareto analysis and other tools to identify areas with opportunity for significant improvement. Develop and facilitate implementation of plans to improve areas where major opportunities exist. Prioritize efforts of significant impact and tactical benefit for operations metrics and profitability gains.
• Work closely with key stakeholders to establish metrics and time lines. Assist with communication of expectations, deliverables, goals, etc., when necessary, to drive desired outcomes and promote successes, when achieved.
• Partner on assessments to evaluate understanding, thinking, & implementation of existing and proposed practices, tools, processes, & policies. Apply knowledge to develop corporate & operational opportunities and help to establish priorities. Communicate assessment results & opportunities to all stakeholders.

REQUIREMENTS: BA/BS required; MBA a plus; Six Sigma certification highly desired. Candidates must come from multi-location lean manufacturing, distribution or B2B services with over $500M in revenues. Candidates must have lead change and process improvement initiatives that increased efficiency and profitability. Candidates must have strong ERP experience. Looking for that advisory and/or consultative personality capable of convincing the need for change and then leading the transition. Local candidates only.

REWARD: $170,000 to $200,000 plus 20-30% bonus

If interested, please email Ed Bradstreet, Search Partner, at ebb@bohan-bradstreet.com

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Take the Call

Friday, February 1, 2019  by julie

Career minded individuals who are driven to success will accept the call of a recruiter to learn more about an opportunity. The majority of our placed candidates are currently employed. B&B begins each relationship with a conversation about the person's career goals before diving into past employment history. Will the current company provide the trajectory desired? Or will an opening come along that captures the upward mobility the person is seeking? The first conversation will determine the answers to those questions but only if the person accepts the call. 

Recently we received a testimony from someone who took the call from Ed Bradstreet that led to a decades long professional relationship that went from multiple placed candidate to client hiring authoritty. Here is what the recently retired President of a Global Manufacturer wrote to Ed:

""There comes a time when it just seems right to hand the wheel over to someone else and let them drive and for me that time has arrived. Yes, I have actually retired. But I could not walk away without thanking certain people who were instrumental in helping my career and you were pretty much at the top of the list. You helped me move my career forward with meaningful guidance / insights and of course placements. The companies and roles presented were building blocks that allowed me to grow by being challenged which led to new opportunities in and outside the companies. As I look back I recall the birth of your son, a broken wrist, some Yale football games, your support during some trying times at Armstrong, and then the best placement at ASCOM Hasler. That led to terrific opportunities and eventually purchasing a company which became the absolute perfect ending to my career. One thing that stood out was while I was a placement you never acted or treated me as such. You made me feel that you had my best interests and that is for me the most meaningful gift you could have given me."

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