NFL lockout - imagine, the unrest!

Could there be no season, or worse could there be replacement players used. Yes, as this past weekend was the Super Bowl, I thought I’d give you my perspective on the potential of a NFL lockout.

What does that have to do with marketing? Well the NFL is no different than your business. If there is a controversy in your business, potential customers hear about it. According to David Carter, the executive director of the University of Southern California Sports Business Institute; "If (a strike) goes on through the summer and there's no football come September, well, there are very few winners here and a lot of losers."

Even if you are not a NFL fan you realize that it is big business. When this business fails to operate the way people think it should, it creates a ‘house of cards effect’. Pull one card that is the foundation of a house of cards and the rest fall. First of all the advertisers and the broadcasters, then there is the bars and restaurants near the stadiums, then the National Football League. No, I have not forgotten about the players they will lose as well. Considering they are the talent and at present earn 60% of the revenue, a work stoppage can have an enormous affect on their long-term earnings. This is because the average player only plays a very short time. According to the NFL Players Association the average career length of an NFL player is 3 1/2 seasons.

 

What I am saying is to remember that your actions can have an enormous effect on all aspects in your local environment. This local environment includes you, your staff and all the people you serve or work with. So the next time you make a decision, please view your actions from a big picture perspective.

How do the executives in the study by Deloitte with Forbes Insights assess their overall talent management program?

This was very revealing;

• 20% of the executives feel that they are world-class,
• 43% believed they are world-class in some areas,
• 26% felt they were adequate but needed to improve,
• 7% were getting by but needed significant improvements, and
• 4% were under-performing and needed radical improvements.

I say this is revealing because these companies are among the best in the world. A closer look at the data reveals that self-described “world-class” firms are setting a different talent agenda than their counterparts at other companies. The world-class firms strategic approach to talent includes having a plan and aligning their business and talent goals.

My questions for you are;

• Do you have a plan?
• Are your business plans aligned with your talent goals?

You may wonder why I spent this week discussing this study and including it in a marketing blog. My reason is very simple - the talent you have relates to and give life to all of your marketing. 

Where do executives expect to see talent shortages over the next year?

According to the study conducted by Deloitte with Forbes Insights, some of the shortages should be eye-openers for anyone in small business today. The results were;

• 52% in the Sales area,
• 47% in Customer Service, and
• 46% in Marketing.

If I were you, this is a wake-up call for all small business owners. You need to get out of your comfortable feeling and realize that Sales, Customers Service and Marketing are the only areas of your business that will keep you sustainable.

Without having people properly trained and executing these skills to the highest ability – your potential customers will go elsewhere.

To learn more about the art and science of marketing contact me at 519-539-2267.

Are you ramping up yourr social media programs?

According to the study by Deloitte with Forbes Insights; most executives seem to recognize we are living in the technology age.

Yes, these executives appear to understand we are living in the age of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, so they are ramping up their social media programs as part of their emerging talent strategies.

Of the executives surveyed, some industries outpace others:

-        Nearly four in ten (39%) surveyed Financial Services companies reported they will “significantly increase” their focus on social media,

-        along with 37% of Life Sciences/ Health Care firms and

-        33% of Technology/Media/Telecom companies.

However, only 20% of surveyed Consumer/Industrial Products and 21% of surveyed Energy/Utilities companies plan to do the same.

While this blog is about technology, it is also about how companies plan on communicating with their clients or potential customers. My next blog will focus on more areas where improved communication is needed according to the study.

More results from the study conducted by Deloitte with Forbes Insights

Executives who participated in this survey believe that “developing leaders and succession planning” is currently both a top concern and a top talent priority. They also believe this will be the number one talent priority three years from now.

Companies self-described as “world-class” have a clear sense of the pressing talent issues three years from now and are more likely to make investments in creating career paths and challenging opportunities for employees (46% for “world-class” firms vs. 36% for all others), developing leaders and succession planning (48% vs. 36%), and recruiting hard-to-find skill sets (42% vs. 29%).

The area that was interesting to me was recruiting hard-to-find skill sets. In future blogs I will identify what some of these hard-to-find skill sets are.