Archive for November, 2009

Results of the 5th Annual Egret Consulting Group’s: “Women in the Electrical Industry” Survey

November 2009

Mundelein, IL 9-30-09. The percentage of female attendees at the annual National Association of Electrical Distributors increased slightly in 2009 to 7.9% for all attendees. By category, Distributors had 5.7% female attendees, which is down from an average of 6.6%. The Manufacturers had 9.5% female attendees, which is up over the previous four-year average of 5.8%.

Overall attendance levels were down 49% over 2008 numbers and the total female representation was down for both divisions. Distributors had 64% fewer women in 2009 over 2008 while Manufacturers had 9% fewer female attendees in 2009 vs 2008.

Ted Konnerth, President and CEO of Egret commented on the survey results saying, “Our survey results seem to be in line with the position that the electrical industry which was largely started by servicemen returning from WWII and has remained virtually male-only for over 60 years. Dads have turned the business over to sons, and a handful of daughters; but a strategic process of attracting a diverse workforce into distribution and even electrical manufacturers has failed to gain significant traction, as represented by the small percentage of women attending this major industry conference.

Egret Consulting Group is a boutique search firm that specializes solely in the electrical and industrial markets. Egret’s recruits for electrical manufacturers, electrical wholesale distributors and industrial wholesale distributors. As the largest recruiting firm dedicated exclusively to the electrical industry, Egret regularly works with firms of all sizes. To view the results of other Egret Surveys, please go to http://www.egretconsulting.com/website/newsletter.htm.

Ted Konnerth PhD, is President/CEO of Egret Consulting Group located Mundelein, Ill. Prior to founding Egret Consulting in 1999, Konnerth was with Cooper Industries for 16 years and served as vice president of sales for 4.5 years for the $1 billion lighting division before starting his search firm.

25687 Hillview Court
Mundelein, Il 60060
Phone: 847-970-5949
www.egretconsulting.com

David Knutson, CPC is Scheduled to Speak at Rocky Mountain Association of Recruiters meeting January 21, 2010

November 2009

SCOTTSDALE (October 21, 2009) – David Knutson, CPC, President of The Knutson Group, LLC, a retained executive search firm located in Scottsdale, Arizona, has been invited to speak at the Rocky Mountain Association of Recruiting Association’s January meeting January 21, 2010 at Jobbing .com building in Denver, CO. Dave Knutson has 25 years of recruiting experience that are reflected in The Knutson Group, LLC’s high standards of professionalism throughout the recruiting process. He has personally completed over 521 specific search assignments and was inducted into the National Association of Personnel Services “Hall of Fame” in 2005. He Co-founded the International Retained Search Association in 2006 and is Past President of the Board for the Minnesota & Arizona Staffing Professionals Association as well as served two terms as District Ten Director for the National Association of Personnel Services. Dave has been invited to speak at eight National Association of Personnel Services Annual Conferences and fifteen state annual conferences, training recruiters to be more effective. He has personally trained and mentored privately held companies and individuals on the retained search process, resulting in helping dozens of recruiters raise their performance levels. In addition to working with clients nationally and internationally to fill executive level positions, he mentors and trains numerous recruiters across the country on retained search and regularly presents programs for state and national associations. He can be reached at 480.984.0077.

For more information, contact:
The Knutson Group, LLC
480.984.0077

David Knutson Scheduled to Speak at California Staffing Professionals Annual Conference April 22-24, 2010

November 2009

SCOTTSDALE (October 19, 2009) – David Knutson, CPC, President of The Knutson Group, LLC, a retained executive search firm located in Scottsdale, Arizona, has been invited to speak at the California Staffing Professional Annual Conference April 22-24, 2010 at the  Pacific Palms Resort in Industry Hills, CA. He has had the privilege of speaking before this organization on numerous occasions. In addition to working with clients internationally to fill executive level positions, he mentors and trains numerous recruiters across the country on retained search and regularly presents programs for state and national associations. He can be reached at 480.984.0077.

For more information, contact:
The Knutson Group, LLC
480.984.0077

Are the Bulls Really Back in the China Shop?

November 2009

The smog, at least on the HR front, is beginning to clear – and this time it looks both sustainable and for real.

In fact, many recruitment resources have themselves been caught short with the size, speed and strength of the bounce. Perhaps we have all been kept slow by our own exposure to the wall-to-wall depressing TV news from home that we all experience, whether that is the US, UK or both.

However, in hindsight, this now seemingly sustained and substantial up-tick should not have been a surprise as most international companies installed across the board hiring freezes in China more than 1 year ago even as they experienced significant hiring demands. As a result of this powerful and latent demand kick-in, plus recovery itself, skills and leadership demands have been fuelled significantly.

Life Sciences and its closely related segments remain the hottest of the sectors with a high demand currently for short-term, interim assignments where the successful candidates with specific regulatory experience for example are sourced internationally, whether Western or Returnee Chinese.

On the same theme, many existing US-listed Chinese firms clearly understand where China is in the cycle and are gaining a quick advantage by taking the opportunity to tool-up senior leadership ahead of their international competitors – take note MNC’s! Again, candidates are often being sourced internationally. Hot on their heels are a number of Private Equity-backed industrial manufacturers who are taking the opportunity to improve on their leadership and functional skill-sets to better cope with the renewed challenges ahead. In addition:

- Food, food service and well-recognized international restaurant chains are entering, expanding or taking control of previously franchised operations ahead of the curve, as are their logistic and supply chain partners

- China outbound investment continues to ratchet up significantly, however, many HR challenges remain for these firms internationally, but this is for another blog

- Companies are clearly beginning to invest in existing and greenfield sites once again

With the start of a new cycle already upon us, leadership should be looking at the following realisms with urgency:

- Top staff are openly receptive to changing jobs once more. There will be a fall in retention numbers as a result of these alternative opportunities emerging in the marketplace.

- Human Resources organizations are again starting to find it hard to bring specifically skilled professionals on board.

- Candidates find that they once again have more than one competitive offer on the table.

- Candidates are already starting to play off one company against another again.

- Expected salaries, for a job change, are quickly heading back to the usual 25% and above of annual salary.

- Cycle times on assignments are reducing rapidly.

- Many HR leaders already have a renewed sense of urgency about hiring and are openly pushing line managers to speed up the process.

The battle for hearts and minds, otherwise known as the War for Talent, starts again – is your company prepared and ready?

About Foster Partners:

Foster Partners is a global retained executive search firm focused on senior level professionals for US, European and Chinese corporations. China headquarters are located in Shanghai, with operating offices in many of the other major cities in China mainland and Hong Kong. Additional Asia operating offices include Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City. U.S. headquarters is located in New York, NY.

For more information regarding Foster Partners, visit our website www.fosterpartners.biz.

International Retained Search Associates

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