Goin' Mobile

Seemed like an appropriate post title today as a Who song plays in the background, as well as from meeting a huge Who fan at the Pasedena Hilton bar on my most recent road trip.

I’m back from a west coast swing of our offices in Costa Mesa, Irvine, Pasadena and Phoenix. It was a LONG week, but I met a lot of great people, and I continue to be encouraged both by some of the good things we are doing already in our experienced recruiting efforts as well as the potential of what we can do better in the future. As I meet with our HR managers, recruiters and leaders in our Economic Units (EUs), some common themes are emerging. We have critical needs for improvements in employment branding, technology and sourcing. This is nothing unique to us of course, but it is a clear indicator that we have a lot to do to maximize our recruiting capabilities.

As I start to paint a picture of what issues and concerns exist in our EUs, I in-turn am telling the EUs that much of what needs to be done will not happen over night. I feel good though that I’ve been able to pass along a few nuggets so far which have been appreciated. In particular, I’m asking two questions (a heads-up for those of you EU recruiters I have yet to meet) - A) Do you read ERE? B) Are you LinkedIn? I turned on our Recruiting Manager in Phoenix to both yesterday.

In addition to learning a lot about the firm, I was able to listen to a couple Podcasts on the plane during this trip. Check out the Podcasts with Blog/Sourcing Divas Heather and Maureen.

I typically like to see a ‘sight’ or two when I’m on business travel, but haven’t had a chance to see much these past two weeks. This was the first time I had been in Pasadena or outside the airport in Phoenix, and both were beautiful (I love mountains!) I did get to see the Rose Bowl on the way from Pasadena to the Burbank airport though, and that was pretty sweet. I’ve now seen three of the meccas of college football (Rose Bowl, Notre Dame Stadium and Bryant-Denny Stadium (U. of Alabama)). I also got to fly JetBlue for the first time on this trip. VERY NICE! They actually make you feel like they want you there, and make it a fun, comfortable trip at that. If only all the airlines could take a hint from JetBlue and Southwest…

I get to settle down a bit now. Lots still to learn and some upcoming events to prepare for. BTW, I’m still considering changing the name of this blog, ‘from the trenches’ just doesn’t seem appropriate any more. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.