News from The Kirwin Group

The Entrepreneurial HR Advantage

June 2009
Issue 3

Greetings!

What a busy few months it has been! In May, The Kirwin Group was invited by one of our strategic partners, ESOP Builders Inc. to be a keynote speaker at their ESOP Seminars in the GTA and Kitchener-Waterloo where we shared our knowledge and experience with Talent Management and Leadership Succession Planning. In these times of continuous change and transition, it was evident by all participants that this topic, combined with employee share ownership plans, are a key issue within many privately held organizations.

We hope you enjoy our latest issue and with the warmer weather almost upon us - we wish you a restful and relaxing summer. Enjoy!

Cheers,

The Kirwin Group

Creating a Successful Recruitment Strategy.

It seems that every time we turn on the television or read a newspaper these days, job losses are front and center. What does this mean for organizations that have recruitment needs to fill?

When times are tough, passive candidates are not as willing to move to a new organization if they are currently in a stable position. Why would they leave a seemingly sure thing to go somewhere else they know little about? It may be considered too risky to leave their current companies right now. Organizations need to be prepared to entice passive candidates and have a solid tactical approach formulated to encourage people to join them. The recruitment process should always be a shared endeavour as both the candidate and the employer need to ensure the fit is right; but in this market both selling and negotiation skills will be very important recruitment tools in your organization's tool-belt.

The good news is that due to economic changes, the pool of active candidates has grown significantly. Many stellar candidates are out there looking for employment due to restructuring, downsizing or closures. Your job postings will likely generate much larger responses than you are used to, but you may need to change your approach to target the right candidates.

How do you ensure you find that perfect employee for your organization?

Take your time. Post a solid job description and set specific criteria that you are looking for in the role and don't forget to keep this top-of-mind as you evaluate the abundance of resumes. By identifying those key qualifications and experiences, you can easily eliminate candidates who lack the selection criteria and move through the process faster. You may even want to consider providing a salary range for the role to eliminate those that will fall outside of the range.
Think outside of the box when posting. You may want to consider alternatives to the posting resources that you have always typically used. You would be surprised at some of the low cost/high value posting sites that are out there specific to your targeted job market.
Reach out and use your networks. In this economy, people want to help out past colleagues and friends who are actively searching the job market, utilize this to your benefit as the old adage "it's who you know" applies with the recruitment referral system.
Embrace social networking. Sites like LinkedIn and Facebook offer great free resources that will allow you to target specific communities of people that will already be working in your industry.
Watch out for the candidate who is just looking for their next job; these are the individuals who may leave for a better opportunity as soon as the economy recovers. Don't be swayed by the candidate who has 15 years of experience but has applied to your 3-5 years experience posting.

Sound confusing? Time consuming? The Kirwin Group can help you through this process. Let us do the work for you. We can screen resumes, conduct interviews and present you with only the top candidates in your applicant pool - all at an affordable cost in these tough times.

For more information please contact us at info@kirwingroup.ca.

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Entrepreneurs speaking about entrepreneurs

The Kirwin Group works with progressive and innovative growing organizations. One of these companies is Genuine Health, a leading, Canadian company specializing in all-natural health supplements. We want to take this opportunity to recognize their success.

Highly regarded for developing the first, clinically-proven super-food formula greens+, the company has over 50 unique products across all key health categories. These include Daily Essentials, Weight Management, Skin and Beauty, Stress management and Healthy Longevity.

Providing Canadians with the best, all-natural formulas for improved health, vitality and happiness is the company's driving mission. To this end, each and every formula is developed based on the latest research; contain only the purest, 100% natural and proven ingredients, with guaranteed results in as little as 21 days.

Among its many award-winning products such as greens+, abs+ and proteins+, Genuine Health continues to lead the Health Food Industry with innovation, inspiration and its commitment to furthering research - both third-party and in-conjunction with leading health and medical experts.

Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with Sales Account Managers nationwide, as well as a recently launched U.S. expansion team, Genuine Health's staff continues to grow, recruiting dynamic, committed individuals with a zest for health and wellness.

Available nationwide, Genuine Health products are easily recognizable for their clean, distinct packaging and strong store/shelf presence. Beyond this, the company's monthly e-newsletter reaches over 70,000 subscribers, and its extensive website features product info, the latest research studies, and specialized, individual-support tools such as Genuine Expert.

To learn more, please visit: www.genuinehealth.com.

Pay it forward

Kiva.org is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world www.kiva.org.

Via Kiva you are able to browse profiles of developing world entrepreneurs and to lend them funds to assist them with their business initiatives. Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan back to you and you are free to re-lend that money or withdraw your funds.

Kiva is not promoted as a charitable donation as 98% of those entrepreneurs who receive loans through Kiva pay them back in full. Statistics show a loan was made on Kiva.org every 31 seconds throughout 2008 which shows the overwhelming success of their initiative as well as individual's general interest in helping others.

Kiva.org

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