Remember Tempur-Pedic? Sure ya do! Tempur-Pedic is known for making memory foam mattresses. They have an iconic commercial of a woman jumping on a mattress with a glass of wine balanced on another end to demonstrate how well their product performs.
Well last week, Tempur-Pedic stock lost almost 50% of its value after the company changed its financial forecast for the rest of the year. What struck me in reading the news was a quote by the CEO Mark Sarvary:
“We did not expect the competitive environment to change this fast.”
Really?! Seriously?! Tempur-Pedic didn’t think they might start to get some competition? Sorry, I don’t get it.
The first rule of business is to know and understand your competition. Think of it as understanding the marketplace for your product or service. Now, I’ve worked for people who thought everyone was their competition (it’s not). And it’s also important to remember that your competition could end up one day being a strong ally. A little healthy competition can be valuable to your business.
But the lesson here is businesses should not take their eye off the ball. Successful companies are constantly monitoring the marketplace – seeing what’s happening and who’s making stuff happen. When the marketplace is changing, companies have to change with it…and quickly.
Will Tempur-Pedic recover from this? Probably. They’re already taking action to repair the damage. But, I was reminded of the “competitive environment changing too fast” story a few times last week with another industry – one a little closer to my profession.
On two separate occasions, a couple of different colleagues remarked that “job boards are dead”. It made me wonder…are job boards really another instance of companies taking their eye off the ball? Hmm, I don’t think so. I believe job boards are evolving with the environment. And it will be interesting to watch how they change.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you see companies losing focus?
Image courtesy of Deirdre Honner
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Danica says
My guess is the belief that job boards are “dead” depends on which ones you use and how you use them. With a system capable of filtering applicants successfully and/or those organizations with high staffing demands, job boards may still work. With more and more people becoming internet savvy, the applicant pool is increasingly overrun with those who believe they qualify for the positions to which they apply. This being said, I am in strong favor of social-networking sites for specialized skills and professional openings.
DanielleJ says
I would love to know why you don’t think job boards are dead. I personally don’t care for many of the traditional boards. I would like to see recruiters out there using social media to contact potential employees from verified accounts and links with the company name.
A possible tweet from @XYZCompany:
“Hi, my name is @SusyRecruiter, and I would like you to consider our open Manager of Widgets and Gadgets position. Here is the job link http://xyzcompany.com/job.”
John@PGISelfDirected says
This is the reason why I love Sun Tzu’s Art of War so much. It applies to business principles up until now.
Danica says
Job boards are useful for generalists and hiring managers requiring large numbers or entry-level applicants. Job seekers at that level can weed through the bogus postings to find listings on monster/beyond. The next step: Indeed/Glassdoor/Ladders for public searches targeting positions which require some experience and/or a higher level education. The postings that ask qualification questions before the applicant can even submit their resume will benefit from less spam submissions. Keep in mind that Linked In, Doostang, and similar social networking sites are decent farming grounds; but may alienate the perfect candidate whom is not yet developed on these sites. The recruiting profession is specialized in my book; when recruiting, it is up to me to provide the best qualified “fit” and use the appropriate tools. Job boards are useful for certain needs, but certainly not the source for all.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for the comments!
I do agree that social networks are having an impact on job boards. But there are some positions that are better sourced via job boards (and others that will be better via social media). It’s not about either/or. It’s about using the right tool to maximize results.
Speaking of results, I do believe this is one area of social recruiting that still needs developing. Companies are going to want to see more quantitative metrics where social (and eventually mobile) recruiting are concerned.
I like John’s comment about Sun Tzu. It’s really about staying in touch with what’s happening, being open to trying new things, and evaluating results.