#getstaffed

Championship sports teams are made both through organic growth and through strategic talent acquisition. Locally, the most prominent example of a championship-calibre sports team is the Toronto Raptors. Let me explain.

Prior to the deal that landed the Raptors both Coach Dwane Casey & GM Masai Ujiri, this team was sad - correction, this team was horrible - to watch. Ever heard of a trainwreck? That was what my Toronto Raptors was. Fans like myself who had been around for a reasonably long while were always left disappointed by the poor performance of our beloved basketball club.

It all began in the summer of 2010, just prior to the start of the 2010-2011 basketball season - the entire landscape of the NBA changed. Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and LeBron James all merged their individual talents to form a so-called 'super-team', poised to dominate the NBA for many seasons to follow. The sting to the Raptors' organization, losing their star player Chris Bosh, was painful for fans. The organization felt that they were a work in progress, and although they appeared stuck in what appeared to be perpetual mediocrity, the team was looking to make the right on-court talent acquisitions to elevate them from a mediocre basketball club to a championship level basketball club. Never did they think, however, that the loss of Bosh would result in them being a bottom-feeder in the standings.

Flash forward several losing seasons and several key personnel decisions occurred: firstly, the ownership group for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) changed. This ownership group, comprised of many key individuals but also included the newly added Bell and Rogers TV and Internet empires in Canada, strategically mapped out their collective futures. The rationale appeared simple: Yes, Toronto sports fans are loyal to their teams, but there is only so much losing an organization can succumb to before fans begin to lose their patience; therefore, the organizations must win now rather than become perpetual losers. Secondly, a coaching change was in order, along with a key player acquisition - and who better than defensive specialist Dwane Casey, the mastermind behind the Dallas Mavericks' championship winning season, and high-rising point guard formerly of the Houston Rockets, Kyle Lowry?

Furthermore, MLSE orchestrated a shake-up of the executive branches for virtually all of the teams under the banner of MLSE. In particular, the Raptors organization lost the weight of long-time general manager Bryan Colangelo. Although he was single-handedly responsible for developing a bridge of communication that resulted in the successful hiring of Dwane Casey and the trade for Kyle Lowry, Bryan himself represented a losing tradition for a Raptors organization desperate to re-brand themselves as a winning basketball club that talented players would be privileged to play for. Therein lies a key hire by MLSE: Masai Ujiri, a maestro in the boardroom capable of negotiating deals that bore fruit not simply for his home club, but also for those on the other end of the deal.

There, Masai went to work - canvassing for talent across the NBA, studying the roster he inherited from Bryan Colangelo, and ultimately making key trades that bring us to where we are today. Masai not only leveraged his roster depth to add complimentary talent to a young and nimble basketball club, but he also empowered his coach - whom he decided to keep as Dwane Casey - to play a style of basketball that Dwane wanted to play. In fact, the scouting process was - and still is - a mutual exchange of ideas between Dwane and Masai. As GM, Masai listens carefully to his coach and looks to acquire talent that will compliment Dwane's practical coaching style and the roster whom Dwane and Masai mutually agreed should remain with the club.

This aggressive canvassing resulted in what we see in today's Toronto Raptors basketball club: a championship caliber team that can play with the best teams anywhere in the world; a winning mentality and culture that every player is expected to embrace; and a revival of love for a basketball club that was on the verge of collapsing in on itself. Now, the Raptors are poised for future growth because not only are they healthy for the moment with their current roster, but the mentality of always scouting for talent and seeing where the gaps are and where the successes lie will ensure that this team is competitive long after the retirement of key players like Kyle Lowry and Demar DeRozan.

Interesting story, right?

There are practical lessons here that all organizations should study and emulate in their own growth:

Be aware of changes to your team and the effect that may have: Just like the sudden loss of Chris Bosh dramatically dwindled the fortunes of the Raptors basketball club, so too can the loss of key staff dramatically hurt your bottom line. It's important for you to be aware of the culture with which you build your team under. If the culture is a perpetual bottom feeder or, perhaps, is perpetually mediocre, then you stand to lose your key staff.  Sometimes, these personnel changes are out of our control - after all, people are effectively agents of their own destiny and may leave your organization no matter what you do. That's not an excuse to allow your culture to deteriorate internally; rather, it's a reality check. The simple solution: Always be Scouting.

Study your organization from the top-down, not the bottom-up: MLSE demonstrates the power of this model. Prior to the ownership change, MLSE ownership was content with mediocrity on the basis of their faith that the Toronto sports fan would support their franchises under any and all circumstances. However, with the fate of multiple organizations under jeapordy, MLSE made ownership changes that brought in organizations with a vested interest in seeing success from their franchises. Bell and Rogers want to see winning teams because that's how you encourage people to watch the live broadcast of the games being played. Following this key move, MLSE essentially stripped down the executive branches of all of their popular franchises - the Jays, the Raptors, Toronto FC, and the Leafs - and revised their collective strategic growth initiatives to ensure that they were all aligned with one goal in mind: winning. The Raptors added the highly talented executive, Masai Ujiri, with is a maestro of scouting and deal-making. The result: The Raptors will Always be Scouting.

Hold all members of the organizations - from the top-down - accountable for failures and reward their successes: Masai knows that if he decelerates at any moment and shows cracks in his character, then the MLSE ownership will be on the hunt for new talent. Just look at the Jays' former executive Alex Anthopolous as an example. Winning is the cultural norm now and absolutely nothing less ought to be expected from an MLSE franchise. That is not to say that you hastily execute fires and new hiring, especially since every situation warrants its own unique assessment and evaluation. Rather, this is an opportunity for the executive team and the ownership team to ensure that there exists a mutual interest in seeing success within their respective franchises. Furthermore, reward those who do good work for your organization - just as the Raptors have done with Demar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Dwane Casey, Jonas Valanciunas, and even Masai himself. But as owners, know you must always be actively seeking the best talent to join your organization. The result - you need to Always be Scouting.

Utilize all resources available to you in your recruitment efforts: It is clear to me and other professionals whom proudly call themselves recruitment consultants that MLSE was in consultation with the most savvy recruitment consultants in the business. Why? The simple answer is that although they may have had access to every single individual player and executive in the business, they MLSE ownership group focused on what they do best: delegating responsibilities to experts in their respective fields. By the way, in case it was lost on you from earlier - that includes utilizing recruitment consulting agencies. If your organization wants to be successful, it must develop trusted relationships with advisors from this vertical - we have a pulse on the market and are able to get our hands dirty to identify, evaluate, and source key talent for your success. In this manner, whether your organization itself is actively hiring or actively reviewing potential candidates for hire, you will always have dedicated eyes and ears on the ground whom will be living the recruitment mantra: Always be Scouting.

It's the tail end of an exciting interview process. You love this new company for a multitude of reasons - maybe the owner is just amazing, or maybe your direct manager will prove to be an important mentor for you in your career development. Whatever it is that excites you about this role, you are certain that the feeling is mutual on their side. An offer letter is right around the corner.

Yet seconds following this rush of excitement, you receive a phone call from said company. Turns out you aren't completely clear for an offer. You forgot to provide references for the company to check. Or maybe, you were hoping the references were not going to be requested.

Interestingly, most of the clients I work with do ask for references. In fact, the final offer they confer to my candidates is contingent on the references being obtained. This has proven challenging time and time again for my candidates as they overlook this central component of their candidate application.

There is a rationale for obtaining a reference: the client wants to ensure that you, the candidate, are able to fully and completely do the role. The references will function as a testimonial of your skill-set and character. Believe it or not, offers of employment can be and often are completely revoked on the basis of an unsuccessful reference check. So, on this basis alone, you as the candidate for hire must ensure that you carefully select your references and also coach those references on what to expect during the reference check being done regarding your profile.

One suggestion I have given to my candidates is to begin thinking about the references they will approach quite early in their job-search process. In fact, it isn't such a bad idea to have the references on hand even prior to your interviews. In this way, you effectively provide a 'catalyst' in the hiring process since the people doing their due-diligence evaluating your profile will be able to handle the references much earlier and quicker in the process.

Not a day passes by where my eyes aren't reviewing resumes high and low. It's a critical part of what I do every day and what allows me to meet new and interesting candidates regularly. 

Although it goes without saying that some resumes are stronger than others, most of the better resumes I've encountered typically have some or all of these skills accounted for in some fashion:

Fluency in Multiple Languages: Did you know that people whom are bilingual or more tend to have a stronger memory and are better at multitasking? Obviously being fluent in a new language is not an easy undertaking and it forces you to exercise different faculties of your brain. Clearly, the benefits outweigh the struggle - and employers have a fondness for hiring this talent only because they know the work that goes into being able to function in multiple languages at a time.

Public Speaking: It's an inevitability that you will have to, at some point in your career, address a group of people. That group may be large or small, but it's still an inevitability for your career. This is critical to businesses and employers because your voice really does matter - and if you're able to articulate your grievances or, better yet, offer strong solutions to the challenges your employer faces, your ability to speak in unashamedly speak in public will prove fruitful to your employer.

Microsoft Excel: If you're in finance, sales, marketing - well, most professions, really - you'll find yourself spending the bulk of your time entering and analysing information in an Excel spreadsheet. Needless to say, you will be wise to include your experience - however minuscule - in utilising this application for business.

SEO: You would do yourself well to learn Search-Engine Optimisation (SEO) skills. Why? Well, let's paint a picture of an average salesman looking to brand themselves or their service offerings online: Suppose you are posting your promotional sales initiative on Facebook and want to measure how far reaching the marketing campaign was. How will you know the value of a click, a like, or a share, if you aren't well versed or even vaguely familiar with best practices in SEO. This skillset is invaluable to your next employer in nearly every function in the office.

As a recruitment consultant, I've become especially familiar with the 'art', so to speak, of the counter-offer. My candidates may go through the interview process with my clients without even considering the potential counter-offer that could be hurled their way. It becomes a game of tug of war because once their current employer realises they're moving on with their careers, the current employer does become desperate to keep the status quo and not lose their talent; they present a comparable or even stronger counter-offer as a result of that desperation.

Well, I guess congratulations are in order at this point since you're obviously well liked and clearly an integral cog in your organisation's team (that's why we've sourced you - you're clearly the best at what you do!) But those sentiments are bittersweet in nature because now you've got a difficult decision to make: Should I stay, or should I go?

There are worthy arguments on either side of the fence. I've actually been a witness to scenarios where my candidates have chosen to accept the counter-offer's conferred upon them and that relationship became even more fruitful than it was prior to the candidate looking for greener pastures. Perhaps the current employer now see's the ills in their previous ways and have now built the organisation entirely around your skill-set to show you how valuable you are to their organisation. In addition, perhaps now you are never going to be delayed your promotion or salary boost again for fear that the organisation will lose you. How flattering! Yet, while all of these and more are possible ramifications of you accepting a counter-offer, it is not always this rosy. I submit to you that in virtually every instance, save for the small handful of opportunities that tell us otherwise, it is a detriment to your career to accept a counter-offer from your current employer.

Let's assemble a list of reasons why you ought to decline a counter-offer. After reading through this list, I encourage the reader to strongly reflect on this matter - you owe it to yourself to do so.

If you were merely looking for a bump in salary or a promotion, you could have simply asked your current employer to issue you that raise or promotion. But you didn't. You owe it to yourself to tap into the reason WHY you looked elsewhere in the first place.

If you were not challenged at your current work or in general dissatisfied, you would have approached your current employer and either asked them to challenge you further or you would have offered suggestions on how they can improve the workplace to increase your level of satisfaction. But again, you didn't do this - you need to tap into the rationale for your choice not to address these concerns directly with your employer.

Reflecting back on the first point, don't you think it's an oddity that your current employer only now decided to offer you what you were looking for externally? How is it that this new suitor appreciates your talents more than your current employer? What changed, exactly, in your current employer's outlook of your talents between the time you started your employment with them and the time you issued your termination of employment notice? Is it possible that you were undervalued, perhaps even taken for granted, and that's why your current employer didn't offer you what this new suitor is looking to offer you?

If you accepted the counter-offer, then you will potentially always have a target on your back. Sure, the current employer has won your talent back this time; however, they may always remember your 'discretions' and hold it against you. You cannot protect yourself from what they do behind their closed doors. Perhaps they may eventually look for your replacement in order to protect themselves from you walking away in the future. Or, in the circumstance where the economy is weakened, you may find yourself among the first to be axed based on your past relationship with them. This is not to be taken lightly; after all, your current employer, like you, is also interested in maximising their success and they won't take a gamble on someone who has already expressed disinterest in their organisation.

Let's reflect back on point 1 and 2 - will anything really change? Surely money is not the sole motivator for your move from your current employer. Would getting a raise or a promotion make you more willing to endure the circumstances that motivated you to quietly look for new opportunities in the first place? Let's paint a picture for you: perhaps, as a software developer, you felt that the team around you was weak and you carried the majority of the work while your peers coasted. Well...congratulations, your situation stays the same. Surely an extra $10,000 or so will not motivate you to endure these annoyances?

Unfortunately, much of the available statistical data show that your time with your current employer will expire within a year or so of accepting the counter-offer. Perhaps you will inadvertently quit within that time period or, as discussed above, you will be relieved of your duties with your current employer for a multitude of reasons. Think about it - would you really want to put yourself in that situation? If you were to quit, you are delaying now what is eventually inevitable. Reflect on your key drivers for looking at new employers - they won't go away after you accept the counter-offer. Furthermore, as expressed above, your employer may always place a target on your back for your 'transgression'. Don't become a statistic! The situations described here, amongst other scenarios, statistically occur with 75% or so of the candidates who accept a counter-offer!

Truthfully, your value has already been decided - with your new employer! You've gone through the arduous interview process and have come out with a much more attractive compensation package, along with a more forward thinking team to collaborate with and be successful with. Your new employer has assessed your suitability both technically and culturally and has determined that you are the best fit for their team. Don't waver on your decision to change jobs and don't squander this opportunity away. You are here at this crossroads because you worked to fix all the issues you experienced at your current employer and, unfortunately, you couldn't fix everything - you're here because those were challenges that were, for lack of a better way to describe it, 'unfixable'. Take the new direction and reap the benefits of your journey up to this point.