Greetings from Carlson Search Group!

The warmer weather is here, the flowers are blooming, and the economy seems to be turning the corner, albeit in fits and starts.  Our clients are generally more optimistic, their numbers are improving, and we are seeing this upward trend in our business here at CSG as well--2011 is off to our best start in five years.  For that we are not stopping to celebrate, but we are hopeful and cautiously optimistic.

Yet, as with any recovery, there are plenty of concerns that seem to dampen the outlook:  historic international unrest, the price of oil, the fear of inflation, farmland prices increasing at unsustainable levels, the housing crisis, the US deficit problem, and other major concerns. For all of these reasons, many of our clients are also quite cautious as they recover.  Many of them are not aggressively planning for growth or actively seeking out new business ventures or companies to acquire.  They are carefully prioritizing their efforts and resources in only the most strategic moves, minimizing risks where possible, and preparing now for a brighter future.

In this issue we will discuss the growing use of videoconferencing for interviewing and other purposes, briefly look at some upward trends within our own industry, highlight a recently completed search, and review New York Times bestselling authors Roger Connors' and Tom Smith's new book, Change the Culture, Change the Game.  We hope you'll enjoy this issue, and we welcome your feedback. 

Gregg Carlson

President 

Drew Carlson, Senior Search Consultant 

Trends in today's business world--advances in technology, the faster pace of both business and personal life, the ever-increasing green movement--have created an atmosphere that is pushing companies to look for solutions to help them stay competitive.  The recession forced many organizations to become more cost-conscious than they had been in the past.  These last few years have truly been a great time for companies to step back and reassess how they operate. 

As companies explore new technologies to refine their business practices, advances in videoconferencing have caught their eye.  Many companies are looking to integrate this technology more extensively, and the interviewing process is an area of definite possibility.

Of course, videoconferencing is not a new concept.  A report by Forrester Research claims that 56% of all companies have invested in some form of videoconferencing technology.1 The videoconferencing industry has also grown exponentially, reaching $2.3 billion in 2010 with reports of reaching $5.5 billion by 2016, according to another forecast by ABI Research.2   But, while many companies are already applying the technology, others may have viewed it as cost prohibitive or a poor fit for their business model. 

The availability and affordability of videoconferencing have recently grown to the extent that all organizations should at least be considering possible uses for the technology.  Companies use videoconferencing for everything from distance training to routine internal communications.  While there are advanced, expensive systems that can be set up within rooms designated for videoconferencing, inexpensive webcams and free programs that call for little or no training or investment can easily be implemented. 

One such program is Skype, whose company was recently purchased by Microsoft for $8.5 billion, an event that serves as a promising bellwether for the industry.  Armed with an internet connection and a webcam, individuals can use programs like Skype to communicate with others in real time.  Combining audio and video, this method provides an extremely cost-effective alternative to the face-to-face interview.

Retained search is, by nature, more senior-level and high-touch.  Search consultants are regularly tasked with conducting career assessments, thorough background reports and, of course, interviews.  These interviews are fundamental to executive search.  They usually involve jumping on a plane and traveling to meet a candidate for the interview.  This process, which generally results in at least a two-hour interview, often consumes an entire day.  Sure, travel involves down time for phone calls to be made, and fleeting moments can be spent on other tasks, but that two-hour interview represents a much greater loss of time and energy, not to mention the costly travel expense. 

If time and money were inconsequential factors, an in-person interview would always be the preferred mechanism.  But, particularly in the early stages of the interview process, videoconferencing can provide a great opportunity to begin conversing with a prospective candidate at a mere fraction of the expense in dollars and hours that travel consumes.  And the qualitative benefits include increased productivity, better work-life balance and faster decision-making, to name a few.  In addition to the major cost and time savings, another positive result is environmentally-based:  an eventual reduction in CO2 emissions, as videoconferencing begins to replace a percentage of business travel on a broader scale. 

Videoconferencing may be somewhat of a middle ground between face-to-face and telephone interviewing, in terms of the quality of the interview, but the substantial cost savings seems to justify the small sacrifice.  In an early interview, missing out on some of the nuances that only a face-to-face interview can provide is not the end of the world.  Simply stated, opting for a video interview instead of traveling is like getting 80% of the bang for 20% of the buck.  In our current fast-paced business world, videoconferencing is now a widely accessible and highly affordable opportunity for organizations to streamline their operations.

While it seems that many companies are not yet using videoconferencing, some of our clients are starting to ask us to use the technology in order to reduce travel costs and improve overall search efficiency.  Although videoconferencing is not without its challenges--security issues that can threaten an organization, or cost and training issues that can be hurdles at the beginning phase of integrating the process, for examples--the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

As we at Carlson Search Group experiment with basic videoconferencing technology for interviewing purposes, here's what we want to know:  Are you experiencing a growing use of videoconferencing across your company?  Are you currently using or considering using videoconferencing specifically in your interviewing efforts?  What is working best for your company and what isn't working? 

We want to hear tips on how to best utilize this technology and what experiences companies are having at this very exciting time.  Let's start a dialogue; we'd like to hear from you and share what we learn.  Please email info@carlsonsearchgroup.com with your feedback.  We will look forward to hearing from you!

Many of you know Carlson Search Group primarily for our work within the financial services industry.  Over the years CSG has earned a reputation for being an important resource to this industry across the Midwest region.  However, we have also completed successful searches for clients in many other industries, especially here in Central Iowa.  Our understanding of and ability to market this geographical region, combined with our executive search expertise, make us a desirable choice for many companies across diverse industries. 

Carlson Search Group was recently retained to help recruit the next Chief Executive Officer for ILC Resources, headquartered in Urbandale, Iowa.  ILC provides products and services to the livestock, poultry and pet food industries throughout the world.  Founded in 1924 as a supplier of quality feed-grade calcium carbonate, the company's core business remains the processing of limestone rock into high purity calcium carbonate for agribusiness. 

Early input from the Board of Directors indicated a need to find a new leader who could maintain ILC Resources' market leadership position while finding new growth opportunities for the future.  Upon the completion of this highly successful search, Frank Goode joined ILC on May 9th as the new CEO.  Mr. Goode's background includes 30 years of agribusiness experience, the past 18 with Land O'Lakes.  He most recently served as the Vice President of Sales for Land O'Lakes Purina Feed.    

Carl Lamberti, CEO/President, has been with ILC Resources for 47 years and will be retiring later this year.  "This was the first time ever that we had gone outside the company to recruit a new CEO, and I was determined to find just the right person to lead ILC during this next critical timeframe in the company's history.  I had heard very good things about Gregg Carlson and Carlson Search Group, and after meeting him I was convinced he was the right resource for this important search.  CSG was indeed the right choice.  Gregg delivered on every phase of the search.  I personally interviewed several candidates, and I felt that every one of them was very strong and could have done the job well.  The board had a difficult time choosing between the final candidates." 

Change the Culture, Change the Game:  The Breakthrough Strategy for Energizing Your Organization and Creating Accountability for Results by Roger Connors and Tom Smith

Roger Connors and Tom Smith's previous books include The Oz Principle, How Did That Happen? and Journey to the Emerald City.  This book, based on Journey to the Emerald City, applies their practical, powerful strategy to helping leaders achieve culture change, energize their organizations, and create greater accountability for results.  Specifically, it zeroes in on mastering the ability to accelerate culture change--an essential leadership competency for maintaining a competitive and focused organization. 

The authors begin with their core belief:  Either you will manage your culture--the way people in your organization think and act--or it will manage you.  Next, they introduce the Results Pyramid model, a simple methodology for efficiently and effectively changing the way people think and act throughout an organization.  The Pyramid has four levels:  Experiences, Beliefs, Actions and Results.  Simply explained, managers daily create experiences that help shape their organizational culture.  Promoting someone, implementing new policies, interacting in meetings, reacting to feedback--all foster beliefs that drive the actions people take, and, collectively, those actions produce their results. 

Part One of this book details how to implement the results pyramid to change the culture, revealing how to

• create a culture of accountability
• define the results that guide the change
• take action that produces results
• identify the beliefs that generate the right actions, and
• provide experiences that instill the right beliefs. 

Part Two focuses on integrating practices to accelerate the culture change, describing how to

• align a culture for rapid progress
• apply the three culture management tools 
• master the three culture change leadership skills
• integrate the culture change, and
• enroll the entire organization in the change

The key idea behind Connors and Smith's principles for culture change is that greater individual and organizational accountability forms the foundation for success.  It is a basic requirement, defining how we do things, how we interact and what we expect from one another.  The authors believe that a lack of accountability is the single biggest issue confronting organizations today, especially those working toward change.  If this is the case, then this book is exactly what is needed to address the issue.  Unlike so many "culture" books that declare "this is how things were, but this is how they are now," leaving out the all-important "how to," Change the Culture, Change the Game shows you how to get there by outlining clearly what steps to take toward achieving the accountability and cultural change that are vital for your organization's success.