The inspiration for today’s headline came from the 1992 Presidential election. George H.W. Bush was running for re-election against the upstart Governor from Arkansas, William Jefferson Clinton. The economy was in turmoil, we had just suffered through the dot-com meltdown, and the savings and loan scandals. Yet Bush was considered unbeatable because of the end of the cold war and his decisive “victory” in the Persian Gulf war. Clinton was having a tough time focusing on the major issues so his political strategist, James Carville hung a sign in their Little Rock campaign headquarters with the following three points:

• Change vs. more of the same
• The economy, stupid!
• Don’t forget health care

The parallels to today are ironic.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the positive business outlook for the cleantech industry in California. While the long-term business opportunity is significant the results of a recent public survey make it abundantly clear that the ever-fickle gaze of public attention is fading from the problem of global warming, in favor of pretty much everything else.

A recent Pew Center report suggests that there are few things people care about less than whether or not the oceans will crash over their doorstep in a few decades. Here is a list of issues sorted by the percentage of respondents who rated the item as a “top priority”:

• Economy (85%)
• Jobs (82%)
• Terrorism (76%)
• Social security (63%)
• Education (61%)
• Energy (60%)
• Medicare (60%)
• Healthcare (59%)
• Deficit reduction (53%)
• Health insurance (52%)
• Helping the poor (50%)
• Crime (46%)
• Moral decline (45%)
• Military (44%)
• Tax cuts (43%)
• Environment (41%)
• Immigration (41%)
• Lobbyists (36%)
• Trade policy (31%)
• Global warming (30%)

The results are not an anomaly, either. Despite plenty of media attention, a growing number of data points are suggesting that the global warming issue just isn’t connecting with the average American. Take the vehicle sales numbers this past Christmas, which showed gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs outpacing car sales as gas prices have dramatically fallen over the past 12 months.

Pew’s numbers show that the number of people who consider global warming a “top priority” has declined 8 percent since just two years ago, when they started tracking it. Protecting the environment has fallen 15 percent since last year; it was 22 percent higher in 2001. Energy has risen in large part because of terrorism (the previous chart topper) and the oil price peak last year.

Does this public opinion matter? In the short term, perhaps not, at least for renewable energy like solar and wind. The recession has already taken a significant bite out of the sector, and now President Obama is giving cleantech perhaps the strongest boost it has ever had in the United States. But long term, the downward trend of public opinion could begin to spell trouble.

That trouble would come from the cost and effort of switching over to cleantech. Few renewables are on par with coal, gas or oil in terms of cost, and those that are tend to have their own challenges in terms of location and operation. Public opinion similarly torpedoed nuclear power decades ago because of (largely incorrect) safety fears. The fear is that people may be unwilling to take the hit for more expensive renewables like solar on their monthly electricity bill.

This discussion proves that electorates are willing to overlook long-term concerns (like the environment) in favor of short-term worries (like their jobs). Once the economy enters a recovery mode it is very likely that environmental concerns will again bubble to the top. With that growing interest (and the inevitable increase in fossil fuel costs) the cleantech industry will grow. The great news for knowledge workers is that the growing cleantech industry will generate many new full-time and flexible career opportunities. This is certainly a trend we will be monitoring at M Squared Consulting.

Why is it that business leaders and the teams they lead sometimes choose to ignore their mission critical issues until they have no choice but to take action? This despite the fact that, more often than not, waiting longer dramatically limits their universe of available responses and ramps up the urgency level.

In business and in life we often choose to ignore big issues instead of facing them head on.

There are a variety of possible reasons for this dynamic, including:

• Procrastination
• Dislike of conflict
• Truly not knowing what to do
• Fear of the unknown
• Dislike of change
• And, the old standby: Perhaps the problem will go away if we ignore it long enough…

In many boardrooms and executive offices I’m sure there is a high level of anxiety about the economy, go-to-market strategies, and strategies for weathering the storm until the recovery gains footing.

Some companies are proactively investing, attacking their market to gain share and position for recovery. Others are revisiting their business models, driving efficiencies and strengthening their core value proposition to clients. Some are continuing on with business as usual. And finally, some have decided to “save the ship” by radically cutting expenses to weather out the storm.

To be honest there is no “right” answer. It will always be a situational decision, for each company and each market is different. But the truth is, in order to make a strategic decision you must confront the facts. This is something that not everyone has done.

At many companies there is an elephant in the room, and nobody is talking about it.

One effective strategy is to “name it and claim it.”

The approach is simple - raise the issue up and talk about it with your team. This is executive leadership’s responsibility. To get the conversation started, name the elephant issue, then ask some basic questions like:

• What is the real issue?
• How is it affecting us?
• If we keep doing things as we have been, what will happen?
• What could we do differently?
• How can this turn into a business advantage?

In such discussions, keep nothing off the table. On the cost side, you will need to address reductions or changes - staffing, salaries and other business expenses. On the revenue side, consider new business activities, think about your pricing, figure out how to get paid sooner. On the process side, talk about how you do business and what could be done to make it more efficient and even more valuable to your clients. Address the issues that have to be addressed. Get everyone to take ownership of the problem. Put the elephant front and center, and deal with it as a group.

What generally happens? People get to share their anxieties in an appropriate way, they all begin to own the problem and develop a solution together. Professionals always appreciate the opportunity to brainstorm and strategize with each other.

What happens next is absolutely critical to your success, and frankly is where many organizations and teams go sideways, doomed to repeat the same uncomfortable exercise again and again.

Nothing happens.

Does it really matter why we procrastinate on such issues? Fear is probably at the heart of it. But the origin doesn’t change the required action. What needs to be done is to name it, so we can claim it.

Once you’ve identified the elephant in the room, figured out your strategy, and planned the attack, it is time to take action. There is one excellent bit of advice I was taught very early in my career in answer to the question: How do you eat an elephant?

The answer: One bite at a time!

M Squared Consulting is a talent on demand asset that can help companies confront the elephant in the room. Our seasoned consultants provide outside perspective to help you see the big picture and figure out a strategy for resolving your business problems and challenges. They have the expertise to help you devise a plan. And, perhaps most importantly, they have the demonstrated experience to help you execute.

Do you have an elephant in the room that needs to be called out?

Although it is not a perfect proxy I believe there is a high correlation between executive search forecasts and the demand for consultants. Essentially they are both measuring the need for highly skilled, executive level talent to do defined work.

ExecuNet recently published its periodic Recruiter Confidence Poll which indicated employers are emphasizing business development and sales roles that can push organizational performance in this challenging economy. Executive recruiters believe that leaders with proven business development and sales experience and a track record of consistently high results will be most in demand in the executive employment market over the next six months.

Here are the areas where recruiters see the greatest growth in executive hiring in the next six months:

• Business development (17.3%)
• Sales (15.0%)
• Engineering (10.4%)
• Operations management - including supply chain, logistics, quality (8.7%)
• Marketing (8.7%)
• Consulting (8.2%)
• Finance (7.9%)
• Research and development (7.7%)

Our experience at M Squared Consulting is that full-time hiring trends tend to mirror demand for interim and consulting professionals. A quick census of the M Squared Talent Network offers reassurance that we can meet client demand for this expertise.

For the past two days I’ve been at the Staffing Industry Analysts annual Executive Forum in Miami Beach, Florida. This years Executive Forum attendance was down but still drew more than 500 executives despite the recession that’s hitting the human capital industry particularly hard. The recession and legislation affecting the staffing industry ranked among the top topics discussed Tuesday.

While traditional staffing and management consulting are certainly not identical human capital solutions, they are at opposite ends of the same flexible workforce continuum. So, for me, this event always provides interesting insights into the future of the whole contingent workforce.

Total staffing industry revenue is expected to decline 12.5% in 2009, according to Barry Asin, chief analyst and managing executive of products at Staffing Industry Analysts, in his keynote on Tuesday. “In the short term I don’t have lots of really good news for you,” Asin said. “I do have optimism for the longer term.” Most economists and the general consensus amongst staffing executives was that the recession would be over by late 2009, provided there were no “other surprises.”

One statistic which surprised me was the unemployment rate for college graduates. It stands at 3.3% compared to the high-school level which is over 11%. Clearly the demand for knowledge workers still exists, even in this depressed market. As we enter the recovery and leading-edge Baby Boomers gain enough confidence to retire this statistic will likely become even more startling.

Many executives I’ve been speaking with are optimistic that when the economy recovers more of their clients will be inclined to use the flexible workforce as a core component of their overall workforce strategy. This trend is one that M Squared Consulting has been advocating for some time. As the workforce evolves and the nature of work changes to become more project-based, it is only natural that the workplace will adapt to accomodate the growing contingent workforce.

In another session on staffing and the law, George Reardon, VP and general counsel of Adecco Group North America, said not a lot of legislation has specifically targeted staffing firms in the past, but that may change with the election of President Obama. It’s “hard to imagine an anti-employer, anti-staffing bill he would refuse to sign,” Reardon said.

In what can only be interpreted as a bit of good news for the battered U.S. economy, a recent survey found the United States to have the best technological infrastructure in the world.

Here’s the back-drop to the story: Many economists believe that the key to improving the economic and productivity performance of a country lies with the greater and better-focused use of information and communications technology.

A study commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks, measured the extent to which governments, businesses and consumers in 50 countries make use of connectivity technologies to enhance economic and social prosperity. Connectivity is defined as the bundle of infrastructure, complementary skills, software and informed usage that makes communications networks the key driver of productivity and economic growth. They broke the countries up into two groups:

• Innovation driven economies - what are sometimes called developed, or first world, countries.
• Efficiency & resource driven economies - what are sometimes called developing, or third world, countries.

The rankings were then determined by the measurement of each country against two criteria (infrastructure, and usage plus skills) in the realms of business, government and consumer. Low scores reflect gaps in a country’s infrastructure, usage or both. For each of the six components of the Connectivity Scorecard, countries are benchmarked against the best in class in their tier; thus if a country was best in all dimensions, it would score a maximum of 10. The Scorecard, therefore, measures countries against the best usage that currently exists rather than an ideal model.

For the “Innovation-driven” economies, the Connectivity scores were:

• United States (7.71)
• Sweden (7.47)
• Denmark (7.18)
• Netherlands (6.75)
• Norway (6.51)
• United Kingdom (6.44)
• Canada (6.15)
• Australia (6.14)
• Singapore (5.99)
• Japan (5.87)
• Finland (5.82)
• Ireland (5.70)
• Germany (5.37)
• Hong Kong (5.33)
• France (5.22)
• New Zealand (4.85)
• Belgium (4.65)
• South Korea (4.17)
• Italy (3.99)
• Czech Republic (3.71)
• Spain (3.49)
• Portugal (3.02)
• Hungary (2.72)
• Greece (2.62)
• Poland (2.49)

Just below the United States in the innovation-driven economy group, the Connectivity Scorecard confirms the reputation of Scandinavia as a technological power region with Sweden, Denmark and Norway all ranked in the top five. Japan (10th) and Korea (18th) repeat their surprisingly low performances of 2008 as do Germany (13) and France (15). The poor showing of southern European economies is also repeated as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece share the bottom spots with eastern European nations.

For the “Efficiency & Resource driven” economies, the Connectivity scores were:

• Malaysia (7.07)
• Turkey (6.71)
• Chile (6.59)
• South Africa (5.76)
• Mexico (5.39)
• Russia (5.37)
• Argentina (5.14)
• Brazil (5.12)
• Columbia (4.08)
• Botswana (3.98)
• Thailand (3.75)
• Iran (3.62)
• Ukraine (3.60)
• Tunisia (3.5)
• China (3.19)
• Philippines (3.17)
• Egypt (3.02)
• Sri Lanka (2.87)
• Vietnam (2.75)
• India (1.88)
• Indonesia (1.87)
• Kenya (1.75)
• Bangladesh (1.60)
• Pakistan (1.54)
• Nigeria (1.30)

Latin American nations make the strongest regional showing in the Efficiency and Resource driven category, with Chile third behind Malaysia and Turkey, leading a group of five nations in the top 10. As was the case in 2008 Asian and African nations fared the worst. In 2009 an expanded group of south Asian nations - Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - occupy four slots in the bottom eight, while Nigeria finishes 25th and last. (NOTE: The scores of the innovation-driven economies and the efficiency and resource-driven economies are not comparable, as different sets of criteria, taking account of different circumstances in the two sets of countries, were used to determine scores.)

As the global economy moves more towards being knowledge-based, the technological backbone of each country becomes vital to its competitiveness and economic power. Technology, and the knowledge workers who use it, play an increasing important role within every industry sector.

Consulting firms like M Squared Consulting are at the forefront of the knowledge economy. Our assets are measured in intellectual capital, our inventory is the bench of talented project professionals like those in the M Squared Consultant Network, the products we produce are the results we deliver for clients. We take the experience and expertise of our knowledge workers and deploy them against our clients’ strategic initiatives and biggest challenges. The technological infrastructure will become increasingly important as the way we do work and the very nature of work evolves.

It should come as no surprise that sixty-seven percent of respondents to this quarter’s Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey are less optimistic about the economy than they were last quarter. Just 35 percent now expect the economy to begin a recovery this year, with a third of them looking to the first half of 2010 to once again see “better days.” The final third say recovery will not begin until the second half of next year, or later.

The survey was conducted in late February and had 1,268 respondents from around the world. It found CFOs were planning to cut costs in the coming months. U.S. companies will pare capital spending by 13 percent on average over the next 12 months, advertising and marketing budgets are planned to shrink by 8 percent, and tech spending slides more than 5 percent.

The overall uncertainty of the market conditions are weighing heavily on CFOs. Unsure about the economy, the strength of their own customer base, and their ability to access capital, many are putting all investment plans on hold. Concerns about weak consumer demand, credit markets, housing market fallout and high fuel costs top the list of CFO macro-concerns about the U.S. economy. High labor costs, the cost of healthcare, and supply chain risk are among the top concerns related more directly to their own companies.

Sixty percent of companies have already made layoffs in the past year, and more are on the way. More than half the respondents plan a workforce reduction in the next 12 months. Those anticipated layoffs - expected to average about 6 percent of companies’ work forces - represent some 7.6 million jobs, according to Campbell Harvey, international professor of finance at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. Finance employees will feel slightly less impact than their colleagues in other departments; CFOs predict a 4-percent reduction in accounting and finance staff.

Posing yet another threat to consumer spending, those workers who remain employed may see their paychecks frozen or reduced. More than half of all survey respondents plan to freeze pay in the coming 12 months, while 21 percent plan wage reductions. Thirty-nine percent plan to reduce employee hours.

Even companies with businesses holding up fairly well are taking precautionary steps to ensure their future financial footing. By preserving cash and taking anticipatory actions to protect against soft spots, they will make their companies stronger, both today and for the recovery.

Even though nobody knows exactly when the economy will turn the corner to recovery, there is no question that it will happen at some point. In the meantime, smart management teams are making operational improvements to their businesses. Many of our clients are looking at streamlining operations, making processes more efficient and removing complexity and redundancy. By focusing on their most important initiatives and making strategic investments they will emerge as much stronger companies and be in a position to drive outsize growth. M Squared Consulting and the on-demand talent in our Consultant Network are currently being deployed in a wide variety of engagements, across many functional areas, in a number of industry verticals. These clients recognize the value of bringing in targeted expertise, focused 100% on delivering results.

Despite the economic turmoil impacting every industry today, the business reality is that work must still get done. The recession, corporate downsizings, and cost-control measures have not resulted in equivalent decreases of work within most organizations. In fact, many of the employees left in organizations today are tasked with the double-edged sword of “doing more, with less.” Forward-looking companies who find themselves resource-constrained are frequently choosing to bring in project professionals who can quickly and cost-effectively deliver results so that their corporate staff can focus on day-to-day responsibilities.

In military strategy there is a concept called Force Multiplication. It refers to a combination of attributes or advantages which make a given force more effective than another force of comparable size. Thus, a “force multiplier” is that factor which dramatically increases the effectiveness of the group.

In a number of recent media interviews we’ve made the point that M Squared Consulting fits perfectly into the middle of the complex equation of today’s business environment and often is a force multiplier for its clients. Here’s how:

Whether you need an individual consultant, a project team, or an experienced interim executive M Squared Consulting deploys experienced project professionals who can supplement your internal team. We deliver:

Value

The cost effectiveness and flexibility offered by our leveraged consulting model (where we tap into our proprietary Consultant Network of independent consultants on a project-by-project basis, as opposed to the traditional consulting model which has an expensive and underutilized bench of consultants), combined with targeted industry expertise and experience, allows us to add value on client engagements from day one.

Flexibility

M Squared Consulting is a talent-on-demand consulting resource for all your critical projects and initiatives. We deliver targeted expertise, when and where clients need it, for only as long as it is required. In effect, we help companies to confront the challenges and opportunities in their business and then help them immediately take positive action towards resolving them.

Proven Process

Before every engagement we work with the client to develop an accurate problem definition and project scope. Then we select the best talent, with the right cultural fit to be successful in your company. Our consultants deliver custom solutions, with a neutral and objective approach and recommendations. At the end of every engagement we measure both client and consultant satisfaction, and we make sure there is complete documentation and knowledge transfer.

Results

Our clients gain the confidence that their projects will be done right, the first time, by an expert who has done similar work before. M Squared Consulting can be called a management insurance policy - with our active engagement management we can ensure the project professionals working on client projects deliver the results they expect. M Squared Consulting empowers clients to extend their leadership teams reach and effectiveness. Our 20 year track record of success speaks for itself.

Smart organizations are making investments today that will continue to yield positive benefits in the future. Strategic initiatives, especially those which hold the promise of increasing revenue or reducing costs, are a top priority. As the U.S. economy continues to seek its path to recovery M Squared consultants are being brought in by company leaders to help assess situations, develop possible solutions, and execute plans. These flexible project resources allow management to stay focused, be nimble and quickly execute on mission-critical projects without distraction to the core business. M Squared consultants act as a force multiplier, enabling the client organization to accomplish much more.

According to new research, the segment of the U.S. workforce that includes contract workers, such as consultants and independent contractors, is growing at more than twice the rate of traditional employment. This will have far-reaching effects on the workplace and will require business executives, human resources professionals, and their talent suppliers to collaborate in order to maximize their investment and manage contract talent strategically.

The study, which was done by global professional association and think tank Human Capital Institute (HCI), closely examined the state of Contract Talent in U.S. organizations. Conducted in late 2008, the wide-ranging research included a survey of several hundred HR leaders, from an equal number of organizations, followed by in-depth interviews with a selection of HR executives from across the nation.

Contract talent is defined as contractors, consultants, freelancers, temporary help, interim executives and others who are not part of an organization’s full-time or part-time workforce - a group that currently comprises almost one-third of the total U.S. workforce.

More than 90 percent of organizations surveyed in the study reported that they use contract talent. Additionally, 34 percent said that their use of contract talent has increased in the past three years, while fewer than 20 percent reported a decrease.

Looking forward, 85 percent of respondents believe that their use of contractors will remain about the same or grow over the next three years. The composition of the contract workforce is also changing. More than half are skilled technicians, specialists and professionals engaged in core and critical work for organizations. This is clearly the segment where M Squared Consulting fits in.

It shouldn’t surprise us that identifying high-quality contractors was the number one challenge cited by survey respondents. Though human resources and talent professionals are usually tasked with identifying, screening, hiring, managing and engaging traditional employees, they seldomly take the lead in contract talent management. Often, these tasks are left to individual hiring managers, or left to procurement and purchasing professionals who excel at cost control but lack the training and expertise required to acquire, leverage, and manage top contingent talent.

The vast majority of organizations see contract talent management as a strategic activity that can enhance competitiveness and profitability, all the way to the executive level. By partnering with innovative firms like M Squared Consulting, client companies can confidently gain access to top project professionals. We make sure that consultant experience and background match what the company needs, that they are thoroughly screened and accessed, and that they deliver the results promised.

It’s one of life’s ironies that as a marketer I am probably subjected to more sales pitches than anyone else in the company. I suppose you could call it cosmic justice that the marketer is also on the receiving end of marketing communications.

The pitches come from many different solicitors and arrive in person, by mail, via email, telephone, and the odd package.

Those who know me professionally know that one of my core tenants is: “marketing enables sales.” By necessity I am a student of both. I find that by participating in the sales cycle of others I learn just as much as I do from my own marketing programs.

One outcome of this philosophy is that, as a general rule, I take cold calls.

Why?

• Am I a glutton for punishment? - Perhaps.
• Am I a nice guy? - Yes, guilty as charged! (I’ve found that it’s just as easy to play nice in business as it is to be a jerk. The added bonus is you sleep much better at night.)
• Do I learn something from every one of them? - Absolutely…that’s why I do it.

Let me illustrate. This morning I received two telephone cold calls, both before 9am.

The first was from a well known publication in the Human Capital Management space looking to sell advertising and some feature editorial coverage in an upcoming issue. The caller? She was a polished telesales representative who had a smooth and well rehearsed pitch. Their basic package started at $25,000 and went up from there.

The second call was from a local university radio station that was looking for local businesses to sponsor public service announcements. The caller? He was young and inexperienced. His pitch was rough and he was clearly reading it for what sounded like the first time. The basic package he was pitching was about $2,000.

Now here’s the amazing part. Despite being on polar opposites of experience and sales skills, they were both equally awful. Here’s why:

• They both followed a script. They each had something to say and were going to say it, no matter what. I stopped both of them mid-way through their presentations to ask a clarifying question which clearly signaled where and how they were missing the mark with me. Both insisted on finishing their pitch instead of answering my question.
• Neither one asked me about my marketing strategies or priorities.
• Neither one had done any research on M Squared Consulting.
• As media outlets, neither one really gave much thought to the audience we would be interested in reaching.

Why am I sharing these field sales stories? To make the following point:

If you’re going to be successful in sales, you must first and foremost act like a consultant.

If your product or service does not solve a problem, remove pain, or somehow move the client to a better place you will not make a sale. Period.

But you won’t know these things unless you do some homework before you call and ask intelligent questions during your call. Like a skilled consultant, marketing and sales professionals must constantly probe to uncover the real motivators of their prospects. Then, and only then, can we effectively pitch.

It should come as no surprise that we take the same approach when we’re talking with clients and prospects at M Squared Consulting. As a consulting firm, we have to take a consultative selling approach with our clients. We need to understand their company and their industry. We need to gain a clear understanding the issues and challenges they’re facing, and what they’re hoping to achieve. Once we know the opportunities they want to capitalize on, then, and only then, are we in a position to propose solutions.

I only wish more sales people would take the same approach before they call me!