News

Category: Tips for CEOs

It’s Time to Reengineer Your Relationships with Recruiters

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Engineering managers count on third-party recruiters to find talented professionals for contract and full-time positions, even on short notice. But relying on a reactive, last-minute approach to talent acquisition and outsiders may result in higher bill rates and fewer engineering candidates to choose from in a competitive labor market. Treating recruiters as… Read more »

Modern Tools for Managing an Engineering Team

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman If you’re still using paper forms and conference calls to manage your staff, you might be a little behind the times. Modern engineering managers are using web tools, mobile apps and cloud-based software to communicate, invigorate and improve their team’s performance. Best of all, replacing outdated systems and paper intensive processes with… Read more »

Staffing Firms vs. Independent Contractors: What Engineering Managers Should Know

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman   On the surface, the differences between an independent contractor (IC, or 1099) and a contract engineer supplied by a staffing firm may seem negligible. But employment status can impact the way you select, manage and interact with interim workers. The main difference lies in the fact that contractors from staffing firms… Read more »

Three Strategies for Getting the Most Out of Your Contract Engineers

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Are you getting the maximum value from your contract engineers? Collectively, your contract team may have hundreds of years of experience and the wisdom to streamline processes, create cutting-edge designs or make the best use of valuable resources. But unless you’re doing the following three things consistently, you’re probably not reaping the… Read more »

44% of Complex Technical Projects Fail – 5 Tips for Success

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman The latest research from the Project Management Institute (PMI) is hard to swallow: 44 percent of technical projects fail. Dominic Lepore, CEO and founder of Terrapin Consulting, has figured out why the failure rate is so high. The former systems engineer studied the results of web initiatives for the Healthcare.gov rollout. He… Read more »

How to Engineer a Just-in-Time Talent Pool

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Imagine having a group of experienced engineers at the ready. A collection of qualified professionals with diverse skills who are willing to start work at a moment’s notice. It’s not a fantasy. Project-oriented organizations across the country are stealing a page from manufacturing’s playbook. Their leaders are thinking outside the box to… Read more »

Engineering Solutions to Today’s Talent Shortage

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Engineers are among the toughest spots to fill in the U.S., with 49 percent of employers struggling to find talent. In fact, employers advertised more than 280,000 open engineering positions in 2013 – setting a new high. While Congress and universities have enacted programs to support the education and future development of… Read more »

Strategic Hiring: When It Makes Sense to Hire a Contract Engineer

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Business leaders have embraced a new strategy for coping with frequent swings in the economy. To avoid tumultuous and costly hiring and layoff cycles, managers are increasing their reliance on professional contractors, free agents and other contingent workers. It pays to know when it makes sense to hire a contract engineer. June,… Read more »

The Ties that Bind: Keep Valuable Engineers from Flying the Coop

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman If you’re not worried about losing key members of your engineering staff, perhaps you should be. According to a recent survey of nearly 700 engineers, 61 percent may look for new jobs in 2014, and 40 percent say they’re actively seeking new positions. Surprisingly, engineers with a wandering eye don’t necessarily want… Read more »

Chemistry Lesson: Using Science to Select Culturally Compatible Contractors

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Although managers usually select contractors for their engineering experience, research shows that cultural fit influences a professional’s ability to maximize their accumulated talents and skills even on a short-term basis. A study by Leadership IQ Why New Hires Fail revealed that 46 percent of new hires fail within 18 months, and that… Read more »

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