091109 Avature

Avature.

The world is changing fast. Technology, smart, cheap coding, seasoned business people and the burning desire to change the game are driving innovation even as the economy sputters. Avature, a new entrant to the Recruiting Market is turning heads with its innovative approaches to enterprise software problems.

“I hear a lot of enterprise software project managers say ‘I could use this tool in any aspect of my business’. The free form workflow design features just blow the minds of people used to the glacial pace of large scale software vendors.” So says Mike Johnson, the Portland based head of sales for Avature.

“Here’s an example. One of our clients was trying to get his enterprise vendor to make a change. He wanted a new country name added to a drop down list. The vendor quoted $1,500 and three weeks. With the Avature tool, you can do that sort of thing on the fly.”

Avature markets itself as “CRM for Recruiters”. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It’s a kind of software popularized by Salesforce.com. Rather than tracking applicants (like an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) does), a CRM is focused on relationship management…the comings and goings of a conversation.

Like most Recruiting tools, the bottom line is workflow, the ability to configure a piece of software to match the way that you do business. That’s where Avature shines. “If you can click your way through email, you can design workflow on Avature.” remarks Johnson.

Unlike recently reviewed players JobScore and Recruiting.com, Avature wants to go head to head with big players like Taleo, SAP, Oracle and Kenexa. “We’re disruptive in price and technology.” claims Johnson “We’re SaaS and really easy to configure. Our clients save huge money on the basic deal and fistfuls of dollars on the maintenance and improvement charges. The tool is remarkably easy to configure. We get rave reviews from enterprise programmers who can’t figure out how we do it. The software is menu driven and designed to accommodate any circumstance in Recruiting.”

They’ve got a number of clients who seem to validate the claims. IBM, Adidas, Kelly. Adecco, Spherion, Conoco, Raytheon and the New York Public Education System are all Avature users. With 85 enterprise clients, they are rapidly moving into the ranks of the big players.

The Avature toolkit includes standard regulatory processing, resume parsing and importable social data. Since the basic mind set is the development of a relationship (rather that the validation of a resume), Avature’s development focuses on bringing the most relevant data to the transaction.

Like Recruiting.com. a primary focus is on the broken-ness of ATS and Enterprise recruiting systems. In the Avature design, data is routed out of the Enterprise tool, through a user designed and back in to the Enterprise stuff.

In an interesting twist, Avature sells to the fact that most HR processes are managed by spreadsheet. (Most HR tool marketing campaigns claim this is a bad thing.) Once a dashboard is built in Avature (an easy to execute process), the data can be easily fed to the department spreadsheets and updated in an automated fashion.

Avature has operations on four continents. Offices in New York, Portland and Buenos Aires plus strong initiatives in Australia and Europe make this little enterprise a real powerhouse.

Johnson and founder Dimitri Boylan are HotJobs veterans. The level of talent that emerged from that shop continues to amaze the rest of the market (you might recall that Dan Arkind, JobScore’s founder came from the staffing firm that seeded HotJobs).

Keep your ear out for Avature disruption stories. They’re shaking up the market.

091105 On The Go v1.01

On The Go v1.01

• Jason Averbrook from Knowledge Infusion let us know about the KI Philanthropy Project. Colleagues, customers, partners and friends will be taking part in the Big Sure Half Marathon. You can sponsor them here. The Money goes to Toys For Tots.
• Laurie Ruettimann and Sarah White are launching a new offering called Clueless@Love. By splicing the HR Mommy gene with the HR Entertainment gene, the duo expect to keep us rolling on the floor with a contemporary Dear Abby. We’re betting the controversy is an audience builder.
• Top 100 Influencer Elaine Orler recently launched a new company…Talent Function. Elaine is widely understood to be the greatest integrator of strategy and tactics in the enterprise recruiting scene. She knows ho to make the big systems produce strategic recruiting Results. TalentFunction is your way to snag her expertise.
• Another Top100 Influencer, Allan Schweyer, left his role as executive Director of the Human Capital Institute to become a partner at Center for Human Capital Innovation, a consultancy focused on Federal HCM.
• Carmen Hudson, founder of TweetaJob published a delightful piece on Disruptive Recruiting Technology on Kennedy’s Recruiting Trends.
• Check out JobFact. Anonymous annotated resumes for employer reviews. In French, English and Dutch. Includes Salary Data.

We’re starting to track interesting comings and goings. If you’re launching a product, a book, having a party, got a promotion or a new job. Let us know.

091104 Five Must Reads

091104 Five Must Reads

• Using Technology To Improve Workforce Collaboration
  As the workforce changes, there are real questions about how you specify roles and performance when results come from teams. There are wide variations in the productivity of knowledge workers. Here are some points of departure for thinking about the coming world of work.
• What’s the Value of Your Job?
  Hank Stringer offers some interesting advice. Ask the CFO what the value of the job is. Understanding exactly how the slot contributes to the company bottom line is the key to credibility. Asking the question wins you points.
• 3.5% Growth in Context
  If the economy grew at 3.5% for the next 8 years, unemployment would be under 7%.
  And, that’s only if there isn’t another trough in the interim.
• Brain Drain Report: The Null Hypothesis
  The article is a gateway to a number of interesting pieces on the out-migration problems in east coast cities. Notably, Philadelphia seems to have solved the brain dran problem. As Demographic growth slows, regional talent retention is becoming a competitive issue. There is every reason to believe that the coming economic recovery is going to be drivemn by regional demographics.
• Steve Boese’s HR Tech
  One of the great success stories in the emergence of social sftware is Steve Boese’s rise to influence. Rooted in his work as a graduate instructor in HR Technology, Boese infects the HR-ati with his sense of humor and willingness to experiment.

091102 JobScore

JobScore

The business card sat on my desk for most of the summer. Dan Arkind, the CEO of JobScore, managed to make contact at one of the spring trade shows. I can’t remember what transpired in the transaction. I did remember my sense of obligation and the warm feeling he engendered.

In September, I sent him a note as I was cleaning the pile of cards off my desk. “I know you’re somewhere close by and that I promised to be in touch. Sorry about the delay.”

Without skipping a beat, Dan started to tell me the story of JobScore.

JobScore is a free Applicant Tracking System designed for the most underserved portions of the hiring market – small business. The core idea is to build a ‘networked’ recruiting system that allows every user to strengthen every other user. JobScore is trying to create synergy among small recruiting groups to help them compete squarely with larger organizations.

The service features a shared database of candidates. JobScore is building a treasure chest of data by letting customers exchange their unused resumes (the job boards often generate lots of excess) for credits. You can buy candidate data from the core system on an as needed basis.

The ultimate goal is self-sufficiency.

Today, the JobScore resume database measures 100,000 strong, mostly in Silicon Valley tech. The goal is a viral product that saves small customers money while giving them a competitive advantage in the employment market. The bigger the customer base, the better the database.

So far, they’ve acquired over 100 customers (employers, not users) without a stitch of advertising. Word of mouth, recommendation and attendance at a couple (literally, two) conferences is the extent of their marketing.

It’s a small and focused team. With office space on San Francisco’s Market St., they’re positioned with access to key design and software talent. That’s good for the company – and its customers.

Arkind is a veteran of OTEC, the visionary staffing firm that founded and incubated HotJobs. As a Director, he opened their Silicon Valley office. He’s also been around the entrepreneurial block with a series of post OTEC adventures. Most notably, he co-founded STIRR, a network for technology entrepreneurs..

Arkind believes in the viral future. “We want to build a recruiting system that gets better as people use it. Not just because they give feedback and help us improve it, although that’s interesting. It’s our hope that each recruiting transaction gives the entire system a nudge towards higher quality. When small companies share the candidates they’d normally throw away, everyone gets a boost.”

An hour long demo persuaded me that the system is more than adequate for small scale recruiting. The interface is elegant and intuitive. The years of HotJobs adjacency really seem to have paid off. All of the meat is there with little or none of the fat.

As far as I can tell, no one is really serving the small enterprise end of the hiring market. Job Boards occasionally offer ATS functionality but always go overboard. There are other free systems out there but they’re oriented to shops with thousands of employees.

The JobScore solution offers solid execution, a clear market focus and a smart strategy for value development that grows with the company. The underserved low end of the market now has a viable solution.

091029 5 Must Reads

091028 5 Must Reads

• Friedman on Education
  “Our education failure is the largest contributing factor to the decline of the American worker’s global competitiveness, particularly at the middle and bottom ranges,” argued Martin, a former global executive with PepsiCo and Kraft Europe and now an international investor. “This loss of competitiveness has weakened the American worker’s production of wealth, precisely when technology brought global competition much closer to home. So over a decade, American workers have maintained their standard of living by borrowing and overconsuming vis-à-vis their real income. When the Great Recession wiped out all the credit and asset bubbles that made that overconsumption possible, it left too many American workers not only deeper in debt than ever, but out of a job and lacking the skills to compete globally.”
• Jeff Hunter on HR Systems Problems
  “Business tends to look at work in vertically integrated slices. A job title and level covers an increasing scope of capabilities. A Vice President of HR may be expected to have a great eye for talent, the capability to negotiate complex contracts, the analytical ability to assemble complex compensation structures and the knack for coaching CEOs to greatness. Everyone takes for granted that as one climbs the ladder that they have demonstrated proficiencies in an ever greater number of areas. HR writes job descriptions, selects talent, manages performance and compensates people based on this deeply held assumption. But this vertical integration means that we never get someone who is great at just one or two things. And this is preventing us from developing agile, competitive and productive organizations. “
• Wes Wu on Turnover
  “Let’s say that the average turnover rate in the U.S. is 15% per year and that it sits at 5% today. That means a full 10% of the workforce is fairly disgruntled and is in your employee population right this minute. That is a pretty big number, and it’s a lot of unhappiness. The number is probably a lot bigger than 10%. While this is a global economic problem and most companies are proportionally impacted, negative economies tend to decrease employee engagement. The real problem is that this year you have 10% of the population that is not leaving. That does not exempt you from the additional 10% that is going to get pissed off next year and want to leave. While you might be basking in a disengaged workforce with low turnover this year, next year’s situation might change drastically.”
• Self Promotion for Introverts
  “Introverts. The world needs us, can’t live without us, and often doesn’t quite get us. However, we persist, mostly behind the scenes, quietly contributing to society—writing, creating, designing, researching, solving problems, and digging for treasures ancient and new. Are you one of us? If you’re more of a Warren Buffett than a Donald Trump, and more of a Greta Garbo than a Madonna, you’ve come to the right place. It’s time for you to stop hiding from the spotlight. Time to get recognized and compensated for your gifts.”
• Is Corporate Recruiting Broken?
  Great start a a debate featuring Rusty Rueff, Liz Ryan, Jeff Hunter, Hank Stringer and John Sumser.

Have you read something that you think merits attention? Let us know.

091026 RiseSmart

RiseSmart

Last week, a small Silicon Valley company proved that there is still vigor left in the HR Marketplace. RiseSmart, a provider of job concierge services, nailed down $4.6 Million in additional funding. That brings their total investment to $8.85Million.

One of the less well understood dynamics of venture financing involves the way that successive rounds of investment unfold. If your original investors don’t continue their investments as you grow, it is always understood as a vote against you. Few entrepreneurs moving through the process the first time grasp the fact that their initial investors become partners for life. RiseSmart CEO Sanjay Sathe understands the principle. Northwest Venture Partners made this a second round of financing and contributed 40% 0f the new funds.

You’re probably scratching your head. Job Concierge Services?

The premise is simple. It’s reasonably inexpensive to outsource the job hunt. RiseSmart offers its clients the ability to have a team of humans navigate the job hunt process for you. Send them a resume and they keep you in a flow of job postings. The service can be configured to have RiseSmart go all the way through the job application process for you.

Job Concierge Services means that they do the scut work for you. Who wouldn’t want that? Sign up with them and wait for the phone calls to roll in. At the low end of the service, you sign up and wait for a perfectly tailored flow of job opportunities to tumble into your email box.

They’ve been exploring the market for a number of years (with surprising success). Over the past 18 months, they have moved their focus onto the outplacement industry. Rather than ‘transition assistance’, RiseSmart provides job openings.

The company is trying on some very interesting positioning. I particularly enjoyed the “How It Works” presentation that compares RiseSmart with Traditional Outplacement. In this approach to outplacement, everything is focused on the single goal of getting a job.

“The solution dispenses with “soft services” like grief counseling and office space to focus on the services that displaced workers need most: help with marketing themselves through a rewrite of their resumes and cover letters; guidance from a transition specialist, including assistance in using online social networks; and — most importantly — actionable job leads from across the Web based on their specific criteria, for a period of up to six months.”

-
From the press release.

You might be saying, “How is this different from the Ladders?”

The Ladders does indeed provides its clients with a tailored flow of job opportunities. They’re focused on the consumer market and are doing amazing things. The RiseSmart approach is similar but includes human intervention and tweaking in the consumer process.

There’s a real difference in the B2B (or Outsourcing) end of the operation. Transition Concierge, their outplacement product offering, combines resume writing, job hunt coaching, a flow of opportunities, and social networking advice. Their focused goal is to move the x-employee into the new job as quickly and effectively as possible.

They do it for about 50% of the price of other outplacement services.

That is going to have a profoundly disruptive influence on the business models and process flows of the rest of the Outplacement Industry. Sharp price differentiation, a results orientation and technology backbone make RiseSmart a company to watch closely over the next couple of years. This is how disintermediation works.

091018 Recruiting.com

Recruiting.com

This past week, I had a couple of very nice (related) surprises.

Jeff Seely, CEO of Recruiting.com (nee Jobster), called and we had a delightful conversation about the joys of taking over and remaking a high-flying company. Seely, who is a seasoned entrepreneur, took the helm of Jobster as Jason Goldberg was making his exit. Goldberg, you might recall, was a high profile entrepreneur who vaulted the Jobster brand into prominence through a combination of chutzpa and market brilliance.

While I am a staunch Goldberg fan, I wouldn’t want the job of following in his footsteps at Jobster. Goldberg radically improved the HR marketplace by making it okay to be over the top and at the edge. Jobster clients were treated to a visionary feast. It was always a little tricky to distinguish the CEO from the brand.

When Jeff took the helm, he faced a complex challenge. How would he maximize the value embedded in the company while shifting its market position away from a personality-centric brand. With a sharp eye on finances (the company is now about 25 people), Seely looked at the market to figure out what it needed.

The result is the product I saw demoed at the end of the week. Now carrying the Recruiting.com brand, the company is releasing version 1.0 of its new offering.

Let me tell you something: It’s worth your attention.

The new Recruiting.com tool is what I’ll call a ‘post-sourcing system’. Once you’ve harnessed a talent pool through all of the means possible (sourcing), you have a problem. What do you do with the disparate pieces and how do you track, supplement and refine the data?

The core insight is that most people can not manage candidates using their ATS. For whatever reason, the ATS resume databases are hard to search and hard to manage. The Recruiting.com offering adds a search layer, supplemented with semantic capabilities and allows you to merge candidates form other sources.

So, if you want to evaluate people who have applied plus potential candidates from LinkedIn plus a flock of resumes you’ve discovered using Shally’s methods (or Ami’s G-Recruiter), you can merge all of the data in the Recruiting.com sandbox and begin to assess what you have.

It’s a simple and brilliant insight.

The offering has four pieces:

• Candidate Aggregation

  You can blend ATS candidates plus people who express interest through a “lite form” plus people found elsewhere plus biz card data entry and a browser based emailed resume indexer. With all candidates from all sources in one easy to use searchable database, you can be certain you are looking at every asset available to your organization. The data is segmented with semantic tools.

• Candidate Relationship Management

  This is the weakest part of the offering (but adequate for a rev 1.0 release). No workflow and no status management but the rudiments of messaging and communicating are embedded in the tool.

• Data Enrichment and Augmentation

  This is the cool stuff. All candidates in the database are compared and contrasted with a large universe of online information.
  The Recruiter gets to decide which data is appropriate. Find candidate websites, profiles and so on.

• Reporting

  The reporting module offers just enough functionality to make the value of the system clear.

Every form of candidate information has a different level of value that can be extracted. The Recruiting.com team has worked hard to understand the relative value of this piece of information versus that. The goal is to deliver a system that maximizes a Recruiter’s ability to harness that value.

It’s an amazing start and what looks like the beginnings of a great second chapter in the firm’s history. It’s worth your time to try to get a demo.

Many of you know that I worked for Jobster for a year as the editor of Recruiting.com. It was an interesting (if uneventful) assignment that left me with a pocketful of Jobster shares. Since I was never able to exactly figure out what the company did, I never thought much about the stock. Given the volume of money that went through the company, I’m sure my teensy stake is not really worth very much.

This is the beginning of a regular feature reviewing new technology and tools. If you’d like to demo your software or show your new tool, let us know.

091016 Moving Day

Top 100…We’ve moved

As a part of the reorganization of RecruitingBlogs.com, the Top100 Influencers project moved to its new home at Top100Influencers. As is the case in any move, there are some things that got packed in the wrong box. We’re busy getting the feel of the new place and remembering where we put stuff before the packing began.

Getting completely settled will take a day or two.

It’s a great move for us. RBC provided wonderful incubation services and support during the formative days of the project. Jason Davis and Maren Hogan always made us feel like a part of the RBC team. In fact, some of the back office support is going to continue while the rest of the project takes shape. Jason is going to continue to include us in the RBC family through the spring. That means you’ll hear about new posts in the email newsletter and will be able to click to us under the “Read” section.

As you’ll see, the Top100Influencers website currently looks like it was lifted right out of the old RBC Front page (that’s pretty much what happened). Over the coming months, the project will morph into an identity of its own. We’re expecting big things and new initiatives in the coming months.

In some ways, nothing has changed. In others, it’s the start of something big and exciting. Stay tuned as we get our bearings and move forward.

Thanks Jason, Maren and the rest of the RBC team. We would not have gotten this far without your support.

Overview Pieces

• Keys To Influence
• Key Influencers
• Influence Happens In A Context
• Top 100: Recruiting and HR
• Spheres of Influence
• 1/3 Point Status Update

The Influencers

1.01 Naomi Bloom – The Software Architect – Bloom and Wallace
1.02 Kevin Grossman – The Clarifier – HRMarketer
1.03 Kevin Wheeler – The Futurist – Future of Talent Institute
1.04 Elaine Orler – The Recruiting Strategist – Talent Function Group
1.05 Jeanne Achille – The Gentle Connector – Devon Group
1.06 Robin Ferracone – The Boardroom Player - Farient Advisors
1.07 David Manaster – The Community Builder – ERE
1.08 Bill Kutik – The Technology Czar- HR Technology Conference
1.09 Bill Vick – The Padronne - ExtremeRecruiting TV
1.10 Rob McIntosh – The Game Changer- Avanade
1.11 David Perry - The Guerilla – Perry Martel
1.12 William Tincup – The Reframer – Starr-Tincup
1.13 John Sullivan- The Good Doctor – John Sullivan Associates
1.14 Dan Hilbert – The Edge – OrcaEyes
1.15 Doug Berg – The Scientist – Jobs2Web
1.16 Allan Schweyer – The Director – Center For Human Capital Innovation
1.17 Tony Karrer – The Training Engineer – TechEmpower
1.18 Peter Clayton – The Reporter – Total Picture Radio
1.19 China Gorman – The Operator – SHRM
1.20 Jessica Lee – The Editor – Fistful of Talent
1.21 Mike Mayeux – The Processor – Novotus
1.22 Shally Steckerl – The Sourceror – Arbita
1.23 Rusty Reuff – The Entertainer – Reuff Associates
1.24 Elliot Clark – The Publisher – Shared Expertise Media
1.25 Valerie Frederickson – The Sage – Valerie Frederickson & Co
1.26 Todd Raphael – The Quiet Force - ERE
1.27 Brian (Skip) Schipper – The Coral Reef Manager – Cisco
1.28 Penelope Trunk – The Brazen Careerist- BrazenCareerist
1.29 Gerry Crispin – The Connector – CareerXroads
1.30 Darren Romano – The Headhunter’s Headhunter
1.31 Auren Hoffman – The Synthesizer – Rapleaf
1.32 Neil McCormick – The Standard Bearer – Talent2
1.33 Mike Foster – The Builder- HCI
1.34 Jason Davis – The Inventor – RecruitngBlogs.com
1.35 Libby Sartain – The Transformer – Brand For Talent

091013 #TalentCamp

#TalentCamp

This weekend in Portland is the first gathering of #TalentCamp. With marketing that’s reminiscent of the startup of Sourcecon (recently purchased by ERE), #TalentCamp is shrouded in mystery. The participants, all fully fledged members of the Recruiterati, aspire to great heights.

The core participants Brian DeGroodt, Franny Oxford, Jeff Hunter, Joe Gerstandt, Lance Haun,  Mike Johnson, Ron McManmon, Shauna Moerke, Steve Fogarty, Suzy Tonini and Susan Burns are some of the brightest minds in the HR-Recruiting space today.

Here’s how #TalentCamp organizer Susan Burns describes it:

About a year ago I began kicking around the idea of #TalentCamp – bringing together an intimate group of keen minds with a unique orientation and passion for Talent, business and the HR discipline. All things happen for a reason and in this case I’m particularly pleased that circumstances resulted in #TalentCamp being a 2009 venture because there are a few people involved that I didn’t know last year.

On October 18th, 12 incredible people will come together for 3 1/2 days to explore the BIG “what if”. Collectively we have more years, depth and breadth of business and HR experience than I can begin to measure. We also share a strong passion for what could exist at the intersection of talent and business to serve both interests and advance organizational capability and effectiveness. We’ll be gathering in a 4500 square foot beach house on the Oregon Coast to immerse in a dialogue around our big “what if” question, that will no doubt experience the ebb and flow of progress, frustration, curiosity, pain, breakthroughs and clarity as we craft our talent function vision.

Listen to some of the things they’re thinking about:

Engagement is just the latest problem that shows the basic quandary with the modern HR organization: policies don’t prevent risk, reviews don’t increase performance, compensation doesn’t motivate, programs can’t convince people to give their soul to the organization, classes don’t instill creativity and agility doesn’t come from management fiat. Everything assumption that HR uses as its operational foundation is being swept away in the current of momentous change. The function’s inability to turn around a bad engagement situation is a symptom of that problem, not the cause. (Jeff Hunter, Talentism)

More risk exists in standing still than in moving forward. We are the future and its (sic) time to craft the vision at the intersection of Talent, HR and Business. Talent Camp! (Susan Burns, Talent Synchronicity)

There are large disconnects between strategists and tacticians within the recruitment industry. We lack clear, definable understanding between the differences of organization building and talent acquisition. We battle points of view on whether it’s better to pick up the phone and cold call or brand. We argue about the best sources of our hires. We tend to avoid questions on how to shape the future generations of recruitment professionals and the political and corporate institutions we operate in. If we avoid these discussions we do the whole industry a disservice. (Steve Fogarty, Recruiting Revolution)

There’s a change coming. Social media shows us the cracks in the 20th Century institutions that have shaped HR and Recruiting to date. #TalentCamp is a portent.

Small, nichey, intimate get togethers are likely to be the source of amazing growth in the industry. While networking is great, deep networking with a specific agenda is the way things get done.

Here’s wishing the participants best of luck. You can follow the proceedings by watching #TalentCamp. The event has enormous promise.

Top 100 Influencers v1.35 Libby Sartain

By John Sumser

One name comes up repeatedly. I’ve asked over 400 people who they think the most influential people in the industry are. Lots of academics are near the top of the list. To my surprise, Libby Sartain is the person most mentioned. Her relentless speaking and writing coupled with powerful stints at Yahoo and Southwest make Sartain a contender for most influential.

When she started, “there was no Human Resources Department. It was Industrial Relations at best and Personnel most of the time.”

For 31 years, Sartain changed the face of HR wherever she went. Libby was the first ever “Chief People Officer (at Southwest Airlines). She helped shape Yahoo for most of a decade. Once her tenure at Yahoo was complete, she headed for the Texas hills.

These days, Libby is enjoying being outside of the business world. In spite of her shift from operating to consulting, her reputation remains intact. It even seems to be growing. Saying that she’s outside of the business world ignores the fact that she sits on the board of Peet’s coffee and advises a slew of small-startups. Libby flies to work almost as much as she did during her full time years in Silicon Valley. She’s restoring a ranch that once belonged to her ancestors.

The transition from corporate leadership to consulting is fraught with surprise. Sartain has launched a blog and is learning to stay abreast of the flow of news and opinion in the HR universe. It’s the time in the trenches that makes her so valuable as a consultant for Talent Management Product development teams. “I am in an amazing learning mode,” she says, “I’m gaining a perspective you just can’t have internally.”

Libby is devoting a great deal of attention to her blog (and building surprising levels of traffic). Here’s a snippet from a recent post:

In Brand for Talent, Mark and I introduce the concept of a new job seeker. This job seeker is no longer an applicant. He or she doesn’t read the newspaper classified and fill out an “application for a job”. He or she is brand savvy. He or she is looking for a work experience… and comparing between employer brands that offer a match to their wants and needs. They are looking for what joining that brand says about their own personal brand. Today’s job seeker really isn’t looking for a job. He or she is looking for a lot more. Mark and I call this new prospective worker “The New Consumer of Work”.

Sartain is at the forefront of the unfolding of a new employee-employer relationship. Although there are a number of people describing the change, Sartain’s voice rings clear and lots of people pay her attention. She’s a clear example of the way that influence accrues with time.

John Sumser is the founder and CEO of TwoColorHat, a company specializing in market strategy for HR – Recruiting Vendors. You can keep up with his other stuff at johnsumser.com. Follow the rest of the Top 100 Influencers project.