management

I try to keep internal events at MiPro (mostly) away from the blog unless they’re newsworthy on a broader level, because most internal gyrations have no context to our readership and therefore are a bit ho-hum.

As an exception, I’d like to take a moment to announce a new addition to MiPro that we’re very excited about.

For the past several months, we’ve been rigorously interviewing high-end candidates for a new VP of Business Development position, and we’re thrilled to say that search has come to an end.  We’re happy to announce that we’ve just brought aboard Tom Asby to the MiPro management ranks, and if you’re familiar with Oracle, PeopleSoft or Workday, you probably have heard of or worked with Tom.

Prior to joining us, Tom was at SAP America as a Regional Sales VP, where he bagged the highest total of net new wins in the Midwest region and 2007 and dramatically increased channel revenue via an impressive program of coaching and mentoring channel partners.

Tom has already started with us to prove that he could beat the press release to the wires.  He’s still being indoctrinated learning, but he’s already running with multiple things and we can’t wait to see what he brings to our sales and business development operations.

Welcome, Tom!  If you have any questions whatsoever, remember that whoever writes the blog is almost always right.

Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful…What is likely is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up. So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.

—Warren E. Buffett (discussing when to buy)

I was at the HR Technology conference last week in Chicago, and I want to share with you a few thoughts about the tenor and mood of the vendors and attendees at that show.  If you off-the-cuff think everyone was walking around with a gun to their heads, you’d be wrong, full stop.

First and foremost, yes, people were incredibly willing to talk about the economy and the state of the nation in both financial and political terms.  That’s unavoidable.  We’re well into reality-land these days, and the question of whether or not things are going to get tighter isn’t a question anymore.  People were voicing their concerns to me in the plain light of day, which I found to be refreshing.  People weren’t holding their cards close to their vests; they were openly discussing how to weather the storm and trying to get their heads around how long it might last.  I think people realize that everyone is sailing in the same uncertain waters.

Some folks told me that they’re cancelling or deferring their remaining 2008 HRIT/ERP projects and putting 2009 in a holding pattern to see how things shake out.  I think it’s safe to say a lot of people are fearful, and when fear happens, the standard corporate organizational response is to flow into pure cost conservatism and horde.  I know firsthand, because I’ve seen it in spades in my former life.

But what impressed me the most is how many said that this is the time that they’re moving forward, in some cases very aggressively.  More people than not simply smiled and said that yes, times are rough and we have to hunker down, but we are in a fantastic place of leverage.  We can invest at bargain prices, squeeze software vendors for incredible deals, and at the end of this financial weirdness, come out of it ahead.  Ahead as a company, of course, but more importantly ahead of our competition, which is letting their fear compromise their strategic vision outright.

And let me tell you, this wasn’t one or two people with this outlook.  More people than I ever expected said they are investing now so they can reap the benefits on the back end of this financial storm rather than waiting it out and hoping necessary projects begin again sometime down the line.

Sometime down the line.

While some companies will wait for “sometime” to become “the right time,” other companies will carry forward and implement their next-generation of HRIT/ERP software applications.  And these folks not only will get a deal of their lifetimes, but they’ll also have strategic momentum when things open back up.  Their competitors will be just coming up for air, and meanwhile the more shewd organizations will be in full stride.

What are your thoughts?  Which way are you leaning as you look to close out 2008 and move into 2009?  Would love your thoughts in the comments or via email directly.

There ain’t no rules around here. We’re trying to accomplish something.

— Thomas Edison

(via Jason)

The Story

As we approach the year-end preparation season, we’re getting asked a lot about how to close the gap in 1099 reporting compliance.  From what we can understand, there are several factors at play that you need to know about and that might re-prioritize 1099 reporting from whatever system you’re using.

More specifically, the landscape looks a little like this: the IRS is putting stronger enforcement efforts in place to close the compliance delta between self-employed/independent contractors (who, the IRS suggests, only report ~80% of their income) and W2-earning employees.  This will be done by increasing enforcement of 1099 information reporting rules.

The IRS has been hiring aggressively after a relatively tight lockdown on new personnel, and we understand that some of these people will be 1099 auditors.  While additional auditors really doesn’t mean much in the larger IRS scheme, it does serve as a call to action to 1099 workers and their associated employers.

[click to continue...]

One of the most difficult things to do is to walk away from an opportunity.  Even though you know in your heart it’s the right thing to do, it is always difficult.

A few weeks ago we made a tough decision that only recently demonstrated that it was the right course of action.

One of our trusted partners brought us in early to a consulting opportunity.  We continuously ask to be brought in early versus at the last minute so we can add value throughout the process, and in this case our partner obliged.  We were very pleased to eventually earn a verbal approval from the customer.  Soon thereafter, however, we found the customer’s legal counsel exceptionally challenging to work with in attempting to negotiate a contract.  (I am sure no one else has ever experienced this problem!)

After awhile we began questioning whether we were being too difficult or maybe just not flexible enough. After some internal discussion, we ultimately determined that we were being fair and rational, but we were also slowing the transaction down too much for our partner.  We made the difficult decision that to avoid harming them and even though they brought us the business, we would walk away (with our partner’s blessing), allowing our competition to take the deal so that our partner could close the business.

As you can imagine, we had a few interesting meetings that week.

[click to continue...]

I’d like to share with you page 59 of Andy Sernovitz’s excellent book Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, because it’s the page that’s worth the entire price of the book.

Back when I tried to explain what this blog was all about — and by extension, what our company is all about — I did some clumsy skirting of some the concepts I’m about to share below.  Sernovitz perfectly crystallizes my own mindset when it comes to marketing in an age where the old rules no longer apply, and I think this is some of the best advice out there when it comes to honest marketing and brand-building.  So here it is, and if you like what you see here, then I suggest buying and reading the whole book.  It’s fantastic.

There’s a lot of talk about radical transparency and naked conversations and how they are ideas that should fit into a culture and how companies are trying to adopt them as part of their brand strategy.  What many fail to realize is that transparency and honesty are mandatory, not “initiatives’ that show up as PowerPoint bullets in a planning presentation: if you don’t believe in them, or you think you can game the system, you’re wrong.  The conversation is already happening out there, and you can either be part of it or move into isolation.  Eventually, what you decide to do will be talked about by your customers, your employees, your competitors.  So you can join in, have some fun, and maybe learn a thing or two about your customers and how you service them, or you can fear the conversation and be marginalized.  Your choice.

Oracle Corp. impressed the street by exceeding analyst expectations for its 4Q in a conference call Wednesday.  For the period ended in May:

• Net income rose 27% to $2.04B (.39/share) from $1.6B (.31/share) in the year-ago quarter.  Oracle’s previous revenue growth projection was 14% to 18%.
• Revenue increased 24% to $7.24B, and net income (excluding special items) would have been .47/share.  Analysts estimates were $6.85B in revenue and earnings of .45/share, excluding special items.

While the results are very strong, Oracle’s guidance sent shares tumbling in after-hours trading:

Oracle Chief Financial Officer Safra Catz said the company’s strong sales should carry into its current quarter. But the company nonetheless issued profit guidance for that quarter, its first fiscal quarter, that was at the low end of analysts’ estimates.

Shares of Oracle fell as much as 4% Thursday to $21.60 in pre-market trading. The stock closed Wednesday at $22.55.

Overall, you have to be impressed with Oracle’s strategy, especially how quickly and cleanly they’ve handled the BEA acquisition, which just closed in April.

Three-and-a-half years ago, when we started MiPro Consulting, one of the first things we did was define a set of core values. Before our name, before our logo, before even our mission statement, we defined a set of values that would serve as a guide, or compass, for where we took MiPro Consulting. Over the past few months we have been highlighting a core values in our employee news letter. In March I wrote about our first core value, PEOPLE. In the spirit of getting to know MiPro, I now share it with you.

People. Our first core value. Sometimes I am asked why our second core value Customers isn’t our first. I love that question!

When we started MiPro Consulting we spent a lot of time discussing not only what we were going to do but why were going to do it. The most consistent theme in those early days was to build a work place that was fun, passionate, and engaging. We knew that to be successful we needed to create and maintain a work environment that attracted the very best and the very brightest in the industry. (By the way, when I look at the team we have, it is clear to me that the formula is working!).

In professional services your product is your people. If you don’t have great people then you really don’t have much value that you can offer to your customer. So that is why People come first at MiPro.

Our recipe is pretty simple.

1. Create a GREAT work environment.
2. Use that environment to attract GREAT people.
3. Encourage your GREAT people to do GREAT things for their customers.
4. Doing GREAT things for customers yields more business.
5. Repeat step one over and over and over.
6. Never forget step one.

These are my thoughts on MiPro core value number one — PEOPLE. I would love to hear your thoughts.

-Chris Bishop
President, MiPro Consulting

Argh.  I wrote “Web 2.0″ already when I promised myself I wouldn’t do that until at least my 100th post.  Man.  What a letdown.

Anyway.

So Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Flickr, has tendered his resignation letter to Yahoo, as has his wife and fellow co-founder Caterina Fake.  Check it out:

Put simply, Yahoo lost focus and Butterfield doesn’t feel he has a place anymore.  The metallurgical storytelling is just clever metaphor.  But that’s not the point.

A great many of our customers are involved in HR/HRIS, so resignations and their accompanying letters are nothing new to them.  But what do you most notice about Butterfield’s parting shot?

[click to continue...]

Bear with me, because this might seem kittens-and-moonbeams, right out of the self-help aisle at Borders.  It’s not.

Recently, Fortune ran a piece asking all sorts of industry luminaries about the best advice they ever got — from their mentors, their bosses, their parents, whomever.  The entire article is worth reading, but what stuck with us in particular is Indra Nooyi’s blurb about always trying to assume positive intent.  It stuck so much that I hear it nearly every day.

Why?

If it sounds a bit too much Tony Robbins for you, hold on.  Take a second and think about it.  It’s deeper than you might think, because it requires conscious effort to break ingrained behaviors.

Assuming positive intent (or “APIing it,” as it’s known around here) is harder than it sounds — actually, much harder.  You have to think about it almost all the time at first.  It means that whatever life throws at you, especially as it relates to dealing with other humans, everyone would be better served if we all assumed that everyone is motivated by positive intent, instead of the other way around.

Which means we can’t just up and react.  Which means that we need a filter, at first, that we apply to discussions and events before reacting.  Which means that most of us have to re-wire ourselves away from what we’ve become used to.

Small or large, business life in general can be a battleground, and that stigma is well-deserved in many regards.  But to let that stigma create a blanket reaction tendency is a bad thing.  It’s cynicism hardening the otherwise eager intellect.

Next time you have a conflict at the office, client site or when someone acts a bit out of the boundaries of decorum, take a moment and try to remember to assume positive intent.  I don’t care if you have to take a deep breath, think of a grassy field, whatever.  Think before you react, and remember that maybe, just maybe, that person is acting out of positive intent, but just not in the way you would.

This may not cure all interpersonal or political business conflicts, but it’s a great place to start.

[click to continue...]