With such a large volume of ownership in very few hands, this has the potential to create an oligopoly-like control internally, which in turn could foment the kind of corporate executive culture Mr. If the insider and institutional amount to over 75% of the total public float, especially if only one or a few institutional investors, that is one indication to look deeper. Research the firm’s finances, and especially their investors and shareholders. Gray offers three ways to help job seekers identify organizations that value short-term profits over long-term experience, innovation, quality and customer satisfaction, in order to avoid them:ġ. As one executive recruiter put it, “Why would anyone want to work in an environment like that?!” Instead, look for industries and firms that third-party analysts have evaluated as “recession proof”, “ best places to work”, “ investor top buys”, or any firm that Warren Buffet invests in. LOOK ELSEWHERE – This tip is by far the most obvious solution to this problem, and the one suggested most often by recruiters I polled. Gray, CIO.com’s readers and recruiters shared the following suggestions for making sure you’re one of the final candidates on your targeted firms’ wish lists. Until the market more broadly forces companies to again value long-term loyalty, experience and innovation, experienced job seekers will have to work hard to differentiate themselves and get jobs in such a volatile employment market. Or, we can look to the financial investment markets’ meltdown for a prime example. These costs include quality issues impacting major consumers, lawsuits, lost market share, insidious decline and in some cases, bankruptcy. In fact, Gray says he is seeing in his research some early signs that some firms are starting to realize the cost of hiring junior and inexperienced executives. As frustrating as it is to these individuals, they should realize that these situations will eventually correct themselves” in the marketplace, he says. Gray noted that well-qualified executive job applicants over age 35 “should not beat themselves up over what may appear to be illogical results in some firms’ final candidate selections.
The result: firms and even entire industries where quantity and low cost win out over innovation, quality and customer satisfaction. Gray predicted in his writings over two years ago, these changes have in turn created corporate cultures that devalue competence, wisdom and analytical thought, in a trickle down effect from their executive management teams. His research indicates that many of these firms’ focus on short-term, “quick fix” investment outcomes has resulted in the replacement of the most experienced executives with younger, less expensive, more malleable junior managers. In my prior article, I wrote about researcher David Gray’s decade-long research that indicates the highest-paying executive jobs in some organizations have increasingly been influenced by large institutional investment firms.