Human Resources 2.0: How To Do More With Less

Do-more-with-less - that's the new mantra for managing human talent in the economic downturn. Amidst layoffs and reduced venture capital financing, companies are seeking innovative solutions that balance their continued need to solve complex problems with their hiring and budget constraints. In this article, we will teach you how to deploy an efficient model for managing your company's staffing needs. Whether you're a garage start-up or a multinational corporation, the Distributed Agent Model allows you to stretch your budgets further and dynamically grow and shrink based on your business needs.

Managing Your Human Capital
While the Distributed Agent Model may sound like something from a spy novel, companies such as InnoCentive.com and DuPont are using it to tap into brainpower outside their company. Probably the most popular incarnation of this model is crowdsourcing, where a problem is broadcast to a large audience with the hope that someone in the crowd will solve it. Here is a step-by-step approach to using the Distributed Agent Model within your organization.

Step 1 - Define and Scope Each Task
It's useful to think of your company's complex problems in terms of tasks that can be completed in a sort of global factory with workers distributed around the world. For example, an online travel site might use remote agents to act on complex hotel reservation requests that a computer simply couldn't handle such as "make a hotel reservation that would be perfect for a Valentine's Day surprise." Clearly a computer couldn't define what "perfect" meant, but perhaps a distributed set of workers, organized effectively, could find a great chic boutique hotel that fits the bill. The important pieces of this example are that tasks can be as complex as your workers can handle but they should be self-contained, meaning everything needed to complete the task is tightly packaged up within it. What you're looking to avoid when designing your task is the kiss-of-death for a distributed agent model: manual intervention. AskSunday.com, a New York based virtual concierge service, does a great job of allowing remote agents handle complex tasks such as booking travel plans.

Step 2 - Source the Right Workers
Seek workers who possess the core competencies you need for the task. Unlike conventional staff hiring, since you are recruiting for a specific task, "hiring up" or opting for over-qualified candidates could result in an agent population that is unenthusiastic and less motivated.

Consider intrinsic rewards in addition to, or even instead of, financial compensation. Finding a way to give your agents a pat-on-the-back, even a "virtual" one, goes a long way. ThisNext.com, a social shopping site which uses human agents to source unique online deals, does a great job of this. ThisNext.com rewards its agents with both novel "thank-you" gifts as well as kudos in the form of public recognition of their successes for all members to see.

Step 3 - Automate the 99% Case
Most of what your agents do should be completely autonomous and not require any manual intervention. The moment your system requires manual intervention, you have introduced a scalability problem into the system. For example, for a task such as proof-reading an essay, if a staff member is required to skim through the finished product, you have just created an expensive bottleneck. Of course, occasionally you will need to manually intervene in order to take corrective action or to re-assign a task - make sure that this is truly the exceptional case. TutorJam.com, an online tutoring company, has developed a complex Java-based backend system that allows hundreds of tutoring sessions to take place simultaneously without intervention. The system uses a combination of educators and automation to detect unusual situations.

Step 4 - Incorporate a Feedback Loop
When you have hundreds of agents "running around" performing tasks, you will need a quick way of assessing the successful completion of a task. Perhaps, having two agents independently completing the same task and comparing results might make sense. In many cases, simply having a "feedback loop" can signal that a task was completed successfully. For example, if the consumer can implicitly or explicitly acknowledge or even rate the quality of a completed task, a feedback mechanism is established. Be creative in defining your feedback mechanism - in many cases, a simple check of the volume of web traffic visiting the finished product or a quick 5-star rating system similar to Amazon.com or EBay.com may suffice. In both cases, a rating mechanism allows you to quickly evaluate the effectiveness of a particular worker or task.

Step 5 - Jump Start Your Learning Curve
This is where your strengths as a Web 2.0 company really come into play - agile deployment and fast product cycles. Your first attempts at a framework for managing human agents will be imperfect. The reality is that handling distributed human agents and the resulting problems could leave you scratching your head. Frequent releases and iterative upgrades will help you continually improve and refine your system and set you on the path to achieve your business objectives.

Tell Us About Your Experience
Our experience launching TutorJam.com, a K-12 online tutoring company, has shown us how flexible and scalable the Distributed Agent model can be in meeting the diverse educational needs of our customers. Let's get a dialogue going; Share your tips and stories with other organizations looking to capitalize on the growing trend of distributed agents, and tell us how you do more with less.

About the Author

Nathan is currently Vice-President of TutorJam, the premier online tutoring company. He has over 7 years of engineering experience at technology firms including Microsoft, Slipstream Data, and Texas Instruments. He holds a Bachelor's in Math and Economics from the University of Waterloo, a Master's of Science from the University of Washington and is an MBA candidate at Duke University.

10 Steps to Landing a Job During the Recession

Ten ways to find a job in ten days.

This article was written to help job seekers find a job in this recession. It is geared towards job seekers that work with headhunters, third party search firms, and recriuters. It can help you find jobs on the market in your industry whether you are looking for a sales job or technology job, this article can help you find a recruiter, has interview tips, and will help you negotiate your job offer letter. With the recession there are a lot of job seekers, and this article includes how to find a job during the recession.

1. Prepare yourself. This involves rewriting your resume and buying the right interview outfit. Practice your interview in the mirror and prepare for tough questions, such as an interviewer asking you to describe a time you helped your company when you didn't have to, or what your weakest trait is. Make sure you have your resume on hand when you do finally attend the job interview, along with any presentation papers that you feel will help you land the job.

2. Find a recruiter. Go to a recruiter directory to find a list of recruiters in your area. Once you are at the recruiter directory you should be able to do a search by industry or location. It is important not to narrow your industry too much, as you want to keep an open job search so you don't limit your results. Let the recruiter know if you are willing to relocate, that way they can search for jobs for you in other areas, with will expand your options dramatically. Go on a reputable directory to find a recruiter in your area. One good recruitement directory and staffing resource is http://www.therecruiterdirectory.com

3. Get all the job details. Be sure to ask the recruiter you are working with for specific details when they have an interview scheduled for you. Good questions to ask are if there are if this is a replacement position or a newly created job title. If it is a replacement position be sure to inquire as to why the previous employee did not work out. You can also ask if there are other candidates in the pipeline for this position and if there are other candidates who are no longer being considered. If there are, why didn't they make the cut? What does the recruiter recommend you do to avoid that problem? Keep in mind the recruiter is on your side, and while they want to be sure they hire the right person for the job, it makes their job easier if you get hired.

4. Presentation is everything. Many people don't realize how important presentation is when going to a job interview. Not tucking in your shirt could literally cost you the job. Your resume should be carried in a briefcase, folder, or something similar. Shoving your resume in your pocket does not look good when applying for a job. Even if you are applying for a casual job, you are gong to want to dress professional for the interview.

5. Arrive on Time. Make sure you have the right company directions. Arrive early, not on time. If you plan on arriving on time there is a good chance that there will be something unexpected, such as traffic that will make you late. Plan as much as you can ahead of time, and even find alternate routes 'just in case'.

6. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Make sure that you have are applying to several different jobs. Not only will you get hired sooner, but you may even find yourself in a position where you have multiple offers. That is always the best case scenario, as then you can pick your favorite company and/or compensation package.

7. Concentrate on what the company wants first. The last thing you want to do in an interview is ask about the compensation package and benefits first. Remember, the company probably has several people interviewing and will choose the person they think is the best, not the candidate who likes the comp package the most. Remember, you are trying to sell your resume, experience and services to the company. While asking questions about how the company works shows interest, asking about the salary is not something that should be brought up until the offer letter is presented. Feel free, however, to ask the recruiter. They are a third party and want to make sure they have a good match between employer and employee and that includes what the company is paying and your salary expectations.

8. Do Your Research. Be sure to research the company and what they do. If you have questions about the company that show you have done your research, chances are the hiring manager will be impressed. If you ask a bunch of questions that show you have no idea as to how the company works, that will come off less than impressive.

9. Follow Up. Be sure to get the interviewers e-mail address so that you can send them a thank you e-mail to follow up. Let them know that you enjoyed the interview and look forward to working with them, even if you haven't been hired yet. Tell them you were impressed with the interview and their organization and be sure to include why. Inquire as to what the next steps will be. Follow up with the recruiter and find out if they received feedback. If you did not get the position, ask the recruiter why so that you may use that advice for future interviews.

10. Don't Reject, Negotiate. If you like the organization you interviewed for, and could see yourself working there, don't outright reject an offer that doesn't seem realistic. They might be just giving you a lowball offer to test your waters. Let the job recruiter know what your minimum conditions are and ask for a counter offer. Be careful going too high, don't forget there is a chance your counter offer will just be rejected and that will be the end of it. Ask yourself if you can afford to take that chance in this economy. Keep in mind there aren't that many companies hiring right now and it is very hard to find a job. Another technique is to gently mention the other offers you have on the table to the recruiter.

About the Author

Jackie has been writing articles for years, and is an expert when it comes to human resources.