The last decade has been a period of extreme confidence.  All the markets continued to rise and rise for the majority of the decade.  We were told to believe in ourselves, we learnt that investing was a necessary behaviour to grow wealth, we made business decisions based on the high point of our revenue, and the environment was one where more wealth was created than any previous decade.  Some of the numbers during the last 10 years were staggering – there were more new cars sold, there were more property transactions, there were more people in employment, the average earning capacity of an individual rose to record levels and more wealth was created in the last 10 years than in the previous 50 years.  So when you reach such highs, why did the sudden drop come so unexpectedly? 

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I recently spent time in New Delhi, India and I was fortunate to be hosted for a lunch at a traditional Indian restaurant. 

When you are in someone else’s country you are effectively in someone else’s culture.  We got to talking about languages and the traditions that surround the use of language.  Over the past 10 years English has become a preferred teaching language in India, to the stage where many parents who can afford it send their children to international schools to ensure their children have exposure to English. 

The interesting point about this is that when a generation is being taught a new language then the gap between the generations becomes wider.  But from talking with my hosts, there is an upside and that is the desire to understand culture has never been greater.  His children want to know and ask a lot of questions about Hindu traditions and they want to learn more about what their parents and grandparents have done in the past.  Is the past considered important enough to the future? 

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There has been a lot of talk about data and a data base.  How do you value the use of data and what is the return on an actual database? 

There are three levels of databases. Those that have a non-contact component which are generally subscriber based e-mail databases; the next is a part-contact database which involves being able to phone individuals; and the third is a full-contact database which are people that are known one-on-one and their history is also available to recall. 

A non-contact database is generally quite big.  It works on a percentage return of about 3%.  So if you send out 100 e-newsletters you may get an enquiry back from 3 people if they are interested in the product or service that you offer.  

The part-contact database is generally one that may be used by a telemarketer who makes contact directly to try and get an appointment with a potential prospect.  The return on appointment is generally between 6% and 8%.

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As we come towards the end of the year key people more so this year will make decisions regarding their career path than they probably have over the past number of years.  As the employment market loosens up good employees are going to be given the opportunity to begin to review their current positions with more confidence.  This brings some direct benefits for both employers and employees but get ready 2010 could be the year of seat-switching.  In a recent survey conducted by the Adler Group showed that of the 59% of people would talk if they were approached but of that 59% only 19% would be actively looking for a new position because of the perception that it is still a risk to move in the current environment.

There are four key areas for employers who are looking to get the best people on their team in 2010: 

1.  The need for a direct approach at a targeted candidate list whether you do this directly as the employer or whether you outsource this, making that first contact will give a much better result than potentially a response from an advertisement.

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This week I had the pleasure of being involved with the signing of our first Indian retail real estate business which will be located in Delhi, India.  The signing ceremony was attended by the Chairman of our company together with our Financial Controller and the two parties from India.  As we sat down and talked about the final stages of the Agreement, we were about to sign and the Indian parties said “we just need to hold for a moment”.  They went to the corner of the room and had a short discussion then they came back and we all proceeded to sign the documents. 

We then exchanged the documents, and I then went to shake hands but immediately the senior person from the Indian delegation got up, came around to my side of the table and gave me a hug but held on for longer than I expected.  He then went around the table and did this with each person in attendance from our side.  I suddenly learnt that expressions of gratitude are very much part of a cultural understanding and while the agreement will remain as part of confirmation that we have a relationship, the gesture to bring his culture to ours seemed to give the agreement and the relationship so much more.   The way we do things is to shake hands – I wonder what that would have meant to them?

I ask him later why did he have a short discussion before he signed – he said to ensure the order of gratitude.

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