"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

- Abraham Lincoln

There are probably only three or four degrees of separation between you and any other CPG marketing professional. You work within a small, interconnected world where reputation matters.

When it comes to recruiting marketing talent, this fact might benefit your company. For example, when top marketers on your team are thrilled with you as a leader, and/or with your team, they will probably tell others within their personal network. This can often calm the concerns of potential candidates and help your company to recruit great marketing players much more easily.

On the other hand, the negative rumor mill in your industry is virulent. If a good number of people within your marketing team are unhappy, then you can bet that your company’s reputation (and possibly your own) is taking a beating in the employment marketplace. Unfavorable feedback coming from people they trust will deter many candidates from joining your company, especially the superstars who can be the most selective.

Think of these rumor mills as two marketing campaigns vying for control over your company's reputation as an employer. If you want to win the war for talent that is now heating up, it will be crucial that you and your company influence this equation in your favor.

Early on in the previous talent war of the 1990s – most CPG companies did not place a great deal of emphasis on their company reputation within the employment marketplace. They misjudged how they were actually perceived by their own employees and by candidates.

That error ultimately led to a painful shortage of top talent within their marketing teams.

With another talent war just underway, I believe that history is about to repeat itself. But your company doesn’t have to face a marketing talent shortage. Consider the steps that some of the most successful CPG companies are taking to avert a crisis:

1) They are openly acknowledging that favorably influencing their reputation in the employment marketplace will be crucial to winning the talent war that has begun and that effecting this facet of company reputation begins inside the organization, not outside of it.

2) They are surveying (anonymously) their organization to find out what people are really thinking about life as an employee within their company. They’ve asked their people to get very specific about what they’d like to see more of, less of or different.

3) They are committed to further defining and addressing the central issues that are brought to the fore.

4) They have enrolled key executives as change agents. They are communicating a clear and compelling vision of successful change.

5) They have begun measuring (and celebrating) progress.

The bottom line is this: If you focus on constantly improving the experience of working for your company, you will communicate a better employer reputation to potential candidates and increase your chances of attracting the top marketing talent you want.

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Resources We Like Max Depree is the former CEO of Herman Miller, Inc., a unique Fortune 25 company that I’ve long admired. In his classic book Leadership Is An Art he writes: “In addition to all of the ratios and goals and parameters and bottom lines, it is fundamental that leaders endorse a concept of persons. This begins with an understanding of the diversity of people's gifts and talents and skills.” If you’re a results-oriented leader who also cares deeply about his/her people - I know you'll find Leadership Is An Art to be both practical and uplifting. You can pick up your copy today at Amazon.com. Comments on this section – or any part of this newsletter? Other resources that you recommend? I encourage you to email me directly at: slahey@laheyconsulting.com. I look forward to hearing from you! Lahey Consulting is a specialized search firm. We recruit and place brand management and marketing professionals (from associate brand manager to executive level) within consumer products companies throughout the United States. Lahey Consulting, LLC P.O. Box 395 Delmar, NY 12054-0395 www.laheyconsulting.com info@laheyconsulting.com Voice: 518-439-4285 Fax: 518-439-5795 Copyright © 2006 Lahey Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved. (However, you may reproduce this article if you include this copyright information and our web site address: www.laheyconsulting.com)