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Cameron Smith Associates Blog
The DNA of a High-Performing Team
At Cameron Smith & Associates, we understand how important it is to create a high-performing team. Cohesive teams, after all, have many benefits for the workplace and the company overall. Many components can make up a high-performing team. Throughout our time in the industry, we’ve found several key components that truly drive an effective team.…
Tips for recruiting Gen Z to your team
It’s no mystery that Gen Z is revolutionizing the workforce across industries. Age 24 and younger, educated Gen Z workers are natives when it comes to digital trends and technology use. Aside from their comfort with technology, Gen Z recruits have a myriad of workplace characteristics that can be a great addition to your team.…
5 Things to Consider When Deciding Whether to Accept a Job Offer
Relax. You can finally let out that breath you were holding. After countless job interviews and resume submissions, you have a job offer in hand. But now you’re stumped and asking yourself, Should I take the job? Hesitation is reasonable, good even. Whether you have multiple offers or just one, there are countless factors to…
CPG Trends to Pay Attention to in 2022
As we inch closer to the end of 2021, it’s a great time to not only reflect on the year but also prepare for the next. The CPG industry has evolved rapidly to meet consumer demand, and whether you’re a multi-billion-dollar brand or a digital start-up, it is essential to pay attention to the 2022…
Getting back to the office: How Arkansas businesses can make the change
Getting back to the office is a challenge not unique to Northwest Arkansas. Many areas throughout the Midwest, South and coastal regions have begun transition back to something that looks like pre-pandemic corporate normalcy—or at least some hybrid of the world we’ve been living in for the past 18 months and business as usual before…
5 tips for choosing the right recruitment agency for you
Choosing the right recruitment agency is an essential step in growing your business, staying competitive within your space, and attracting the talent you will need to develop a company culture as unique as your professional vision. However, not all recruiting firms are built the same and some are simply incapable of meeting your hiring needs…
Ecommerce: Digital trends occupying physical spaces
Ecommerce has been a disruptive force for more than twenty years, slowly but surely securing a larger market share year by year, forcing retail companies to rethink and remodel how they do business. The unique and ongoing circumstances of the pandemic accelerated the growth of ecommerce by isolating large portions of the population who still…
Looking beyond the interview: Hiring the RIGHT candidate
The interview. Many candidates and companies see it as the deciding factor in the hiring process. You have reviewed the candidate’s information, called them to express interest, and now is the face-to-face or virtual meeting where they present themselves as a whole and you discover if the pieces form a viable resource and valuable team…
The Great Resignation: What does it mean for CPG?
The Great Resignation, coined by Texas A&M professor Anthony Klotz, is a socio-economic event that has been on just about everyone’s lips. Nearly every industry, post-pandemic, is predicted to experience resignations of upwards to 40 percent of the workforce. The shift is expected to come for a variety of reasons. The pandemic was a period…
You’re the CEO of you
Your career is precisely that – yours. You are the CEO of you before you are the CEO of anything else. Most people spend decades immersed in a career, so you’ll want to find a career that you can enjoy and grow with. Speaking as a long-time student of the employment business, I look at…
Mentorship: Five reasons why businesses benefit from mentors
Mentorship is one of the oldest and most trusted methods of passing along experience and practical knowledge in almost any professional lane or walk of life. In the past, mentorship was commonplace. You started in a new position, you were introduced to a more experienced counterpart and they showed you the ropes, treated you to…
Promoting your company culture: Marketing through positivity
Developing and promoting a positive company culture are big steps towards meeting any organization’s long-term goals. Creating diverse and inclusive working environments, where contributors can feel and see that their work is valuable and appreciated, is essential to retaining the talented people who keep you competitive. So, how do CPG companies attract and add innovative…
Candidate Red Flags: Getting ahead of costly hiring decisions
Identifying candidate red flags before a costly hiring mistake is made can save companies resources needed for growth. The first line of defense in the hiring process, where an experienced hiring manager can determine technical aptitudes and cultural compatibility, is the interview. We all know how nerve-wracking an interview can be. A lot is riding…
2021 Hiring trends: A new year, a new approach for CPG
We predict 2021 hiring trends will be affected dramatically by 2020. Last year was one full of personal and professional challenges. It was a time of novel solutions to previously unheard-of problems. The CPG industry had to make adjustments, meet new challenges of a more digital age, and overcome new obstacles present in an increasingly…
Headhunters: Industry experts in real talent retention
Headhunters. Recruiters. Talent access professionals. All of these terms are familiar to corporate leadership and HR professionals alike. Why are these talent and staffing experts used so frequently in virtually every industry, at nearly every level of employment, but especially at the executive level? Simply put, headhunters prevent the costly mistake of a bad hire.…
CPG Branding: Defining your company brand for 2021
CPG branding and service offerings have been affected by a variety of outside factors in 2020. Moving into 2021, CPG companies must look for a more diverse set of talented individuals to fill roles that will become necessary for expanded marketing capabilities, PR and service offerings. App driven data and delivery options CPG branding beyond…
CPG Trends for 2021: Diversity, Digital and the Transforming Workplace
Recruiters are more than just a pipeline of highly qualified professionals ready to enhance your business—they offer perspective on larger issues affecting the industry, extending the experience to get ahead of trends and the consultative support you may not have even known was a viable resource. A recruiter is uniquely positioned to gain and gather…
CPG Recruitment: 4 ways to take your company from survival to prosperity
The value of experienced and knowledgeable CPG recruitment has never been more evident or relevant than in 2020. Industry trends are forcing CPG decision-makers to shift focus from the traditional sources of leadership and talent to meet the demands of these emerging paradigms. Omnichannel marketing and digitization have resulted in more comprehensive customer experiences. Customization…
HIRING TALENT DURING CORONAVIRUS: WHAT IS THE BEST APPROACH?
Are companies hiring? What does the job market look like? How has the coronavirus affected the job market and the way companies are hiring right now? I’ve been recruiting in the consumer products industry for over 20 years and have a front row seat to the job market within CPG. The best way I know…
How are you prioritizing your people?
In this very uncertain time, people are looking for leadership. AND, people are looking at the leadership not just in their own company but also studying what other companies are doing to make a difference. Times are changing and a new normal is going to be created. Employees are looking at their managers for direction,…
CPG Companies Are Placing A High Value On Quality of Life in Bentonville, AR
It’s that time of year again – Fortune’s list of 100 best companies to work for is out. As an executive recruiter, I love reviewing and digging into this list. I want to know why employees think their company is the best. Employees are evaluating their company as a Great Place to Work for All™…
The #1 Rule of Resume Writing: Don’t Waste the Reader’s Time
Write a resume that clearly showcases your strengths and accomplishments, so your reader can quickly see the connection between your background and the company’s needs. Investing time upfront to present an organized, articulate resume that shows respect for your reader’s time is a great way to not only introduce yourself to your next employer but…
If You Were a Product, What Would Be Your Star Ranking??
If you’re like me, you are constantly looking at reviews and rankings. When we do this, we are just trying to make sure that we are making the best decision regarding a purchase, or we want to get an idea of what other people might think about a product or service. If you are a…
RESETTING YOUR CONVERSATIONS ON DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE
Although the last few years have seen important strides made in addressing the gender gap on corporate boards, a worrying trend in its wake is that many men in corporate America are getting tired of hearing about it.Even though countless studies have been published about the benefits of having a healthier variety of thought, experience…
Why Some People Get Hired – and Others Don’t
Hint: Preparation and good manners will take you a long way. Written by: Cameron Smith Ask a manager why someone was hired and you hear, “We love her energy!” Whether they call it confidence, enthusiasm or positive energy, managers know it when they see it. But, how do you convey energy and enthusiasm in the…
Amazon vs. Walmart – The Tide Has Turned
For the past 10 years, it’s been a foregone conclusion that Amazon would soon take over the retail world. As proof, in 2017 Forbes.com published an article titled “Walmart Will Never Beat Amazon”. But, as with everything, nothing is so certain. Just two years later, the author who published “Walmart will never beat Amazon” has…
Your Most Important Investment: YOU
Recently, I attended a networking event where we sat at tables based on our life stage. I moderated a list of questions to a group of ladies who had been in the workforce 15+ years. As the session was wrapping up, I decided to ask a final question: “What things are you doing to continue developing/investing…
Who’s sitting at your table that can’t execute toward your strategic plan?
And just as important, who isn’t sitting at your table from an intellectual capital perspective that you need? Every company is fighting for the same thing – shelf space with their biggest retailers: Walmart, Kroger, Walgreens, Costco, Sam’s and Amazon (from an SEO standpoint). The consumer product manufacturers and suppliers who will continue to win…
Hiring Managers Beware: The Interview Is Happening on Both Sides of the Table
Interviewing is a two-way street and in a candidate driven market, sometimes the interview process is reversed. Strong candidates might have multiple offers or opportunities and it seems they may be asking more questions of companies in the interview than they may be receiving. Over the years there is a common theme that I’ve seen with…
Making a Difference: Treating Diversity as a Business Priority
The problem with unconscious biases is that they are unconscious. They’re tough to see, hard to talk about, and can take a long time to change. As Beth Pittman and I discussed at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Me2We Conference, pushing against them in the workplace can be encouragingly straightforward and a proven way to improve both…
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