Out-of-the-box thinkers and players also
have a harder time finding employment with a family-owned business, which, by its very nature, has succeeded by doing things one particular way. Be it myth or reality, candidates swimming against the family business strat- egy disturbs a status-quo that has trademarked these companies for a few generations.
XENOPHOBIC TRENDING Regional realignment is the second divergent or convergent adjustment resulting from the recession. The Southwest, the Southeast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic are recovering at a faster rate than other regions. Western, Midwestern and Northeastern recovery is slower. But it goes deeper. Now candidates living and working in a particular region
are favored over “outsiders.” Again no rhyme or reason can be used as an excuse for not hiring the right candidate regardless of location. Recessions have the power of creating inward looking societies and our industry is not immune from this xenophobic effect.
Haskel Thompson & Associates is the leading executive search firm in the convenience store and retail/ wholesale fuel downstream sectors serving a client base composed of independent jobbers and resellers, family- operated companies, industry vendors and Fortune 500 corporations. With over 3 decades of experience and a unique search process technology, the company offers their expansive clients flexible engagement agreements and a slew of top-tier references and testimonials, all serviced by a highly experienced team of recruiters. The result is that thousands of
multi-million-dollar producers have been placed with hundreds of companies across North America and beyond.
WHO’S THE BOSS The third and final impact of the fast-moving recessionary current is what we could term as “favored jobs.” Nudging our industry out of the hiring doldrums has started with significant changes at the top levels of management and trickled-down from there. Today skilled and accomplished CFOs and
CEOs are desired candidates. Lower down on the totem pole are the procurement and sup- ply chain specialists who have a slight edge over logistics, wholesale and fleet professionals. The demand for food service gurus or category managers or environmental and construction candidates is taking a longer time to catch up to the others. Time is an eternal healer and the
horizon holds many surprises. There’s a saying that “predictions and a buck will buy you
a cup of coffee.” It is difficult to accurately forecast anything these days. The recession hit us like the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The c-store and petroleum industries are still brushing off ash from its devastating effects and the emerging job picture is still cloudy and turbulent.
www.npnweb.com n NPN Magazine
MAY/JUNE 2011 21
