Copy & Robbers
Protecting your company's creative works--whether software
or music--from theft is a good thing. So entrepreneurs should be
embracing the World Intellectual Property Organization's
Copyright Treaty. The treaty allows you to protect copyrighted
creations using technologies that limit access. As a practical
matter, however, the treaty won't affect your business much
immediately. The reasons are twofold. First, according to Jay
Dratler Jr., the Goodyear Professor of Intellectual Property at the
University of Akron School of Law, Japan and the United States are
the only industrial countries who have ratified the treaty. That
will change with time, but market conditions will still limit your
ability to use the treaty's protections. "Competition
makes it harder for small companies to sell highly restricted
versions of their works," says Erich W. Merrill, Jr., a
copyright attorney at Miller Nash LLP in Portland, Oregon.
"They simply don't have enough of a reputation to impose
limitations that the customers don't like." As so often in
business, what looks good on paper doesn't mean much in
reality.
Hire Hiring?
Content Continues Below
The recent recession forced plenty of qualified workers onto the
employment market. Even with the plentiful pickings, however, you
might want to hire an executive recruiter to act as an intermediary
between you and potential hires. "People apply for all kinds
of jobs they're not qualified for when they're
desperate," says Barbara Reinhold, the director of career and
executive development at Smith College in Northampton,
Massachusetts. "Employers are pulling their hair out weeding
through the piles of resumes."
Headhunters perform this service-for a fee. That's why Brent
W. Habig, CEO of 100-employee New York City technology firm Tigris
Consulting, relies on them only for senior positions. Even when he
uses a recruiter, he negotiates so he doesn't have to pay top
dollar. "You can get [the fees] down to as little as 10
percent [of the hire's annual salary] if you negotiate hard
enough," says Habig. "You've just got to do it
upfront, not when you've already found the person.
"Given the dramatic shift in the labor market, we need to
be very careful about who we're hiring," says Habig.
"We don't want people who are looking for just any job in
our space. We want the right fit so that the company builds strong
retention."
Even though Habig plans to hire 25 people this year, he will not
be using headhunters to find applicants for the majority of the
junior staffer spots he'll need to fill. He's dedicated a
full-time employee to recruiting for those positions.
"It's [that person's] job to get those people in
without paying [headhunter] fees," he says.
Habig uses an internal referral rewards program to identify
potential candidates for significantly less than a recruiter's
fee-a tactic that Reinhold says is catching on. "It guarantees
that somebody in-house will have a vested interest in that person
succeeding," she notes.
Still, Habig recognizes the benefits that executive recruiters
provide. "They have a broad network of top talent," he
says, "especially those people that might not be seeking a
position right now."
Business writer Chris Sandlund works out of
Cold Spring, New York.
Contact Source