In 2001, with 20 years of marketing experience (mostly in high tech), Bersin and a couple of collaborators launched their soon to change the industry analysts shop. Bersin and Associates "provides research and advisory consulting in enterprise learning, talent management, leadership development, and strategic HR. The company focuses on trends, best-practices, benchmarks, and technology solutions which drive strategic business impact."
It's a strange place for a guy with an MBA from Haas, a master's degree in engineering from Stanford and an engineering degree from Cornell to end. That's the profile of a typical Silicon Valley entrepreneur, just not in HR. When you talk with Josh, it's easy to see him in engineering roles.
That's really the heart of the company. Rigorous analysis in astonishing volume is how the world knows Bersin and Associates. The company produces a flood of insight on an expanding range of HR topics. If you want to understand the common benchmark practices in the industry, you go to Bersin for the documentation. With more than 800 reports that span the HR industry's silos, there are few more cost effective ways to understand how the industry is run at the baseline.
The company has seven analysts who conduct research in training, performance management, leadership, talent management and various aspects of talent acquisition. The research covers benchmarking, best practices and problem solving. In addition, there is a consulting and strategic services component
Josh is passionate about talent management. "It's a business problem, not an HR problem," he says. "I'm interested in the three questions that are on the minds of the top 30 percent of HR leaders and practitioners.
- How do you improve productivity?
- How do you lead for the future?
- How do you make performance management work?
"In this market, everyone is in transformation. No one is left untouched. HR has an enormous opportunity to demonstrate its real value."
We talked for a long time about the value of benchmarking. As most readers know, I think benchmarking is a silly way to approach a problem. The only guarantee you get with benchmarking is that you are a follower.
Bersin, as you've probably guessed, disagrees.
"It doesn't make sense to be great at everything. Particularly in a resource-constrained environment, you have to pick your battles. Real differentiation means doing most things well enough and focusing on the key areas where you can make a competitive difference."
The company, tries to deliver on this promise. A very high-touch approach to its customers (who are all 'subscribers') differentiates the firm from other analysts who seem to price their services based on the lack of availability of the key personalities. Not so at Bersin. Over the time I spent getting to know them, the players were all productively engaged. Bersin himself seems to have a particularly brutal travel schedule.
In this case, the essence of influence boils down to:
- Willingness to take big risks (no experience as an analyst before launching the firm)
- Deep commitment to quality of the product
- Astonishing volume (if you sign up for their RSS feed, you'll get buried)
- The ability to build an egalitarian team in a company that carries your name
- A profound willingness to listen.
At the root, Bersin's product is a method for listening to the HR profession. Nobody does it better.
As part of John Sumser’s ongoing Top 100 Influencers project, in which the key influencers working in recruiting, staffing, HR, HCM and HR technology are identified and profiled, John shares additional perspectives and compelling insights from those who are profiled here in Salary.com HR Voice.
John Sumser is a member of the Salary.com Board of Directors as well as the founder and president of Two Color Hat, Inc. Contributions to Salary.com HR Voice and this Website reflect the opinions of the authors and are not an official opinion of Salary.com, Inc., or any of its subsidiary or affiliated entities.
The company has seven analysts who conduct research in training, performance management, leadership, talent management and various aspects of talent acquisition. The research covers benchmarking, best practices and problem solving. In addition, there is a consulting and strategic services component
Josh is passionate about talent management. "It's a business problem, not an HR problem," he says. "I'm interested in the three questions that are on the minds of the top 30 percent of HR leaders and practitioners.
- How do you improve productivity?
- How do you lead for the future?
- How do you make performance management work?
"In this market, everyone is in transformation. No one is left untouched. HR has an enormous opportunity to demonstrate its real value."
We talked for a long time about the value of benchmarking. As most readers know, I think benchmarking is a silly way to approach a problem. The only guarantee you get with benchmarking is that you are a follower.
Bersin, as you've probably guessed, disagrees.
"It doesn't make sense to be great at everything. Particularly in a resource-constrained environment, you have to pick your battles. Real differentiation means doing most things well enough and focusing on the key areas where you can make a competitive difference."
The company, tries to deliver on this promise. A very high-touch approach to its customers (who are all 'subscribers') differentiates the firm from other analysts who seem to price their services based on the lack of availability of the key personalities. Not so at Bersin. Over the time I spent getting to know them, the players were all productively engaged. Bersin himself seems to have a particularly brutal travel schedule.
In this case, the essence of influence boils down to:
- Willingness to take big risks (no experience as an analyst before launching the firm)
- Deep commitment to quality of the product
- Astonishing volume (if you sign up for their RSS feed, you'll get buried)
- The ability to build an egalitarian team in a company that carries your name
- A profound willingness to listen.
At the root, Bersin's product is a method for listening to the HR profession. Nobody does it better.
As part of John Sumser’s ongoing Top 100 Influencers project, in which the key influencers working in recruiting, staffing, HR, HCM and HR technology are identified and profiled, John shares additional perspectives and compelling insights from those who are profiled here in Salary.com HR Voice.
John Sumser is a member of the Salary.com Board of Directors as well as the founder and president of Two Color Hat, Inc. Contributions to Salary.com HR Voice and this Website reflect the opinions of the authors and are not an official opinion of Salary.com, Inc., or any of its subsidiary or affiliated entities.
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