About Deb McClanahan

Principal of BroadBand HR Consulting, Deb is an Executive Search and Human Resources consultant, and has served in WIC's leadership in different roles. As a consultant, she works with companies of all ages and stages to identify talent critical to their success. Her practice also includes compensation, performance, OD, and other HR and business consulting. As a WIC board member, Deb serves today as Secretary overseeing the organizational structure and association development as well as 2-way communication initiatives.

Selecting the Right Consultant – How Do Companies Decide?

April 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Best Practice lessons from the employment arena Companies usually put a lot more effort into hiring employees than they do into hiring consultants. Larger companies actually have a standard selection process for hiring employees – this includes gates like: -- a completed application and reference checks, -- 2 levels of management signing off on the new hire, -- the same people interview all candidates for a given position, -- standard interview reviews and feedback These are all examples … [Read more...]

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Lessons for Consultants from March Madness

March 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Yes,  I admit it  - I become a rabid sports fan for two weeks of the year,  for March Madness. For those of you who never lived in the Midwest, that is either the Indiana high school championship series or the NCAA men's and women's basketball championship series.  There are lessons outside of the bracket business that apply to consultants. Here are a few thoughts: Stick to your core strength - whether you play zone defense, man to man, or blockout, know what got you to this level and … [Read more...]

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After the Survey

June 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I was thinking about WIC's survey results from last week's meeting when I came across an interesting article by Geoff Colvin in Fortune from March 2, 2009.  In talking about products, he asserts that smart companies can raise prices in the midst of the recession.  Using a classic pricing matrix,  he talks about the long term impact of pricing decisions and how they are made.  None of this is new.  I assert that the same principles apply to us in the professional services marketplace as … [Read more...]

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Core vs. Non-Core Business

April 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

General Motors eliminated the Pontiac nameplate  this week. This set me to thinking about core versus non-core business. To eliminate an icon is a tough decision for any business at any time - when GM is clearly fighting for its survival in a shrunken U.S. auto industry, it had to be very difficult.  I grew up with a huge Pontiac Bonneville (with fins:^) and an even older Chieftain sedan as the family car in my childhood. The exercise of pruning non-core business from our consulting … [Read more...]

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Consultants – Get Found on LinkedIn?

February 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Want to get found on LinkedIn - by both potential clients and people who place consultants? To identify good matches for those needs, there are 3 basic paths that are used, depending on the particular needs. I'll speak first to the search path itself, and how we as consultants can influence being found. Think of this blog as the beginning of applying some SEO elements to your LinkedIn profile (although LinkedIn's search functionality is not at the level of Google's). The first path is a … [Read more...]

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Welcome the Year of the Ox

February 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I know I'm a little late for the first day of the Chinese New Year, but the big parade here in the Bay Area is the real kickoff for me. The Year of the Ox is a time for strength, power, hard work, duty, and discipline. These sound like attributes we'd want to have in any time. The Chinese horoscope also subscribes people born in Ox years as having high ethics and patience. They also don't take action until all details of a project are planned and the issues thought through. Both the time … [Read more...]

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Tips for Running a Successful Consulting Business Even When the Economy Is Down

November 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Don't let the headlines and news stories paralyze you. While there's abundant fear about the economic uncertainty, it's important that we not let anxiety freeze us into inaction. This is especially true if year-end is historically a slower time for some of us. Yes, there are layoff announcements and some companies are putting new hiring on hold. However, a recent survey by consulting firm Towers Perrin found that most companies aren't looking at mass layoffs as a solution in this recession -- … [Read more...]

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