Author Archives: Rusty Rueff

About Rusty Rueff

Rusty Rueff, author of purposed worKING. Rusty Rueff is the former Chairman Emeritus of The GRAMMY Foundation in Los Angeles. He most recently completed the successful 16 month leadership role as Coordinating National Co-Chair for Technology for Obama (T4O) for the reelection of President Obama and ten-years of Board service and President of the Board of Trustees of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Corporately, most recently Rueff was the Chief Executive Officer at SNOCAP, Inc. until the acquisition of the company by imeem, Inc. in April 2008. Before joining SNOCAP in 2005, he was Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Electronic Arts (EA) from 1998 until 2005. He was also with the PepsiCo companies for more than ten years, with the Pratt & Whitney division of United Technologies for two years, and in commercial radio as an on-air personality for six years. Rusty holds an M.S. in counseling and a B.A. in radio and television from Purdue University. In 2003 he was named a distinguished Purdue alumnus, and he and his wife, Patti, are the named benefactors of Purdue’s Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts. He is a corporate director of Glassdoor.com and runcoach. He is the co-founder and Executive Committee Member of T4A.org, serves on the Founding Circle of The Centrist Project and a founding Board Member of The GRAMMY Music Education Coalition. He is also the co-author of the book Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business. Rusty and his wife, Patti, reside in Hillsborough, CA and Charlestown, R.I.

day 1031: Rolling Workers

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“The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields”

To what extent will be go to attract and hire the best of the best?  For many companies there is a bright line of how far they will go and then they accept the talent level they can attract and work with what they have.  What happens though is the impact of supply and demand always takes over and companies are forced to adapt and change if they want to keep up.  In 1998, Silicon Valley was on fire.  The Internet boom was in in full force and technology companies could not find enough good people.  In synch with the high demand and low supply we saw a rise in company perqs and benefits.  One of those discussed back then, but never widely implemented was transportation to and from work – San Francisco to the Valley and back.  That seemed like a good idea, but a step too far.  Fast forward to 2012.  Highways 101 and 280 between San Francisco and multiple points in the Valley are now filled each morning and evening with chartered, leased or owned luxury buses that transport workers up and down and the Peninsula.  These buses are tricked out with wi-fi, coffee, food, etc.  For many, the day now starts when they climb on the bus and doesn’t end until they leave the bus, with the corresponding commute time considered part of the work day. Whatever it takes to get the best?  What benefits and perqs need to be established to be the employer of choice are constantly in motion.  Knowing and understanding what they are and how far you as an employer can go is important in the challenge of hiring the best and the brightest.

In Matthew, Jesus tells us that the workers are always few.  He obviously was not talking about software engineers in Silicon Valley.  He was talking about the harvest of souls to believe in Him and expand His kingdom.  Those workers in high demand are us!  The supply is not enough so we must multiple ourselves. The benefits and perqs that God provides for us to join His forces are unmatched.  And, like the companies of today that provide for door to door service, our God is better than that; He provides for us 24-7 with all that we need to have the abundant life.  Let’s consider today that we “work” for the best anyone could ever imagine and that we should be grateful and willing to work hard on His behalf.  As we roll through this day and finish this week, let’s do so well and with the purpose of bringing glory to Him in all that we do.

Reference:  Matthew 9:37 (New Living Translation)