Jim Baran on Recruiting Lean Talent and the State of the Lean Jobs Market *

Show notes: https://www.leanblog.org/16

Remastered July 2021

LeanBlog Podcast #16 is the first part of two with Jim Baran, the Owner of Value Stream Leadership, a leading recruiting firm that specializes in Lean talent. I've known Jim for a few years now and he's helped me and some colleagues in the past. He's a great recruiter who really takes some interest in you and your career. If you're looking to make a career change or if you're looking for lean talent, I can personally recommend him.

In our discussion, we talk about the state of the job market for folks with lean experience and what helps a lean candidate stand out in the marketplace. If you enjoy this podcast, I hope you'll check out the rest of the series by visiting the LeanBlog podcast main page.

Show Notes and Approximate Time, Episode #16

• 1:30 About Jim, his background with lean, about his firm
• 2:50 What does it mean, “retained search firm”?
• 4:40 Jim's firm defines lean as “Toyota Way leadership” — Toyota Production System AND the Toyota Product Development System
• 5:00 How is the job market for lean talent, generally speaking?
• 6:30 People “used to hire forktruck operators out of Toyota” because they thought they knew the secret sauce
• 7:40 Jim Womack's email about the end of “the lean tool age”

• 8:00 How do you consider someone's individual or local lean accomplishments versus a good candidate having been in a prototypical lean company?
• 9:30 What are Jim's 5 profiles for excellent lean candidates?
• 10:30 Been in the Toyota Product Development System market very heavily lately, the talent with experience there has been slim
• 12:30 The market for lean in services areas
• 16:00 What about recruitment for executive level positions?
• 21:45 Harder to find people who can use lean to drive growth or revenue rather than only reducing costs/waste