Long before my business career began, I always thought of the week after Labor Day as the real beginning of the New Year. It was back to school, the beginning of football season, a little nip in the air for the first time since April, and the return to work from vacation for the vast majority of business people throughout the northern hemisphere. But this year is different.

This year, September brings a special meaning to the New Year; for it marks the completion of one full year since the tragedies of 9-11-01. It has been a year of sadness, reflection, discovery and recovery for many of us. And of course we will all remember for the rest of our lives what we were doing when we first heard the news...I heard it from a NYC cab driver who was listening to the car radio as we drove into Manhattan from LGA at 8:45 on that fateful morning. This past year was really different.

In the months that followed, the general uncertainty in the world of business dealt a serious blow to almost any enterprise whose revenue depended even remotely on the world of human resources. Companies stopped hiring, canceled seminars, let a lot of people go, and cut way back on employee travel and training. Given the dramatic drop in overall business for the executive search profession, we consider ourselves very fortunate to have survived in the aftermath of 9-11. Yes, this year has been different for all of us.

We have also seen a definite shift in attitude amongst those at all levels in the workplace. People are beginning to examine their lives and concentrate more on the things that are important. Our April Advisor pointed out that as many of 80% of those working today are misemployed, meaning that they are in jobs that don't exactly meet all their needs. Now, we see people becoming a little more demanding when taking their next career steps. Even resumes are beginning to look different.

Just last week, I saw a refreshingly different looking resume. It was all on one page and began with a Life Objective, followed by six sections on Experience: Business Experience, Educational Experience, Experiential Strengths, Life Experiences, Daily Experience Preferences and Top Three Experiential Goals. I felt like I knew the guy before I ever even spoke to him. And he didn't even mention “references upon request.”

We think all of this different stuff is a good thing for our business. As those vast numbers of misemployed people start demanding more out of their careers, they will leave jobs that are not right for them; and in so doing, will create open positions to be filled by candidates whose personalities, goals and lifestyles are a better match for that culture. Companies will realize that their business will be more likely to prosper when executives are in roles and cultures for which they are well-suited…roles that enable them to meet their financial, experiential and family needs…while being themselves. So why do we think all of this is good for our business? Because excellence in the executive search process will play a key role in the upcoming transformation of the workplace. This New Year will prove to be refreshingly different.

Jim Hicks specializes in delivering value well beyond executive search. Following a 27-year career equally split between line management and consulting, Jim founded The Ansley Consulting Group in June of 1999. He sincerely feels that by far the most important decisions a CEO will ever make are those regarding the recruitment of leaders and those involving the selection of leaders to be promoted. Jim's many former roles include COO of Nautica, EVP of Polo, Principal at Kurt Salmon Associates, and implementer of The Deming Method while working with Bill Conway of Conway Management. A former officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, Jim holds an Industrial Engineering degree from Auburn University and an MBA from The University of Hawaii.