"Steve has a proven track record in driving the business and corporate development strategies for IT companies," said Joe Campbell, Sierra Systems president and chief executive officer. "His success in building strategic partnerships, achieving market differentiation and leadership and increasing customer pipeline and revenues will help Sierra Systems in our plans to proactively scale our operations to meet the needs of our customers."

"Over the course of its 41-year history, Sierra Systems has developed a solid reputation for delivering IT solutions, management consulting and managed services to customers in the private and public sector. I'm excited to be a part of a company committed to creating a broader and deeper service offering to our customers and is well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunity in this rapidly growing market," Pattison explained.

Mr. Pattison's career has included executive roles with companies including Media Publisher, Inc., Interwoven Inc. and Documentum (acquired by EMC Corporation). Earlier in his career, he also worked as a senior consulting manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He holds an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor of science in business, MIS and marketing from the University of Minnesota.

Since 1966, Sierra Systems Group Inc. has been enabling enterprise success by delivering superior information technology and management consulting solutions. Through our extensive experience in management consulting, solutions delivery and managed services, Sierra Systems has emerged as a trusted advisor to many leading private and public sector organizations across North America. With offices in Austin, Calgary, Edmonton, Fredericton, Halifax, Hartford, Los Angeles, Olympia, Ottawa, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg, our consultants are never far from our clients. In justice, health, government and various other industries, Sierra Systems continues to win exciting engagements in the face of stiff competition. Visit us at www.SierraSystems.com.

“These mistakes are based, in one way or another, on what I call the 5 Laws of Defeat,” says Feinberg. “Knowing what to avoid when it comes to leading is just as important as knowing what to do.”

Feinberg, author of The Advantage-Makers: How Exceptional Leaders Win by Creating Opportunities Others Don’t, identifies the 5 Laws of Defeat as:

1.) Opportunity knocking – do not disturb

“Opportunity myopia,” notes Feinberg, happens when narrow thinking rules behavior. “Leaders get so focused on established goals, they often miss opportunities because they don’t understand the strategic context in which they can see a way to win.”

Feinberg cites Sears as a classic example. Sears passed on the opportunity to purchase the Home Depot chain because of their own financial problems, without seeing the value of the proposal to acquire Home Depot.

2.) Perceptual bias – we think we are thinking, but are we?

“One of the easiest mistakes leaders make is confusing perception with reality; they don’t see what they don’t want to see,” says Feinberg. “Stepping back, removing oneself to see a true picture of your decision making is difficult to do. In my work, I make leaders aware of perceptual biases and errors that cloud clear, accurate judgment.”

3.) Competing against yourself – at cross purposes

“Businesses shoot themselves in the foot by competing against themselves, and they are rarely aware of it,” adds Feinberg. “Some examples include: pushing for growth while pushing for cost savings; promoting innovation but punishing mistakes; giving mandates to people in your organization, but not giving them adequate decision-making authority to carry it out.”

4.) Stuck in your persistence – making sticky problems stickier

“The adage: ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ isn’t always good business,” notes Feinberg. “We can get stuck in our own persistence, whether repeated interpersonal conflicts or pushing projects we believe in, even though they are not working after multiple attempts. The road to hell is paved with mishandled interactions. Recurrent problems leave clues–the repeated attempted solutions that don’t work. Changing the game, by first stopping the game is a good initial move.”

5.) Reactive tendency – playing to avoid losing

“When a leader is outcome-oriented, the emphasis is on achieving the outcome; you play to win rather than complaining or blaming circumstances,” says Feinberg. “Reactive mishandling of situations almost always guarantees lower outcomes.”

“What I call ‘Advantage-Makers’ are those rare leaders who win more often because they know how to consistently transform challenging situations into the best possible outcomes,” notes Feinberg. “They see opportunities where others see problems, influence outcomes where others are stuck, and create advantages where others are challenged. move forward when others are stuck. If you are not an Advantage-Maker you will probably lose to someone who is.”

Dr. Steven Feinberg, author of THE ADVANTAGE-MAKERS: How Exceptional Leaders Win By Creating Opportunities Others Don’t, has spent more than thirty years applying the study of human behavior to performance efficacy and has advised senior executives on key leadership, team, and organizational issues, with an emphasis on advantage-making. Clients range from Fortune 500 firms to start-ups including Wells Fargo, Visa, Citibank, Symantec and Sun Microsystems. Dr. Feinberg graduated magna cum laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo, received an MSW at Tulane University, and his PhD from Professional School of Psychology, San Francisco. He is on the faculty of the University of San Francisco’s Department of Organizational Behavior and Leadership.

How Job Seekers Look for a Job — Internet is the most popular method in 2007

* The research shows that the Internet is being used for a variety of job search functions, from gathering employer/job information (59 percent of job seekers), submitting resumes and applications (57 percent), to posting resumes on a website (40 percent), and signing up for email notifications (30 percent).

In September 2007, there were 4,270,000 online advertised job vacancies according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series™ (HWOL). There were 2.78 advertised vacancies online for every 100 persons in the labor force in September. The HWOL data series reports monthly on the sum of the number of unduplicated online job vacancies. The latest release is available here on The Conference Board website at http://www.conference-board.org/economics/indicators.cfm.

The data on job search methods is based on a nationally representative sample of 5,000 households surveyed monthly for The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index and is conducted on behalf of The Conference Board by TNS.

So far in 2007, employment has grown by 1.7% (+283,000), a rate of growth higher than that observed over the first nine months of 2006 (+1.3%).

In September, core-age workers—that is, persons aged 25 to 54—experienced their first significant gain in employment (+40,000) since the start of the year.

Older workers (aged 55 and over) also showed employment strength with an increase of 23,000 in September. So far this year, employment among older people has been growing at a faster pace (+5.6%) than for people in the core age group.

Employment increased by an estimated 30,000 in Ontario, all full-time work. Despite this increase, employment growth in the province over the first nine months of the year (+1.2%) remains below the national average of 1.7%.

Since the beginning of the year, the number of hours worked at the national level rose by 2.1%, a much stronger rate of increase than the 1.0% growth observed over the same period a year ago.

The largest employment increases in September were in educational services, followed by public administration; professional, scientific and technical services; and agriculture. There were declines, however, in retail trade.

Over the first nine months of the year, manufacturing employment has declined by 3.7% while there has been robust growth in a number of service industries, as well as in construction and utilities.

Employees, on average, earned 4.2% more per hour in September than they did in September 2006, while the most recent year-over-year increase in the Consumer Price Index was 1.7%. This is the largest estimated year-over-year increase in average hourly wages since the Labour Force Survey began collecting this information in 1997.

Employment in education rebounds from losses at end of school year

Employment in educational services jumped by an estimated 25,000 in September, bringing gains over the past couple of months to 58,000, completely offsetting declines observed earlier in the summer.

Employment in public administration rose by 22,000, mostly in local and municipal administration, with the largest gains in Ontario.

There were 18,000 more people employed in professional, scientific and technical services nationwide in September, bringing total gains since September 2006 to 60,000 (+5.5%). The largest increases over this period have been in architectural, engineering and design services as well as management, scientific and technical services.

In September, employment in agriculture increased by 13,000, with the largest gains in Alberta, followed by Quebec and British Columbia.

Transportation and warehousing employment rose by 13,000 across the country in September, partly offsetting the large drop the month before, leaving the industry at about the same level as at the end of last year.

Employment in trade dropped by an estimated 28,000 in September, mostly in retail. A large proportion of this decline was experienced by youths, who are commonly employed in retail trade. Despite this loss, growth in the industry was 1.5% (+39,000) over the first nine months of the year.

Employment in utilities declined by an estimated 8,000 in September. This follows a substantial growth of 26,000 between January and August, with the largest increase over this period occurring in Quebec.

Public-sector strength in 2007

In September, public-sector employment accounted for all of the employment increase, spurred by gains in educational services and public administration. This increase brings the growth in public-sector employment so far this year to 4.4%, while the number of private-sector employees has increased only 0.4%.

Although self-employment edged down slightly in September, it has increased by 3.9% so far in 2007.

Employment continues to boom for older workers

The strong upward trend in employment growth among workers aged 55 and over continued. An estimated 23,000 more older people were employed in September, with increases evenly distributed between men and women. Employment among those aged 55 and over has risen by 5.6% since the beginning of this year, the fastest of all age groups, with older women (+6.6%) outpacing older men (+4.7%).

The core-age group experienced the largest employment gain in September, up 40,000, concentrated among men. This represents the first significant employment increase for 25 to 54 year-olds since January 2007. September's gain brings total employment growth for core-age workers to 1.0% since the start of the year.

In September, employment among 15- to 24-year-olds edged down slightly as a decline of 31,000 youths working full time was partly offset by an increase of 20,000 working part time. This leaves overall youth employment up 1.3% since the beginning of the year.

Employment gains in Ontario and Saskatchewan

Ontario's overall employment picture improved in September. Employment in the province increased by an estimated 30,000, the first significant gain this year, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.2 percentage points to 6.2%. This brings total growth for the province so far in the year to 1.2% (+77,000).

In September, the largest increases in employment in Ontario were in educational services as well as in information, culture and recreation. There were also gains in public administration, mostly at the local, municipal and provincial levels. Some of this gain was likely the result of the hiring of additional workers for the provincial election. Manufacturing, however, continued to slump, with 44,000 fewer workers over the first nine months of this year.

In September, the employment picture also improved in Saskatchewan, with an estimated increase of 7,000, all in the service-producing sector. This increase, however, only brings employment in the province back to the same level as at the end of 2006. September's employment increase pushed the unemployment rate down 1.1 percentage points to 3.8%, the second lowest in the country after Alberta.

Employment growth in Alberta strongest in 2007

The strongest employment growth over the first nine months of 2007 occurred in Alberta, up 3.4%, with gains across a number of industries. The unemployment rate, at 3.6% in September, remained the lowest in the country.

New Brunswick had the second-strongest employment growth (+2.5%) in the country so far this year. However, the unemployment rate rose by 0.5 percentage points to 8.2% in September, the result of more people looking for work.

British Columbia ranks third in employment growth so far this year (+2.2%), with the largest gains in retail trade as well as construction. With no employment change in September and an increase in the number of people entering the labour force in search of work, the unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 4.3%.

As of September, there were a number of ongoing labour disputes in British Columbia, including those involving members of unions in 31 coastal forestry companies and municipal workers in Vancouver. Workers on strike or locked out are considered employed according to Labour Force Survey definitions. However, the number of hours lost from work due to labour disputes in the province was substantial. During the survey reference week of September 9, there were 13,000 employees who were not at work because of labour disputes, resulting in a loss of an estimated 476,000 hours, or 37.8 hours per affected employee.

Quebec's employment growth so far this year (+2.0%) has also been above the national average, with gains in part-time employment (+8.0%) outpacing those of full-time work (+0.7%). Increases for the year have been in accommodation and food services; trade; and construction and utilities. Similar to Ontario, Quebec's manufacturing sector employment has also declined in 2007 (-36,000). In September, the unemployment rate returned to its 33-year low of 6.9%, and the employment rate remained at its record high of 61.1% for the fourth consecutive month.

Manitoba's employment growth so far this year, at 1.9%, was led by gains in professional, scientific and technical services as well as construction. The proportion of working-age Manitobans with a job reached 66.5% in September, an all-time high.

Quarterly update on Territories and Aboriginal population in the western provinces living off-reserve

The Labour Force Survey also collects labour market information about the Territories, as well as the Aboriginal population living off-reserve in the western provinces. This information is not seasonally adjusted and is produced in the form of three-month moving averages. Comparisons should only be made on a year-over-year basis.

The Territories

For the 10 largest communities in Nunavut, the employment rate increased to 63.7% in September (three-month average of July, August, and September) from 59.1% one year ago.

In contrast, the employment rate in the Yukon fell from 74.9% in September 2006 to 72.3% in September 2007 (three-month average). In the Northwest Territories, there was little change in the labour market over the past year, with the employment rate at 74.7% this September.

Employment growth for Aboriginal peoples residing in Alberta

The employment rate in September (three-month average) among off-reserve Aboriginal peoples in the western provinces averaged 61.4%, down 0.6 percentage points compared to the same period in 2006. For the non-Aboriginal population in the western provinces, the employment rate increased 0.7 percentage points over the same period to 67.6%.

Alberta, with the strongest labour market in the country, was the only province where the employment rate among off-reserve Aboriginal peoples increased, up from 65.1% in September 2006 to 65.6% in September 2007.

In contrast, between September 2006 and September 2007, the employment rate among Aboriginal peoples living off-reserve declined by 2.1 percentage points in Manitoba, by a full percentage point in British Columbia and was little changed in Saskatchewan.