Forbes recently had an article titled “The 147 Companies that Control Everything“, put together by a Swiss think tank the study attempts to pin point those companies that are most connected to making “it” happen worldwide (and by “it” I mean “everything”).  From the article:

Three systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have taken a database listing 37 million companies and investors worldwide and analyzed all 43,060 transnational corporations and share ownerships linking them. They built a model of who owns what and what their revenues are and mapped the whole edifice of economic power…The authors of the paper did not publish the entire roster of companies with their study, but one of the co-authors, Dr. James Glattfelder, says the 737 companies that control 80% of the global economy will be available next week. The 147 are included in that group.

This concept really got me to thinking about the HR/Talent industry and which companies truly control what we do as HR/Talent Pros.  Yeah, yeah, we all have free will, but the fact of the matter is, these companies will determine what you do and how you do HR and Recruiting over the foreseeable future.  Don’t think so?  You’re wrong – we’re sheep – we follow – have you or anyone you know paid $5-8 for a cupcake in the last 2-3 years?  You couldn’t give those cupcakes away your mom made you take to school in 3rd grade. Now we have special cupcake shops, and TV shoes, and blogs – and they’re stupid CUPCAKES!   You’re a sheep – face it.  Now take a look at the list below so you can know what you’ll be buying or who you’ll be following over the next few years –

1. Google – Um, What?!  Yep that Google – whether you like it or not – the Do No Evil Empire is taking over and there is nothing you can do about it.  No one wants to give there employees free gourmet lunches, and let them bring their cats to work, and come and go as they please – it’s an HR nightmare!  But Google does it – so now you have to find some way to compete.  Doesn’t matter if you’re selling toilet seats in Oklahoma City – you’re employees read an article about Google now you’ve got to put doors on the stalls in the restroom – damn you Google!

2. Zappos – see Google – one night of Tony going a little too deep down the rabbit hole – now we have to “Find Happiness” for all of our employees  – damn you Tony!

3. Peoplesoft Oracle & SAP – These two giant ERP’s run most medium and large HR shops – which means every time they think you need something, they make a change and watch all hell break out across their client base.  The perfect example of the tail wagging the dog.

4. CareerBuilder …er, Monster – I know, I know – CareerBuilder is bigger – but ask any candidate looking for a job and first word out of their mouth will be “Monster” – better branding, better name recognition.  The basic framework of both companies hasn’t changed since the OCC (Online Career Center – check it out kids) launched in the early 90’s – I’ve got job, you need job, I post job, you apply for job, you get job.  Either way you’re buying because it’s the only way your “Post and Pray” recruiting process has any way of succeeding.  Don’t worry the Job Boards aren’t dying – mainly because we are too lazy to kill them.

5. LinkedIn – Linkedin did what neither CareerBuilder or Monster could ever do – they made it “OK” to post your “resume” online and not have your HR people lose their minds that you were looking for another job!   Now you can be working and job searching at the same time and there’s a good chance your short-sighted HR manager will actually teach a class on how to “spruce” up your profile.  But, really it’s all about “professional networking”…

6. Facebook – Not since windows Solitaire has there been a bigger time suck than Facebook at work, and one that more HR Pros have spend man-hours proving to their senior leadership is actually valuable – so please don’t shut our employees off – because we need to be more like Google.  Where LinkedIn succeeded, Facebook is on the verge of eating their lunch.  LinkedIn is cute with their 200 million users, Facebook has your Grandmother by the neck and won’t let go!  When Facebook decides to take down LinkedIn – HR – you’ll have a new master to bow down to.

7. ADP –   Seriously – do you know how many jobs were created last month?  No one does, not even the President – that’s why they ask ADP!  A Payroll service that got one of those Ghostbuster – StayPuft Marshmallow – kind of steroid injection – ADP now tells the biggest government of the free world how many jobs were created  – and we listen.   Gone are the days of Marge in your payroll office telling you, you will just have to wait for your check – ADP fired her and now does her same job faster, cheaper and with less errors.

8. Towers Watson and Mercer and Aon Hewitt – Like a bad HR law firm – the big 3 HR consulting shops give your senior leadership HR advice because you don’t have credibility.  What advice do they give them?  The same crap you’ve been trying to get your company to do for the last 4 years, but your senior leaders felt better about taking the advice from them after paying a six figure invoice, and listening to a 27 year old – 3 years out of Northwestern’s MBA program with a red tie, tell them how to run the people side of their business.

***Thanks to my friend John Hollon, over at TLNT, for helping me out with this very official list!***