Lessons Learned - In the Battle for Talent, You Need an Always Be Recruiting Mindset

The majority of business owners and executives I’ve encountered over the past year have consistently shared three things:  

1. Their business is growing.  
2. There is opportunity for more growth.  
3. They struggle to find, attract, and keep the employees that can deliver.

The frustration level is high, employee shortages can cripple a business.  Within a sales team, open territories lead to lost revenue, market share erosion, and high customer turnover.  On a plant floor - or in a service delivery firm - a capacity gap creates production bottlenecks that cause quality issues, delivery delays, eroding margins, and ultimately irritated customers. 

Having open seats or not enough resources available is extremely costly.  

The battle for talent is a big one.  Traditional approaches such as using recruiters, placement firms, job posting sites, association listings, and want ads are used by many.  The talent pool through these resources can be thin depending on what you are looking for.

Is there another way?

A practical, cost efficient, and highly effective approach.
In our former consulting practice, hiring the right support team was paramount.  As we grew, the need for great - and right-fit - team members was critical.  

In a small office, ensuring we had the right mix of talent and makeup was important.  Not just anyone would fit.  An individual had to have a great mix of customer care, detail orientation, willing to work hard, be a self-starter, and work well with others.

In reflecting, the team members who had great longevity, we loved working with, were excellent at their role, and our clients loved most often came from our own grass-roots recruiting efforts.  They were friends of a friend, a friend’s spouse, an employee’s sister, someone you encountered along the way.  You get the idea.  Often, we weren’t looking to fill a role.

This was a result of our team always being on the search and highly tuned into to people who provided the type of a great experience we wanted to deliver to our clients. When we encountered someone who might fit well we brought it to the team and discussed how to engage.

What started as something of an accident became a way of operating and something we were able to engage the whole team with participating in.

How to Create an Always Be Recruiting Mindset
Implementing an organization-wide focus on recruiting team members is simple, but not easy.  It requires being intentional and being clear with how to execute.

Below are five steps to take to make it happen:

1. Define what you are looking for.
   1. What role or roles are you looking for?
   2. What type of skill, background, and characteristics are you looking for?
2. Communicate to your team the need and why it is critical. 
3. Share and discuss how, when, and where it makes sense and is appropriate to engage people.  Brainstorm ideas.  
4. Clarify how to handle and what to specifically do if someone meets or has someone in mind from their network who may be a great fit. 
5. Consider implementing a referral bonus/incentive for team members.  Be sure to define parameters/qualifications but have some fun with it.

We operate in an unprecedented time of unemployment, and a still strong business cycle (slowing growth, but still growing).  The war for talent won’t abate anytime soon.

While recruiters, placement firms, temp options, job websites, and associations can and will remain options, they can be expensive and take time and capital to effectively leverage.  If you are always recruiting you can reduce your exposure to open roles, keep capacity levels where you want them, and take advantage of the growth opportunities in front of you.

Engage those who know you, and the needs of your organization best in helping you win the talent war.  

You never know where or when you might find that right person.

About the Series
Lessons Learned is a series of short and practical ideas, insights, and lessons learned written and shared to help you build a stronger, more valuable business.  All insights are gleaned from direct and indirect experiences from myself and/or the hundreds of business owners we work with every day in the field.