Business owners and managers are tasked with getting the most possible productivity out of their team - it’s all about motivating and inspiring people to do their absolute best. The Talent Review is a tool that managers can employ to ensure that they’ve got the right people in the right jobs, and can really make [...]
Talk to anyone in the professional search business lately, and you’ll be speaking with someone whose outlook on their profession ranks just above “middle manager at Chrysler.” In other words, it ain’t lookin’ good.
In the contingent search industry, times are downright desperate. While this segment of the professional search marketplace has been under pressure for years, 2009 will [...]
Being from Chicago, where venturing outside during 7 out of every 12 months can give you hypothermia, it was a welcome relief this week to be in New Orleans for the Fortune Small Business Conference, where the weather has been fantastic. The focus was on sales and marketing, and several of the speakers honed in [...]
Companies that consistently produce top recruiting results never do so by accident. That these firms tend to outperform their industry peers is the end result of a journey that began with putting the right people in the right seats. How do the successful managers of these leading companies build high-performing teams? By staying true to these five recruiting habits:
They follow a defined process. There’s no shortcut when it comes to selecting the right person for the job. Managers who produce successful hire after successful hire do so because they follow a proven formula, including:
* Writing a well-defined Job Profile
* Using an effective Candidate Work History form
* Conducting a telephone interview
* Conducting an in-person work history interview, followed by an in-person behavioral interview
* Personally contacting each of the candidate’s references
* Using a Candidate Scorecard to make objective yes/no decisions
They’re always recruiting. I’ll say it another way - they don’t let recruiting become an exercise in crisis management. Highly successful hiring managers don’t wait until they have an open position to being recruiting. They’re constantly tapping their networks, asking colleagues for referrals and staying in touch with top prospects from their competitors’ payrolls. When their company wins the next big project, they’re not scrambling for new talent and settling for average performers due to a time constraint. Lack of preparation in recruiting leads to bad hires, and they’re always prepared with available talent.
They take the time to define the role. Without a Job Profile that explains, in detail, the specific, measurable outcomes required of the person filling the role, the recruiting process will produce erratic results. Successful hiring managers take the necessary time required to think through these outcomes, and to define them in quantifiable terms against which candidates can be evaluated. They never say to a recruiter, “I don’t really have a job description written, but you know what I’m looking for, right?”
They include others in the process. Successful hiring managers know that it takes a team to make a well-rounded, informed decision about a new hire. They ask other members of the organization to sit in on interviews as note-takers in order to get outside perspective. These managers know that two sets of eyes and ears are better than one, and they ask for and listen to feedback on their interviewing style and effectiveness.
They don’t talk themselves into saying yes. Most importantly, successful hiring managers don’t hesitate to pass on candidates who are anything less than an top performer. They’d rather go for months without a key position being filled than fill that position with someone who’s less than perfect - because they know that the time spent managing that bad hire will more than wipe out the benefits gained from having someone mediocre in the role. Successful managers look to the Candidate Scorecard and make emotionless decision rooted in facts.
Successful hiring managers follow these five habits to generate recruiting results that lead to high-performing teams. Focus on developing these habits, and watch your results begin to improve overnight.
For many managers, the most challenging aspect of creating a job profile is understanding the relationship between compensation and candidate ability. It’s an interesting paradox - nobody wants to overpay for work performed, but everyone wants an employee who’s at the top of their game. Entrepreneurs and business managers dream of a perfect world where employees [...]
Here’s a summary of a recent conversation that I had with a regular client, who asked for some help with creating a Job Profile for one of his company’s new open roles:
Me: So, tell me about what you’d like to see happen during the first 12 months of this person’s employment with your company.
Client: [gives [...]