PEOPLE PUZZLE
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BY: KATHLEEN QUINN VOTAW, CEO OF TALENTRUST
Solve Your People Puzzle
Treat Recruitment Like An Ongoing, Strategic Sales Process
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. S. unemployment is below 5 percent. And three in four employed workers are actively seeking or open to new job opportunities. This“ churn” in the labor market is a great indicator of sustained economic recovery and overall consumer confidence, however it’ s not a great indicator for executives who are growing their companies!
TALENT SHORTAGES AND EMPLOYEE TURNOVER ARE SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
As a business leader, you must focus on both recruiting the most talented people for your open positions and on retaining the top players who are already on your team. If you don’ t, your company’ s growth will be limited. If you continue with the status quo and don’ t innovate your talent strategy— likely treating your people as an afterthought and taking a tactical approach— you’ ll struggle to get ahead and meet your revenue goals.
IT’ S AS SIMPLE AS ABC
If you can forecast your revenues for the next few years and plan for them, you can also forecast your people needs for the same time period and plan for them. Think of recruitment as an ongoing, strategic sales process. Sales pipelines and candidate pipelines are very similar. It’ s as simple as ABC-“ always be cultivating” for the right people. You’ re always cultivating for new customers, right?( See Figure 1 & 2)
You must spend time and energy on employee attraction, just as you do on customer attraction. Establishing and maintaining a strategic and ongoing recruitment process ensures you’ ll find and keep talented individuals to fit your unique culture and help drive your company’ s growth. You’ ll address immediate hiring needs and have a pipeline of candidates available when you need them. This process will force you to be proactive, vs. reactive. It will allow you to uncover the most talented people, likely passive candidates who are too busy helping another company succeed to actively seek new opportunities.
ASSESS, ENHANCE AND LEVERAGE YOUR EMPLOYMENT BRAND
It’ s an employee’ s market, and employees want much more than a job. They want an experience, in order to work for you and stay engaged. Evaluate your company culture and understand how employees view you as an employer. Use strength in these areas to differentiate from other employers and offer current and prospective employees the most compelling value proposition.
THE BENEFITS OF AN ONGOING RECRUITMENT PROCESS
1. Attract more qualified candidates that fit your culture
2. Engage with passive candidates who are succeeding elsewhere and likely unaware of your company
3. Experience candidate choice, to address both short-term and long-term needs
4. Compare multiple candidates for each open position, instead of evaluating one candidate in isolation
5. Look beyond your immediate needs and consider opportunistic hiring of game changers and A-players
6. Address turnover with a“ bench” of available candidates
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