I received a call last week from a potential client that said, “I need help recruiting. Do you do that?”
I told him that I did provide recruiting services, and then I asked him, “What makes you think that you need help recruiting?”
He said, “I can’t find the right people.”
I said, “Have you posted a job advertisement online?” Yes, he had.
I asked, “Are you getting applicants?” Yes, he was getting applicants.
“Then you do not need help recruiting,” I told him. “You need help interviewing.”
Most business leaders are confused about what recruiting does for their hiring process and what it does not do. Recruiting is asking people to apply for a job. Interviewing is the screening process to finding someone to work for you. Hiring is the yes or no question that you ask yourself before making a job offer. Recruiting is simply getting the applicants. That’s it. No more. No less.
So let us be clear on what recruiting does NOT do:
Recruiting doesn’t help you select the right candidate. Interviewing does that.
Recruiting doesn’t ensure that you will be successful in your hiring efforts. An effective hiring process does that.
The terminology around hiring employees is jargon-based, confusing and not very helpful. Educate yourself about the entire hiring process before beginning your search.
I regularly speak to groups of CEOs’ who are primarily concerned about hiring. Invariably, someone will tell me that they can’t find the right people because the unemployment rate is so low. They talk about how there are “no good employees” out there and because they don’t have good employees, they can’t expand the way they want.
Do you see the slippery slope they just went down? Irrational thinking like the one I describe above is way more impactful on our hiring processes then any unemployment rates, regardless of how low they may go.
Here are some tips to get you out of the trap of thinking no good employees are available for hire:
Create a great place to work. According to this recent article by Bloomberg News, people are leaving their jobs at a 17-year high. People are leaving jobs like they did right after 9/11, meaning they are looking for a place to work where their work matters. They want to contribute to something bigger than themselves. So very simply put, this is the perfect opportunity to sit down with your direct reports and have a vision conversation about the culture of the company and their roles within it. Ask them where they want to be, what they want to do and how they want to contribute. Then, make it happen for them.
Focus on retention. According to this recent article by HR Dive , employees are 4 times more likely to be looking for a job if they work for a jerk. So, don’t be a jerk. And, don’t let your managers be jerks either. If you want good employees to leave your company, keep a jerk on your payroll.
Have no fear. Don’t focus on the bad stuff. If you fear that you won’t find good employees, you won’t. Write your Ideal Candidate List for your best employee and read over it every day. Don’t settle. They ARE out there, probably just as frustrated as you are in trying to find you. Which leads me to my last tip…
Create a candidate – friendly interview process. What does this mean? It means, interview fast. Call the candidates quickly, get them scheduled soon, and make an efficient interview process. Have your basic screening processes in place but do not be ridiculous in your requirements for applying. Then, give the candidates a clear deadline as to when they will have answers, and stick to that deadline. Say no politely, but firmly, and don’t leave people hanging. Candidates have lots of choices these days. Be a place that they want to be.
Warren Buffet says that money flows from the impatient to the patient. I say that the same thing happens with candidates: be patient, be thorough and be polite.
Beth Smith of A-list Interviews discusses why using the term “millennial” when recruiting could be a discrimination in this one minute interview essential video.
I spoke at a conference in San Antonio for the Independent Bankers Association of the state of Texas (IBAT). I had the privilege of hearing the CEO, Chris Williston, speak about his 35 years of involvement with the organization as he prepared to exit. He had grown the IBAT into the largest association of independent bankers in the country. It was obvious that he had made great friends in the group and would completely be missed as a leader. His exact quote was, “I have never worked a day in my life.” He then shared how grateful he was for the organization, that he loved the people and the work, and that he wished for all people to have the happiness in their jobs like he did. He was passionate, articulate and humble.
I have thought about that speech on and off for the past week. I realize how rare it is that people feel this way about their job. Why is this so? How is it that Chris, who had “fallen into this job,” was so successful?
Here are a few observations to Chris’ satisfaction:
There were enough parts of his job that suited him perfectly. He was a natural relationship builder and spent a great deal of his time doing just that: getting to know independent bankers.
He had enough control in his job that when his constituents needed something done, and it was right for the organization, Chris had the power to get it done.
Chris had the resources to delegate the work that he disliked to someone else. He could focus on the parts that he loved and passed off the rest.
He oversaw his own growth and that of the association.
I have so much respect for someone who leaves an organization way better than they found it. Chris Williston is one of those people. Do you empower people in your organization to thrive, contribute and grow? It could be the difference between an unhappy workforce and an happy one.
I received a call from a former client recently who is losing a valued employee. She said, “You know Beth, we weren’t using your process back then, and this employee would never have gotten past the third interview.”
I said to her “Do you know why?”
She said, “Yes! The third interview is all about passion for a position and this employee doesn’t love what we do.”
I have had so many hiring managers and CEOs want to shorten the interview process and rob themselves of one of the most critical steps in the hiring process. I completely understand why. Many of them are in a hurry and impatient to fill a position. Some are afraid that they will lose the candidate to another opportunity or worse, they are afraid they will NEVER find anyone and just hire someone already! All of this is a perfect recipe to a bad hire.
As Warren Buffet so aptly stated, “Money flows from the impatient to the patient.” So do candidates, houses, opportunities, etc.
The third interview measures how passionate the candidate is for the work that you are offering them. If they aren’t loving the job you offer, their skill set doesn’t matter, their availability doesn’t matter, their experience doesn’t matter.
Another client called me today and said “Thank GOD for the third interview! I just avoided a horrible hiring mistake because I followed the process completely! Thank you, Beth!”
You’re welcome! Keep following your interviewing system! It is designed to find you great employees, not “good enough” employees.
There are 3 important reasons why you should respond to every candidate who applies for a job within your company. Beth Smith of A-list Interviews explains in this one-minute interview essential video.
