Tips for Resourceful Recruiting

Finding and attracting top employees is not free. There are costs in money, time and resources. It’s too easy to throw a bunch of money and time at recruiting without getting a good return. You need to plan for – and track – all of your expenditures.

It’s possible that you’ve been guilty (as I was early in my career) of being too anxious to fill an opening. The time and energy required in the whole hiring process often takes a back seat to other pressing issues…like driving sales, solving problems and worrying about cash flow. This lack of attention leads to bringing in the wrong person, having to go through the termination process and then starting all over again. This is costly, tiring and demoralizing to the whole team. Set a standard of getting it right the first time.

There are many recruiting services available, including headhunters, search firms, consultants and various online recruiting services. There is also software available to help you accomplish the job.

The recruiting stage of the hiring process is a lot like fishing: Success depends on not only how well you do it, but where you do it and what “bait” you use.

I can honestly share that the best employees I had when I owned my business were people that we “grew” from within the company. We tried very hard to hire people who would fit our “culture” and our “family.” Certainly a good personality was key, but education, drive, intelligence, motivation and good communication skills were all things that we looked for, as well. We prided ourselves in trying to develop and maintain a professional environment, but also a workplace that was fun, where people were happy, motivated and well compensated.

We worked very hard to hire the best, train the best, communicate the best, motivate the best and compensate the best. As we achieved success in these areas, word got out on the street that “it is a great place to work.” We found people – good, well-qualified people – knocking on our door. Needless to say, this made our recruiting a lot easier and more successful.

So please, always be conscious of working as hard as you can to strengthen or replace your weakest links.