Finding the Right Talent in All the Right Places

By Rich Griffin

Question: When is the best time to plant an Oak Tree? Answer: 20 years ago.
Question: When is the second best time to plant an Oak Tree? Answer: Today.

If you’re anything like me, you always have a need for talented employees. But if you’re anything like most of the managers in the world, you only look when there is an immediate need. So what’s the best way to avoid the treadmill of timing your hiring needs with finding the best talent?

Here are five ideas to consider:

• Turn recruiting into a year-round process. Start with the premise that the interview should not be the first time you meet a prospective employee. Good people are all around us when we take off our blinders and look around.
• Create a system to engage talent down a path that leads to your door. Hiring the perfect employee at the exact moment you have a need is very much like catching lightning in a bottle. You may do it once, but you will be lucky if it ever happens again.
• Let people know you are looking. Hiring doesn’t have to be a one-person show. Many hands make the work easier. Let other employees, vendors, partners and customers know you’re looking. They may have rock stars you didn’t know about, or the perfect candidate is unhappy at their current place of employment.
• Tell your story and network like crazy. Bring more people into your circle who are already fans of what you’re doing, and you’ll become a magnet that attracts people who want to be part of something good.
• If you are hiring because of turnover, it may be time to look in the mirror and ask the hard questions about the work environment you’re creating. Sometimes you already have the best talent and they are running out the back door because you’re not doing something the other guys are.

 

Rich Griffin is the National Sales Manager for North American Title Insurance Company and will be leading a discussion on the topic, Finding Talent in All the Right Places, on Wednesday, October 11 at ALTA ONE this year. Click here to register now.