Do a quick search on the phrase “top talent” and you’ll see plenty of articles about “Finding Top Talent”, “Finding the Perfect Candidate”, “How to Hire the Best”, and the list goes on. But recruiting and hiring will make you crazy if you believe that there is a perfect candidate out there. Or that only the “best” candidates will do.
Don’t fall into the trap of holding out for the “perfect” employee. And don’t make the mistake of thinking that the “top gun” candidates in your field are necessarily the best for you.
This doesn’t mean you have to hire less-than-adequate employees. You just have to hire the best candidate for the right job at your company. Try the following four steps:
1) Be Proactive, Not Reactive
Maybe you have all of your positions filled right now, but how long can that last? If you want your next hiring assignment to go smoothly, you have to know exactly how you’re going to go about finding future candidates. Flying by the seat of your pants or hiring out of desperation rarely works out well.
2) Find the Right Kind of Person
Your hiring managers and recruiters need to know what kind of people they should be looking for, so they don’t waste their time searching for and interviewing people who wouldn’t fit in well anyway. The most skilled and experienced candidate will be a washout if he has an abrasive personality or doesn’t match the work ethic at your company.
3) Get the Word Out
If you want to find great employees, you have to be willing to pay to get your ad out there in the world, or pay an experienced recruiter. And the recruiter needs to be on every social network putting up ads and making sure that the right types of people are looking at them. They also need to promote your company, making sure that candidates get a great impression of what you have to offer.
4) Know the Job Market
If you’re looking for great job candidates, you won’t find them just anywhere. One of the keys to successful hiring is knowing where to look. Again, working with a staffing or recruiting firm can be invaluable in this respect. They tend to know who the movers and shakers are in an industry, or which of your competitors just had a layoff or isn’t paying a competitive salary. They can reach out to potential employees in ways that you can’t.
Someone might look great on paper, with all of the skills and experience you think you need, and then have the wrong personality for your corporate culture. And if you have to stick to a strict hiring budget, you might not have the ability to lure the hotshots. But if you play your cards right, you may find the person who will shoot to the top in your organization.
If you approach hiring with these four steps in mind, you will set your company’s hiring up for success. If you would like help in finding the best candidate for the position, contact the expert recruitment team at Smith Hanley. We would love the opportunity to partner with you in your hiring initiatives!
