Why You Need to Banish One-Size-Fits-All Recruiting Strategies

Your company is only as good as its team. Your hiring process is critical as you maintain your competitive edge. There is no cookie-cutter recruiting strategy that guarantees success for every hire. A force-fitted hire may work for a while, but ultimately, it will be rejected.

The right approach to hiring for long-term business success differentiates market leaders from market laggards – and depends on making every hiring experience as unique as the candidate involved.

Hire for Fit

As you consider potential hires, address these questions:

• Will they add to your culture? Even the brightest will fail if they are disrespectful of your values, are divisive or political, or are socially unable to connect with your team. Focus on a candidate’s cultural quality and emotional quotient. You must feel 100 percent comfortable with – or better yet, inspired by – their passions, beliefs and aspirations. Look for high self-awareness and determine how well they build functional connections and relationships.
• Will they really love the job? If an individual is inspired to go after the same goals you are pursuing and see their own role as meeting them, they will likely be a good fit. They will be doing the job for their own reasons, as well as yours, and you can tap into and capitalize on that energy. People who are passionate about what they do tend to take pride in their work. Results follow.

Engage and Cultivate Candidates

The best way to guarantee that you land and retain top talent is to grow them. A properly structured talent management strategy is among your best selling points. Take a hard look at your employer value proposition. You may be solid – or you may need to make some changes to your paradigm to achieve your desired results.

• Build a caring, supportive culture. There is a time-tested truism: People do not quit their companies, they quit their bosses. If they are well managed and supported, employees can overcome great obstacles and reach amazing results. Your culture should enable your people to live their values, contribute in meaningful and innovative ways, be listened to and respected and have a life outside work.
• Provide training, coaching and mentoring. The senior management team at one global company was tasked with quickly implementing a major change within its IT infrastructure. Following workshops and coaching, team members achieved improvements of 35 percent to 55 percent in six emotional intelligence goals: reducing stress, sharpening emotional reactivity, influencing others, increasing personal creativity, enhancing teamwork and improving work-life balance.

In a successful engagement culture, goals are clear and consistently communicated. Performance is measured and appropriately rewarded. Employees are given ample support to succeed.

• In a study of 1,000 bank managers, it was proven that working steadily toward clear goals strengthened engagement and commitment from year to year, as indicated in employee pulse surveys. Final reports showed a clear correlation between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and financial results.

Make Every Interview Count

Every job and every candidate is different, so every interview should be unique. Develop thoughtful questions and listen closely to the answers. Get to know each candidate as an individual and pay close attention to their specific interests and motivators.

• Some of the best interviews are those that veer off course. Taking a different path can be incredibly successful; however, be sure to arrive at the same end point when it comes to the key factors you need when assessing and understanding a potential hire.

An ongoing partnership with an executive recruitment firm that can help you connect with the best talent in your industry should be a key part of your hiring strategy. BrainWorks offers smarter executive recruiting via our experience and resources, including our very own Talent Acquisition Profile and Talent Evaluation Process. Contact us today to learn more!