The choice between doing what is easy or doing what is right

First off, the picture is of my dog Bucky. A very lovable and attention seeking lab-mix. The other day I decided my dog really needed some exercise and attention. On a 25-degree day, the easy thing to do would be to give him a few minutes of attention by playing with him in the house. However, I knew if he was really going to get the exercise he needed, (and I need for that matter) we really needed to bundle up and get outside.   

In everyday life and at work we often have the choice between doing what is right or doing what is easy. Both have their own consequence. 

One work example I see every day is when a hiring manager needs to add a key professional or executive. You have a great opportunity to really impact your organization by bringing in the best talent possible. It should be an exciting time, an opportunity to change or upgrade a position. However, many look at it as a burden and a just don’t want to face it head-on.

I am an executive recruiter but let me spare you the recruiter commercial today. Your company would go broke if they used a recruiter for every position.  This is a post about you becoming better and more committed to finding the talent you really are looking for by doing it right.

Does this ring a bell? You get the knock on the door from a top team member and they have a piece of paper in their hand. By the end of the conversation you know there is nothing you can do and their decision to resign is final.  Now you are faced with all the work you already had on your plate plus doing or redistributing the work of this key employee.

What is easy

You just don’t want to deal with this currently. You delegate the process of hiring to your overworked and underappreciated human resource department. Maybe all they have time to do is to place an advertisement online. 

Depending on the supply and demand you may or may not get results from this approach. Don’t get me wrong, the online posting business would not exist if it did not have some merit. But let me pose a simple question to you if this is your only path to finding your perfect employee.  

Who is doing the initial screening on who is the right candidate for your opportunity? The candidate. (True story, the IT division of a company I worked at put an online advertisement for an IT security professional and received 5 applications from security guards). 

What is right

I know it is obvious to point out that the unemployment rate is very low, somewhere below 3% for degreed professionals. However, whether it is at 3% or 6%, the person you are looking for may not have their head up and know you have a great opportunity. 

Being proactive with your search for talent will gain you much better results. There are dozens of proactive actions you can do to take ownership of a search and be the one who is defining the candidate pool.

 Here are just a few ideas.

• Look at professional organizations that you are a member of. Very often you will have access to the directory. Be respectful of your organization’s rules but this could be a great source of candidates or networking partners that can lead you to the right candidate.
• It is hard to ignore the fact that LinkedIn can be viewed as a public repository for professional resumes. Most professionals on LinkedIn are not actively looking for a job but many would be open to listening if the right thing came along. If you received an email from an executive of a company saying they might have something interesting to discuss, don’t you think that would be intriguing. 
• Personal and professional networks of other employees. Your peers at your company have a variety of contacts and you can take advantage of their networks by making them aware of your need. This is one that just does not take that much time, but I see people consistently overlooked. 

With a proactive approach, you are reaching out and building awareness in a candidate pool that you defined. 

Truth bomb for the day

This all takes extra effort and time on your part to do it right.  So, when you get that knock on the door with the resignation in hand, you will need to put some other project on hold and put in a few extra hours in order to define your own candidate pool.

The choice is yours

You can take the easy path or the right path. Either direction you take will eventually get someone hired. The question is, which method do you think will get a better employee?

I can tell you that the walk I did with Bucky did us both some good. It was not the easy path but it was the right one.

Till next time!