Recruiting: Time for a "Full Frontal Assault"

With the unemployment rate at 2.6% nationwide (per NPR last month), a "Silver Tsunami" of retirees headed out the door, and a population gap of unavailable talent to fill all of the available slots..."Houston, we have a problem." As employers, this will require both long-term and short-term solutions. The long-term solutions will be a post for another day. The short-term solutions must be aligned with those long-term solutions to support them and eventually drive our efforts to achieve our longer-range business goals.

That said, "full employment" is somewhere around 3.6% which means that at 2.6%, we're employing the traditionally "unemployable". (I didn't say that to start a moral debate over the right to employment so please don't send the hate mail.) The war for talent is real and it takes more than simply winning a bidding war to get the talent you need to be successful. It is time to go on the offense and take a "full frontal assault" strategy to find, attract, hire and retain the talent you are seeking.

Here are 4 things you need to consider in the short-term to be successful as you battle your competition for scarce talent.

1. Be an Employer of Choice

Don't just say that you are - actually be one. This means treating your employees like the assets that they are. If you have several million in the bank, you check on it regularly. You think of it all the time, you invest in its management, you take care of it, you play with it, you nourish it, and you move it around to ensure that it grows. So what are you doing with the millions in the investment you have in your people? Chances are good that your people cost you a good portion of the total percentage of your revenues... Perhaps as much as 80%? It's time to be the employer of choice by treating them like the most important asset that they are. Some examples of being an employer of choice include...

• Ongoing communications with employees about the company and its performance, including financial performance and customers.
• Competitive wages and benefits for a total rewards package that works for them and their families.
• Opportunities to grow and develop personally and professionally.
• A culture that is respectful and cares about one another.
• The flexibility and autonomy for an employee to achieve their potential.

Of course, there are other things that can be done, but a heightened focus and sense of awareness that the employees can see and feel will help them to know that the company cares about them.

2. Pay Fairly

If you can't pay fairly to the markets, don't expect to win the talent war. You may find warm bodies, but you cannot expect to get the best and the brightest if you are not willing to pay for them. If you go cheap, you will get cheap. It's that simple. That does not mean that you have to go for the bottom of the barrel each time… However, the longer you wait to go cherry picking, the worse off it becomes to find the right candidate. Having the right pay and benefits package (also known as the "total compensation" or "total rewards package") will go a long way to begin the open dialogue and perhaps negotiation with the prospective candidate. It cuts down on the back-and-forth time and helps the manager to maintain credibility that they know what they are talking about instead of appearing to be just the middle person.

3. Have A Good Story to Tell

Everybody wants to be part of something great. If you do not have an epic adventure created regarding the origins of your company or its CEO, you will want to create one. Any time that you can build your brand around a historic front, especially one of good versus evil where good triumphs and your brand is at the center of the conquest, it is good for sales and promotion. Not only do you get new blood this way, but it also gives you a chance to reemphasize the marketing schema so they recognize that there really isn't any other way to do this. It should result in far better outcomes.

4. Don't Be Afraid to Break the Rules

When you go into recruiting, you have to be willing to do what it takes (within reason) to make things happen. We will often get our own stubbornness in the way to take some action necessary to get the right candidate. When we get into negotiating salaries, it may come down to an extra $2000 a year. When you think of it, we may think that we can't afford it because it may step outside of our salary range. $2000… Really? You are going to spend a lot more than that to find the next candidate. When you think about the $2000, and breaking the rules, you are thinking about comp-ratios, range maxes, equivalencies, etc. These are principles that have been instilled in our heads for so long that they have become restraints instead of principles – and we will let the best talent slip away because of them. Look, we need to have compensation structures that are fair, but we cannot let them hinder our ability to get the business done. Once we break the rules, we can go back and fix the structure to make them work in our favor fairly and competitively. Don't let your Russell Wilson go play for the competition because he needs a couple thousand more dollars which might exceed your salary cap – extend the salary cap.

I'll share more ideas about the actual tactical strategies that we are using to find our key talent these days… but the point I'm trying to make is that we cannot use the same old strategies and get results under the new terms and conditions of recruiting. We talk about innovation, but are we really innovative in our approaches? Or are we doing the same old thing over and over and expecting different results? You know what that's called…

Let's get out there and make a difference and create the new experience our employees expect and deserve!

Here's to your success!

Dr. Wade

www.WadeLarson.com

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