If you want to recruit the best people you have to be ‘Smart’ as well as ‘Savvy’!

The day after we've been shortlisted in the 'Senior Leadership' category in the forthcoming PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2018, receiving national recognition for assisting our client successfully appoint a fantastic CFO, it seemed timely to remind ourselves how difficult recruiting at this level can be for you.

We all want the best staff and rarely more so than within your senior management team. However, the chances are that they’re probably working hard somewhere else – and may not be in the market for a move.

What’s more, they may not always have the time to browse the job pages – they’re probably up to their neck in keeping the show on the road, wherever they are.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that one of the things that keep local government and public sector chiefs awake at night most often is recruiting the right people to fill their management posts.

Let’s be honest, on the flip side nobody wants to lose their best people either – the dynamic, the driven and the outcome focused.

So, if you want those people to come and join you then we’d suggest a new approach: combine SmartSearch with savvy thinking.

SmartSearch is our data driven headhunting solution for senior appointments. We know that the best people are not always looking at the recruitment sections, so we go looking for them. We reach out through diligent search, sophisticated advertising and social media - putting propositions in front of them that will tempt them into the market. And we make it a more affordable process too!

So that’s the 'smart' thinking, but what about the 'savvy' bit?

Well, I'm afraid the ‘savvy’ thinking is your contribution - recognising that you have to make moving to you worth their while.

And we’re not just talking about money here – although that will of course play a part.

My advice is you need to better understand what drives dynamic people and engage with them more effectively. They may be looking for a challenge – will you offer them one? They may be looking for recognition – will your management meet those needs? They may be looking to get stuck into intractable problems with little hope of real success – there should be plenty of that around.

In other words, if you really want to attract talent, then simply putting a jobs posting out there will not cut it. Yes, you’ll attract some interest - there are always people in the market for just about any job.

But the real talent is likely to stay put, unless you really think through what you can offer and how this person can add to the next stage of their personal career development.

You do the savvy thinking......and I promise you we’ll do the rest....just as we did with our shortlisted nomination!

To find out more about SmartSearch, give me a call … or drop me an email. I look forward to talking with you.