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Tired of the same ole same ole when it comes to how you attract good talent? We’re still on that topic of reexamining your recruiting practices as a powerful 2019 leadership tactic and let’s face it, if you’re bored with how you’re recruiting, so are your candidates. But, first things first. What do we mean exactly by wild and crazy? Well, the first two options might not be methods you’ve thought of previously, but the third is one that most leaders just don’t do and it might be they’re just not informed or lazy. Wild and crazy! Stemming again from our Top Ten List of Leadership Tips post that kicked off the year, read or listen to today’s Monday Moment for not only three wild and crazy notions and actions, but also a bonus you can immediately put into practice to beef up the quality and quantity of candidates for your position.
1. Wrap a Car or Billboard
While a quick Google search will show you that you wouldn’t be the first person with this brainstorm, you could be the first person with your unique message or compelling recruiting enticement. If you’re in pest control, wrap a car in “we’re looking for bug killers!” If you’re in technology or are looking to hire brainiacs, rent a billboard with a math equation that needs to be solved in order to reveal the phone number. As with all marketing, the first consideration is your audience. Who are you trying to reach? What are their likes and attributes and where do they hang out? These are the factors that, while we can all access Linked IN and Indeed and the average job fair, might net you far higher quality and caliber candidates, while also showing your human side in the business. The goal is to find great people. How you go about it in a culture and environment now wildly overcrowded with information and messages and social media may have to be a bit more on the side of wild and crazy, or at least louder than the latest meme on Facebook.
2. Sponsor a Break or Mailing
If in your pursuit to reexamine your recruiting practices, you find that your ideal candidates are those just graduating from a particular college program, speak at their Lunch and Learn or sponsor the munchies at a break during the day or evening class. No college student is going to forget you if you bring them food, period. Targeting that same audience, consider purchasing a list of soon to graduate student candidates and mail them something memorable to give your company more of their attention than the dozens of others who have a booth at their job fairs. Paying to reach your audience is marketing 101 and whether your ideal candidates are veterans, college students, or underwater basket weavers, there is an association and grouping for nearly every like, hobby, and preference. Find a way to reach that group and do it in a way that gets their attention and makes your position look enticing.
3. Reassess the Position
Is your job description tired and out dated? Are you insisting on finding a person one might equate with a needle in a haystack? Or does your very search criteria for the perfect candidate begin and end with qualities for which you’re merely settling? Do you even believe the ideal candidate exists in the first place? This is where a reassessment has great value. If the position has changed, certainly there are needed revisions. If the climate of the company or department has changed, revisions are prudent and if your way of leading this position is changing, revisions are a requirement. Whatever may have changed, and even if it’s only your mindset, take a look at what you’re looking for and if what you have listed or share with candidates is even accurate. Check to see if your description would be appealing to the ideal candidate. For example, a stellar IT help desk lead might be someone you believe needs significant technical acumen in your software and systems. Such expertise is a big plus, but so are the people skills needed to keep from irritating most, if not all of your end users, with the IT Help Desk ticket process. Have you decided a technical genius with people skills doesn’t exist? That’s a problem. What you want and what you’re willing to settle for is out of alignment. Why would you hire someone with whom you’re already frustrated before they’ve even had day 1 in the position? Reassess and align. Crazy, right? Wild? Maybe not, but if this is the first time you’ve thought to take a closer look at these areas, wild and crazy is a matter of perspective.
4. Bonus
Create relationships with Realtors to learn of who is relocating to your area. If you’re seeking a senior leader, consider the demographics of the homes they might purchase and target Realtors who specialize in those. Each state has a Realtors association so finding where realtors hang out and learn and are members is not a challenge. Once that’s handled, it’s all about forming relationships and partnerships that will expand your network and influence.
Recruiting in many organizations has become staid and routine and ineffective. Larger companies spend millions to recruit new hires and leadership candidates. The smartest companies spend those millions on making their ads and their portals appealing and user friendly. Before you place your first ad, wrap your first van, or show up at your first night class intermission, you might also give a look to your process for hiring. Is your process used to FIND people or frustrate them? Can the good ones actually get to you or are those with all the right skills and persistence turned away by an ill informed gate keeper? Recruiting is part clarity, part marketing, and part smooth sailing once you gain their interest.
Ready to Take the Become a Better Leader Challenge?
With all of that in one sentence, you might now be rethinking how you recruit candidates. One step at a time and thus, enters your Become a Better Leader Challenge. Each week, this section provides you with action items to put your new knowledge into action. For this week and for your recruiting, take these actions:
- Pick one role and review and reassess the job description
- Brain storm with the team or your HR department, how you might creatively reach the ideal candidate for your position
- Choose the best idea and test!
You’re now, and with these actions, well positioned to become a better leader before next Monday.
I’m Monica Wofford and that’s your Monday Moment. Have a great week and of course, stay Contagious!
Monica Wofford, CSP develops leaders. CEO of Contagious Companies, her firm designs and delivers leadership training for those managers who’ve been promoted, but not prepared. Author of Contagious Leadership and Make Difficult People Disappear, Monica may be reached at www.ContagiousCompanies.com, www.MonicaWofford.com or by calling 1-866-382-0121.
