How to Recruit the Right People

October 16, 2013 Company Development Comments Off on How to Recruit the Right People

By Bill Phillips, Strategen, Inc.

Last month we finished with a paragraph of questions and the first of those questions was “Are you a good recruiter”.  Let’s dig into this question this month and see how the answers can affect your business.  To start with we can expand the “you” to your team and include in your team all the sources you use to recruit people.  Building a great team takes time and many people under estimate the importance of continually improving their team.

We know the importance of continuous improvement when it comes to team building and we know how hard it can be to find the right team members and develop the systems to allow the team members to excel.  But before we can deal with improving our people we have to find the right people.  The “Right Stuff” type of people; the people that can take your vision and the resources you have and leverage both to develop loyal customers and destroy the ability of the competition to compete with you.

To build a great team we have to have an understanding of what is expected from the team members.  This understanding needs to be tied to your strategic plan and the results that are needed to place your company in a position to win. Your strategic plan is your roadmap that your organization will follow and your people are the ones charged with taking the actions needed to follow the roadmap.  So it comes back to the fact that we need to make sure that we have the right people to “play the game” each day so that we can make the strategies in the plan happen.

Finding the right people, placing these people in teams and focusing these teams in the right direction is one of the most critical functions you can implement in your business.  It is the skills of these people and the way that you incorporate each into the puzzle that will lead to your success or lack thereof.

Your strategic plan provides the road map for your business and you have to have people that can follow this road map and help you make modifications when needed if you are going to beat the competition. To have a team of people you have to recruit people and as we all know recruiting people presents it challenges.

Regardless of how you actually recruit the people the fact remains that you have to work hard to recruit the best people you can find and then place these people on teams that work at implementing your plan and meeting the needs of your customers.  And the better you are at recruiting good people the better your company will be at accomplishing your goals.

Recruiting takes time and effort and is a never ending action for a growing business.  To be successful requires approaching the recruiting process with the correct frame of mind and committing to investing the time and money into the actions required to find the right people.

When you recruit you need to consider the following:

• Where do I need to take my business (remember your strategic plan is the starting point)?
• What do I need each team to do to move us in this direction?
• What will my customers expect as I grow?
• What skills do my people currently possess?
• What skills are my current people missing?
• What is the timing associated with my growth?

With these items defined you can now recruit by doing the following:

• Identify what positions you need to fill and when
• Identify how many people you need
• Prioritize your needs and establish a plan and budget to meet the goals you established
• Write job descriptions for the positions you need
• Identify candidates, interview and hire the best people you can find and afford
• Be sure that the people you hire “fit” the personality profile and communication style of the team on which they will be placed.

This is not an easy process and there are many factors that come into play, the most basic being, you have customers to take care of and business to do.  But we know that the better job you do at building your team the better you will do at meeting the needs of your customers and in return growing your company.  This is what business is about and there is a direct relation between your success at recruiting good people and the growth potential of your business.

Coaching these skills is a critical part of what we do.  We are here to help you develop and implement your Strategic Plan and coach and develop the skills to implement the plan successfully.

We are having great success coaching and implementing these methods and skills and our clients love it!

About Strategen, Inc.

Bill has over 25 years of experience in manufacturing organizations.  Bill will go into a company and develop tailored strategies to assist with management and growth and then help implement those strategies.  We are having great success coaching and implementing these methods and skills and our clients love it!