Don't Hire Employees - Recruit Them

Imagine if major college sports programs simply took out ads in Sports Illustrated or USA Today stating, “Players wanted.” Then they chose their team members strictly from the pool of people who showed an interest over a period of a couple weeks.

Sounds absurd, right? Of course it does. Recruiting is the lifeline of college athletics.

But why – when it comes to our businesses – do we think the right person is magically going to show up at our door if we just advertise that we need help?

One of the most important traits for being a top-performing leader is having the ability to build a team made up of talented people and then putting them in a position to succeed. However, too many times organizations simply rush to fill a position for the sake of getting it filled without taking into account if that particular person has the right skill sets for the job and the right personality to fit into a culture.

Many people think the hiring process is a headache. This is understandable as the process does take time and being understaffed for any amount of time is a burden for any company. But at least that is a temporary headache. Hiring the wrong person is a headache that keeps on giving! (And taking, as it costs your organization money in the long run.)

Don’t be a hirer. Be a recruiter. Court people in your life (business and personal) you believe might be a good fit for your company – even if you are not hiring at the moment. Have a pipeline of people in mind that you would love to surround yourself with. Ask co-workers, vendors and customers for leads. (These leads may be vendors, competitors and, sometimes, completely out of your industry.) Don’t make promises to anyone, but take suggestions and build relationships.

Another opportunity is to have an aggressive internship program. When people are working for free – or nearly free – you see their true colors. (Think of it as your own minor league system… We had an intern five years ago we could not afford to hire when her internship ended. But not hiring her – and letting her go to a competitor – would have been more costly to us as she was a budding superstar. Thus, we hired her and today she is a staple in our organization.)

If you are constantly on the recruiting trail, when it’s time to grow – or replace someone who has left – you now have a great opportunity to improve as a company rather than just fill a void. You have targeted quality people and will be able to put someone in a position to succeed.

As a leader, you may be an amazing developer of talent. But if you are not recruiting the top talent to begin with, your potential is already limited before you even begin to do your magic.

Being a great leader starts by being an aggressive recruiter. Don’t hire employees. Recruit them. There are All Stars to be found, particularly in our new economy.