Lindsay Olson

5 tips on hiring extraordinary talent

Seth Godin posted the 90/10 rule of marketing a job today on his blog. It goes like this:

"It only takes 10% as much effort to hire someone in the bottom 90% of the class.
And it takes the other 90% to find and cajole and retain the top 10%." - Seth Godin

This is very true. I posted yesterday about the ridiculously lazy job posting. Lazy efforts in filling a key position will find you the same type of candidate.

To find the top 10% of the talent means you need to be doing more than posting a job out there and waiting for resumes to start piling in. Sure, you will find good or good enough. You might even find a rock star, but don't expect to strike gold twice. It's going to take a lot more than sitting around and waiting for them to come to you to staff a company of extraordinary talent.

Here are some suggestions on recruiting and retaining extraordinary talent:

Know and be able to articulate what sets your company apart. I am surprised at how many hiring managers can not do this. Not only hiring managers, but every person in your company should be able to have this conversation. This is hiring extraordinary talent 101.
Don't just talk. Sell and deliver. Companies must deliver on the promises they make in the interview process. This is the main reason I find people leave their new position within the first few months on the job.
Network, network, network.
- Heartbreakers ipod
Hang out where the rockstars hang out. More than likely they aren't even seeing your job postings.
Partner with a recruiter (not 20 recruiters) to find the talent. Ok, we all know I'm a recruiter, but this isn't a plug for me. It's a worthy investment if you are serious about filling a position and marketing the company. Just make sure you partner with a specialist in your industry or discipline and freely give the information he or she needs to sell the opportunity. Keep in contact, give feedback and remember the recruiter is working with the candidate directly too and is positioned to smooth out negotiations and the offer process.
When you hire a rockstar, develop him or her. Rockstars require and seek out opportunities for continuous professional development. Don't be scared they will run off someone else by over-training or giving too many opportunities. They won't stay with you forever anyways. But they will definitely be a short-term hire if you aren't giving them opportunities or investing in their professional development.

Date: November 6th, 2008 / Author: Lindsay

Posted in Recruiting / Tags: Professional Development, rec

3 Comments - Add yours!

Marsha Keeffer (November 7th, 2008)

Employers, Lindsay’s right. Don’t think you’re going to shorten your search by using three recruiters – all you’ll do is shoot yourselves in the foot. I’ve worked as a PR expert with a recruiter on multiple hires for a large tech company – believe me, all you need is The One. She’s also right about nurturing people. But if you’re not doing that, you probably need to rethink your entire approach to people.

dean guadagni (November 10th, 2008)

Lindsay,

I work to help job seekers build an “employment campaign” based on direct marketing strategies and utilizing a blog as the delivery system for their message of value.

This article is a fantastic example of what job seekers must do to prepare themselves to understand what organizations are requiring. If a job seeker understands a hiring manager’s needs (and recruiter’s needs), that job seeker has a much clearer picture of the best method to deliver their value.

Thanks for putting a new perspective on the a job seeker’s investigative due diligence process.

dean

Lindsay Olson (November 13th, 2008)

@Dean I’m interested in hearing more about what you do.

@ Marsha Thanks for your comments. It’s interested you mention how an employer will shoot himself in the foot by hiring multiple recruiters. You’re absolutely right. I think most respectable recruiters would choose to walk away from a search when they realize others are calling the same candidate pool about a position. It makes everyone (employer included) look like amateurs and any self-respecting recruiter isn’t going to let that go on for long.