As a part of my executive search practice, I received a call from a business owner who needed to replace the sales manager of his company. During our discussion, I asked him several questions about his company, its operations, the sales organization, and the recent history of his business.

When I asked him about the previous sales manager, he rolled his eyes and indicated that the person just hadn't worked out. He had been there less than a year. I asked the owner how many sales managers he had in recent years. The owner said three sales managers had come and gone in the past five years.

We discussed how he had recruited these various sales managers, and he noted that they had come from multiple sources, including responses to job posts and outside recruiters.

The owner was anxious to find a new sales manager because the company's sales were stagnant, and he believed his salespeople needed more motivation and leadership. His plan to proceed with this recruiting effort involved engaging several outside recruiters to recommend readily available candidates from whom he could select his next sales manager.

I indicated that I would not be able to assist him in this effort, and I wished him luck.

Reactive Fire Drill

During my 30-plus years of executive search work, I have been contacted by many business owners, department heads, hiring managers, and HR professionals who approached recruiting like this business owner. They needed someone as soon as possible.

I'm sure that some of these people had success finding a replacement. However, I know that many of them had to recruit for the same position multiple times in a relatively short time and that the time, effort, and money spent on this excessive recruiting was substantial.

When someone leaves the organization for whatever reason, the immediate reaction is to find a replacement as quickly as possible. This rush usually means only looking at candidates actively looking for a job or a new opportunity.

Unfortunately, this methodology is not very successful. Research indicates that up to 46% of new hires leave within 18 months. Thus, the likelihood of a do-over is strong.

The company will incur additional costs for recruiting, onboarding, training, and other hard dollars. However, this revolving door has a more destructive impact on employee morale, customer confusion and service issues, reduced sales, operations interruptions, and the company's reputation as a workplace.

A Different Approach

People are the most important asset in your organization. Finding the right people for your company can make a world of difference in a company's hiring, business success, reputation, and viability as an ongoing organization.

Rather than immediately hiring for an open position, your company may want to take a little extra time to define who the next hire should be, why this person will want to work with you, and how you can attract the right candidates.

Many companies are experiencing difficulties finding suitable candidates for their open positions in the current market. As they continue to look for these people, they can gather the information that will enable them to be better recruiters in the future.

The critical information to gather includes:

            Why is our company different from other employers?

            Who are the people we want to hire to ensure our organization's future success?

How do we communicate our "why" to our "who" to establish and maintain a more effective and efficient recruiting process and focus on bringing the best people to our organization?

Get Started Today

This program does not need to happen all at once. Each organization can move forward at its own speed. The requirements for each organization will be different as their people, products or services, operations, and goals are different.

Determining why your company is a great workplace may involve interviewing current employees, customers, and other company partners. You can immediately improve your recruiting program by accumulating and documenting this information. You may also improve employee morale and partner relationships as you seek their input and demonstrate a genuine interest in enhancing your organization.

The current recruiting market represents a perfect time to start, or strengthen, this process. Recruiting is hard, and recruiting mistakes negatively impact your company. It would help if you had every advantage you could get, and this well-thought-out program will positively impact your recruiting success and the long-term strength of your company.