Recruitment Strategies or Fixing the Roof

 

There’s a valid argument that says the worst time to recruit leaders is when you need one.  What you wish you had then is a recruitment strategy.

Or think of it this way:  don’t wait to fix a leaky roof until it’s raining.

The pressure today is intense on finding “the best people” to lead an organization.  It is widely recognized that, in most firms, a skilled and experienced management team is the most important of many components.  By management team, most people are thinking of the leaders throughout the hierarchy from line and sector managers up to the executive floor.

These are the people who plan, investigate, test, strategize, take chances and motivate others. They are the motor driving the organization.  Adding a new leader or needing to replace an established one is therefore a critical moment.

Executive search is a high stakes game.  The investment of time and money is significant as is the risk.  A hurried evaluation can end in a costly repetition in 15 months with grave reputational risk all around.  Get it right, and your growth flourishes.

Getting it right is much more likely in moments of calm and deliberation.  The more pressing the need to fill an empty slot, the greater the danger of overlooking warning flags or compromising the criteria.  So, before it rains, fix the roof.

An increasing number of well-managed companies today develop talent acquisition strategies.  This does two very important things.  It Anticipates the need and it Positions you to respond to that need in a fashion likely to achieve the most success.

Here are eight reasons for setting out a recruiting strategy laid out in an earlier post by contributor Anne Glenn:

• Build stronger companies and foster teamwork where everyone understands the goals and embraces the priorities
• Better attract top talent with skills, values and culture that most exactly fit the short- and long-range environment of the business
• Anticipate recruiting and growth staffing needs (as well as wants) in advance of an actual job opening
• Refine and clarify the company’s Employer Brand as a key basis of communication with potential employees
• Target and locate the best talent pools relative to your specific needs over time
• Enable the executive staffing process to move more quickly and efficiently to fill vacancies and minimize disruption in the work process
• Challenge employees to continually look for the best talent available

• Foster sharing of company values, pride in performance and personal satisfaction.

Developing and implementing the recruiting strategy that is best for you is hard work.  It is critical to get it right since it is going to drive your executive recruiting process for better or for worse.

We are familiar with Talent Acquisition Strategy here at Cornerstone.  As a retained executive search specialist, every mandate has a strategic component and must conform with criteria outside issues of skill and experience.

Strategy development should start at the highest executive levels and incorporate the organization’s needs, vision, goals and operational realities.  This is where the input from objective experts such as our consultants can be of immense value.

Contact us at editor@cornerstone-group.com and find out how we can help you to optimize a process that you will be going through one way or the other.