In today’s competitive race for talent, most organizations know that they are only as good as the people who make up their human system. Hiring and Talent Acquisition is to Organizational Culture as a solid Foundation is to the Stability of a Building. The right recruiter can make all the difference, and does; if indeed you choose your Talent Acquisition team wisely.
Solving the seemingly perpetual hiring challenges of the 21st Century requires a spirited, aligned and connected system that makes selecting the right people for your organization a strategic and competitive advantage.
When selecting your next Talent Acquisition partner, evaluate their ability based on the following 5 key elements of success:
Pipeline Building, Network and Quality of Connections, Alignment with Core Values, Ability to Enroll and Inspire, and Evaluating Behaviors and Motivations for Working.
Pipeline Building
The days of counting on ads, job boards and recruitment Websites are long gone. We are operating in a full employment economy; anyone who wants to be working is. Your next Talent Acquisition partner must be highly competent in reaching out directly to people, making connections and getting people to say yes. Pipeline building takes tenacity, discipline, focus and action. There is no substitute for reaching out and making touch points with live people. Making touch points is about communication, getting on the phone and talking directly to the people you want. The right Talent Acquisition partner will have a history of building pipelines with qualified potentials, and will not be shy in bragging about how much time they spend making phone calls and reaching out and speaking to new people. The world is a big marketplace, and the unwary will spend a lot of time on its dead-end streets. Great Talent Acquisition professionals are constantly sorting, sifting and selecting relevant information both to identify new candidates, and to keep their recruiting projects on target and candidates moving through the selection process. Pipeline building is a form of sales and that is exactly the behavior needed to keep the talent pipeline full.
Network and Quality of Connections
The astute Talent Acquisition professional is always networking, whether they are at a concert, a ball game, a conference or a trade show, a restaurant with family or a bar with friends, everyone is a new connection and everyone is in their sphere of influence. The keen recruiter is always on the lookout for talent and knows quality workers when they meet them. Business cards in hand, curiosity and the gift of gab, these powerful connectors ask questions, learn about people and find out who they know. Follow up for the connector is a natural step and a cornerstone of the trade. Connectors are those with large and vetted LinkedIn databases. Connectors are those people who not only connect to new people, they build relationships, give recommendations, reach out, offer to support, and continue to nurture relationships even when there is no immediate reason. The effective Talent Acquisition pro naturally builds friendships with a variety of people, and keeps in touch referring this one to that one and so on. Those who are not Connectors will be more aloof, isolated and generally withdrawn from others; they do not easily develop personal rapport with others. Quality connections happen as the recruiter gets curious and taps into the knowledge and connections within others.
Alignment with Core Values
Let’s face it, like attracts like. A confident, self-starter will identify with other confident self-starters, and likewise the insecure, unfocused and easily upset person will unconsciously connect to and attract people who remind her of herself. For this reason, it is very important that you identify and build a relationship with a recruiter who values the same behaviors and operating states as you and your organization do. An aligned Talent Acquisition partner will naturally pull in other aligned people, and will easily sort out those that do not demonstrate the right behaviors and values.
Ability to Enroll and Inspire
The effective Talent Acquisition professional recognizes that enthusiasm and positivity are important elements in attracting and enrolling the right people to join the organization. Inspiring others to consider, to join or to refer other talented people to the organization is an absolute necessity. These folks naturally appeal to the emotions of the candidates, as well as the stresses and challenges of the hiring managers. A successful Talent Acquisition professional enrolls candidates in the organization’s mission and vision, and empowers candidates to put their best foot forward. They continually assure candidates feel good about the possibility of a bright future in their organization. These pros continue to generate a positive outlook among hiring managers, community members and network partners, as they know that without a positive buzz throughout the chain, new talent will pass the organization by.
Evaluating Behaviors and Motivations for Working
To be highly successful, your Talent Acquisition partner must be able to assimilate knowledge, sort out the useful from the superfluous, and then make an appropriate response, or chart a successful course of action during the interview and screening process. The astute partner will quickly target the right candidates and seek appropriate responses, and if they do not get answers that validate the targeted organizational core values, they will move on and keep looking for more candidates. The ability to evaluate candidates and potential new hires’ behaviors and values is paramount in understanding why someone will succeed, and why they will stay.
In closing, whether you are hiring an internal Talent Acquisition partner or utilizing the services of a third-party, it is all about fit. Can this person actually recruit? Do they like the work and will they do the work? Can you count on them to bring in the right people and expand the network of potential prospective candidates? How long will they stay with you? Is this a one-hit wonder, or is this a partnership you can count on for years to come? Does this recruiter demonstrate the core values your organization requires of your workforce? If the recruiter is not a fit for your needs, they will not be able to continually bring in people who are.
If you would like a 1:1 consultation to see how we can help you develop the best HR strategy, contact us today!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Magi Graziano, as seen on NBC, is the CEO of Conscious Hiring® and Development, a speaker, employee recruitment and engagement expert and author of The Wealth of Talent. Through her expansive knowledge and captivating presentations, Magi provides her customers with actionable, practical ideas to maximize their effectiveness and ability to create high-performing teams. With more than 20 years’ experience as a top producer in the Recruitment and Search industry, she empowers and enables leaders to bring transformational thinking to the day-to-day operation.
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