When we walked into a small sidestreet leather store during our holiday vacation, the salesperson was upon us. Our oldest daughter had seen a leather jacket she wanted as we passed the store and she wanted to try it on.
The salesperson was good. Really good. He was personable, complimentary, empathic, direct, persistent, and willing to negotiate. He knew the product, knew how to sell the product, and knew how to make recommendations about the product and other related products. All the things you want in a quality salesperson.
We didn’t end up buying the leather jacket (our daughter even felt bad because he was so nice about it all, but still persistent), but it got me wondering if his skills could be transferable to other sales roles in other industries. Could he be recruited away from this small business and trained for a different kind of sales role?
And that got me thinking about the biggest lie in recruiting: The fact that we can’t find people we need to hire.
You may have heard this before from peers, colleagues, even your executive leadership and CEO’s. You may have even felt this way when trying to fill hard-to-fill and/or highly competitive roles.
But it’s not true. The challenge is recruiting and hiring the people that we can actually find. A big thank you to TA leader and friend Jim D’Amico who prompted this discussion and ensuing article.
In fact, I’ll go a step further in that the real challenge is recruiting and hiring people who have the skills and experience, and those who have potential for the roles you’re hiring for. Which may be the case depending on the role, the markets you’re in, whether it’s onsite or remote work, and more.
And actually, according to Mr. D’Amico, it’s a law: Finding people is easy. Recruiting people is hard.
So, there’s nothing wrong with some reminders for us all as TA leaders and recruiting professionals on doing the harder work of recruiting and hiring:
Compelling Employer Value Proposition (EVP): Clearly communicate why candidates should join your organization – emphasize culture, mission, and values. Job candidates are increasingly looking to work for companies whose values align with their own. Also, emphasize how their role contributes to the bigger picture and makes a difference.
Positive Candidate Experiences: Keep candidates informed at every step with timely and transparent updates. Also, tailor interviews and outreach to show genuine interest in the candidate’s unique skills and experiences, and always provide job fit / qualification status to finalists. And ask your candidates for feedback about their experiences and then act on that feedback!
Fair and Transparent Pay: Offer salaries aligned with or above market rates and be transparent about pay ranges. And when you can’t beat local market rates, stand out with offerings like unlimited PTO, mental health support, or equity options. Also, offer flexible working hours, hybrid/remote opportunities, or sabbaticals when possible.
Clear Career Paths: Show potential hires how they can grow within the company and provide access to training programs, certifications, or tuition reimbursement. Also, pair new hires with experienced employees for career guidance.
Inclusive Recruitment Practices: Ensure job descriptions align with reality and are inclusive and free from bias. Showcase your commitment to building diverse teams at all levels and highlight initiatives like employee resource groups and/or inclusive holiday policies.
Whether you’re screening an increase of inbound job applications, still have a sourcing team helping to find and contact potentially qualified candidates, or both, finding people is still technically the easy part.
And if they don’t have the majority of the direct skills and experience you’re looking for, do they have the potential to be trained and developed, especially if you’re struggling to recruit and hire highly sought after people in competitive markets? And convincing your hiring managers to do the same?
Just like my salesperson example above, maybe you’ve run into someone recently that you thought – Mercy me, we could really benefit from having someone like this at our company. From hourly roles to professional and management, the potential hires are always right there. We’ve just got to convince them this is the place for them.
