To Win: Recruit Good Players

In 2014, Ohio State won the first ever college football playoff to secure a national championship for the Buckeyes.  And two weeks into the 2015 season, they are the favorite to win the title again this year.  Luck?  No.  Ohio State’s success is due to great players and coaches.

It is unquestionable that Ohio State has been blessed by great head coaches.  The latest in that great tradition is Urban Meyer, who has brought his winning record to an already storied program with undeniable success.

Along with coaching, Ohio State owes its on-field success to a tradition of recruiting the best players.  Evidenced by multiple national championships, consensus All Americans and Heisman Trophy winners, Ohio State stands as one of the best recruiting programs of all time.

Their success on the football field stems from a desire and determination to succeed and an ability to overcome adversity.  The school’s administration, alumni, and supporters know that triumphs on the football field are due to securing the best coaches and players.  They know that the most talented players are attracted to excellence: a winning tradition, the best facilities, and academic support.

Like the Ohio State University, the best companies insist on excellence.  Similar to the top coaches, their executives seek out and recruit the best talent.  Hiring managers are charged with searching for candidates who believe in the company’s mission, fit within the company’s culture, possess varied backgrounds and experience, and bring fresh perspectives and ideas.

Finding top talent is an art, as well as a science.  The process requires more than collecting resumes.  Like Coach Urban Meyer, successful company leaders understand that excellence attracts excellence.  To lure the best, they offer the best facilities, tools, and compensation.  The leaders of flourishing companies recognize that winning requires top-notch players. They understand the cost of recruiting blue chip talent is little compared with the benefits they bring.  And like the reigning champions of the college football world, they employ top-notch recruiters to land the best players out there.  That’s what Schaffer Associates can do for you.  Contact us today. Call us at (704) 535-9939 or find us at www.SchafferAssociates.com.

You Can’t Judge A Book By Looking At Its Cover

“When you meet a man, you judge him by his clothes; when you leave, you judge him by his heart.” – Proverb

I’d never received a more surprising Christmas present: a gold trimmed Rolex from my brother Randolph.  I knew his law practice was successful—but a Rolex. Heck, all I had gotten him was a sweater.

I placed the watch on my wrist; lifted my arm to admire the timepiece, and noticed an hour had passed. Puzzled, I shook my wrist and watched as the hour hand spin around the watch’s dial. My brother laughed, as he viewed the spinning hour hand, and confessed he had purchased the watch from a New York City street vendor.

As she led my wife and me to our table, the hostess of a German restaurant told us about the evening’s entertainment—two contortionists who “put on a fabulous show.”

When introduced, two, thin as a pencil, 80 year-old crones appeared. I thought it was a joke—what could these women do that I would want to see.  Well, they twisted themselves in impossible positions: scary, somewhat revolting but riveting entertainment, that had us standing and cheering.

I have learned the old saying, “you can’t judge a book by its cover” is true.  Things are often not as they appear: a Rolex that wasn’t; and emaciated, elderly women performing impossible feats of contortion.

“Judging a book by its cover,” is a mistake hiring managers make.  It is not uncommon for an interviewer to make a hiring decision within the first few minutes of a conversation. Once a decision is made, the mode shifts: from “inquisitive” to “let’s move on.”

Some people make a great first impression—however, like the Rio Grande River, they are be a mile wide but only a few inches deep.  Others make a poor first impression but possess hidden potential.  Candidates have to recognize the importance of making a good first impression and hiring managers need to realize a good first impression does not necessarily identify the best candidate.

To make a good decision, the hiring process must move beyond the first impression.  To do so requires preparation, including:

• Putting in place a hiring plan that addresses the company’s goals.
• Preparing a candidate profile that includes education, knowledge and experience.
• Developing questions that explore a candidate’s ability to carryout the strategies in the hiring plan.
• Removing personal bias by putting together an interview team to grade and rank the candidates

By carrying out this process, company leaders can prevent the expensive hiring mistake occasioned by “judging a book by its cover.”

From Adding Machine to Ipad

Short, just over five foot, shaped like a pear, possessing a bad comb-over, and wearing a visor, Mr. Lafferty was my father’s bookkeeper; he and his adding machine fascinated me. His fingers would fly over the keys; after every entry, he would pull the handle, advancing the paper roll and begin the process again. He was a machine, not stopping until an entire column had been entered; then he would pull the adding machine tape close—he never tore the tape, he saved, reversed, re-rolled and used it again—check his numbers and start again.

As I download applications to my Ipad, I sometimes think about Mr. Laferty and how advances in technology have changed our lives.

If today’s technology had been available 30 years ago I might still be in the construction business. What were once difficult tasks, such as producing shop drawings, now take only minutes; communications with customers, employees and vendors are seamless and immediate; in many ways businesses is easier—but, are things better? Perhaps.

Always in touch, there’s a tendency towards making precipitous rather than well-considered decisions. The urgency of instant connectivity can result in reduced productivity, mistakes and damaging miscommunications.

Tablets, smart phones and video games allow for self-sufficient entertainment—we don’t need others to distract us from boredom. Yet, social interaction and boredom are important to our well being. Continually occupied minds have little room for creative thought.

 Quote

“As industrial technology advances and enlarges, and in the process assumes greater social, economic, and political force, it carries people away from where they belong by history, culture, deeds, association and affection.” – Wendell Berry

 

Fired Twice

I have learned there can be a world of difference between what I say and what someone hears.

Installing the heating and air conditioning systems in three elementary schools, my construction firm suffered numerous problems. At the completion of the jobs, I made the decision to terminate Scott, the manager of our heating and air conditioning department.

Determined to let him down easy, one Friday afternoon I spent an hour explaining my dissatisfaction with his performance and my decision to let him go. I was surprised and pleased at how well he took the news.

The following Monday, I arrived early and found the guy I had fired sitting at his desk. When I asked what he was doing, he responded that he was so fired-up by my pep talk he could not wait to get back to work. Obviously, what I said and what he heard were two different things.

The problems we endured with the schools and Scott’s dismissal resulted from a deficient employee recruiting process resulting in a poor hiring decision.

We used the same procedure for hiring a department manager we used to hire a technician: newspaper ads and word of mouth.   Neither of which will attract topnotch performers not looking to make a move. We were “hiring” not “recruiting;” and, we ended up with a pool of marginal candidates. Needing to fill the position, we employed the most qualified of the candidates and hoped for the best—not a strategy for success.

There is a world of difference between hiring and recruiting. The best companies insist on excellence. Their executives seek out and recruit the best talent. Hiring managers are charged to search for candidates who believe in the company’s mission; have real accomplishments in their lives; fit within the company’s culture; and possessing varied backgrounds and experience, bring fresh perspectives and ideas.

Finding top talent is an art, as well as a science.   The process requires more than collecting resumes. Successful company leaders understand that excellence attracts excellence. To lure the best, they offer the best facilities, tools and compensation. They also rely upon experienced, professional recruiting services.

If we had truly invested in detecting and recruiting topnotch talent, I wouldn’t have had to fire Scott twice—believe me, second time he knew he was fired.

Fishing In A Small Pond

In my preteen years, early mornings my best buddy and I would cruise the lake we lived on searching for Bluegills.  When we smelled fish, we would dive, locate the bed and mark it with an onshore landmark. Later in the afternoon, we would return and catch buckets of fish.

I was limited to catching Bluegills until my father took me to the Gulf of Mexico. What a revelation! We landed all kinds of fish: Redfish, Flounder, Speckled Trout, Yellow Tail, Catfish and Sharks. I realized, compared to the gulf my lake was a pond; and my catch was restricted to the fish in the pond.

Most business leaders say the success of their company is due to the efforts of their employees. This being true, the better the staff the more successful the business. The challenge lies in locating talented employees.

In your search for top talent are you fishing in a small pond? Are you hooking bream when you are angling for bass?   How do you expand your search? Advertise in trade magazines? Use an online service? These possibilities may produce hundreds of resumes but provide no guarantee you will find a suitable candidate.

Finding top talent is an art as well as a science.   The process requires more than collecting resumes. Once a prospective employee is identified, then begins the laborious task of qualifying, recruiting and interviewing the candidate. To find good employees you need numerous industry contacts, a database of potential candidates and a finger on the pulse of your industry.   By and large, a successful employee search is best handled by an executive search professional.

People often engage a guide to lead them to the best fishing spots. Fishing guides are experts on the waters they troll in; they know the good fishing holes and the right bait to use. Like fishing guides, the professionals of the foremost executive search firms have the knowledge, expertise and experience needed to land first-rate employees.

The cost to engage a professional to find the right employee is more than offset by the increased income occasioned by having the right person in the right position. Don’t limit the success of your business by fishing in a small pond. Bring in the professionals.