How To Attract Top Players, Part 1

Ann is a frustrated business owner who has been trying to hire a marketing manager for the past eight months. Her most recent attempt was disastrous: more than $6,200 was spent on recruitment ad placements and 63 resumes were screened. After 27 interviews in one week, she met four selected applicants for second interviews. Not one of these finalists was offered the job.

An analysis of the job placement ad revealed too much emphasis on job-related hard skills, but it was lacking a clear description of vital job-related soft skills needed to excel on the job. Today and tomorrow, Promotional Consultant Today shares four selection criteria for hiring the right talent for the right job in your organization so that you can avoid the same mistakes that Ann made.

A. Nature of the job. Top players look at doing what they like to do. No matter how tough the job market conditions might be, you want to detect and attract those who would not compromise too much on their life-long aspirations. Communicate clearly in your job ad that you are looking only for those who are passionate about what they do. Always give priority to those applicants who demonstrate a good persistence in their professional orientation.

With young applicants, it is important to detect why they decided to take a specific academic orientation. Were they purpose-driven or merely going through school without any specific future intention? Watch out for the purposeless applicants who mostly look for a job “to make a living.”

B. Salary and other compensations. Qualified applicants know how much they are worth. Even if the current job market is a “buyer’s market,” make sure you offer your selected players an attractive package that will motivate them to work for long-term rewards.

But if you really want to attract top players, offer performance-based rewards, such as bonuses or profit sharing. Reduce the fixed part of the salary and provide larger performance-based rewards which drive personal and organizational efficiency–and also reward commitment to the future.

Watch out for the skilled or experienced applicants who try to sell you their talent at a higher fixed salary with no desire for performance-related rewards. The coming years will be bright for you and your business, provided you are able to surround yourself with able, group-dedicated and future-driven collaborators.

While these criteria do not give you much room to successfully beat the competition, they offer unlimited possibilities to show and make the difference by bringing the right talent within your organization. Read tomorrow’s PCT for more two more key criteria to hiring the right employees.

Source: Patrick Valtin is the author of No-Fail Hiring and an international public speaker. He has evaluated more than 22,000 applicants for the accounts of 5,000 customers in more than 30 countries. His No-Fail Hiring System has been used by thousands of small businesses of all kinds of industries.