Football teams are always recruiting and always strengthening their bench, so why don’t businesses do the same thing? Doug Mitchell, author of The Multi-Thread
Marketer, recommended just that in his Best of Success presentation titled “Eliminate Panic Hires and Proactively Build Your Bench.”
The key to recruiting is to shift to a “why-based approach,” said Mitchell. “Companies that are really doing things start with the ‘why.’ For example, Apple says, ‘We’re Apple. We’re going to put a ding in the universe and shake up the status quo. And, we have beautiful products. ‘Why’ is the most powerful tool in your recruiting arsenal.”
He urged contractors to get in touch with their company’s passion and emotion to determine what’s important, and then find people who share that same approach. “The gut rules, so get in touch with that gut to get the people you need,” Mitchell said. “I believe people are the reason businesses succeed.”
Mitchell advises a method he calls “Always on Recruiting,” made famous by BirdDogJobs.com, to facilitate hiring. He detailed a continual, a multi-pronged approach to engage potential new hires, centering on the career page on a company’s website and incorporating job boards, social media, search engines and multi-media. “The key is your company’s career page,” he said. “You need to capture, track and simplify the information. You need a database of candidates.”
He focused on YouTube as one example of revolutionary change brought about by social media. “Sixty days on YouTube equals 60 years of network TV,” he said. “Forty-eight hours of video are uploaded on YouTube every minute. The power of video is unbelievable. So if you don’t have something on YouTube, why don’t you?”
This recruiting strategy will result in a predictable budget, build an asset and eliminate panic hires, according to Mitchell, who emphasized how a bad hire can damage an organization’s morale.
“Recruiting is changing faster than anyone can keep up with, and yet you have to keep up with it,” he concluded. “Recruit now for the future.”
