This is a time to pick up some amazing talent, but given the ongoing uncertainty, how do you take advantage of this once in a decade…or generation opportunity?
- You – Firstly, you have to realise it is 100% up to you to get this done from start to finish. This means, you have to do all the work and get the approvals. Ensuring you have the support from your management team is the first step.
- Map out all relevant people for your role(s), ask your team about their competitors, look around on LinkedIn and check out other social media, its amazing where you can find people – Youtube, Facebook, written publications, Instagram, company website, awards ceremonies, blog articles, referrals etc
- Go back in time! – Ideally, you will have approached many of these people before. Often the feedback being, “the timings not right, I’m up for promotion soon”, “I’ve just been promoted so now’s not the right time” or could be that historically your brand was not that strong. If you haven’t, it’s not the end of the world but speaking to people now after trying to get them to join for the last 5 years + can be very powerful. Particularly if all along you have been explaining that you invest in people for the long term, that you’re serious about taking market share and you have done exactly what you said you were going to do five years ago in terms of growth/revenue/fast track new joiners etc.
- Value proposition – You have to go with a very strong proposition to these people. Do you know how global companies’ turnaround their entire business? They will go to McKinsey or Bain and these guys will put together a global strategy focusing on the company’s most profitable products or businesses. THEN they will put together an enormous, incredibly compelling vision for that company over the next few years. Every time that global CEO talks to a prospective candidate, they will spend one hour at least explaining what the business is going to look like in a few years and that candidate’s part in that journey. How do you sell your company or role? Do you spend an hour outlining your grand plan over the next few years?
- Keep an open mind – maybe someone has been out of the industry/profession for one or two years. People can be working on an entrepreneurial venture or taking time off with their family but given the situation now, it is a win-win for them to get back in to the workplace and you to bring in this exceptional talent
- Stay close to market information – Companies, law firms, consultancies, advertising agencies, will all be losing big clients from time to time right now and will continue to do so. This will have an impact on their requirements for existing resources.
- Push & pull – For someone to leave their current company, you may have the most compelling story ever, but if there is no reason for them to leave their current company, ie they love their team, boss, feel like they’re continually being developed and progressing, they will not leave. Even if they do, they can be bought back quite easily. The person you end up hiring has to have both “push” reasons to leave, such as no room for progression or weak relationship with their boss, as well as “pull” factors for them to join you and your team of legends.
- Long game – Even if you do everything right, you may have nothing to show for it initially. No takers. But that’s fine, you have spoken to some great people and updated them on where your business is at and you have planted the seed. If you had spoken to these same people 5 years ago and promised them that then was the time to join, you were growing, you were going to be the biggest player in the market and so on, then the most recent conversations at least demonstrate to the market that you were serious. There are a lot of players out there who promise the world and deliver nothing, fly-by-nights. In the end, longevity really is the key to success. You have proven to people you weren’t one of those snake oil salespeople. Moreover, your opportunity will stick in people’s mind, as indeed will you as an individual. Maybe FOMO will play on their minds and give you a chance to pick them up later in the year or next year.
Ultimately no one has any idea how long this pandemic will last but it will be over. Don’t let this opportunity go to waste. When you look back, it will seem obvious that hiring one or more great people into your team was the best thing to do, hindsight is 2020. How many people look back at the global financial crisis and wish they had put money into the stock market in 2009? It seems so obvious now! Well H2 2020 and early 2021 could be that same period in time when we look back.
