Babich & Associates - Texas' oldest recruiting firm : If You Can't Ride Two Horses

That's what it seems like today for many of our clients... a circus. Some of them really do know how to ride two horses at the same time. Others, don't.

Letting their lowest 20% performers go and replacing them. You know, it's Ed or Mary who are late all of the time, have excuses as to why their work doesn't get done, have so much drama in their lives that their work is #10 on their list of priorities, haven't hit their quota in three years; and everyone else in your organization cannot understand why you have kept them for so long.

Most managers are reluctant to rock the boat anymore during a difficult economy. Ed or Mary's performance during better times was tolerated because sales and profits were easier to come by. High tide covers many sins and sinners. "Well, I know I should replace some; but I'm so worried about everything else, I really can't do that now," is what we hear. Cut it out! This is the "big time" ...the circus... you're being paid to ride two horses.

Take advantage of the doubt, uncertainty and fear. We all know that we will come out of this economic malaise. One of our better clients put it this way, "I have a ' war chest' that I use when my big competitors are running scared. I call you all to help me recruit the top talent from my largest competitors because, even though their job is secure, their companies are overreacting to the market conditions. They feel vulnerable and my company is very refreshing. They don't have to look over their shoulder here."

Realize that top talent isn't actively "looking" for a job. Top talent rarely "looks for a job." They have a good one, and even in this market they manage to perform well. However, as mentioned above, many of the companies that they work for are "hunkering down," operating out of fear and causing them to feel like they're being dragged down with the rest of the company's poor or mediocre performance. They aren't going to post their resume on the job boards or actively look for a job. But they will listen to a better opportunity at a more positive environment.

Top talent often feels very alone at the top of a large, negative organization. They aren't going to go to the trouble of looking for a job, because they have one. But, if they are tapped on the shoulder for a better one, with a positive, more nimble organization; they realize what kind of a " jail " they are in. Once they see the prospect of not only getting out, but of doing better, they move.

Interview when they don't really need someone. Excellent managers are always interviewing top talent when it is available. Our best clients are the ones that will speak with and hire any top quality candidates we surface at about any time.... even if they have "no openings." If what we produce for them is better talent than they have, there is little reluctance to make a change.

We're all aware of the fact that the talent interviewed in a situation like this has to be significantly better than the present talent in the organization. OK, fine! We all know that the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know and there is reluctance to simply change horses in the middle of a performance (pun intended). The better employee you have, the better the potential replacement. Keep the concept of upgrade on your mind.

We placed a candidate this week with a client for whom we recruited.....four years ago. Our client "wasn't looking" to hire when we originally arranged the interview. Four years later, they were.

Sell their opportunity very hard. Top talent may come along when you least expect it. Our top clients are prepared to sell their job to the best candidates at any time. Remember, most good candidates are employed. They have to be given a good reason to change from a good job they already have to a better one. Recruited talent is always going to have many choices. Hiring authorities often think that because the economy is difficult, anyone and everyone is anxious to go to work for them. This isn't always the case.

Buck authority....get creative. Leaders that know how to buck authority, or at least work around it, become winners. This was never more obvious than with what has happened in the last two weeks.

A vice-president of a major company we work with has needed to hire a regional manager in Texas for the last five months. He didn't call us because his "corporate policy ", since the first of the year, was to not pay recruiting fees. When we heard, through the grapevine, that he was looking for an exceptional candidate, we called him. Being desperate, and having interviewed 22 candidates that his internal recruiter had found on the job boards (.... not really a recruiter), he interviewed three of ours. Two of them were stellar and he wanted to hire at least one of them.

We give him credit for trying, but after a whole month of wrangling with his "corporate policy" he was told he still could not pay a recruiting fee. He is now six months into his year, has a running $2.1 million quota in the Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana territory ... and no one in it. This happened all because some policy maker nixed a $30,000 investment. He told us this week that he has simply given up on filling the position, will certainly miss his own quota, and if he gets to keep his job, will revisit the whole situation in January.

Exactly the same situation came about with one of our other clients. The vice president and this company, however, was more creative. After he went to the powers that be and was told he couldn't pay recruiting fees, after asking four times, he asked us if we could receive the $25,000 fee over five months. He was told by his CEO to "figure it out," so every two weeks for the next five months he's going to pay us $2,500 with his corporate American Express card.

Not everyone belongs in the circus. But especially in today's business environment, you'd best know how to ride at least two horses.

Texas' oldest placement and recruitment firm

If You Can't Ride Two Horses

Texas' oldest placement
and recruitment firm