How to attract tomorrow’s leaders
Talented people have options. This means there is usually a number of businesses trying to woo them in to hire them. To win their hearts, business owners need to make their organization more attractive and unique.
To do this, think about the typical small business. Most of the company information is in the owner’s head. There is not a lot of transparency and, because the owner plans to ‘live forever,’ there is nowhere to go after reaching a certain level.
Instead, a business can be differentiated from others by creating a metric or a tool to identify those who have the will and ability to lead and by giving them greater responsibility and an opportunity for advancement. These two things alone will help a business attract top talent.
This can be taken one-step further by having a formalized method of giving a candidate all of the information they need, the institutional knowledge in the industry, and make it available to them at their fingertips through systems and processes. This will empower them to be more successful in the business, as well as be able to represent the organization knowledgeably.
It does not stop here. These candidates should be empowered to affect real change in the organization. For instance, if they have a great idea, how can they implement it quickly rather than offering endless suggestions that go nowhere? By answering this question, business owners can increase their chances of winning these candidates over.
Finally, if the organization is a great place to work, maybe there is an opportunity to create a great business environment for this candidate—one that helps them grow to carry on the company’s legacy. It is not about what the business owner has created. It is about creating multiple generations of talent who can continue to achieve the company’s goals without any setbacks.
Identifying candidates
Unfortunately, when it comes to finding a good candidate, there is no one-size-fits-all method. This author found networking to work best when looking for top-quality candidates. For example, suppliers and others in the aquatics industry meet many different people at service desks, interacting with them every day. This makes these people a great resource to ask questions like, “Who are some of the standout people you have met that had a strong work ethic and great passion for the industry?”
Another method this author used was keeping a file called ‘Mining for Gold.’ Anytime this author met an impressive contact in the industry, their name and contact information would go into this file. Even though a candidate may not have been needed at the time, this provided a resource for when the company was looking to fill a position. When using this method, it is also a good idea to reach out to these contacts every quarter, or every six months, to keep the company’s name top of mind, as well as to develop relationships, however tenuous.
Business owners should even consider reaching out to a number of tech schools who are training people for the industry. Try to develop a relationship with the instructors or department chairs and ask them to keep an eye out for their top apprentices. At the same time, tell them why the business might be a great fit for these individuals. These educators want their students to succeed and they want them to land a job that will allow them to advance their career.
Finally, when it is necessary, business owners can also use a placement firm. These firms have their own database of candidates that they can help qualify. However, this route lacks the personal touch the other methods involve, and as a result was not this author’s first choice.
Always be on the lookout
Finding and surveying the field for great talent is not something a business owner just does when there is a job opening—it should be done all of the time. Some even create business cards with the company’s name and address that say, “I’m looking for top talent.” The backside of the card can be used to list some of the characteristics the business is looking for in a candidate. By handing these out, the business is essentially saying, “Hey, if you are looking for a career, these are the types of people we are trying to attract at company XYZ.”
Business owners should think outside of the box, as well. For example, this author’s company is an engineering firm. When looking for engineers, one might think the first place to look would be engineering schools. Instead, however, this author’s company identified engineering schools that had a competitive swimming program. Then, rather than reaching out to the head of the engineering department, the swim coach was contacted. By doing this, the company could filter its search by finding out who on the team was in the engineering program to see if they would be interested in applying their knowledge in a field they were already passionate about. The ability to get this granular and specific helps a business zero in on those candidates who are not only motivated and talented, but are also enthusiastic about what they are doing every day.
The bottom line
If a business owner wants people who love their work and are engaged in it every day as much as they are, they must constantly be on the lookout. They will also have to listen and figure out what today’s top talent want from their workplace and then put systems in place that will allow them to thrive. It is all proactive and sometimes difficult work.
Most business owners have likely taken risks to build their companies into an organization that serves its employees, its customers, and its community. Finding the next generation of leaders will ensure the company’s legacy is sustained long after the owner has made their exit.
Scot Hunsaker purchased a small engineering firm operating as a sole proprietorship from his father. That firm, Counsilman-Hunsaker, has designed aquatic facilities all over the world, including Olympic venues. During his tenure as CEO and owner, he increased company revenue, quadrupled the number of employees, opened four new offices in the U.S., and went from being licensed to work in 10 states to operating in all 50 plus three Canadian provinces. He sold Counsilman-Hunsaker to the employees for cash in 2012. Hunsaker is the author of the book Heroic Ownership, and leads The Ardent Group, an organization that provides owners with the necessary roadmap to build a team of co-owners and create a legacy. He can be reached via e-mail at scot@ardentgroup.com.
