Leadership Tip - How To Avoid Recruitment Mistakes

The greatest hiring and recruiting mistake might be not recruiting at all

A column in The Wall Street Journal claimed that managers have been working so hard for so long with so few workers that they have forgotten the importance of searching for and recruiting new talent. A few years later, the view could not be more true. How does one achieve leadership in recruitment? Here are some excerpts from this article:

“How can companies improve their recruiting efforts? To begin, chief executives who know this is a business priority must make sure managers regularly step away from their day-to-day duties to meet new talent -- whether or not they have an immediate job to fill.”

“Managers in charge are working under such pressure to deliver the product ahead of competitors that they have no time to recruit. ‘So they're digging themselves deeper and deeper into a hole, trying to get people inside to lend a hand, when they need outside candidates with different skills.’”


Small business owners claim that attitude is 106% more important in recruitment decisions than occupational skills

Leadership: A survey of small business owners by the National Federation of Independent Business found that 66% of respondents believe that a good attitude and work habits are the most important factors they consider when evaluating new hires, followed by the ability to follow directions at 63%. Occupational skills were a requirement among only 30% of respondents.

Speakers like Zig Ziglar who present publicly about leadership have been telling us for many years the importanc of attitude in the recruitment process.

About 61% of leaders polled said that a fellow employee will work with new hires to teach required skills, while 11% send workers to a course or seminar. After one year, however, 90% of owners claim that they will continue to invest in training and the top source of this training shifts to sending people outside the business.