The art of recruiting talent for your company necessitates
perseverance and patience. Learn how to find and keep the best talent from
legendary basketball coach Michael "Coach K" Krzyzewski.
What Does Recruiting Talent Mean?
"Recruiting talent" is a labor-market term that
refers to the process of locating, interviewing, staffing, and onboarding new
employees. Recruiting talent in sports can take on a variety of forms. It may
entail scouting talent at sporting events and, depending on the age of the
players, conversations with family and school officials.
What Is the Recruiting Process in Business?
Identifying and describing the team member position that
needs to be filled is the first step in recruiting talent. At this point, the
hiring manager of the company may take over and write a detailed job
description for the open position. The manager advertises the open position on
the company's internal career site as well as external job boards where
potential candidates search for job openings. The hiring manager meets with
qualified candidates for the interview process after reviewing the applicants,
sometimes with the assistance of an applicant tracking system.
Once the hiring manager has identified the best candidate
for the job, they will enter into salary negotiations and make a formal offer.
If the job-seeker accepts the position, the onboarding process begins, and the
new hire begins working at the company on the date specified.
What Is the Difference Between Recruiting and Talent Acquisition?
Talent acquisition, which refers to finding and retaining
the right talent for specific high-level job openings that will help the company
stay competitive in the long run, differs slightly from recruiting talent. On
the other hand, the recruiting process typically entails finding job candidates
for open positions.
Importance of Recruiting Top Talent
Organizations compete fiercely for the best candidates
because they recognize that talented people make a difference. Companies work
hard to find and retain top talent for a variety of reasons, including the
following:
1. High performers are more productive. According to a
2017 study of different work environments (including athletics, politics, and
entertainment), top performers are four times more effective than average
employees and even more productive when the job is complex and requires a
specialized skill set.
2. New markets require more specialized skills. Companies
require highly skilled employees with new knowledge and the ability to do the
job well as a result of the modernization and changes in fields such as
technology and manufacturing. Because these job markets reflect relatively new
requirements, the number of people qualified to fill the available positions remains
limited and competitive.
3. Top performers are hard to find. Companies value top
talent when they have it, so they do everything they can to avoid losing their
most valuable current employees to other companies, leaving the job market with
fewer available high-quality candidates. Human resources must employ a
long-term recruiting strategy in which they are aware of the best candidates in
their field before the position is needed to be filled (also called a passive
talent pool).
Coach K on Recruiting Talent
Coach K spent over four decades assembling some of the most successful
teams in sports history. His natural sense of what a team needs to succeed and
his eye for talent made him one of the best in the business. Follow his
recruiting advice to find the best talent available:
a - A good team member has a wide range of interests and
personality traits. Coach K believes that a successful team requires a wide
range of talent. "I wanted guys who were interested in things other than
basketball so they could have a balanced life," he says. When considering
a potential hire, consider not only whether they have the talent to do the job,
but also whether they are curious and interested in learning new skills and
growing. "It's dangerous to just recruit talent, you know?" he adds.
"However, if you recruit talent with character, you have the opportunity
to do something very, very special."
b - Don't talk about the competition. Coach K believes that you
should never gossip or make disparaging remarks about your competitors.
Whenever he recruited a new player, he would tell them, "I'm never going
to talk about another team. I'm only going to speak about our team, program,
and school. Because I've gotten to know you well enough, this is the only place
for you in my opinion. So I don't have to criticize someone else to get you to
come. I want you to come because you are very interested in playing for
me."
c - Get to know up-and-coming talent. Talented employees will
inevitably leave. Coach K suggests planning ahead of time, as he did with
players who left the team. "A lot of them left after a year. "After
two years, some," Coach K says. "You had to plan ahead of time. Not
just recruiting one class, but also recruiting the class after them. At the
very least, getting to know the people in that class." Learn about the top
talent rising through the ranks so you'll know who to hire when the time comes.
d - Go after the person you want, or give everyone a fair
chance. "I'd be careful if I'm trying to fill a position and there are a
few people I'm considering, that I'm being consistent with all of them in what
I'm offering them," Coach K advises. "And if I can't do that, just
recruit the person to whom I would offer the most. If you truly desire someone,
pursue him or her." If you know someone who is ideal for the job, try to
hire them first.
e - Keep it positive and sell them on your own organization. When
speaking with a potential new hire, take the time to explain why your company
is the best fit for them. "I don't want to talk about the other team or
the other school," he says. "I'm branding only myself and my program.
I've felt confident about it the entire time I've been recruiting. As a result,
I believe we attracted people who came for the right reasons and were confident
in their ability to succeed in our program."
f - Make them feel appreciated and allow them to grow in their
position. Getting someone hired may be simple, but keeping top talent presents
its own set of challenges. Coach K suggests expressing genuine gratitude for
your team members' contributions and keeping the job exciting and changing.
"Tell them how valuable they are," he says. "And then try to
keep changing their position instead of just having twelve things that that
position is supposed to do, so that they can grow. They can improve."
g - Take the time to get to know the person you hire. You may
want to rush when you're desperate to fill an open position, but Coach K
recommends getting to know the candidate beyond their previous job experience.
"Most of the time, you just want to fill the position," he says.
"I would still want a personal interview with the person. I'd ask
questions to get to know them better." He suggests asking
character-revealing questions. "I might even bring up a value or two: 'Do
you know that our organization is value-driven?" he continues. 'How do you
feel about that?' As a result, there will be questions about not only the position,
but also the heart and soul of our team."
