Anyone who has been able to hire employees knows how difficult it is to find the right people. Too often, employers find themselves in situations where they need to quickly replace someone or add staff, and they don’t have the time to do due diligence to hire the best people. Other times, it seems like the best people just aren’t there, or they end up going to the competition.
Jeff Jensen understands these problems and suggests ways to solve them by recruiting at the forefront of your business processes. He has been recruiting people for over thirty years for various companies he owns or in which he has held executive positions. Now, he shares his experience and his methods for success in his new book What a Hoot! Let’s recruit!
Many of Jeff’s tips and information can be used right away to start making a difference for your business or organization, even if you have no plans to hire in the near future. You should always look for good prospects who fit into your company culture and help your business succeed. Jeff explains to readers all the ways you can find recruits, many of which you probably never considered, including networking events, asking for referrals from others, using social media, and making your company attractive so that people want to work there. .
Jeff then goes on to more specific details about the hiring process, such as interviewing and negotiating with a potential client. Having conducted many interviews with employees, and acknowledging having made some poor hires, I greatly appreciated all of Jeff’s advice and wished I had this book to read years ago when I was in a managerial position. It covers everything from when the best interview times are, to how to read and reflect body language with interviewees, handwriting analysis, and what questions to ask. It also looks at how to negotiate, when to make an offer, when to increase an offer, and what to do when a candidate is inclined to work for a competitor. Most of all, I appreciated Jeff’s information on how to win over a candidate by showing him how much he appreciates the time he spends discussing a potential career with the company. He talks about creating the “wow” factor for prospects, part of which includes expressing gratitude to prospects ‘spouses for sharing their partners’ time with the company.
Of course, it’s no good hiring the right people if once they start out, they find out that they don’t like working for you. So Jeff explores how to create a culture that people want to work in, how to get rid of people who don’t fit the culture, and how to show your employees that you are appreciated. Jeff’s employee retention skills shine through when he talks about the fifty-plus ways he’s shown his appreciation for his employees, as well as why promoting from within is important.
Personally, I found the networking chapter to be one of the most useful. Jeff offers tips for remembering people’s names, opening conversations, and thinking outside the box to see new possibilities for ourselves and our businesses. Potential recruits for your company are everywhere if you just look, as Jeff reveals:
By placing yourself around people who are making things happen, you stray further from your typical acquaintances routine and expand your environment into one of unforeseen relationships that continue to multiply. I see many recruiters sinking into their own small, comfortable environment. If you keep doing that, you will always get the same results .. “
Another part of the book that I found valuable was the discussion on understanding the different generations that are in the workplace. Jeff goes into detail about the different beliefs, work ethic, and expectations of traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z. Know how to communicate with employees of these different generations and how they expect to communicate with each other. It will keep your workplace running smoothly and help you in your employee recruitment and retention efforts.
Finally, I want to briefly mention Jeff’s focus on the importance of momentum. The problem most of us have is that we get excited about something like recruiting after attending a seminar or reading a book like What a Hoot! Let’s recruit! Then after maybe a little bit of success, we stopped our efforts. Instead, Jeff tells us how important it is to keep the momentum going:
“Too many people will stop and take a break after reaching some goal or objective. When their competition thinks they deserve a reward, they will take a break. If you take a break after every little success, you are stealing the momentum. You can do it. You just passed a deadline and you have gained a tremendous amount of energy and confidence from that action, so take advantage of it and take the next step. “
While Jensen doesn’t have all the answers, he offers plausible hiring strategies that will make your company better in the long run.