How to Hire A-Players: Finding the Top People for ... - GIT home page

42 How to Hire A-Players
interviewing a regular part of your business schedule rather than a
periodic necessary evil in which you reluctantly participate.
There is a saying in sales: customers buy when they are ready to
buy something, not when we are ready to sell something. The same
principle holds true in recruiting. People change employers—and
even careers—for their reasons, not ours. A fixed schedule of interviewing
allows you to initiate relationships with people now who
will come to work for you down the road. This is the kind of strategic
approach to recruiting that most business owners and executives
believe they are too busy to execute. If you are the exception,
it will pay off in more A-players who will take your business to a
new level of success.
A-Player Principle: Have each member of your leadership
team interview at least two to three new people per month.
The time commitment is reasonable, and the payoff from
having a pipeline of talent for your company is significant.
But What if I Don’t Have a Job to Fill?
When I tell executives that they should be interviewing all the time,
they often tell me that they can’t—because they don’t have a position
to fill. What they don’t understand is that your commitment is
to interview all the time, not to hire all the time. Chris Burkhard,
whom I just described, interviewed someone during layoffs. If he
can pull that off, then you can certainly meet with potential
employees when you don’t have an open position. To do this, you
just have to communicate your recruiting approach appropriately
and let people know that:
1. You are not actively looking to hire at this time; but
2. You are always interested in meeting great people.
3. Sometimes when you meet the right people, you hire them first
and then find a position for them.