Even with the unemployment rate as high as it is, entrepreneurs are still struggling to find great people. Here are a few unexpected strategies you can use to make sure the next hire is a keeper!
1. Experienced Girl Scouts
How To Find Great People: Hire Girl Scout camp counselors who returned for another year.
How To Find Great People: Figure out if the person has a sense of humor. This applies whether you’re looking for an employee or a client. If you can laugh together, you can probably do business together and succeed together. And taking that one step further, maybe even become friends.
How To Find Great People: Your current customers already know, like, and understand your product/service… so much so that they’ve spent their hard-earned dollars on it! Chances are they are also part of your target market and thus understand the wants and needs of your ideal buyer. You’d be hard pressed to find a better hire elsewhere!
How To Find Great People: Be open about where you can find a great team member. It might be in the next country you visit.
I was volunteering in Cambodia with people handicapped by the mines. I met a lovely Cambodian woman, and we stayed in touch. Five years later she moved to the U.S. and needed a job. She is now my data entry specialist for the past two years. She fits right in with our global culture, and coming from Cambodia, is grateful for her position. Try to stay in touch with people, as you may find future employees.
How To Find Great People: Finding great people for your business can be incredibly difficult and frustrating. Great people love great opportunity and look to work for great companies.
1. Position your company in such a way that will attract those people.
2. Find GREAT PEOPLE by getting referrals from the best businesses/individuals in a particular field. They will refer you to people they look up to, or people who they have directly worked with – these are the best people!
How To Find Great People: We’re all tremendous Goal Getters, that’s part of what makes us great entrepreneurs.
Be a Goal GIVER. Look for opportunities to help others advance and achieve their Goals.
Encourage, make a helpful introduction, sometimes just listen. It will come back to you ten fold and you will attract great people because you are a great person.
How To Find Great People: I have found that you need to be on the look-out for GREAT PEOPLE EVERYWHERE you go! I’ve hired people who were my waitstaff at restuarants, at my fave stores in the mall and even customers (you know they already LIKE your product/service AND they are a living, breathing testimonial to give potential customers the scoop!).
How To Find Great People: Find great people by asking, how’s your PIE baking?
Focus on finding talent that can give you great insight, no matter what position in your organization (mailroom to CEO), into their Performance, Image and Exposure/Experience.
Performance is usually what everyone focuses on when reviewing current employee talent, as well as candidates for employment. We regularly ask for folks to “tell me about a day in the life of your role as, how did you do it and for whom did you do it and how well.
How To Find Great People: Regardless of finding or searching for great candidates for your business on social sites or the traditional routes, creating an interesting offer as to why someone would want to work for you is one type of HR strategy. An exchange in value; employer and
employee will find out if there is a match in goals and attitudes. The demand for talent in exchange for a unique offer will create its own supply of candidates that will be right for you and the business.
How To Find Great People: It’s simple. The Law of Attraction says “Like attracts like”. Look and see what you are attracting in your life People, Places and things…that will give you a baseline to start with. Then simply “focus on what you want, not what you don’t want” Feel as if (use your imagination) you already have the right people in your life. The one’s that have the attributes you are looking for. Just like in the Movie the Matrix “Don’t think you are Know you are”-Believe. I call it the Merlin Princi
How To Find Great People: I’m like a headhunter, I look for reps at competitors shops and offer them a way out. I love it when people are really knowledgeable about my industry and very enthusiastic about the boring companies they are currently working for. Then I woo them with a fun out of the box experience of my company, the fact that they don’t have to wear corny uniforms, and they discover new music and play it as loud as they want at work.
How To Find Great People: Hold a simple wine and cheese party. Invite ten business people whom you respect. Ask them to bring along a guest you DON’T know but one who parallels their business ethics. Voila – great people meeting great minds.
How To Find Great People: Some of the best people I’ve hired over the years were recruited from the wait staff at up scale restaurants. When I met someone who was personable, well spoken, attentive to details, and with some “hustle factor”, I’d give them my business card and ask them to call me if they wanted to discuss a career change.
How To Find Great People: People are often more guarded and least authentic in a work or interview setting, which makes it difficult to figure out who the great ones are. One tip: get out of the office. Go to places where you feel most authentic and talk to people with whom you are most authentic. I have started the most enduring business relationships over a meal, a 5k race, and an improv acting class. When people are at their most authentic, the great ones are easy to find. In fact, they’ll find you.
How To Find Great People: Great people want to be around other great people. Look inside to see what you do best and develop it. When you are working in gift it will attract others to help develop your dream.
How To Find Great People: I need people with excellent hand skills.
Test applicants by shuffling a deck of cards and have them deal them into four piles by suit.
Depending on how fast and accurate the piles are, the better they are at the job.
How To Find Great People: Always Be Courting. Every time you are talking to someone who you think of as top in their field, have the “what keeps you up at night” conversation. Yours can be I have had trouble finding _____ type of people to add my team, do you know anyone? Then track them down and follow-up. Not necessarily the sexiest proposition but it works. I co-own an executive search business and it is how we find some of the best people for our team, as well as our clients.
How To Find Great People: We advertise openings via email to our customers usually letting them know that our “fans” have first crack at any job offerings. Our communications regarding the openings are fun and friendly. This has been THE BEST recruiting tool ever! (It also provides us with some much appreciated positive feedback as well as continued customer loyalty.)
How To Find Great People: Pay attention to your very first impression–your very first! Your gut will tell you if there is a connection–if there is honesty–if it’s a business relationship you can sink your teeth into. I met my website designer, Matt Dutra of Rubic Design, and Inna Shamis of Avantgarde Communications Group, my PR person, this way.
Was it the way they both smiled–was it the way they dressed–was it their humor–yes, yes, and yes. And, guess what–they are awesome at what they do!
How To Find Great People: Submit your own questions to LinkedIn Answers and/or search others’ questions on topics related to your industry, functional area, business’ issue and/or objective. Proactive, insightful individuals will often come out of the woodwork to offer their thoughts, suggestions and ideas, providing you a pool of targeted candidates for new career or business opportunities with your venture.
#6 by Jill and #13 by Stephen are excellent. To Jill’s point, in another article I just contributed to, I stressed the importance of giving and creating opportunities for others and then preparing yourself to be a “humble taker” because the opportunities will come! And to Stephen’s point, true talent can come from any facet or walk of life and it’s really important for those of us in hiring positions and for those searching for talent to keep your heart, mind and eyes open for talent wherever you find yourself standing at that point. When you’ve found the right person, it literally does something great for you and them!
John Says:
August 11th, 2009
What about from the other point of view?? How does a hard working tech sales person get an interview now?? Out of about 500 resumes sent I have not even gotten a single call back. I have changed the resume, I have sent emails, I have done everything I can think of. How does a potential employee break through the pack and stand out???
John (from #8) Says:
August 11th, 2009
John, regarding your resume, I’d be glad to take a look at it and provide you with feedback. Additionally, have you taken full advantage of LinkedIn and solicited companies for whom you would want to work and people who (by title) may be in the position to make hiring decisions? Have you enlisted the services of a headhunter?
Joseph Barisonzi Says:
August 13th, 2009
I love the ideas of #1 — but since our HR policies require a certain degree of gender neutrality I will have to give a shout out to #2! Especially in times like these when there is so much personal and organizational stress, the invaluable of an employee that can find the humor and share it in appropriate ways with others is such an essential asset for a company.
August 11th, 2009
#6 by Jill and #13 by Stephen are excellent. To Jill’s point, in another article I just contributed to, I stressed the importance of giving and creating opportunities for others and then preparing yourself to be a “humble taker” because the opportunities will come! And to Stephen’s point, true talent can come from any facet or walk of life and it’s really important for those of us in hiring positions and for those searching for talent to keep your heart, mind and eyes open for talent wherever you find yourself standing at that point. When you’ve found the right person, it literally does something great for you and them!
August 11th, 2009
What about from the other point of view?? How does a hard working tech sales person get an interview now?? Out of about 500 resumes sent I have not even gotten a single call back. I have changed the resume, I have sent emails, I have done everything I can think of. How does a potential employee break through the pack and stand out???
August 11th, 2009
John, regarding your resume, I’d be glad to take a look at it and provide you with feedback. Additionally, have you taken full advantage of LinkedIn and solicited companies for whom you would want to work and people who (by title) may be in the position to make hiring decisions? Have you enlisted the services of a headhunter?
August 13th, 2009
I love the ideas of #1 — but since our HR policies require a certain degree of gender neutrality I will have to give a shout out to #2! Especially in times like these when there is so much personal and organizational stress, the invaluable of an employee that can find the humor and share it in appropriate ways with others is such an essential asset for a company.