Today’s intellectual (thinking) workplace has redefined what we need from our employees. Employees rarely do the same task in the same way over and over; today’s service workplace now requires employees to think their way through constantly changing customer situations to provide responses that are customized and personalized.This means today’s employees must think in the ways needed to be successful in each job to inspire customer loyalty, and to drive profitability. And we know, not everyone thinks the same way, so not everyone is a good fit for every job.
An organization’s most significant asset is the intellectual capital of their employees – how they think, invent, create and respond. Therefore, every organization needs employees who are the right fit for the job – employees who have the right talents, skills and experience – they connect to customers and drive results. This makes the sourcing and selection process both more critical and more difficult.
Because fit matters, organizations now need to be more selective in the hiring process. This requires having a larger selection of job canididates to choose from – a fuller pipeline of viable candidates. And one of the greatest ways to fill the talent pipeline is to use your workforce’s connections and sourcing ability.
Consider the following ways to use your workforce to identify, find and recruit A-level (the right fit) employees:
- Clearly identify the talent profile of for each role (this should identify the talents, skills and experience needed to be effective in the role). Share this information with all employees. Now employees know the attributes needed to be effective in each role.
- Have all employees take a talent assessment, to be better aware of their natural abilities (talents and strengths) and to become familiar with the nomenclature of talents. Having a common language of talents allows the organization to better define, discuss and understand what attributes are key for each role, and what attributes must be sourced.
- Provide talent scout business cards to all employees;these cards have the employees’ name and “Talent Scout” as their role. Coach employees to give cards to those people they see in their normal day who exhibit the talents and attitudes needed in company roles. Invite these people to find out more about the company. This starts to fill the talent pipeline so that when openings do happen, the organization has already started to source good fit candidates.
- Have employees talk about open company roles to their (social and professional) networks.
No longer can management be the only party responsible for sourcing talent. Employees see and talk to (talented) people all day. They are connected to personal and professional networks. Be sure they know what attributes (behaviors) encourage a great “fit” in each role and send them out to the world to scout for (the right) talent.
Contact me () to learn how the Fire Up! Process can help you define the required behaviors needed in all jobs to help your team of scouts go out and bring in those who fit. More information at FireUpYourEmployees.com.
