Irrespective of the size of your organization, it’s future will always depend on the talent that you bring onboard. As leaders/recruiters/hiring managers we know this but have barely paid attention to do something about it. By that, I specifically mean, building a talent pipeline that’s ready to join forces when needed.
The challenge is that building such a fluid setup takes a lot of time. But it’s not that hard. All it takes is a commitment from each of the departments to invest a few hours every week (anywhere between 5 to 8 hours a week) to source, identify and prospect candidates to build a robust pool of talent that’ll make your competitors envious. I personally think it’s a powerful way to slowly develop your employer brand through word of mouth.
Yes, I know it’s easier said than done. But what aspect of business or life is just as easy as it’s said? Nothing is. You have to put in the time, effort and money to get to what you want. Building a world-class team is no different.
One of the reasons why I highly recommend teams to focus on building teams is to avoid dependency on their limited pool of contractors or ex-employees. Not that anything’s and with that but we have to get realistic about relying on them. The only reason why they’re still sticking around is for the business or an opportunity because they couldn’t find it elsewhere. Which means we’re basically relying on B or C-players when we could’ve had access to A-players! Why on earth would you like to do that?
Yeah, you don’t have the top graders right now but that doesn’t mean you can’t have them tomorrow. Reacting to opportunities by relying on your B-player roster isn’t a great idea. You might get the job done but you can’t possibly raise your team’s standards. And you and I know that directly affects your organisation’s future.
Hiring talent is hard work. Having A-players onboard can be harder. But you and your company deserve to hire the best in the field if you have to get over the “survival” phase and be profitable or from just meeting goals to exceeding them. Listen, the stakes are always higher at the next level and you can’t possibly get to it if your best bet is someone who just needs a “job.”