Book Review: The Rare Find

The Rare Find:  Spotting Exceptional Talent Before Everyone Else by George Anders.  This book was recommended on a few websites, and anything about talent is a must read for WineTalent--so I dove into the book this fall.  This book studies the different ways successful companies screen potential candidates and also outlines some helpful recruiting tips.  I think this is a great book for every Human Resources professional to read and use to find exceptional employees for their organizations. 

This book studies how large, public entities screen for talent, as well as small upstarts.  The recruiters who specialize in finding soldiers for the elite Special Forces group explained the rigorous physical and mental testing they do to find individuals who have what it takes to be a Green Beret.  There is also a section about how the University of Utah Professor David Evans found top-notch computer programmers who had anything but stellar work and education histories.  With Dr. Evan's ability to see what really stimulated these young programmers he established an exceptional computer engineering program and mentored students that went on to make major contributions in computing. 

George Anders also describes how leading hospitals find surgeons, how major league sports teams find their next star players and how music executives find their next superstar.  Facebook's talent acquisition is studied, as is Teach for America's system detailed.  Some of these recruiting strategies are quite inventive, while others use traditional systems to understand candidates in new ways. 

This book was very good at outlining how successful companies develop talent acquisition models, how they adapt ones that aren't working, and some things that you and I can do during our recruiting.  Now when I'm screening resumes I'm looking for jagged ones--and then investigating what happened to cause those irregularities.  My long-time interest in looking at those extracurricular items added to resumes was also encouraged in this book--saying that it allows you to see other dimensions to a candidate's personality.  Earlier this week an Olympic track athlete's resume was in my inbox.  I had a different view of that person than if I hadn't seen that. 

If you are in the talent acquisition and management field, this book is definitely worth reading, and putting to work.  If you don't, I will!

Employers: Fear the Beer (or Wine) Truck

Buddy Young is a stellar employee.  He works in wine sales and has great rapport with his clients, his coworkers and his boss.  He outperforms his peers, and wins the President's Club award every year.  Buddy has been loyal to his company for ten years, and isn't interested in leaving to work for a competitor.  To an employer, Buddy Young is about as good as it gets.  So what happens if that Budweiser truck or Young's market delivery truck T-bones Buddy's car, sending him to the emergency room and causing him to suffer amnesia during the OND sales period?  Your company might just be in trouble.

Back in the day I worked for a large recruiting company.  We had tons of Buddy's doing extremely well for the company.  They were the reason the company was successful in so many markets.  But some of these people embraced the database and others couldn't be bothered with data input and upkeep.  My old boss, and now good friend, would always say that we had to "Fear the Beer Truck".  This meant that our company was doing well as long as those employees did their job, but that we were in big trouble if they ever left.  All the client information; including names, locations, past buying history, pricing plans and forecasting was often locked up in the employees' brains.  If Buddy left the company, or was hit by the beer truck, we wouldn't have any clue what was going on with his work.

Now at the old company we also had Rock Star, who was the most productive employee.  Rock had great rapport with his clients, and also worked the database like no one's business.  He put personal information, past visits, as well as all feedback and planning information into the database.  He could quickly manipulate that computer system to get updates, forecasts and call lists for sales blitzes.  He was always two steps ahead, and had the income to prove it.  But luckily for everyone, he put his data in the computer.

When Rock Star left the company, the company had all the data at their fingertips, and could keep the business moving forward.  They knew what clients were being called on, what their buying patterns were, and what pricing they were receiving.  For the company, they were able to carry on in a professional manner when Rock Star was gone.

Oh good, the company can carry on.  That will equal success right?  Well it is better than having no clue what was going on.  And I think it can often allow you to make the company look proficient and trusted when a employee leaves.  But success does not lie in data alone.  I put a great deal of stock in those personal relationships our employees foster.   No amount of data can outweigh a well connected salesperson, and no database can independently come up with a new angle to help our clients deal with a problem. 

So how can you attract and retain top talent and ensure the company will benefit?  I think a commitment to our employees is the first step.  Making the company valuable for the employee to work at and promote to others is paramount to getting those Rock Stars to join your company.  Once you have your Rock Star and Buddy Young on board, you need to build a culture that encourages the personal touch while capturing important data.  Along those same lines, a company needs to have an overlying culture that creates a company identity that envelops and enhances the individuals' contributions.

Creating great companies is a complex proposition.  But creating a strategy to avoid "fearing the beer truck" is a key piece of the puzzle.  Work to compliment your employees' talents with a usable reporting system.   You have to have very simple-to-use systems that your employees will get valuable information out of.  Our friend Rock Star was able to put his data into a finely-tuned computer program that let him continue making sales and making money.  So of course he used it.  Now Buddy Young was keen on getting his data into a useful system, but his company's technology was old and antiquated.  Why would he sit and put information in if it isn't going to help him make more money and keep his place as top salesperson?  He isn't going to.  He's going to be out on the road making calls, selling wine and making money.  So my recommendation to employers is to get great computer systems in place, foster the smart use of them, and recognize your employees who use the systems to their advantage.  Their advantage turns out to be the company's as well, and a puzzle piece that equals success.  

Hiring Trend: Currently Employed Candidates

Last week Dana Mattioli of the Wall Street Journal wrote an article entitled Only the Employed Need Apply http://online.wsj.com/article. Ms. Mattioli cites how many employers are only interested in hiring people who are currently working.

This isn't a new idea in recruiting. Many job seekers know the best time to be looking for a job is when you have one. If your company philosophy is to hire currently employed people, there are some factors to consider.

• Be prepared to take your time: If you want only currently employed candidates, you also want employees who will act professional. All professional employees give adequate notice before leaving a job, and will need to do the same before they can take your job. Also you will have to schedule interviews and meetings around their schedule to limit any concerns they have about their current employer finding out.
  
• Things are tough out there: People are seeing that jobs aren't as secure as they once were, and may be hesitant to leave one job for an unknown employer. While an employee may be unhappy at their current job, they know what they need to deal with. At the new place they don't know anything about the politics or policies, making them hesitant to jump ship.
• Money still talks: With people holding on to their jobs, being able to offer attractive salaries and benefits will be important. An underpaid superstar knows their worth, and will be happy to accept a job for someone who pays them that.
• Keep an open mind: There have been significant lay-offs throughout the wine industry. Many times people's positions were made redundant after an acquisition or merger. Often new managers want to work with their own team, and don't even consider the talent that was previously handling the job. There are a lot of great candidates out there who have become unemployed for no cause of their own. Take a look at someone who might be the superstar you want.
• Educate the potential hire: If you have a superstar that is interested in moving further along the interview/hiring process, let them know as much as possible about the position. Give them access to key staff members. Be available for questions that arise during their interview process. Follow up with them to gauge their interest. Explain any changes that have occurred in the past and let them learn all they can about the company. Openness speaks a lot about how a company will handle itself in the future.

Hope this information helps. Good luck with your searches.