May 2008 Newsletter

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Welcome to Summer!

You know the old saying, "You get what you pay for..." Well, this months article is based on that theme. Creating a true, valuable relationship with those you work with, in any industry, is the key to success. Be careful if something sounds too good to be true - it probably is.....

As always, we thank you for your continued support and the opportunity to grow with you.

Warmly,

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Checking accounts and bananas are one thing. People are another. You can get essentially the same checking account at any bank; and I challenge you to take a bite from a Chiquita and a Dole banana and tell the difference. Commodities abound in the marketplace, but people, and the recruitment of them, should never be considered a commodity.

Products and services that have become indistinguishable from others in their class, and purchased on price alone, are commodities. Starbucks, the world's coffee king, recently closed all of its stores for an afternoon in an attempt to retrain employees in ways that differentiate its coffee making and drinking experience from later entrants to the market who have commoditized the industry. Starbucks had begun losing money because customers weren't tasting or feeling the Starbuck difference and were taking their business elsewhere to get a better price.

A dangerous trend in recruitment

Now, there is a dangerous trend in recruitment to pay only upon delivery of talent, which commoditizes the staffing industry - as well as the talent you recruit. Whether you are using internal recruiters or an outside recruiting firm, commoditization of people devalues and alienates the individuals you hire and the teams you build. When recruiting is treated like a commodity, you are not getting the best and brightest, although you might get lucky. But, do you want luck to drive your recruitment strategy?

Thinking and talking about recruitment as a commodity reinforces the unfortunate tendency to view and treat people and relationships as interchangeable. If you've ever lost your highest performing sales person, most innovative engineer or most efficient assistant you know they are not interchangeable, like a commodity. There are costs to losing great talent, whether a candidate in the hiring process or a long-term, valued employee.

Talent is too valuable to commoditize

Every manager or business owner knows that talent represents the core value of a company. Your people are your best sustained competitive advantage in terms of product innovation, sales, service and any other measure. Hiring the wrong people - those who don't fit your culture and strategic objectives - is inevitably detrimental to business.

Competition for fewer available jobs has flooded human resources departments with resumes - many from applicants who are ill qualified for the positions they are applying for. Hiring managers often spend more time reviewing applications and prescreening potential matches for a basic fit than they spend interviewing and assessing the top candidates. This can lead to commoditization of candidates from the inside, when a lack of time, often referred to as the most precious commodity itself, dictates who is hired.

When you find yourself hiring people because they are a known commodity, a scarce commodity, or a hot commodity, rather than by the best fit and qualifications for the job, it's time to rethink your recruitment process. In some cases, it makes sense to avoid internal commoditization by partnering with an outside recruiting firm that serves as an extension of your internal team. Partnering with an external firm, like networking, can enhance your company's knowledge base, improve policies and ensure that goals are met - but not if you view your recruiting partner as another commodity.

Retain the integrity of your recruitment strategy

The worth of a partner who understands all aspects of your company and develops a long-term relationship with you cannot be underestimated. When you're talking about hiring people who fit your culture and further your goals, the value of an effective recruiter is no different than that of a quality employee.

When you sell your product or service, you expect to be paid what it's worth. Why would any company consider working with a recruitment firm that did not consider itself valuable enough to be paid for its work? The simple answer is, you wouldn't. Your recruiting partner, and everything having to do with your most important asset, are too important to your business success.

Like the Starbucks experience, commoditization can lead to inferior quality. Retain the integrity of your recruitment strategy by valuing your people and recruitment partners for what they contribute to your success.

Kathleen Quinn Votaw is founder and CEO of TalenTrust, a Denver-based recruitment solutions firm that works with companies to acquire key talent for accelerated growth. Kathleen is also on the board of ACG. Reach Kathleen at kvotaw@talentrust.com or 303-838-3334.

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At TalenTrust our mission is to provide exceptional talent to companies nationwide, so they can achieve accelerated growth.

We invite you to be a part of our mission. By networking with us to find exceptional talent, you enable our team to build a more comprehensive slate of candidates.

Please take a moment to visit our website www.talentrust.com and click on the Search Opportunities link to view our current open positions.

We believe that you or someone you know just might be the exceptional candidate we are seeking for one of our quality client companies.

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A Review of TalenTrust Services

Strategic Consultation - to determine your most critical needs and help you plan your recruitment process to maximize your growth objectives.

Outsourced Recruitment - For organizations with ongoing hiring needs, we operate as your in-house recruiting department. We can take on the recruitment and hiring process for your entire company or for one division. (More about this in the article below.)

Engaged Search - We conduct searches for executive and managerial leaders in all aspects of your business. We specialize in sales, human resources, staffing and building executive leadership and high performance sales teams.

On-Demand Recruiting - Sometimes your internal recruiting team needs added muscle to recruit for a large project or to staff for a new division. Our clients can hire TalenTrust on an hourly basis for projects such as candidate generation, project recruiting, campus recruiting, or to provide a pipeline of candidates in a certain field.

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