By; Rhonda Bunker
Director of Sales
In the event you aren’t a football fan, the NFL draft just happened. The time of year when coaches and owners are all vying for the same players. You know the ones, the Heisman Trophy winners, the players who could take out a semi truck, the guys who run faster than gazelles. Those are the guys every team wants. The guys who look good on paper, the ones who have gotten the job done in college. It’s probably similar to the strategies you use when picking the right candidates to join your teams. Have you ever seen the “perfect” resume and thought, I just struck gold? We all have, trust me.
Let’s take it back to football for a moment. Let’s talk about guys like RJ III or Tim Tebow or my personal favorite (for the sake of this blog anyway) Johnny Manzeil. They were all supposed to be the next big thing in the NFL. They all looked good on paper, killed it in their college careers and they were all Heisman Trophy winners. No brainer, right? Well, if you have read the sports pages over the past few years, you already know, their NFL careers have been less than stellar.
On the flip side of this, take a look at the 2013 Super Bowl Champs, the Seattle Seahawks, 87% of the guys on that team were either late round draft picks or undrafted players. If you were to follow stats and what should have happened on paper, the Seahawks shouldn’t have even made the playoffs.
So what does this have to do with you and the recruitment for your business? Start by asking yourself, how do you recruit? How do you decide who you are going to interview? Most importantly, who do you ask to join your team? Do you pick the best looking resume or do you look for the right fit for your organization? Finding the right person to keep and grow with your company is more than what’s written on a resume. It’s culture, character and goals that are truly in line with the goals you have set in place as an owner. When you’re in an interview, do you ask yourself, how will this person work with my existing team? Do you ask yourself, how long will this person stick around? How will they treat my clients / customers? If you’re not asking yourself those questions, you should. Now clearly if you’re hiring for Neurosurgeons, you need a specific skill set and education to back it up. If not, don’t shy away from someone who majored in photography when you’re looking for a business major or needs some training. Don’t discount life experience, as life experience matters. If they have the right stuff and you like who they are, grab them while you can. They may not be a “first round draft pick” on paper, but they could be you person you need to win that Super Bowl ring. What’s on paper, doesn’t always translate into the real world. If you hire with the intent to keep someone around, you will save yourself a lot of time, money and heartache.
One final thought, it will be interesting to see if this year’s 1st Round Draft Pick, taken by the Los Angeles Ram, Jared Goff, has the stuff to make it in the NFL. Should be fun to watch.
May you all have a profitable and exciting year!
