Subject: September Hire Score Newsletter

Welcome to the September edition of the Hire Score Newsletter. We have lots of positive news this month. In the most recent edition of INC magazine a survey of CEOs showed that 85% plan to hire new employees in the next 12 months. Only 9% say they plan layoffs in the next 12 months.

Where do you stand? I have been preaching for more than a year that this a great time to upgrade your staff and that if you didn't do it soon, you would get caught in the crunch with everyone else. Well the crunch is about to begin as this survey shows.

The good news is it still not too late to beat the competition. Here is what you need to do. Start by reviewing how your business strategy has changed. What new initiatives are priorities? Where are you going to get the greatest return on you time and efforts?

Here is an interesting example. This past weekend we had some firewood delivered to our house in anticipation of the upcoming Seattle winter. This year we ordered apple wood, which is normally difficult to get. When I spoke with my supplier about this he said that many of the orchards in eastern Washington (the apple capital of the world) are cutting down their trees to sell for firewood because the price for apples has dropped. Do you see how this shift in strategy might dictate different people needs?

Once you have a clear vision of where you are going, you need to translate these business needs into your people needs. What knowledge, skills and behaviors are going to be necessary for you to meet your business goals? Do you have the right people in place? How many new people do you need to add to accomplish your objectives? These are the questions that will get you on the right track to building a high performance workforce.

Once you have your need clearly identified, you need to put together a recruiting strategy that quickly and cost-effectively leads you to the best candidates. You accomplish this by working backwards. Figure out where the people are today. Where do they work? Where do they live? What do they read? Where do they socialize? Who has influence on this group of people?

The answers to these questions should give you a good idea where to invest your recruitment time and effort. If you are going to advertise, do so in publications that best reach your target audience. And, don't forget to work your internal network. Your employee referral program needs to more active now than ever. Make sure all your people know the types of people you are looking for and reward them for recommending candidates.

Now you face the situation that many of the people I speak with characterize as a problem, how do I get through all the candidates? (We certainly did not have this situation 2 years ago) This is not a problem but an opportunity. What a luxury to have many candidates to choose from.

To win in the current environment, you need a proven selection process that clearly and simply distinguishes between candidates. Should you choose the person with more experience taking a step back or the person with less experience but more potential? Should you hire someone that is "over-qualified"? Should you hire someone or use an alternative solution (outsource, consultant, independent contractor, temp, or even technology)?

The answer always lies in developing a performance-based success profile that incorporates your business needs and clearly defines the outcomes and behaviors necessary to solve the problems. Our Selecting Winners process shows you exactly how to accomplish this. Without this performance-based success profile you don't have a true roadmap to the successful person.

Now that you know what needs to be done, how do you get off the mark and get started? This is the question I get more than any other. I have been traveling most of the last 6 weeks (yes I did sneak over to Hawaii for a few days) talking to CEOs and business owners listening to their issues. For the most part people have been very optimistic. I was in Boston on September 11th and listened as a number of people reflected on the last year. The message that came through loud and clear was that our spirit was not broken. These executives have continued to run their businesses. They have continued to provide their customers with products and services that deliver value.

This is the same spirit you need to apply to building, rebuilding, upgrading and improving your staff. Don't be paralyzed by inaction. Figure out the best path for your business and get the people on board that will help you succeed. It is the people that get out in front of the pack that truly make a difference.

I will share with you a quote that is framed and hangs on the wall over my desk. It is from George Bernard Shaw and says, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, but the unreasonable man tries to adapt the world to him therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man!" It is time for more of you to be unreasonable.

One quick announcement this month. In support of all of you getting out and improving your staff, I am going to offer a series of public Selecting Winners workshops. This is your opportunity to take advantage of a proven process of finding and hiring better employees faster and for less money. We very rarely offer the program publicly but I believe there are enough companies struggling with hiring to make this the right time to help.

The first workshop is scheduled for October 10, 2002 in Seattle WA. For more information on this workshop click the link www.selectingwinners.com/open.html for information and to register. We are trying to determine which additional cities to schedule workshops and I need your feedback. Please send us an email to staff@selectingwinners.com and let us know of your interest. We would like to make these available as soon as possible so please take a minute right now and let us know thanks!

Have a great month recruiting,

Barry Shamis

PS. As Always, forward your questions and comments to staff@selectingwinners.com.

PPS. Please don't forget to let us know about your interest in the upcoming public Selecting Winners workshops.

Please feel free to pass this along, in its entirety, to anyone you think might benefit from our insight. Let them know that they can sign up for their own subscription at www.selectingwinners.com or simply send an e-mail to newsletter@selectingwinners.com with the word join in the subject line.