Do you read the afterword of any book? I’m usually done when I finish the last chapter but this time I read on.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen in print as strong a statement as Stephen Covey’s regarding the importance of proactive recruiting. Covey was asked – “ If you had it to do over again, what is the one thing you would do differently as a businessperson?” His response – “I would do more strategic, proactive recruiting and selecting. When you are buried by the urgent it is so easy to put people that appear to have solutions into key positions. The tendency is to not look deeply into their backgrounds and patterns, to do the due diligence, nor is it to carefully develop the criteria that needs to be met in the particular roles or assignments. I am convinced that although training and development is important, recruiting and selection are much more important.”
Easy to say, hard to do! Absolutely, most organizations, unless they are growing consistently, fill positions when they are open – planned or unplanned. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look to be proactive when we can predict the need to add to staff.
I hope your business and personal year is continuing to go well and your New Year’s Resolutions (remember mine was to read more) are still intact!