RECRUIT FOR VALUE, NOT VACANCY

Steven Cesare, Ph.D.

A business owner from Minnesota called me the other day to inform me that after an inexhaustible journey, his company finally attained full staffing levels across the entire field organization. I could sense his relief over the phone, manifested by a sense of accomplishment, underscored by a slow speech pattern typically expressed when one’s energy level has nearly expired due to prolonged exertion. With sincere notoriety, I commended him on his achievement, and suggested he do something special for his field managers to commemorate their role in ensuring this business objective being met. Then I turned the page.

Being fully staffed should be the norm, not the exception.

A time for congratulations; not contentment.

Having readily acknowledged that the business owner filled all field positions, I reminded him to discern the difference between employee quantity and quality. Prescriptively, I directed the business owner to maintain relentless recruitment efforts. Perplexed by my statement, I invoked Harvester Bill Arman’s characteristic mantra: “Always be recruiting.”

I elaborated on my point to the Minnesota business owner by noting the irrefutable distinction between filling vacant positions out of need, compared to filling vacant positions for value. We all know that unfilled positions represent a mini-crisis to most landscape companies: lost work crew productivity, potential for overtime expense to meet job performance expectations, substituting field employees from one work crew to another, as well as the possible impact if/when another crew employee misses a day of work when calling in sick, if an unexpected resignation/termination occurs, or if any field employee suffers a work-related injury, eventuating in absence. It is understood: There is constant pressure to be fully staffed.

However, as a capitalist, I reminded the business owner that he should constantly search for higher-caliber employees; employees capable of bringing heightened talent, productivity, and value to his organization. I know those employees are out there; you know those employees are out there; and you know what? The Minnesota business owner knows they are out there. Why not get them? Does he not want them?

If he doesn’t want them, I know for certain, his competitors want them.

In specific, I firmly suggested the Minnesota business owner maintain social media postings and position openings on the company website into perpetuity for: field crew members, Foremen, and Irrigators. Likewise, I recommended that he assign available staff to keep Thursday afternoons from 1pm to 4pm open for any scheduled field interviews. These interviews, though similar to all interviews in terms of structured content, have a different aura, fixating on upgrading talent instead of searching for a minimalist body to fill a blank box on the organizational chart. The approach, goal, and context of these interviews embody desire, not desperation.

Moreover, I suggested he increase the bonus payout as part of his company’s Employee Referral Program by at least 20% to stimulate increased recruitment activity, with the lucrative bonus only being distributed when a high-value candidate is selected.

Under no immediate pressure to fill a vacancy, the company can now adopt the mindset of “catch and release” (i.e., assessing a potential employee, who may not fit into the company’s current staffing plan, but may have utility in the future). Similarly, these interviews represent a suitable forum for organizational benchmarking regarding other companies’ pay rates, job portfolios, cultural initiatives, benefits plans, training programs, and production rates. Indeed, a very different set of interview expectations.

The business owner understood my pivot from conveying initial compliments to encouraging ongoing recruitment efforts, focusing on attaining greater value not simply filling vacant positions.

By the way, what are you doing this Thursday between 1pm and 4pm?

Your competitors want to know.

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