You’re a Winner Baby…
If you want to be successful at something, you have to make it a habit. Vince Lombardi said “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit.”
The same is true in attracting and retaining strong candidates. Maybe you’re the VP of Sales & Marketing, the Director of Trade Marketing, or a Sr. Sales & Marketing Recruiter (like me!). You refine your craft, both the science and the art, and then you consistently apply your learned and innate skills. That’s what makes you the best at what you do, what makes your team say “I love what I do!”, and ultimately what makes you a viable employer of top candidates, whether the economy is booming or busting.
The GTA market is faced with increasing competition from e-commerce, the influence of social media, and the opening of physical markets here at home. Add to that retiring boomers and you see that the need for unabashed marketing talent in the GTA is habitually constant! And what makes Canadians spend their funny money remains a mystery to many! For the few marketers who really understand how to tap in to that, the challenge is deciding which company is the best fit, and what the best timing is for them to make their next move.
So let’s accept the fact that there is almost no scenario in which top candidates are available on the market. The best of the best are actively working, not actively looking. And if they are open to opportunities, they are looking to their trusted network, not the job boards, to help them negotiate that next winning move. Their trusted network should include your trusted partners who will help you “win” because they believe in you. They will shamelessly promote you as a leading employer. I know I do!
We are all working in a tough economy. The Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, March 2013 indicated a decline of 55,000 full time jobs, which impacted our province of Ontario by 17,000, yet there remains a shortage of talent. I have seen first-hand the results of putting forth the massive effort needed to maintain an invested network of top candidates. It’s amazing when you make that match and hear, years later, how happy they are in the role, and how satisfied the client is with the hire!
So, are you winning? Am I? I can say I know who my competition is, and that I stay ahead of them by always differentiating myself in a saturated market. I do it by striving to have my candidates come to me through referral and networking; by always offering video clips in addition to traditional resumes; and by making it a habit to invest in meaningful and mutually beneficial long-term relationships with the best talent the GTA has to offer.
We all have habits. We all want to win. We want our products to sell; we want our talent to be valued. And sure, we can’t always come out on top, but we can always aim to win – every day, with everything, every single time. What habits are you forming?
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