I’ve interviewed and hired for every level of talent in my career; from individual contributor to C-level leaders for Fortune 500 companies. Quite simply, I’ve seen a lot of resumes and had a lifetime worth of phone screens and big hires. I’ve made a point to take the knowledge that led to those blue chip hires and pass it along to the next generation through talent acquisition team’s I’ve managed and in mentorship. There’s one essential piece of advice I’d like to share for your next big hire.
It’s true that all hires matter, but once in a while a truly special candidate is identified, recruited, and hired. Ask any current (or former) recruiter or talent manager and every single one of them can tell you (usually with a fun story or two) about their #1 game-changing hire. This is true of executives that haven’t recruited in years as well as senior recruiters which makes sense as this one hire becomes a career-changing hire often leading to a promotion or large bonus.
Why are these key hires so important? A variety of reasons. Many times you’re trying to evolve your company to that next level and tier of talent. For some it’s a game-changing sales hire from a company you previously wouldn’t even consider recruiting out of due to them being a Fortune 500, Tech 50, etc. For others, it could be that ground-breaking executive hire, say an on-the-rise charismatic/genius/can’t miss leader you get to leave their large corporate company to come steer the ship from lovable startup to IPO.
The one thing you must do is this: Keep recruiting them. Not forever, but especially during their first 90 days. Why?
The first 90 days of a key hire joining your company are the most vital to their next three years working for you. This is an emotional time as they are not only adjusting to a new culture and learning the ropes but in many cases still being recruited back to their former companies. And let’s be honest things are going to wrong. Delayed equipment, personnel changers and a variety of others. Throughout it all it’s your job to ensure the vision you pitched he or she is still true. The cadence I’ve found works best is connecting during their first week and then making sure you grab lunch with them every few weeks to check in and ensure things are going well and to escalate any serious concerns they may have.
Do this and you’ll not only land but keep a hire that will truly change your company.
I look forward to hearing your feedback and recruiting stories at @AndreJBoulais.
Relying on a decade of leading global talent teams, Andre is a strategic-thinking senior talent acquisition leader who pushes the boundaries of "what's next" in recruiting. From social media recruiting to passive candidate attraction via digital marketing web landing pages powered by Jobvite Engage, he’s devoted his entire career to creating, evolving and executing successful recruiting strategies across four continents. Andre currently works with C-Suite leadership with Fortune 500 companies to create and drive unique global talent acquisition and employer branding initiatives. Before Jobvite, he built out, hired and directly managed the global Inbound & Outbound Sourcing Teams for the Salesforce Marketing Cloud supporting roles across all division and across four continents. He’s also a public speaker at conferences and webinars on talent acquisition.
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