Every Employer and Business Owner’s Fantasy …
Imagine … one day as you’re writing out paychecks to your employees, including those that in your workforce that don’t seem engaged in what they are doing for your company, and are perhaps even disinterested in the company’s mission … out of the blue you receive a call or email from someone that you don’t know and has not been networked into meeting you.
Their message is clear – they have made a conscious decision to choose not only what they could do, but more importantly what they want to do in their career. They figure that if society allows them to choose a life partner, religion, home, car, etc, why shouldn’t they have the ability to choose their next job? With literally millions of companies and tens of millions of jobs in this country, it seems logical that they ought to be able to choose one, rather than allowing someone who hasn’t followed them around for a single day – let alone their whole career – decide what it is they can or can’t do.
This person was proactive, forgoing the “I’ll know it when I see it” mantra of many job seekers, and had used a method that allowed them to eliminate millions of companies and opportunities that did not meet the key ingredients that they had defined for their success. Knowing that employers would be cynical of their unconventional approach, this person ensured that their message clearly communicated that they want success for your company or organization almost as much as you.
If you are ever contacted by someone expressing a sincere conviction for your company’s product, service or cause, this should be the first phone call you return. By searching for candidates who truly want to be in your industry and share your company’s mission or objectives, you effectively eliminate those workers who will not add – and perhaps even detract – value from your enterprise. If an employee believes in the importance of what your company does, they will have a strong motivation to ensure its future success. Writing out a paycheck to a person like this involves minimal, if any, risk; their return on investment at a company would likely make or save many times the salary paid to them.
A full 75% of people report that they want to be engaged in their work – they just haven’t been connected to the right job in the right organization. Considering the failure of our current method of employee selection to build up an engaged workforce, isn’t it time to start encouraging people to choose their next job?