5 steps closer to a winning team in 2020

After a fantastic year with a double up from the Tigers and Springboks, I got to thinking about how the business sector builds ‘winning teams’. How do they go about finding and securing their talent, and critically, how do they decide whether new employees will be a positive addition to the overall team dynamic?

We all know how quickly one bad apple can ruin the entire barrel…

For most businesses, their people (or human capital) represent a significant investment. Therefore, considering both the cost and non-financial impact of a poor hire, it always intrigues me that a lot of business leaders still don’t perceive value in a solid and robust search process.

If you look ahead at what you envisage your team will look like as you adapt to changing conditions, will you pay credence to talent pooling? Or is your hiring mostly reactionary? The best teams I’ve worked with are constantly looking ahead and assessing their strengths and weaknesses with an eye to plugging the gaps.

Do you try to do your own hiring to save the cost of a recruitment fee? Even if you have an outstanding internal recruitment team, there will be instances where the pure breadth of their focus may mean a lack of exposure to a particular talent stream.

There is no doubt that the war for truly exceptional talent is increasing, and I believe that more than ever, hiring managers are starting to realise the value of a search partner with proven results in their sector. I am consistently finding that more organisations and internal recruitment teams are aligning themselves with a trusted and proven search partner – not for every role, but certainly where they want to ensure the best results in a highly competitive and skill short sector.

With all of this in mind, the real issue becomes how to select the right executive recruitment firm for your needs? Here are 5 points to consider when evaluating the right partner:

1. Legacy – a firm with good history and reputation
2. Results – a firm that can demonstrate success through past work and client references
3. Partnership – a team of consultants who not only excel at what they do, but also genuinely have your and your organisation’s best interests in mind
4. Research capability – there are varying degrees of quality when it comes to research; true research capability involves much more than LinkedIn
5. Value – a lower fee doesn’t necessarily signify the best value; a thorough process, good consulting, and the best possible hire (and post hire care) will deliver greater returns

It sounds daunting (and it can be), which is why you need to engage the right partner. Nothing beats the feeling and the results of securing an outstanding addition to your business. I look forward to helping you build a high-performance team who will be kicking their goals into the new year and beyond.