Quality hires. It’s the siren song of our profession. Even as organizations discontinue large scale hiring in the current economic environment, they remain in the hunt for top tier talent. And we all know why: both anecdotal and empirical data confirm that “A” level performers not only contribute more themselves, but they raise the value of their coworkers’ contribution, as well. Regardless of their field of work or industry specialization, they are “quality multipliers” for the organizations that are able to hire them.

And that, of course, is the challenge. They are hard enough to bring in the door in the best of times, but in a difficult environment, they are especially tough to recruit. A slow economy makes them even more risk averse and even less willing to move than normal. So, what can we do? How do we overcome the twin hurdles involved in recruiting quality multipliers?