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?

• First, we have to build and maintain the right size pool of talent so that we always have enough of the right kinds of candidates for each of our openings;

and

• Second, we have to convince the right individual among those candidates to accept the right opening with our organization at the right time (i.e., when we need them).

A recent research report from SHRM listed a number of actions that organizations are now taking to improve their yield of quality hires. They include:

• Increasing the number of recruiting sources they use;

• Developing standard templates for writing job descriptions;

• Conducting training programs to upgrade the recruiting skills of hiring managers;

• Administering applicant skill and personality testing; and

• Offering recruiting incentives, such as sign-on bonuses.

While all of these initiatives are helpful, they are also tactical in scope. In other words, they will improve an employer’s recruiting yield, but only if they are implemented within an overarching strategy that integrates and focuses them. This strategy creates a unity of purpose and approach that enables each and all of the actions to achieve their optimal results. It should have four components:

• A theme;

• A context;

• A framework; and

• A foundation.

Each is described briefly below.

A theme: A clearly articulated and compelling employment brand.

Quality multipliers never, ever think of themselves as job seekers. If they move from one organization to another, they characterize that shift as the necessary and proper behavior of a “career activist”—someone who takes the initiative in managing their own career. Their initiative, however, is seldom self-induced; in most cases, career activists must be activated by something you do. For example, they will rarely visit an organizational Web-site or apply for a position on their own. They are also seldom activated by simple information—by a recruitment ad, for example, that does nothing more than notify them of an opening.