b'SELECTIONT he best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.The Talent Bench The second best time is now.As I mentioned, recruitment cant start when someone Youve probably heard that wise Chinese prov- leaves. Its a never-ending process that eliminates the erb before. In the business world, the best time toneed for the hasty hiring of lackluster talent and saves start recruiting was before you had a job opening, butyou time and money. the second-best time is now. Recruitment needs to be happening every day as a part If youre a hiring manager, recruiter, or HR professionalof your weekly activity. Even if you think you have the tasked with recruitment and selection for a sales team,perfect staff in place, you never know when that will your number one priority involves making sure youchange. Your business may grow which will drive you to have the most talented people in the right places onneed an additional seller. Someone might unexpectedly your team. There is no doubt that matching talent to atake a position elsewhere. Or even worseone of your task in this way will determine the success, or failure,current sales reps might plan to stay but perform below of your sales organization. par! Strong recruitment ensures that you dont have to In most cases, sales managers dont start their candi- settle for a disappointing performance.date hunt until someone leaves the company and theyWhen you fill the bench with quality, talented candi-are desperate.dates, you are always prepared with someone ready, I understand, its hard to think about planting treeswilling, and able to join your team when the opportu-when youre sitting in the shade. But waiting until younity arises. need to take action well, by then its often too late. Highly talented salespeople usually have a pretty suc-At that point, the hiring process quickly turns into acessful career already so they arent looking for a job. frantic scramble of job postings, resume piles, andYou have to find them and you need to give them a praying that the perfect candidate finds you and FAST! reason to talk to youeven when you dont have an immediate opening.Theres no time to effectively searchand most likelyPlan to sell them on your company which can take time, the person in charge of hiring is also picking up theand make sure you have these conversations consis-pieces where that sales rep left off, trying to keep theirtently. Waiting for an opening will backfire because it is accounts afloat.tough to convince a stellar talent to come over on your This chaos will often result in the hasty hiring deci- timeframe. sions of people who are good enough for now butFinding quality candidates is easy when you look in the lack the kind of natural talent that will really grow theright places. Here are a few best practices: company.Talent loves talent, and a great place to start is with The never-ending, vicious cycle continues.the talented people on your current team. Ask them Wouldnt it be nice to have a bench of talented can- for referrals and if your company doesnt have an didates, all patiently waiting to come work for you?employee referral program with a monetary incen-Already interviewed, references checked, ready to go? tive, create one.The most effective clients we work with have createdFind networks of people in sales that are great lead just that. I think of it as the biggest separator betweensources for you. those who are great recruiters and those who arent. Ask your clients for impressive reps in the market that Want to achieve better results? You have to changethey think highly of and learn why. your mindset from, Im sorry, we dont have anySearch LinkedIn for profiles of salespeople in your openings right now. To We are always looking forindustry that stand out. This will prevent you from top talent to join our teamlets go ahead and talk.having to choose from a stack of incoming resumes. The Simple Truth about Recruitment and Selection 75'