December 6, 2012

Leadership Minute — What’s In It For Them?

Hi I’m Chris F Harvey.

Today’s Leadership Minute is about recruiting.

You want to hire great people.  Well guess what?  Everyone else wants to hire great people too.  You are competing with everyone else to hire scarce talent.  The best people know that they have a choice of where they work.

To get the best people you have to sell!  You have to show them why a job with you is the right choice for them.

One of the biggest mistakes I see managers make is not including what I call a “What’s in it for them?” section in the job description.  Sure, they list the responsibilities of and skills needed in the job.  But most job descriptoins don’t tell the candidate why they should choose your job over another one.

It’s like trying to sell a product without telling the customer about any of the benefits!  It’s crazy.  But this is what most managers do.  This is not for you.

The next time you write a job description, make sure you include a section on “What’s in it for them.”  List opportunities for training, for advancement and interesting work.  Tell them about your fun company culture.  Tell them why they should choose to work for you and not someone else.

If you tell them “what’s in it for them” you’ll win the best people.  And the best people make all the difference.

Thank you for watching.