Whether you are trying to sell an idea to your spouse or recruiting your next employee the simple Connect and Capture theory is a step in the right direction.

Here is one of the greatest simple truths in life that if fully understood and implemented will take you to heights you have never been before. 

Life is not about you, it is about the other person.

That other person can be your spouse, close friend, significant other, or it could be the candidate sitting in front of you at a dinner table that just wiped out another weekend because of the interview. When you grasp this concept and take it to the next level you begin to understand what connecting is about.  Once you get the connecting down the capture is simply a natural progression.

So how does one make this essential connection?

• Remember it is not about you.
  We love talking about ourselves because first of all that is where our comfort level lies.  We know ourselves, and therefore, it is easy to speak for hours about that subject.  We are also very passionate about ourselves, most times; therefore, we can add a lot of emotion and dynamics to the monologue.  The problem is a candidate doesn’t care about you, they want you to care about them. If you truly want to connect, express a genuine interest in someone by getting them talking about themselves.
• Don’t ask close-ended questions where you get one word answers.
  Ex.  How many children do you have?  How many years have you been married?  Where are you from?  All of these questions make you the center of the discussion because you are asking questions and he/she is giving you one word answers.  How about taking the same questions and turning them into open-ended questions?  Ex. So can you tell me about your children?  How did you meet you wife?  What was your childhood like?  These questions and many more will get the person talking about subjects with which they are very comfortable, familiar, and very passionate about.  This also shifts the attention from you to them.  Remember, it is about them, not you.
• Express genuine interest in the person.
  Be attentive, don’t interrupt, look them in the eye, and let your body language reflect what they are saying. There are a lot of reasons why someone would reconsider your opportunity but the number one reason is going to be you and anyone else that is part of the process.  You have to be able to connect or your ability to grow an organization that is healthy, and thriving with staff that are all pointed in the right direction will be limited.

When you connect, your odds of capturing a candidate and selling ideas to staff and your spouse go through the roof.

1. Reduces recruitment expenses by thousands
2. Creates better cohesion amongst your staff
3. Enhances organization’s image without spending thousands on public relations
4. Reduces stress
5. Builds respect for organization management
6. Reduces financial losses
7. Positions organization for growth
8. Increases market share by building long lasting relationships with candidates
9. Builds strong staff morale
10. Makes it easier to remember names

The first mistake in limiting the ability to retain an employee is made at the beginning of the recruiting process, and that mistake is settling for a candidate who truly doesn’t fit into the organizational culture and doesn’t have the ability to buy into the direction of the leadership. There is a place for mavericks and cowboys but it’s probably not YOUR place. Van is convinced most recruitment efforts are won or lost before you speak to your first rock star candidate.

The steps for successfully recruiting and retaining staff, who will become part of the fabric of your organization, are spelled out with the word RETAIN. Good luck and happy Recruiting and more importantly – Retaining.

• RECOGONIZE

  the type of person who can benefit to your organization. Most recruitment efforts are won or lost before you speak to your first candidate. Develop skills that enable you to evaluate candidates and determine whether they will be assets or a liabilities to your organization. Too many times, a candidate looks great on paper and was engaging over dinner, but their profile was not a good fit for the position. I have made a living finding those chunks of coal or diamonds in the rough that not one gave a second glance and turned them into my star producers. Out of understandable desperation, warning signs are overlooked or ignored, resulting in non-optimal hires when, with a little more effort, a better fit could have been found. Use the interview process to find the qualified candidate who wants and has what it takes to be a part of your organization. We took everyone from the receptionist to support staff to a potential high-producing position through the same process. We started with phone interviews. I always wanted to hear the person’s voice. I wanted to hear the conviction and passion in their answers without being misguided or confused with the body language. If the candidate passed that test it was on to the face-to-face. We conducted a minimum of three one-on-one interviews. We also did at least one Social Interview. This was an opportunity for us to see how the candidates handled themselves with a cocktail in their hand. We took note of their social graces, their humor, and their ability to interact with potential colleagues.

• ENLIGHTEN

  your candidate. Make a strong, honest case for what your organization has to offer and how the candidate fits into the picture. Outline your vision and mission and make the candidate feel like he or she will be an integral part of the plan. In order to connect with the right candidate, enlighten, educate, and enter into a trust with the candidate. If candidate only feels your wallet, it will be hard to convince them they are valued for anything more than financial gain. By leading with your heart, the candidate is more likely to be motivated by ambition and a sense that they bring intrinsic value to the organization.

• TAKE TIME

  to understand the needs of the candidate as well as the family. Do your best to ask the right questions by drilling down a few levels. You want to make sure that your organization will not only provide personal gratification but also meet the financial needs of the candidate’s family obligations. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. If the spouse is not happy, they will make their voice heard and that influence will quickly damage your employee. Be sure to spend time evaluating the family. Do they seem interested? Supportive? Genuine? It is hard to ignore clear signs from a family that is not supportive or enthusiastic about your candidate’s decision. If your organization is truly concerned about having an environment that not only supports the employee but the family as well, then it is critical to cover all bases.

• ASSIGN

  one person from the organization who caters to the candidate during their first six months of their employment . Anyone in management is probably going to be too busy to monitor the candidate on a daily basis, but someone who is responsible for occasionally checking in with the new candidate to make sure everything is available to them to ensure their success would be extremely helpful. Let that person do your legwork and then report back to you on a monthly basis. By having someone assigned to the new candidate to monitor his or her progress during the first year, you will be able to catch anything that is not going according to plan.

• INTRODUCE

  the candidate to the key people within the organization. Do this through orientation, but not through name only — make sure the key people are introduced during the orientation or perhaps a reception event for the new staff. The position may be great and satisfy the candidate professionally, but if they never integrate fully into your culture they will never truly feel as if they are a part of it. Find out about the individual’s interests and help them to make connections with people in your organization that share likenesses. Your job is not to nurture those relationships, but making the introductions demonstrates a level of care for the individual’s transitional needs (or, need to find his/her niche). Never forget, they are moving into a new set of surroundings that is awkward and foreign and anything you can do to ease that transition.

• NEVER

  leave anything to chance. Make a plan and work the plan. When a new recruit works out, it doesn’t happen by chance. It happened because you understood going in what it would take to experience a successful recruitment. You also understood you would never retain this candidate without doing the little things to insure they are a long-term player. It always amazes me when I hear we will buy life insurance for yourself, insurance for the car, the house, the boat but we never put in place an insurance plan that ensures you are going to keep your candidate around for more than 2 years. Unless you simply enjoy the recruitment process I would strongly encourage you to put the mechanisms in place that protect your assets. I tend to lean toward the fact that someone who generates revenue or provides tremendous support for your producers are an asset to your organization. They certainly aren’t a liability.