Stop Chasing Perfect Candidates

"People are not your most important asset. The right people are."

Anyone with responsibility for hiring or promoting employees knows how aggravating it is to select a candidate that seemed right only to discover later they weren’t as good a fit for the job as you thought they'd be.

Current scenario of the corporate world demands right Talent for the right job. And filling up the required position in the required time frame is one of the biggest challenges the recruiters and the Hiring Manager are facing these days. Companies often throw good money after bad when looking for the perfect candidate for an open position. Due to the lingering effects of the recession and the perception of a overabundance of talent, hiring managers are still picky about their hires and many jobs remain unfilled.

But when the right candidate doesn't come into view, the common solution is to keep searching, add more recruiters, staffing agency to help increase the chances of finding Mr. or Ms. Right. But, keeping a job open for months on end or redoubling a company's recruiting efforts doesn't actually address the core reasons why it is hard to find the perfect candidate. One of those reasons is that perfect candidates are too rare to bank on.

At the crux of this problem is the "Perfect Fit," a term recruiters and hiring managers use to define the rarest of candidates, almost mythical in nature. These candidates are near-impossible to find in an ultra-competitive industry and possess the perfect mix of skills, education and experience. A good perfect fit will work for peanuts (also known as the pay and benefits you're willing to offer) and just happens to live in the same town as your company.

For every “perfect fit” hire out there though, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of open, unfilled job openings. Look at the career pages of some of the largest companies. Some of the best places to work in the tech industry have hundreds of job openings that have been there for four, five and six months or more. Hiring managers and recruiters keep them open hoping that one day, they'll get a notification of the perfect new applicant.  

The job markets are good, if you're a firm and you understand the competitive landscape, you can better decide on a winning strategy. Your chances of getting top talent across the board is next to nothing but your chances of getting one or two very talented people that you've targeted and laid out compelling offers for is much, much better. You'd spend the rest of your time finding capable, but not top, talent.  

Improve by training and retention:
Sometime it is not possible to find even good matches for all of the positions you need to fill. The common reasons are locations or a labour shortage in the industry itself. Some companies choose to escalate the salary until they start landing the people they need but others are using training programs to supplement their workforce. Keeping existing employees happy and onboard is the cheapest form of hiring. Retention would have to become a huge strategy to avoid hiring.  

Honest evaluation of what the organization needs:
With a better understanding of the job market and what's available, along with recruiters who are empowered and enabled to find those folks in a timely manner, hiring managers and recruiters will be able to have a really honest discussion about priorities. When you can't float out a job opening forever, it forces all parties to understand the capacity of a recruiting department as well as what are the highest impact positions you should be hiring for.

This exercise is about planning and preparing for the best realistic talent acquisition outcomes. Even if you can't live in this ideal, you can better understand your situation to aim for more realistic candidate expectations.

Perfect Fit aren't measures of success. At the very best, they are a measurement of luck and at the very least; they are the sad result of a poor understanding of the employment market and a company's recruiting capabilities and consequences.

Debt vs. Equity To Finance Your Business

Deciding between equity financing and taking on a loan for your business is a challenge for all small business owners when they need capital to expand a business. Should you go to a bank and apply for a business loan? Or should you look for an investor? To determine the answer, consider the following:  

DEBT or EQUITY?
Business owners contemplate this critical question as they look for financing to grow their business. Which alternative is best? The answer depends on multiple factors, including:

 Ownership strategy
 Life-cycle stage of company and industry
 Pace of growth
 Company profitability
 Balance sheet strength

Start by asking yourself this fundamental question – Would I ever consider giving up ownership and possibly control of my company in exchange for financing? The answer will help guide your decision. In addition to understanding your business and financial needs, you also need to understand how the lender or investor thinks when considering any type of financing request.  

DEBT FINANCING

With debt financing, the borrower enters into an obligation to repay the loan, including interest, over a pre-defined payment schedule. The loan may be secured or unsecured, but at no time does the owner give up equity in the company to the lender in exchange for financing. Although there are many lending sources including banks, finance companies, and government agencies like the Small Business Administration,there are two primary types of debt financing – short-term and long-term. Short-term loans, or loans maturing within one year or less, are typically associated with working capital necessary to finance the day-to-day needs of the business. Long-term loans, loans that mature beyond one year from origination, are typically tied towards the purchase or refinance of long-term assets like real estate, equipment or vehicles.

When reviewing a loan request, in addition to analyzing the financial factors listed above, the lender will give a great deal of consideration to the borrower’s historical financial performance. Based on historical cash flow from operations, the lender will then project or estimate the company’s future ability to repay the loan. If you do not want to give up ownership in your business, and have a strong business and/or personal financial statement coupled with an established track record of profitability, you are an ideal candidate for debt financing.  

EQUITY FINANCING

Equity financing is when money is raised from investors in exchange for an ownership share and control in the business. This form of financing allows you to secure funding without having to repay a specific amount of money over a pre-determined period. Instead, investors hope to recapture their investment plus a premium or rate of return from future profits or from the sale of the company.

Like debt financing, there are several funding sources. Depending on the length of time the company has been in business, equity funding may come from friends and family, angel investors, or venture capital firms. In addition to considering the factors listed above in their evaluation, investors will place significant emphasis on:

 Type of business
 Niche role your company plays within the industry
 Industry maturity
 Future growth potential
 Management strength
 Exit strategy

Most of the companies rely more heavily on equity financing during the early stages of their existence, because such businesses may find it difficult to service debt until they achieve reliable cash flow. But start-up companies may have trouble attracting venture capital until they demonstrate strong profit potential. In any case, all businesses require sufficient capital in order to succeed. The two forms of financing together can work well to reduce the downsides of each. The right ratio will vary according to your type of business, cash flow, profits and the amount of money you need to expand your business.