Rita Baroody, CPA

When recruiting Executive-level talent, having solid benchmarks and assessing the leader individually will help your team negotiate a signing bonus effectively. Yet... There has to be a balance between "industry standard" and competitiveness. There are different types of Executives that exist. If this Executive is within the top .00001%, well then we can't rely on an industry standard to set a benchmark for that leader. In this case, your team can leverage a benchmark to ensure your team is aware of what competitive looks like, which is typically 20-50%+ above industry standards.

If your team is struggling to find the right candidates, the fastest and most efficient way to turn things around is to leverage a resource who has a trusted network of high-performers. When you leverage the right external recruiter, you are also leveraging their trusted network that they have built for years. Within recruitment, trust is NOT immediate... AND Trust is NEEDED to recruit a high-performer. If trust doesn't exist at the highest level within your internal team, then it will remain a huge challenge to recruit top talent.

Top talent deeply cares about their growth. Although they want to know what your product or service is all about, what matters MOST is can they see themselves being challenged and growing in your environment. When you are able to articulate the growth that the candidate can experience and be a part of, that's when you truly intrigue them. Growth is everything. AND Their growth means the MOST to them. If you can meticulously align how your environment can provide a high-performer continuous growth, you will significantly increase the ability to hire that top performer.

Diversity can sometimes be a sensitive topic for candidates, especially for a high performer who highly values diversity within the workplace. IF your organization is not as diverse as the candidate would have liked to see, ensure the candidate is AWARE of the future vision of your company AND which specific action steps are actively being taken to increase diversity. Every company has room for improvement regarding diversity initiatives... Being honest and transparent works best here and also positively impacts retention. The goal is to not sugar coat or over embellish, rather be truthful about the long-term vision of the company and the committed action that will be taking place.

Top performers NEED challenge. They want to avoid stagnation at all cost. Build an environment that fosters continuous learning and formalize programs around this initiative of continuous learning. Then... Ensure you continue to assess each aspect of the business to optimize your environment for top performers. The WORST thing you can do is hire top performers and then leave the environment "as is." Quarterly assessments can ensure your team consistently optimizes and nurtures your environment for top performers, AND helps increase retention, which in turn positively impacts your bottom line.

If your team is faced with a surge of high-priority job openings, it's important to prioritize the roles that will have the most significant impact in driving the business forward. The roles to prioritize have a direct impact on your bottom line and align with the long-term goals of your organization. Ask yourself: - "Can my business 3-5x without this role?" - "How will this leader directly and indirectly impact our bottom line and culture in the first year and next five?" - "Who can make my life easier while boosting our bottom line?" - "Can existing leaders achieve these goals, or is a new hire essential?" Asking yourself these questions can help you make a better decision on which roles to prioritize.