SAN DIEGO—The talent wars are here to stay, and intellectual capital is king, so more effort must be put on building your team, Cultura's CEO Anne Benge tells GlobeSt.com. The San Diego-based company is a provider of furniture solutions to help create desirable workspaces. Benge recently posted a LinkedIn article about the importance of recruitment. Here is an excerpt from the article:

“The number-one question I get from both business and personal friends (when we are talking business) is, “How do I find great people?” If you have not made the shift from thinking it is all about hiring one great person to more of a constant recruitment effort, think again.

“It's like college basketball. How do the really successful coaches and programs make it to the dance year after year when their teams turnover 25%-plus per year? Clearly, it is not about one outstanding person; it is about a deep bench in recruiting—constant new talent coming into the mix.

“Here are three things you can do today that will help you shift into the constant-recruitment mode.

Make a list of 20 people that you think could be great. This should include competitors, people you don't think you can afford and really any rock-star person. Do not filter the list; just start it. My first list had 11 people on it; I never got to 20. Make sure you use nice paper or save it where you can find it because this list is forever.
Get involved in an industry association with the intention of recruiting, and start looking for outstanding talent. My personal favorites are CREW, NAIOP, the EDC and other real estate organizations. This is a rich group of interested and engaged people.
Get specific about what qualities you want in a person. Think of the top-three people that you would take with you if you started a new business. If you were to clone them, what attributes and traits and skills do they have that you want? Knowing what you want makes it that much easier to find and articulate. One of my rock-star salespeople is a journalist from a local magazine. She is curious, inventive, social, involved, strategic and organized. Met her through an industry contact.

“Lastly, on your weekly list of tasks, make sure you include one thing about recruiting, especially if you are not hiring right now. The new you is always in hiring mode—always. Just let things percolate for a while and see what happens.”

We sat down with Benge for a chat about this topic and how to approach recruitment in your business model.

GlobeSt.com: Why is it necessary to always be in recruitment mode these days?

Benge: Talent wars are here to stay, and intellectual capital is king, so more effort must be put on building your team. The shift happened in 2015 when there were more jobs than qualified workers: it has been more workers than jobs for 200 years. If you will, an employer market shifted to an employee market.

GlobeSt.com: What is the greatest challenge to finding good talent today?

Benge: Your culture. Great talent wants to be inspired, not paid more. Think about how much you do that you don't get paid to do because you love to do it. That is what workers want—to love what they do.

GlobeSt.com: Where are there untapped opportunities for finding good talent

Benge: I find people everywhere, and we have people coming to us to work here. You have to be attractive and selective and work at it. It's like dating, right? I rarely hire within our industry; I hire the brightest and smartest and best person and train them. You can't teach smarts and integrity. I think people try to hire people they don't have to train, or they don't want to “waste time and money” training people that will leave. Our job is to make your workplace a place that you want to never leave.

GlobeSt.com: What else should companies know about recruitment?

Benge: It is every single person's number-one job to help build the team. People will not bring their friends and family to work at their workplace unless they love where they work.

Instant Insights /

Recruitment Is an Ongoing Process

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