My CEO Life

I am not sure about many of you out there but finding great employees is extremely hard.  I can run ads in papers and online and get flooded with results but how do you wade through the emails from around the world, how do you know that you have found the right person and how do you avoid those recruiter fees?

Well a tool we use alot in the business in internal referral.  We have a $1500 reward for any employee who recommends someone else to join and that person survives their probation period.  We are looking modifying this so that it is scalable – $1000 for first person, $1500 for second, $2500 for third etc …

I reckon we have employed 30% of our staff using this method and it works.  The best thing is that one of the key success measures in employing a person is cultural fit.  Having those inside help employ ensures cultural fit (well most of the time!)

As the Chief Executive Officer, I have personally introduced some key people to the business – and often they are from other countries.  My CFO i have known for 10 years and was recruited from Germany, my CIO i have know for 6 years and was recruited from San Francisco, and our internal process improvement manager is also from Germany and someone i have known for ages.  And the list goes on.  It is not about jobs for friends, as i have some of my Senior management or the Board interview them too.

What is interesting is that our CFO has introduced another 3 people to the business – 2 from Germany.  This approach can also broaden your recruitment market from your local market to the world.

I am working on the theory that great people know great people and so on.

1. Building a Business on Passion

   I was recently thinking about what makes a great person in the business i run and the common trait that kept coming to mind was PASSION. It seems to me that my team members who are truly great are those...

2. What Makes a Great CEO?

   Here is a great question “i am doing a project for school and it says pick your dream job and describe the requirements for that job…i choose the ceo of microsoft and its hard to find the requirements needed…so if...

3. How to Retain Great People – Part 2

   I was recently asked the question “how do you attract and retain excellent employees?”.  This entry looks at the second part of the equation. Firstly, you need to make sure that your team members are paid at least at the...

4. Building a Great Team – 250 People in a Room

   I am busy preparing for our twice a year full staff get together.  For each of the last 6 years, i have flown in all staff from around the country to participate in 3 days of bonding, learning, sharing and...

5. Constraining Employees

   I have a great senior employee who is massively eager, capable and running at a million miles per hour – in generally right direction. The challenge is not motivation, guidance or direction. The challenge is constraining him. Why constrain, i...