Accounting and Consulting
Perfecting the people process
How Jeff Kaye finds and keeps top talent at Kaye/Bassman International Corp.
By Kristy J. O’Hara
Smart Business Dallas | July 2007
More than 50 percent of the people Jeff Kaye hires at his executive recruiting firm are referred to him by his own employees, helping him find quality people. As president and CEO of
Kaye/Bassman International Corp., he helps clients find and keep
the best people, so it’s imperative that he does the same at his $20
million firm.
Smart Business spoke with Kaye about how retaining employees is
like creating a $50 million painting.
Q: How do you identify quality people?
One of those stock market footnotes that says past successes is
not a guarantee of future indications — they show them because
they’re about as good of an indication of future performance as you
can get. If you put your money in a mutual fund that’s had a 15 percent return for 10 years, it’s not a guarantee that it will next year, but
it’s a heck of a better risk than one that’s going to generate a 2 percent return.
The same is true of people. Did the individual achieve past success in the areas that you’re interested in achieving success in?
Everyone says, ‘I want someone who’s hardworking, driven,
organized.’ ... Does anyone ever have an opening for lazy, unambitious, disorganized, lack of integrity? Identify the characteristics that
an organization wants in a person specific to what those words
mean to the company.
Q: How do you attract people?
Look at most positions companies post. They usually have company name, title, responsibilities, qualifications, send your resume here,
we’re an equal opportunity employer, a phone number and Web site.
If you see an ad that says, ‘Must have the ability to do A, B, C,’ that’s
not going to attract you if you’re happy where you’re at and doing a
good job. Your answer is, ‘Well, I know what that is — you think you’re
going to woo me by reading me my job description?’
A good ad says here are all the reasons why to join us, why we’re
great, what we offer, what a person can accomplish by joining us, the
benefits associated with joining us.
Your ability to attract them has got to be focused on selling them.
When you turn on your television set, those ads sell you on why to buy
their product. They don’t qualify you on whether you’re capable; if you
have this much money and a driver’s license, then we can sell you a
Cadillac.
It’s the same principle as looking at your opportunity as a product. Attract first. Screen second.
Q: How do you secure those people?
If you’re pulling the fish in and the line breaks, what good does it
do you that you fished in the right place, used the right bait and got
the right kind of fish? Didn’t bring them in the boat, so what difference does it make?
The ability to effectively land the talent you want is equally critical. The only way you can effectively do that is to focus on a person’s hopes, goals, dreams and aspirations — hot buttons.
Understand why this person is doing what they’re doing. What do
they wish they could be doing that they’re currently not? If they
were running their own firm, what changes would they make?
Find out — what’s it going to take to get you? The answer is finding out early on a candidate’s compensation, and compensation
doesn’t mean salary. It means the overall package, expectations
and current level of remuneration, and then checking in along the
process because things can change.
People are not like milk that sits on a shelf with an expiration
date — ‘As long as you drink the milk in two months, you’ll be fine.’
You can have an individual that you think is a good candidate, and
four days later, imagine the milk hopping off the shelf and saying,
‘No, I’m expired.’ Constantly being in communication with your
candidate throughout the whole process is imperative.
Q: How do you retain people?
There’s no way any organization that had an expensive piece of
equipment wouldn’t maintain it. You wouldn’t treat it poorly
because it has too much value. Yet how often do organizations fail
to deliver the same level of care to people that they do to
machines?
Leaders don’t have people work for them — they have people
they serve. Either serve them or watch your most precious assets
walk out the door.
It’s like looking at a great painting and saying which stroke was
it that made the painting. If I took 10 strokes away, would it still be
the painting? What about 30? 50? At one point does it stop becoming a Picasso? When does it just become something my 6-year-old
daughter could do in her art class versus something that could sell
for $50 million? You just don’t know.
A good leader recognizes it’s not a destination to get to. It’s a constant journey to create an environment that inspires people to do
great work. Create that through the culture, systems, infrastructure and economic offerings that you provide.
HOW TO REACH: Kaye/Bassman International Corp., (972) 931-KBIC or www.kbic.com
