In the upcoming February issue of tED magazine, we take an in-depth look at one of the top issues facing the industry—recruiting top talent.
One of many tips writer Ken Stier compiled is focusing on effective meet-and-greets.
When it comes to colleges and universities, there is a wide spectrum of approaches to recruitment—from attending career fairs to developing strategic alliances with schools. The latter might be considered a new gold standard for leading companies. Barry Lawrence, director of Texas A&M’s ID program, is a passionate advocate for this method as part of a critical focus companies should have on human resource development.
“We should not be out there trying to hire 10 people so that we can find two we want to keep,” said Lawrence. “Rather, we should focus on identifying two absolutely phenomenal individuals, hiring those people, and retaining them. We have to invest a great deal more in the recruitment process in finding the right people. Our No. 1 concern—the No. 1 threat to the distribution community—is failing to train and develop human resources to a level that is necessary.”
How companies interact with colleges in their recruitment efforts depends to a large degree on the intensity of their hiring needs and other factors such as the proximity of schools offering relevant programs. Most educators and college administrators strongly advocate that companies establish some kind of presence on campus, ideally with enough visibility to convey some sense of the company brand.
In the February issue of tED, Stier gives not only a few tips for maximizing the impact of meet-and-greets, but several other pointers for effective recruiting practices.
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