The Hiring Struggle and How To Keep Going

I have heard from so many that hiring has become a real challenge. You will hear no different from me. I recently found myself struggling to find the right candidates to fill my bookkeeping positions. Searching for the right person takes time, energy, and resources. It usually comes at a time when we are busy “doing” the business, so we want to fill the position as fast as possible. When I am struggling with something, I head for the books… no not my financial books – the books that help me and give me great advice on how to move forward.

I have shared several times that Sooter Consulting Inc. is working through Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz. There are great chapters on building your team with many ideas to help you not fall into the trap of just hiring to fill the position. You want to get the right people on your bus doing the right things at the right time. I loved that line in the book, but as the frustration of finding just the right person set in I began to doubt that wisdom. I began to see myself just wanting a person… any person to fill the hole in my business.

My CEO group decided to read Good to Great by Jim Collins. It’s a book filled with lots of statistics which usually thrills me, but this time I found myself wanting to cut through all of that and get to the point of the book. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of gems in the book, but I was drowning in the challenge of just finding just the right person to fill 2 positions. I somehow wanted this book to say that hiring should be easier and faster.

You could describe me as disappointed to find Jim Collins spouting the same thing as Mike Michalowicz. However, I wasn’t disappointed. I was somehow energized by the chant of similar material.

Jim’s first point is about me becoming a Level 5 Leader. Level 5 leaders are humble to a fault. They are great listeners and very determined. Then just as I’m at my lowest in my search to find the right person, here comes the chapter about getting the right people on the bus. He ever goes so far as to say it’s more important than the course of the bus. If you have the right people on the bus, then the course will be easy to plot because you have people that will lean in and make things happen.

I needed to hear that. I needed the push, to go the next mile to find the right people. I needed the encouragement not to “settle”. Companies don’t become great without great people.

So my friends, if you too are feeling exhausted from the search, I encourage you not to give up. Your perfect bus of people is just around the corner. You will not be sorry that you waited until you found them. Your company can become great, but we all have to be humble and patient.