(This online-only article accompanies a Focus Report on hiring in the Sept. 21 print edition of Credit Union Times, including a look at ways to attract top Gen Y hires.)

When it comes to recruiting the best candidates for the job, credit unions might want to take a good look at their hiring track records.

Johnny Laurent, vice president/general manager at Sage Employer Solutions, a human resource solutions firm in Irvine, Calif., offered a few suggestions on recruitment.

Look Back to Go Forward. Take a look at your past procedures and practices as they relate to recruiting. Know what worked, what didn't and understanding why. If you can't fix a process, throw it out. Develop a strategy based on tried and true techniques as well as using those that are new but helpful, like social networking.

Hire for Attitude – Train for Skills. A résumé will give you information on a person's experiences and background so you can learn what skills they have. Companies have the ability to train for certain skills and do all the time. Software changes, protocols change but you can't change a person's attitude about life and approach to work. Hire people whose attitude fits your company's culture. If need be, you can train them to acquire the skills your company needs. New hires should have the ability to learn but the willingness to do so is crucial.

Past Performance Does Predict Future Behavior. When interviewing and doing background checks, knowing how someone performed or behaved in the past is a strong indicator of what they are likely to do in the future. So, questions should be based on behaviors. Unclear answers from former employers should not be accepted. Ask more questions until you are comfortable you know how the potential employee is likely to act in a given situation. Develop a recruiting strategy based on finding out who people are, not just what they can do.

Become the Employer of Choice. This is the #1 recruiting strategy. If an employer is the employer of choice, everyone wants to work for them and no one wants to leave. You can control your recruiting budget because word of mouth is your best advertising. Résumés come to you rather than you having to pay to get them from ads, on-line search engines, etc.

Put them in the book. It's important to keep a reference guide. A reference guide is a recruiter's best tool. It has information about everyone in your organization including people who work for you, people who don't but you wish they did. An employee's, likes, dislikes. What a current employee wants in their next job. Who's moving up, out or who is leaving and have they found a new home. Who took a job where, and why. A good reference guide is a record of what's happening inside your company and your competitors. It is a little black book to give the recruiter an edge on their competitors.

“Hire Hard, Manage Easy.” This is a quote from Alan Davis and this quote says it all. If you spend your time and energy on recruiting, interviewing and hiring the best then managing them is a breeze.

Instant Insights /

Start Recruitment With Review of Past Hiring Trends: Online Only

Related Stories

Recommended For You