Effective Recruiting Increases Speed of Doing Business

By Saman Chaudry

NATICK, Mass.-- Firms struggling to keep pace with their fast-growth counterparts need only look at one area of their business if they're genuinely interested in catching up: their recruiting.

Poor hiring practices and inadequate investment in getting the right people on board severely handcuffs firms. Not knowing how the firm isgoing to find the next project manager makes the principals who are selling the work wary about winning too much work, and the studio or department heads wary about their ability to put out more work, seriously slowing the speed at which the firm does business."

Here are some tips for effective recruiting:

• Include HR in your strategic planning sessions. This doesn't mean the HR director has to sit in on every minute of the planning session, but make sure he/she is present and takes an active part in the recruiting planning.
• Spend money to make money. Great employees don't fall from trees. The best people are usually those who are not actively looking for new jobs. Recruiting therefore requires effort, planning, and most importantly, money.
• Hire a qualified person to lead your recruiting effort. Hire someone who understands the firm's culture and vision as well as the industry to lead and manage the firm's recruiting effort.

Chaudry is an associate at ZweigWhite, which provides business information and expertise exclusively to engineers, architects, and professionals throughout the design and construction industry. The firm has an office in San Francisco.