What Recruiters Can Learn From the Movie Moneyball?

by Erin Jacobs, VP of Marketing at Jobscience

I watched the movie Moneyball again this week and it got me thinking about recruiting and the use of disruptive technology in building a winning team. Here in Silicon Valley we see technology disrupting the way people strategize, interact and win every day-- but how does this relate to recruiting?

Recruiting in business was a lot like the old game of baseball- where bigger was better. The largest companies, or those with the deepest pockets, paid enormous fees to recruiters and head hunters to find their top talent. The most successful companies were like the Yankees, they leveraged big bank accounts, employed the most expensive hitters and offered high-ticket perks to attract the best. It was hard for the bootstrapped companies to compete.

But just like in Moneyball, necessity can drive innovation and start a new era...

"Your goal shouldn't be to buy players. Your goal should be to buy wins. In order to buy wins, you need to buys runs."- Peter Brand, Moneyball

Recruiter Version: Your goal shouldn't be to buy employees. Your goal should be to acquire highly sought after skills. In order to acquire highly sought after skills, you need to build relationships- inside and outside your company.

Today there is new standard of success in business, the concept of sustainable growth and profitability. Today’s fastest growing companies are not just competing for revenue they are competing for talent; facing the reality that although unemployment numbers are at their highest, there is a shortage for highly skilled workers in specific areas that they need to hire fast. Like the Oakland A's scouting team, they too must rely on a combination of the latest technology and smart recruiting practices to compete on the field.

Here are 6 practice drills for a winning recruitment campaign:

Identify the skill sets needed in the organization, preferably before you have a need
Define the key attributes of a qualified quandidate- including culture fit and work style- and don't settle for less
Develop a long term pipeline of potential talent, through strategic sourcing, social networking both inside and outside the organization and employment marketing tactics enabled by industry leading talent acquisition applications
Qualify skilled candidates and maintain a sense of momentum in your hiring process through automated workflows and event nurturing.
Effectively onboard new hires with the same momentum and diligence they experienced during the hiring process in order to guarantee they become successful team members that are likely to then attract the next generation.
Keep in contact with employees post employment- they can continue to add to your talent pipeline and/or return to the company

The All Star team that dominates in the social enterprise era isn’t formed by an antiquated network of “head hunters” or alumni associations. Today's All Star team is made up of diverse players with developed key skills that collaborate well and win as a team. Like in the movie Moneyball, the magic is in the mix of players that consistently get on base, can chat up someone on first, and bring in runs again and again. They started with the stats and skills they needed, they identified potential players and they nurtured them to a new level of success previously thought out-of-reach.

The bottom line: When you understand the combination of targeted skill sets your organization needs, to put the right people in the game, you go a lot farther in reaching the fence. When you have the right recruiting technology that enables highly targeted searches by skill sets, and is open and social at it's core, you have the ability to attract more of the candidates that will consistently round the bases. With the right strategies, for people and technology, you can assemble your 2012 All Star Team.

If you were going to create a baseball card for your top employees, comment below on what you would track? Do Recruiters and Hiring Managers at your company agree on what equals homeruns and base hits at your company?