Four Steps to Hiring and Keeping Presales Talent When Talent Owns the Market

A wise VP of Presales once said, “Making a bad hire can cost you millions. Keeping a good hire can make you millions.” So let’s go with making, and follow the Four Steps of the H.E.A.R. Principle when hiring sales engineers (SEs):

Hire: De-risk your hiring
Engage: Have a process in place
Authority: What is your Employer Value Proposition (EVP)?
Reinforce: Highlight your key differentiators to candidates

Step 1: Hire

De-risk your hiring.

Fifty-eight percent of all applicants lie on their resumes. And candidates are generally on their best behavior during the interview, which may or may not be their true behavior. No wonder bad hiring decisions account for 80% of employer turnover.

The best way to de-risk is to recruit among people you’ve worked with or referrals from trusted sources. If you go out of network, vetting is essential. Ask for references, make clear they will be contacted, and contact them.

Step 2: Engage

Have a process in place.

Professional recruitment partners, such as your talent acquisition team or external agencies, can make it much easier to find and hire top-tier talent. But they are partners, and you must work with them.

Create an SOW that describes the role and successful candidate. Reach out to candidates personally, through social or phone calls, and know what you’re going to say. And follow up quickly. Responsiveness sends a signal, and great candidates have other opportunities actively seeking them out.

Step 3: Authority

What is your EVP, your Employer Value Proposition?

Most employers have an Employer Value Proposition that states what employees can expect of the company and what the company expects in return. It tells the company’s story, values, and how it wants to be perceived. It should talk about growth and account for your reputation on Glassdoor and other platforms. To SE’s, your competitive advantage and how you win business is a big part of the story.

Step 4: Reinforce

Highlight your key differentiators.

Top-tier hires don’t leave jobs without a good reason, so how do you distinguish yourself? Here are some things candidates think about.

Your company’s story and role in the world. Millennials, 35% of the U.S. workforce and growing, want to work for a company that makes a difference.

Career advancement. What does the career path look like? How is the SE challenged, trained, and supported?

Compensation. Candidate shortages and aggressive counteroffers are hyper-inflating salaries.

Leadership. Leadership’s adherence to a company’s purpose and values impacts recruitment and retention.

Location. Remote is the norm for SEs, but today many companies are working to make remote work better.

The “X-Factor”. What do you have to offer that others can’t or won’t?

Recruiting in a candidate’s market is tough. But with a plan, a process, some help, and a great story to tell, you can find the talent that will help you make millions!

About the author: Steven Shaffer at Global Recruiter Beachwood. Steve has been building unrivaled leadership teams for the fastest growing VC backed B2B SaaS companies using our proprietary Ascend TalentToolKit Platform. To learn more visit Presales Recruiter.

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