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Ryan Englin on NETPA AZ: Attracting and Hiring Rock Star Employees
Key takeaways
- Rock stars are the reliable foundation of a team. They want to be excellent in their current role, not climb the ladder. Superstars crush interviews because they do them constantly. Rock stars don't, and that's exactly why most hiring processes accidentally filter them out.
- Job descriptions are marketing ads, not compliance documents. Most read like a bulleted list of responsibilities, requirements, and rewards. The sections that attract rock stars are missing: values, vision, purpose, expectations, and what's in it for the job seeker.
- Three out of four job seekers are passive. They are not on the job boards. They are asking friends and family about where they work. If your primary recruiting effort is posting on Indeed, you are fishing in a pond that holds only 25 percent of the market.
- People do not leave jobs. They leave managers, culture, and leadership teams. If your job description says nothing about who the new hire will work for or what the culture feels like, you are invisible to the people you want most.
- If a new hire leaves in the first 12 weeks, that is a hiring problem, not an employee problem. Treat new hires like rock stars from day one. No logins, no desk, no badge on arrival tells them they made a mistake before the first week ends.
- Continuous communication through every step of the hiring process is not optional. 81 percent of job seekers say it would greatly improve their experience. Saying 'we'll let you know' and going silent for three weeks is how you lose rock stars to faster employers.
I spoke at the NETPA AZ virtual meeting about attracting and hiring rockstar employees. This was a workshop format, so I got to go deep on a few things I'm passionate about: why employers struggle to find good people, how to fix job descriptions, how to interview for authenticity, and why onboarding makes or breaks everything.
I started with a reality check. Three out of four job seekers are passive. They're not on the job boards. They're not updating their resumes. They're talking to friends, asking what it's like to work somewhere, and looking for a referral. If your entire strategy is posting on Indeed and waiting, you're fishing in a pond that holds about 25 percent of the market. That's a math problem, not a labor shortage.
Here's the other thing employers forget. Looking for a job ranks on the same stress list as death of a loved one, divorce, and relocation. If you're not communicating with applicants, if you let resumes sit for weeks before responding, you are compounding that stress. And your best candidates, the ones with options, will take the first reasonable offer just to get out of that stress. Speed and communication are not nice-to-haves. They are competitive advantages.
I spent a good chunk of time on the rock stars versus superstars distinction. Every hiring manager says they want a rockstar. Reliable. Expert in their lane. Not looking to climb the ladder. Puts their head down and does world-class work. The problem is, rockstars don't interview like superstars. Superstars walk in polished, ambitious, ready to tell you everything you're doing wrong by day two. Rockstars are quieter. They know their value. They don't need to impress you with big ambitions because their ambition is to be the best at what they already do. If your interview process rewards flash over substance, you will keep hiring superstars and wondering why they leave when the next shiny opportunity comes along.
I walked through the perfect job description and it's nothing like what most companies post. Four sections. First, a high-impact lead-in. Not "We're a company in Phoenix looking for technicians." That's what every competitor says. Make those first few sentences specific and compelling because job boards display them like search results. Second, tell people what you're NOT looking for. Give real examples of behaviors that don't work. Third, build in the WIIFM. What's In It For Me. Not just pay and benefits. Purpose. Values. Vision. Who they'll work for. What the culture actually feels like day to day. Fourth, get clear on expectations and accountability.
Most job descriptions hit three things: responsibilities, requirements, and rewards. That's the bare minimum. It's a window sticker. Nobody buys a Corvette because of the window sticker. They buy it because of how the commercial made them feel. Your job ad is a commercial. Write it like one.
I also talked about easter eggs. One of our clients puts a line about two-thirds into the job description asking applicants to name their favorite Disney princess. Then one of the application questions asks for the answer to the question in the description. No Disney princess? They didn't read it. Simple. Effective.
On interviewing, I hammered one point: focus on behavior, not skills. There are literally thousands of infographics online teaching candidates how to answer traditional interview questions. If you ask "Where do you see yourself in five years?" you're getting a rehearsed answer. Faking an answer is easy. Faking behavior is hard. Help them take the mask off. Create a trusting environment. Make a decision before they leave the room. If it's a no, tell them now. Rockstars will respect that. If it's a yes, tell them the next step immediately. Every hour of silence sends the message "you weren't impressive enough."
I closed with onboarding and the 2412 Launch. The first two weeks set the tone for the next year. If Mick Jagger walked into a stadium and nothing was set up, no sound, no lights, no stage, he'd walk right back out. Your new hire is a rockstar. Treat them like one. Have the logins ready. Have the desk clean. Celebrate them. Ask for feedback. And in the first 12 weeks, help them develop ownership and set their own goals. If they leave in the first 90 days, that's not their failure. That's a hiring problem you need to fix.
One stat I left the audience with: only 12 percent of employees strongly agree their organization does a great job onboarding. In small and mid-size companies, that number is even lower. That gap is where good people disappear.
If you liked this, I go deeper on all of these concepts on Titans of the Trades.
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