In October every year millions tune in to Major League Baseball as the playoffs begin. Many – maybe someone in your family – have been a fan since grammar school, so they’re filled with excitement. Everything reminds us recruiters of baseball!
We at Flexicrew find that baseball can teach business supervisors, HR managers and recruiters how to win at their jobs.
Baseball teams labored 6-months for 162 games, through a whole season to make it to the playoffs. Now, coaches have the fear if their top talent will perform now at crunch time. Hiring managers can feel a scary sensation (it’s almost Halloween) parallel to these teams’ coaches.
All they have accomplished over a lengthy period of time can be spoiled by one key hire gone wrong. A recruiter understands that pressure also – spending time becoming acquainted with the client’s open position requirements, reviewing resumes, interviewing candidates and then…one false step anywhere in the process can ruin the expected hiring outcome.
Want to prepare your workforce for the big leagues? It may be simpler than you think. It’s because baseball can teach business hiring managers several useful lessons.
Reflecting on this connection between hiring and baseball, here are some short lessons to take into account during the MLB playoffs.
- Hiring – Team Flexibility Is Essential
Sometimes in hiring, the ‘high-flyer’ candidates don’t automatically yield the best outcome. Like in baseball, there is a reason in business organizations are called ‘team.’ And the most successful teams combine skills to achieve the best outcomes.
The new hire must be good, but team flexibility is crucial.
It takes more to win than just the most gifted individuals. The business team, like the baseball team must be talented and versatile over a variety of areas and conditions.
Team chemistry trumps all!
- The Tide Turns
This season, the Cleveland Indians represent a vivid story for hiring. After losing a total of 55 games Even if you fall short 55 times, (as Cleveland lost that many games) sooner or later you will break the streak and when you do, it can be exhilarating. Cleveland then went on to set a record for consecutive wins in a season with 22 straight! Were they exhilarated!! It’s easy to give up as a recruiter – the job can be discouraging and, in some cases, downright overwhelming. When a recruiter’s placement falls-through, or an employer’s new hire fails to deliver, or you simply have an off day, remember the Indians and remember you can’t be great if you don’t keep going to bat.
- There’s Always an Opportunity to Contribute
There’s always an opportunity to contribute in baseball. A player can strike out on his first three at bats or make three errors in the field, yet still hit the game-winning homerun in the bottom of the ninth-inning.
The same goes for working. For your new temp workers their first three attempts at learning a complex process may not turn out the way you want, but that doesn’t mean the temporary staffer can’t practice, and with your coaching, improve his skill at the task.
- Hire for Fit as Well as for Skill, Capability, and Smarts
Every MLB team employs scouts in all major league cities. There is a ton of effort that goes into evaluating players – both minor leaguers as well as big leaguers from other teams.
Baseball teams want to select quality players who give performance and will also fit with their teammates.
Some research points out that in business, the majority of newbies hired into new roles leave within a year. The primary reason is fit, or the job wasn’t as expected, or the organization wasn’t as expected. Fit is critical in a tight talent market. There is little room for error. The disruption of a bad hiring decision is costly for the organization and for the individual. A key is making sure the job people actually get when they join and the job you sold them in the interview process is the same. Making sure they are the best talent for the work you need done, helps everybody win.
- Know your capabilities
The stud pitchers in the majors have a variety of pitches for every batter and pitch count. They have a go-to pitch which they feel confident will be a strike in every situation – for every batter.
Similarly, an HR manager or a recruiter needs to know how to shine in every phase of recruiting/hiring. It’s like a baseball game with both strategy and timing and recruiters and HR must recognize their capabilities and their drawbacks to achieve their goals.
The best way to know and enhance your HR capabilities is to practice them consistently until you are at the top of your game.
The key to maintaining your momentum is experience.
So, if you pay attention to those 5 lessons baseball can teach your recruiters and HR staff, then
your team will score game after game.
Want a heavy hitter to ‘go-to-bat’ for you with staffing, please give Flexicrew Staffing a call.
If you bite off more work than you can chew, let Flexicrew pinch hit for you with temps around the holidays and the year-end rush.