The story of 2 pharmacies and 2 candidates…

When you’re looking for staff, you’ll encounter 2 types of candidates; the really good ones (that you want to hire) and the rest…. for the sake of this story let’s focus on the really good ones. Like a lot of business, recruitment is a supply and demand exercise; the good candidates are often in very high demand – the very reason you want them is the same reason your competitors want them too. There are also 2 types of Pharmacies that recruit;

1. the ones who understand supply and demand, and act promptly to secure the candidates they have identified that the want
2. those that don’t, and display no urgency whatsoever in their decision making.

As a rule of thumb, the companies who don’t understand supply and demand, almost NEVER end up with the really good candidates they want. They are typically the ones that consistently talk about good talent being ‘hard to find’. While they ARE right, what they actually mean is ‘good talent is hard to secure’. And they’re very right there – when you’re up against your competition to secure a high calibre individual, you have to act promptly. Now no one is advocating making a rash decision (in recruitment, these are often far more damaging than no decision at all) – but once you identify the person you want to join your business, understand that the VERY same conversation could be happening in the boardroom of your competitors down the road, about the very same candidate. Once you’ve made your decision, act on it. I’m sure if you were buying a house, and you’d found the place you definitely want, you wouldn’t wait 2 – 3 weeks to make an offer….. you do it right away to avoid anyone else beating you to it. What makes you think recruiting is any different? Good talent IS hard to find – but often times SECURING it is even harder. Don’t be the company that fails to understand supply and demand. Treat your recruitment with the urgency it deserves, and you might just find the whole process a LOT easier.