The NFL draft is perhaps the most ingenious recruitment drive in the world. Each and every year, it generates a huge amount of publicity and identifies the very best talent in the land, all in one fell swoop. Not only that but it pretty much levels the playing field for all involved with smaller teams getting an equal opportunity to sign up those with potential.
And just as these players have the potential to join the list of recent NFL MVPs so too could your new hires become your most valuable employees. But before we get to that, what exactly can we learn from this most exciting of recruitment campaigns?
Hire for talent, not for need
Take a look at the average NFL roster and you’ll see that very few teams are lacking in any position. In fact, when you take practice rosters into account, teams are covered extremely well in each and every position on the field. Of course, there are times when one or two areas may need a little more depth, but generally speaking, teams rarely go into the draft with a ‘hire for need’ approach.
They look for talent, and so too should you.
What we’re saying here is that you should approach any recruitment campaign with an open mind. Understand that while you may have specific needs or roles to fill, there are times when a talented individual comes along that you simply can’t say no to. Did the Patriots need Tom Brady when they drafted him? Nope, not at all, but they did see a potential in him and well, the rest is history.
Understand the cost of a bad hire
NFL teams make bad hires all the time. In an industry where a knock to the knee can force a player into retirement or a player may not settle in a new environment so easily, you can understand why. Add to that the huge amount of pressure each of these players is under to perform and prove their worth, and bad hires happen more often than not. However, there are many more instances where the team didn’t do their homework on a player and signed him simply for the sake of it.
The lesson we can take from the NFL here is to not be that kind of employer. Do your due diligence on a candidate and take into account just how much money this hire could cost you if it all goes wrong. Take the signing of Demetrius Underwood by the Vikings back in 1999 for example. He was signed on a $5.3 million contract, showed up for one day of training and that was it. Had they done their due diligence on the player, the Vikings would have known that Underwood was undergoing some serious health issues.
So what can you do to offset the cost of a bad hire? Well, the obvious answer to that is the probationary period. But an even better idea would be to invite your star candidate to work with the team on a mock project for a short period of time. Had the Vikings done the same with Underwood, they would have saved themselves a great deal of money.
Diversity pays dividends
Diversity and inclusion is a major talking point in the world of recruitment and has been for some time now. The facts are pretty straightforward — according to research, a diverse workforce produces 19% more revenue. That’s a statistic that’s pretty hard to ignore and when it comes to identifying talent, the NFL knows that an open approach to diversity is the driving force behind success.
As we mentioned earlier, NFL teams take a talent-first approach in everything. A player’s cultural or financial background is completely irrelevant to them as is their education. Of course, players from more successful college teams tend to get noticed a little quicker than others. However, the fact still remains: if an NFL coach spots a talented individual, they don’t care where they come from, they just want them to sign on the dotted line.
What we recruiters can learn from the NFL is that we don’t necessarily need to look to Ivy League schools or major corporations in our search for talent. We also must remember that diversity can work to our advantage.
The one major issue recruiters tend to encounter here though is unconscious bias. This is incredibly difficult to account for as most recruiters don’t even realize that it’s something that affects them. With this in mind, it’s always a good idea to keep your team on their toes by including bias modules in a yearly training program. This puts the issue front of mind and works as a gentle reminder to even the most experienced of pros.
Measure, analyze, and take action
These days, professional sports teams spend a great deal of time and money on analytics data. They monitor everything from player progress in training to performance on the field. Interestingly though, they also use data collection to inform their decisions in the draft.
NFL teams employ scouting networks that identify talented players early on in their high school careers. They then follow their progress and collect data on each player. By the time the draft comes along, they will have a shortlist of players that they know check all the boxes in terms of skills and potential.
This is something that recruiters and hiring companies can also do. High-performing students can be identified and their progress watched over the course of their studies. Likewise, suitable working professionals can be identified and added to a passive candidate pipeline. The tools and technology are there for us to easily do this, so perhaps it’s time we take advantage of it.
The NFL draft may not be your cup of tea but the fact remains that it’s one of the most effective recruitment methods in professional sport. So, are you ready to find your next MVP? Who knows, your next hire could be the Tom Brady of customer service management or software engineering!
This post is supplied and supported by vimedigital.com