Most of us like to believe we are unselfish and altruistic. But, on some level, we all evaluate decisions by thinking “what’s in it for me?” Thinking about ourselves and our needs is not a news flash and is nothing to be ashamed of.
What's In It For Me (WII-FM for short) is a survival tactic and can help us to achieve our goals.
WII-FM is a key part of my job as a building products recruiter and I want to share how you can use it in your hiring and recruiting efforts. You'll be more successful if you always focus on what you hope to gain and what your candidates are looking for.
How WII-FM Is Part Of Successful Recruiting & Hiring
WII-FM is a fantastically successful hiring and recruiting tactic for several reasons.
- You will be crystal clear on what you need in your next hire. Clarity makes hiring easier because you don't get led astray by so-so candidates who “could” or “might” work.
- Hiring will become much more than just filling a need. You'll start planning for the future and for retention.
- You'll focus all of your recruiting efforts towards attracting amazing candidates. And, what's even better – you'll have all the tools you need to actually attract top performers because you will be speaking their language.
- You'll save time and money because you will be zeroed in on exactly what you want, exactly what they need to have to be successful and exactly what you can use to entice them.
Your Company First
So how do you go about implementing WII-FM in hiring and recruiting? It's pretty easy! Start by thinking about your needs and desires. Be as selfish as you want to. Remember you want to make sure you get exactly what you want out of your next hire, so now isn't the time to be modest.
First answer all of these questions honestly and bluntly:
- Why was this position created or why is it open?
- How does/will this position benefit the company?
- What compensation can we afford?
- Are there benchmarks we need to use to measure success?
- What results do we need to see to know we’ve hired the right person?
- Would a different position be a better fit for the company’s needs?
- What does success in this role actually look like?
When you take a hard look at these questions and answer truthfully, you should have a pretty good picture of what the role is, how it benefits your company and what a successful candidate will be able to do in it.
WII-FM – Candidate Perspective
Next, ask yourself the following questions from a candidate’s point of view:
- Why is this an attractive role?
- What challenges need to be overcome in this role?
- What’s the company culture and work environment like?
- Why would someone be excited to work for us?
- Are there negative perceptions about our company or environment?
- What salary, benefits, and compensation package do we offer?
- Is that attractive to candidates?
- In the long run, how does accepting this position benefit the candidates?
Putting It Together
After you have taken a ruthless look at exactly what you want and need and exactly what benefits a candidate would get from accepting your role, you should have a very good start on your hiring plan.
You should have figured out if the position is OK or if you need to refine any part of it. You'll have an outline for measuring success and you'll know exactly what your full compensation/benefits package looks like. You'll have identified key points of interest for candidates and identified any problem areas with your company, environment and the role. You can use the things that you have discovered in your job description and job ads so they are far more enticing.
As a recruiter, HR director or hiring manager, the greatest asset you could have is being able to work with truly qualified candidates to create a situation where everyone’s happy with the answer to “what’s in it for me?”
