In my last column, I explored Jim Collins’ “hedgehog” principle and how powerfully it can be used to attract great employees. After many dozen interviews with the CEO, I am convinced that leaders with well-defined hedgehogs implement the most successful hiring models.

Recent job growth figures mean more companies are competing for the same talent. This puts additional pressure on us to determine how we can minimize attrition on our best people.

I interviewed CEOs of successful small and medium-sized companies to find out how they are tackling this trend. They had to meet two criteria: first, they had to report consistent profitable growth over the past 3-5 years, and second, they had to demonstrate a great passion for attracting and retaining good people.

Rod Walker, president and CEO of Knightsbridge Technology, a Chicago-based consulting firm, meets the criteria. According to Walker, “Recruiting the best talent is my number one priority. As we experience a 41% CAGR, we have challenged ourselves to attract top-notch people quickly while maintaining our culture.” It’s no wonder Knightsbridge has a 15% voluntary churn rate, much lower than the current service industry average of 25%.

I also spoke with Janet Amirault, president of the Software Consortium in Towson, MD. This firm provides strategic IT consulting services to clients such as Black & Decker, Sylvan Learning and Marriott Corporation. They have generated an annual growth of more than 15% in the last 9 out of 10 years. Of the two good performers who resigned last year, both became corporate clients.

These leaders shared common strategies:

1. Design the position first, then recruit. Amirault suggests: “Document the key knowledge, skills and behaviors you need for each position.” In my experience, many companies still rely on job descriptions to attract good people and skip this critical step. Some positions will always require certain credentials and education. What is often missing are the key behaviors you will need to quickly align this person with your company culture, processes, and values.

You should also review your interview questions. For example, if you want to make sure that this person has a commitment to lifelong learning (a behavior), how would you know? Amirault recommends that you “ask very specific questions, like ‘What were the last two courses you signed up for while working at ABC Company?”

2. Implement multiple candidate data collection methods. Consider personality surveys (like PDP / Dynapro and Myers-Briggs) and external background checks (like Kroll America). Most of these programs require less than 30 minutes of your time and collectively can cost less than $ 500. The investment is a fraction of the cost of a poor hire, ranging from $ 100,000 for IT to millions for brokers. mortgage.

3. Strengthen your systems and enabling technology. According to John Walsh, president of Del Mar Database in San Diego, “Growing your own leaders can be a very effective strategy, but it requires very good business processes and technology. Internally promoted teams need better tools due to their lack of experience.” . The Mortgage Bankers Association projects a 47% increase in TI’s capital budget in 2004, two-thirds of which is slated to streamline processes for loan origination professionals.

4. Increase your commitment to consistently providing professional development. Knightsbridge invests more than $ 1 million a year in training and pays special attention to new hires and junior consultant development. That is almost 3% of the income. Software Consortium has shifted a solid percentage of its training budget from standard technical skills to leadership and sales disciplines.

These great examples show that if you treat your hiring system like gold and your hedgehog is strong, you may be smarter than your competitors!