Build Relationships — Before You Recruit People

In keeping with the 5th Happy Manifesto Core Principle of ‘Recruit for Attitude, Train for Skill’ Semco meet potential future employees even before there is a vacancy.

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The Brazilian company Semco, run by Ricardo Semler, has always been a key inspiration for Happy. And visiting their site just now, I came across this great idea: Date Semco. The aim is simple, to get to know people before they have jobs for them to apply for.

We rarely advertise jobs at Happy, or use recruitment consultants. Instead we have a simple sign-up on our web site for people to register their interest in a job here. The result is that we have had over 2,000 people on the waiting list and, when we need to recruit new trainers, we often get over 100 completed application forms from just one email. Crucially this approach targets people actively interested in Happy, rather than those happening to be reading the job pages (in a newspaper or online) when your advert is there.

There isn’t a lot about Date Semco on their website, but I love the concept. Imagine having open days for potential recruits, maybe special events to get to know them, and keeping actively in contact – building relationships and getting to know people for when you next want to recruit.

The idea apparently came from Semco’s “Out of your mind” committee. This meets regularly to discuss weird ideas, ones to which the only sensible response is “You are out of your mind”. Another great idea – just imagine how much fun it must be on the committee and I bet some innovative products and approaches result.

Semco — truly inspirational even after all these years.

Related blogs

5 Successful Organisations that Recruit for Attitude– At Happy we ‘recruit for attitude, train for skill’. This blog highlights 5 organisations that do the same.
Abel & Cole- Getting the Right People in the Job– Ella Heeks, MD at Abel & Cole discusses how the company shifted their recruitment technique to scouting.
How to Recruit Smarter: Stop Asking Questions and Watch People in Action– What if we told you that traditional interviews aren’t the best way to recruit people for your business? What if seeing them in action was part of the progress?

Learn the 10 core principles to create a happy and productive workplace in Henry Stewart's book, The Happy Manifesto.

Support your aspiring and current managers to be empowering and confident leaders with Happy

Happy offers leadership programmes at Level 3, Level 5 and Level 7, from new managers/supervisor level all the way up to senior leadership teams and CEOs. These programmes are based on the ideas of trusting your people. They are practical and based on applying what yo’ve learnt. We aim to inspire and ignite change in your organisation, as well as giving you valuable management skills such as business strategy, decision-making, negotiation and project management.

We also offer programmes tailored specifically to people from Global Majority backgrounds. The content is the same, but have been designed to give new and experienced managers the skills they need to navigate organisational culture with a clearer perspective on their own potential, as well as building their confidence and expanding their professional strengths.

Henry Stewart

Henry is founder and Chief Happiness Officer of Happy Ltd, originally set up as Happy Computers in 1987. Inspired by Ricardo Semler’s book Maverick, he has built a company which has won multiple awards for some of the best customer service in the country and being one of the UK’s best places to work.

Henry was listed in the Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list of the most influential management thinkers in the world. “He is one of the thinkers who we believe will shape the future of business,” explained list compiler Stuart Crainer.

His first book, Relax, was published in 2009. His second book, the Happy Manifesto, was published in 2013 and was short-listed for Business Book of the Year.

You can find Henry on LinkedIn and follow @happyhenry on Twitter.