Scouting "Game Changers" for Your Team

I spent last weekend touring around Boston and happened to catch a Red Sox/Yankees game (Go Sox!). With playoff baseball about to begin, I couldn’t help but think about the pressure management is under to push their ball club to the playoffs and ultimately win the World Series.

For those of you who know baseball, then you will know the name Theo Epstein. For those of you who don’t, here’s a quick backstory: The Red Sox hired Theo as their General Manager in 2002 and won their first world series since 1918 in 2004. Through his management expertise, the Red Sox were able to overcome their World Series curse. Epstein now works as the President for the Chicago Cubs, who currently are the World Series favorites.

This is proof that the ability to “scout” for the right talent in organizations is critical… I also got thinking about how running a full desk in Life Sciences recruiting can be compared to running a baseball team.

Baseball scouts/managers look for players with good batting skills, fielding skills, and specific position strengths.

Recruiters/business leaders look for candidates with the right sales numbers, years of experience, personality, and career goals.

When it comes to the business development side of executive recruiting, scouting is also very important. How do we know a good client from one that isn’t? The initial conversation ultimately sets up this relationship. How is the “team” chemistry between hiring authority and recruiter? Where is the motivation to make the hire coming from? At the end of that initial conversation, you have to assess how likely, or unlikely you are to fill the role.

Just like the owners of baseball teams, who rely on fans to fill their seats, hiring authorities rely on us recruiters to fill key roles... Through prospecting on both sides of the coin, a great recruiter can be like having your very own Theo Epstein on call!

-Kyle