Finding the best people to fit your business and culture is difficult, but it is also an opportunity. There are proven strategies for better recruiting, interviewing, and hiring. The talent pool is still good, but you must know how to fish.

Often in our industry we do what I call pulse hiring—that's pulse, not impulse. If candidates have a pulse, we hire them. Put an ad in the paper, cross your fingers, and wait. Take a look at some Web site every few days searching for online resumes. After that, we bait the hook, cast the line, and wait. It's passive. You hope some good fish comes along and bites. Recruiting new employees shouldn't be like fishing. It takes more than a coffee can full of night crawlers to get the best team assembled.

Recruiting is not passive, although we treat it like one. It seems as though the only time we recruit is when we have an opening. Big Pond Recruiting happens even when you don't have an opening, and it's perpetual. Big Pond Recruiting is not an event but a process.

Big Pond Recruiting encourages and provides incentives to existing team members to actively provide recommendations of friends and business acquaintances. A department head or leader in the business should continually provide information about openings, and also the need for resumes and applications for specific job descriptions. Consider changing your recruiting search every other month. Look at the job descriptions that have led to the most turnover. Rotate these through more frequently. Resumes and applications should be reviewed every quarter and collated by candidates and noncandidates. This will keep your pond full, and as the need arises, you can go fishing with a better chance of landing the right person.

Having a solid relationship with several organizations in your area is also a key recruiting technique. Working with employment and placement agencies can prove to be valuable. When recruiting technical, professional, or clinical staff, consider broadening this relationship beyond your borders. Often you will find big pond candidates outside of your immediate area who would be willing to relocate.

Placement bureaus in high schools, business schools, colleges, and clinical schools broaden your ability to land some terrific candidates. Often these organizations are looking for businesspeople and professionals to speak at meetings and/or sponsor events. While this does not increase your referral base, it will increase your talent pool. Work with these organizations to identify areas of education and training that are required or highly recommended for specific job descriptions. They will value your input and possibly redirect efforts in their curriculum to achieve these goals.

Employment fairs are another great recruiting ground. You will be able to review candidates for every conceivable level in your business. Consider being prepared at the employee fair to not just take applications, but also take time off the floor to interview some of the more impressive candidates.

Help-wanted ads in local newspapers will never go completely away. Often you will receive resumes from candidates who are employed by your competition. Review each resume and again collate candidates from noncandidates.

Trade and industrial associations are a great source of networking. There are tremendous opportunities to identify key candidates who currently work for your competition, or are in a different arena within home care. Always keep your eyes open for key candidates who can take your business to the next level. Take time to have coffee or a Coke, build trust and rapport, and understand their current responsibilities. If you sense an opportunity to bring them on—discuss it.

Notices in professional journals and magazines will attract high-level team members who will add significantly to your team. When placing these notices, ask the publication for circulation size and a state breakdown to understand not just who, but where, this will be viewed. You may be a West Coast company and the publication has a limited subscription base in that area, but has a large volume of subscribers on the East Coast.

Ty Bello is president and founder of Team@Work LLC, Fort Wayne, Ind. He can be reached via e-mail: .