“If you’re not always spending some time recruiting, you’re not doing your job.” That’s what Reid Hoffman, co-founder and Executive Chairman of LinkedIn, said recently on Charlie Rose (worth watching—I love the guy).

He’s right.

You’re not doing your job if you don’t have a resume file on your desktop. You’re not doing your job if you can’t remember your last interviewee. You’re not doing your job if you don’t have someone in the follow-up process.

If you’re not recruiting, you’re not doing your job. Do you hear me?

Why Is Recruiting Essential?

Here’s the deal. You’re working with what? People.

People do what? They leave.

• Some of them die (no one makes it out alive).
• Some of them retire.
• Some of them move away for various reasons.
• Some of them get better jobs.
• Some of them hate working for you and their dream of getting away from you finally comes true.

People leave. It’s just how it works.

Having people leave is NOT unpredictable. It’s totally predictable. They are leaving! Do you hear me now? Are you listening? Welcome back to reality where they aren’t staying forever; they’re leaving. Tune in, turn on, and wake up. They’re leaving, and it’s your problem to manage. WTFU and get to work!

Have I got you now?

Are You Recruiting Yet?

Nope.

• You believe they’ll leave (we’ve gotten that far), but you don’t think it’ll be soon. You’re wrong.
• You believe they’ll leave, but you don’t have an opening yet so you can’t recruit. You’re wrong.
• You believe they’ll leave, but you don’t have the time to solve a problem that isn’t right in front of you yet. You’re wrong.

You’re making a big mistake. Yes, a big mistake: you’ll see what I mean when they leave. But then, it’s too late to quickly solve the problem. Then you’ll wish you listened to me. Why not just agree with me now so you avoid that pain?

Run an ad, spread the word, and get the ball rolling. Start interviewing.

If you’re not recruiting, you’re not doing your job.

Speaking of Reid Hoffman, he has a new book, The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age. If you liked him on Charlie Rose (see above), then read the book. Good stuff. If reading a book is more than you can handle (you pathetic lightweight), then spend three minutes on The Alliance: A Visual Summary. A visual summary? Yeah, it’s kind of the cartoon version of the book for lazy people. (I loved it!)