Always keep an eye out
Brown is so serious about recruiting the best talent that he allocates a portion of corporate revenue each year for new recruits. If a Brown & Brown office finds a recruit that it wants to hire but doesn’t have money in the budget, the allocated money can be used to solve that problem.
“Because when we come across really high-quality people to advance the company down the road, we want to invest in that talent,” he says.
Depending on the position, Brown and his staff devote 25 percent to 40 percent of their time recruiting.
“It’s a full-time job,” he says. “Meaning, in addition to all the other things, you’ve got to allocate a percentage of your time to recruiting high-quality people.”
Brown uses every opportunity to recruit. If he’s having a friendly conversation, he talks about his company a little and asks if that person knows anyone who might fit with the organization. If he or she doesn’t, then it’s no big deal for Brown. But if the person does, it can lead to finding a gem all from one simple question.
Brown will then pick the person’s brain about the potential candidate, and if he likes what he hears, then he meets with the candidate in person. However, there is always a chance that the person isn’t really in the market for a new job. Don’t view a meeting with a recruit that didn’t result in a hire as a failure.
“We don’t ever want to go into a meeting thinking it’s a waste of time, but sometimes you meet with people and they’re just not a fit,” he says.
While Brown & Brown allocates money for numerous new recruits, not every company can do that. Sometimes you might have two recruits that you really like but only have room for one. If that happens, let the second choice know that you really like him or her, but the candidate needs to be patient. You don’t want the candidate walking away with a bad feeling about your company.
“If you thought the second person was really good, I would be really open and honest with them and say, ‘Listen, we just don’t have the opportunity for you right now. We really like you. We’d like to stay in touch because we think that we have another opportunity in the next six months or nine months or three months, and we’d like to continue talking to you,’” he says.
