Recruiting Purple Squirrels

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY
HIRE INNOVATORS,
PURPLE SQUIRRELS,
GAME CHANGERS AND
PIONEERS
PLANET
October 24, 2014
© Dr John Sullivan
www.drjohnsullivan.com 80sl

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My goals for today
1. To convince you of the value of
recruiting top performers
2. To expose you to some leading edge
hiring practices
3. To provide you with a handful of
takeaways and action items
4. To answer your questions
5. To have some fun
I’ll move fast today…but please interrupt at any time

Our approach to management is a little different
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In case you haven’t been to the Silicon Valley…
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2011.01239.x/full

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Can you match this?
The Sweet Shop

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Can you match a BBQ smokehouse story?

What do you have compared to this employee bar?
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Google wants going to a meeting to be fun
Slides in Google offices (they see no compliance issues)
Regular slide Quick slide to the food Fireman’s pole 9

Google sends a message that they want you to think
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Massage chairs

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You are competing against Google
“It's like… going to Disneyland everyday”
Source: A Google employee on Glassdoor.com

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What exactly is a purple squirrel?

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Why the name purple squirrels?
In the Silicon Valley… we call these innovators
“purple squirrels”… because they are so rare and
difficult to catch
These innovators go by a variety of names including:
Purple Squirrels (Google)
Pioneers or Ninjas (Facebook)
Game changers (GE)
Disruptors (Intel)
Wild Ducks (IBM)

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A quick definition of a purple squirrel
A rare individual (< 1% of all of those in a field)
Who can bring a major breakthrough to a firm
They have a successful track record of producing
innovations
They create a measurable ROI of at least 10X
more than the average employee
They are highly sought after because of the value
they bring

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A famous purple squirrel
Tony Fadell (Fa dell) conceived of the concept of the
iPod MP3 player… and he was recruited away from
Philips to Apple, where he made them billions

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Part II
Don’t do anything …
Until you understand the higher business
impact that comes from recruiting top
performers and purple squirrels
“Recruiting a handful of purple squirrels may have
the highest impact of anything you do in your
business this year”

If your firm needs to shift from an “also-ran”…
into an industry leader because of its innovation
You should realize that the jolt provided by hiring
a single purple squirrel may be enough to begin
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that transition! (LeBron)

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13 reasons…
why you must hire purple squirrels

You hire Purple Squirrels… because of their ROI
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1) Realize the value added by top performers
They’re a bargain… you pay them only what %
more?
25% but they produce what % more?
The top 1% of your workforce produces what %
of your total output ?
5%
The top 5% produce 26% (5X) - U of Indiana study
A top performer produces how much more than
the average employee in the same job?
- 10 times more than the average ee
GE & Yahoo
- 25 times more than average employee
- 300 times more than the average
- 1000 times more than the average
Apple
Google
Microsoft

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Successful businesses must have innovation
2. You hire them because they increase innovation
“Creativity” is the most important factor for the
successful company of the future
CEO survey conclusion from IBM’s Capitalizing on Complexity
 Innovation is replacing productivity as the #1
business goal (as a result of the success of the Apple
approach)
 The impact of innovators in mid-level jobs is
becoming… greater than the impact of many
executives

Why it’s worth the effort to recruit Purple Squirrels
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Hire them because…
3. Purple squirrels make everyone around them
better… because they are team players and they
help and inspire others (i.e. Magic Johnson)
4. Your customers will notice the change at your
firm when you hire purple squirrels
5. Adding them will act as a magnet to attract others
to your workforce and that will instantly improve
your employer brand image (LeBron)
6. Hiring them will help to convince current
employees to stay because they can learn from
them

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Hire them because…
7. They are self-motivated – you won’t need to
spend any time motivating them… because they
are driven to be the best
8. Their economic impact is immediate… so they
will measurably impact a firm’s products/services
and revenue within 18 months
9. The expertise areas of purple squirrels are
critical to dominance in the marketplace (i.e.
technology, product development, mathematics,
the monetization of products/services, marketing
and Social Media)

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Hiring weak performers costs the firm money
10. Weak performing employees are costly
A weak employee may cause errors and disruption
each year up to 2 ¼ times their annual salary
(O’Boyle and Aguinis)
They take up a manager’s time because their
managers must spend nearly one day a week
(17%) dealing with them (Source: Robert Half)
Bad ones stay forever… weak hires may stay 20
years, multiplying their negative impact

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11) Hire only “A” players
Always hire the best managers – "A" people
As soon as you hire a B, they start bringing in
B’s and C’s" Source: Jay Elliot in “The Steve Jobs Way”
“Never ever, ever compromise on quality,”…
“It’s toxic. If people see poor performers all
around them, they decide they don’t need to work
that hard. Your very best people will leave” Source: Laszlo
Bock Google
“The problem is that A players are only attracted
to work at places where they see other A
players, they smell B from a mile away” Inventor James
Dyson

12.Firms now operate in a VUCA world (Volatility,
Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) and Purple
Squirrels are adaptive… so they thrive in a
chaotic world
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Perpetual crisis

13) Hiring has the highest business impact
of any people management function (BCG)
How much business impact does great hiring have?
Source: BCG/WFPMA - From Capability to Profitability: Realizing the Value of People Management, 2012 27

Mid and lower impact HR functions
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How much do Purple Squirrels impact
the bottom line?
Which of these firms hire the most / fewest
Purple Squirrels?
IBM
HP
Amazon
Microsoft
Google
Facebook
Apple
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What is the % difference in “rev per employee”
between firms with good vs. great recruiting?
A comparison of employee output (rev per employee)
Average $208,000
IBM $229,700 (11% above the average)
HP $352,400 (Nearly 1¾ times the average)
Amazon $697,016 (Nearly 3¼ times the average)
Microsoft $877,000 (Nearly 4 times the average)
Google $1,320,000 (Nearly 6.5 times the average)
Facebook $1,580,000 (7Apple.5 times the average)
Apple $2,218,000 (Nearly 11 times the average)
Key learning - it takes nearly 10X more employees
at IBM… to produce the same revenue as Apple
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(From 7/2014 data from www.MarketWatch.com )

Does bold recruiting impact stock value?
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Market cap rank/ value
1. Apple $412 billion
2. Exxon $401 billion
3. Microsoft $298 billion
4. Google $292 billion

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Part III
Realize that smaller and less glamorous
firms can still attract purple squirrels

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Prospect research reveals that
smaller firms actually have recruiting advantages
The top 7 smaller firm attraction factors
1. Build not fix – you can "create something brand
new ", rather than "fix" already existing features
2. Continuous excitement because you are
involved in everything – a constant adrenaline
rush because you will play a major role in every
problem, decision and opportunity Your entire
team will literally depend on you
3. Broad responsibilities – with lean staffing, you
will have broad job responsibilities, cross
functional opportunities and there will be no
restrictive job descriptions

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Market research reveals the factors
that attract purple squirrels to a firm
Startup attraction factors
4. Access and knowing why – you will have
continuous access to decision makers and if
they reject your ideas, you will know “why”
5. Rapid approvals - unlike at large firms where
new ideas take forever to get implemented, you
will have rapid approval or rejection of your ideas
and in many cases, you will be able to make your
own decisions
6. Collaborative work environment – you will be
in a highly collaborative work environment where
everyone helps out regardless of their rank

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Market research reveals the factors
that attract purple squirrels to a firm
Startup attraction factors
7. Location – your firm may be located in a place
where your pay goes further and it’s a great
place to raise a family

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Part IV
You won’t be able to successfully
recruit purple squirrels unless…
you know “their job acceptance criteria”

Know that job attraction factors vary
between top performers and average candidates
An average candidate at firm
xyz wanted these things…
But top performers at the same
firm wanted these factors…
1. Doing the best work of your life
2. Proud of their impact
3. Great managers
4. Opp. to innovate/ take risks
5. Learn rapidly / being challenged
6. Work with top co-workers
7. A choice of projects
8. Opp. to implement ideas
9. Opp. to make decisions
10.Input into schedule/ location
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1. Guaranteed pay
2. Exceptional benefits
3. Security
4. Time off with pay
5. No surprises/ predictable
6. Seniority matters
7. Equal treatment
8. Minimize risk and stress
9. Work/ Life balance

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Part V
In case you haven’t noticed…
recruiting has become much more aggressive
Here are some examples >

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Free tacos attract resumes and the media
Tokbox parked a taco truck across from Yahoo's
12/10/08

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POP “mobile” recruiting
Yahoo coffee cart recruiting at the Google bus
stop

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POP “proximity” recruiting
Bigcommerce recruiting at hi-tech bus stops with
“poached” egg sandwiches and coffee

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Most hiring is inaccurate
Gate Gourmet at O’Hare used big data to
improve new hire performance
 It analyzed new hire turnover rates
 It learned they were closely connected to…
commute distance and access to public
transportation
 After changing its hiring criteria, the firm
achieved “fully staffed status” for the first time
 And cut unwanted turnover to 27%
Source: Talent Management 11/22/13

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Video job descriptions provide
a competitive advantage
A video job description can reveal the excitement
behind a job (Quickstop, Accenture and Deloitte)

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Would this be an aggressive poaching?
EA vs. Radical entertainment (ASK-EE)

Mobile recruiting… during layoffs
This firm drove a van around the neighborhood of
their “target” competitor (Blue Coat) when they
were in trouble… with this sign in order to enticed
their employees
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Inspired by Dos Equis’s
“Most Interesting man in the World”
Scopely’s Dos Equis approach -
Engineers received a year's
supply of Dos Equis, a custom-made
tuxedo, Cigars, sex panther
cologne, a spear gun, beard-grooming
oil and an oil painting
of themselves
And a sign-on bonus which
included a briefcase with $11,000
in bacon-wrapped cash
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Uber Smart Recruiting
“Lock up the good drivers & you lock up the market”
 “We can’t successfully recruit drivers without
talking to them” and better yet, recruiting drivers
in their very own car”
 So Uber Ambassadors (recruiters) book short
rides on Lyft (their competitor) to make their
recruiting pitch
 The referral fee is $250, which doubles to $500
for a Lyft driver and $1000 for a Lyft mentor

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Boldness is the “new normal”
Is this a subtle recruiting approach? 150 baskets

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Crowdsourcing for a CEO to get $100,000

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Startup recruiting future – Offensive recruiting
Boldly making fun of competitors at EA

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Part VII
Recruiting purple squirrels
requires a special approach

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10 tips on recruiting purple squirrels
1. Even though they are rare individuals (less than
1% of the workforce), they can easily be
identified because of their past high impact work
2. They must be fought for… because they already
have a good job, their boss will fight to keep them
and they constantly receive “anytime you’re ready”
job opportunities
3. Rather than perks and even money… you must
realize that their primary motivator is “the
work” and the opportunity to do the best and most
challenging and impactful work of their life (Apple)

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4. They are “super passive” prospects... that cannot
be successfully recruited or even contacted using
traditional methods
5.They realize their value and power, so they will
expect special treatment and a great candidate
experience during recruiting and after being hired
6.Offering remote work may be necessary because
Purple Squirrels expect “the work” to shift to…
where they want to work
7. If they don’t experience innovation and tech
during the recruiting process, they will assume it
doesn’t exist at the firm… and they will drop out

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8. Skill assessment becomes secondary to selling
because they have a successful and visible track
record of implementing innovation
9. A longer-term relationship and understanding
their “job acceptance criteria” are both
required before you can even discuss a career
opportunity
10.Because they probably already have a
personalized job and work environment, you must
be willing to offer at least the same level of
personalization (their “dream job”)

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Part VIII
Be aware that…
Much of what you think you know about
recruiting… may not be true

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Most hiring is inaccurate
“46% of new hires fail within 18 months”
Does that reach 6 Sigma quality level?
Source: Forbes 1/23/12 Based on study tracking 20,000 new hires

Here are a few Google data points that might
change your thinking about hiring
“GPA’s are worthless as a criteria for hiring”
“Test scores are worthless”
“Brainteasers are a complete waste of time”
Interviews – We looked at tens of thousands of
interviews… “we found a zero relationship
(between interview scores and on-the-job
performance) it’s a complete random mess”
“The proportion of people without any college
education at Google has increased over time”
The key determiner in deciding among candidates
is “capability and learning ability”
Laszlo Bock, Senior VP of people operations at Google The New York Times 57

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The power has shifted to the candidates
81% of recruiters say it is a candidate driven market
Source MRINetwork Recruiter sentiment study 2014

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Benchmark firms to learn from
Google
Facebook
Apple
Zynga
Microsoft
Zappos
Amazon
Marriott
Uber
Sports teams

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Part IX
And finally…
The most effective recruiting approaches

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Why are you finding that you can’t land top talent?
It may seem like Purple Squirrels aren’t interested
But the real problem is that your firm has no
compelling attraction tools or bait (beyond a paycheck job)

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Referrals are #1 for quality hires
Use the “give me 5” referral approach (Google)
Proactively approach top performers and ask them
 To identify the top five people that they know in
their field… in these categories
The best performer you ever worked with
The most innovative
The best team player
The best manager
The best working under pressure
 Then ask your employee to contact these 5
individuals and try to convince them to apply

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Boomerangs are #2 for quality hires
Use a Boomerang re-hire program
 Determine when they are leaving who you
would want to re-hire based on their performance
and skills
 Use offboarding to explain your desire to keep in
touch
 Build a corporate alumni group on LinkedIn or
Facebook
 Periodically push information, discounts and
relevant jobs… ask for business referrals
 Use reference checking calls to your firm as an
indication that they are looking

Reconsider semifinalists
Implement a "silver medalist” approach
Maintain ties with candidates who have been
runners-up for past jobs… and
• Those that rejected our offers
• Soon to be qualified
• Bad fit for this manager
• Top recruiting process dropouts
"we hire a ton of people from that group"
Silver medalists get emails and text updates as
more job opportunities become available
Also used by GE and Intuit
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“Proactive” tools
Reach out to job references for referrals
 Identify top performing hires from last year
 Call their references that said accurate things
 Thank them
 Ask them “Do you know anyone else as good?”
 Ask them to be a future reference source

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Recruiting on the “right day”
On most days, you will get a hard “no” from
purple squirrels… except on these “right days”
 Christmas and New Year are reflection days
 A boss/ mentor/ best friend / CEO left
 Day of a merger or layoff
 Lost a promotion or a key project
 After their yearly bonus
 After their performance appraisal
 When their project is ending
 Their annual work anniversary

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Employee Videos are powerful messaging tools
Employee videos make “finding and feeling the
excitement” easier for outsiders (Film Festival)

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Referral cards can be powerful
Your customer service just now was exceptional.
I work for the Apple store and you’re exactly the
kind of person we’d like to talk to.
If you’re happy where you are, I’d never ask you to
leave.
But if you’re thinking about a change, give me a call.
This could be the start of something great.

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Simple but effective recruiting tools
Ask for names during the hiring and the on
boarding processes
During interviews, challenge the industry
knowledge of your best candidates by asking
them to list the names of the outstanding
individuals that they know
Also ask all top new hires during onboarding
“who else is good at their former firm and in the
industry?" Next ask the new hire to help you
recruit any desirable individuals that they know.

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Make your job postings exciting
Most job descriptions are painfully dull
So hiring managers and recruiters should work
together to rewrite them so that they “sell” the
exciting aspects of the job
At the very least, job descriptions should be
tested side-by-side against your competitors’
descriptions to ensure they are more compelling

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Utilize the mobile platform because people carry
them 24/7
Smart recruiters take advantage of them because
of their high response rate
Make sure that your corporate website and
application process is compatible with smart
phones
And then use it’s text, picture, voice and video
capability to communicate your recruiting
messages

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Develop a “company sell sheet”… because
managers do a poor job selling the company to
potential recruits
Survey your key employees to identify the
specific factors that make your firm superior to
your competitors
Provide them with a “side-by-side” opportunity
comparison sheet showing where your firm’s
opportunities are superior to each of your
competitors
You can also attach a version of this sell sheet to
your application form

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Select a hiring team
Some managers aren't good salespeople or
recruiters
So identify a group of your employees that excel
at selling candidates and let them do most of the
hiring
Because they will do a lot of hiring, they will
naturally understand the recruiting market and
be better at it… than a single manager that only
does hiring once or twice a year

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Show them where they will be in 2 years
Provide top candidates with a profile of what
“others like them” have accomplished and learned
while at your firm
Excite them by showing them where they could
be in a year or two… if they were to join your
firm

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“Hire them both” buddy program
This is a variation of the successful U.S. Army
program
When you encounter an exceptional candidate,
offer to hire them and their best friend at the
same time (i.e. colleague, college friend or
spouse/ partner)
This may provide a desirable candidate with an
opportunity to commute together or to work
together with a best friend

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Utilize "exploding offers”
Candidates that are likely to get multiple offers
need to be closed very quickly
So try offering a significant sign-on bonus that is
contingent upon accepting an offer immediately
(either before they leave your facility or the same
day)
If the offer is not accepted right away, the bonus
continually decreases over the next few days
This bold approach can provide a powerful
incentive to accept or make a quick decision

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Improving candidate assessment
1. Live video interviews will make more candidates
available (iPhone app)
2. Give them real problems during the interview
(like you would hire a chef)
3. Ask them to project the future of their jobs/the
industry
4. Give them a flawed process and ask them to find
the weaknesses
5. Review samples of their work
6. Hire them for one time weekend or remote work

Did I make you think?
Give you a few takeaways?
www.drjohnsullivan.com
JohnS@sfsu.edu 78

Recruiting Purple Squirrels

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