Guerilla Recruiting - Goodyear

Guerilla Recruiting is all about opportunity. Knowing where and when to cultivate your talent is the key to your success.

Here is a solid opportunity that a good recruiter will seize.

Goodyear decided to do away with the pension plan for their salaried workforce. That was great news for shareholders as it will save the company somewhere in the neighborhood of $90 million a year. BUT....how do you think the workforce is feeling? Tack on the news that they will have to pay more for retiree health care and you have a bunch of disgruntled workers looking to get out.

If you are a competitor of Goodyear, you have just been given a terrific opportunity to recruit talent away from them. Employees who have benefits reduced or taken away from them are prime candidates for the Guerilla Recruiter. Top notch employees with strong marketable skills will be available for the taking. Why? It is basic human emotion. No employee wants to feel under appreciated.

Need some ammo to fire up a recruit? Show them the Goodyear 2006 proxy and point out the current president has beneficial ownership of about 650,000 shares and he just increased his net worth by $1.6 MILLION in the last couple days by taking away the employee's benefits. Play this card to your advantage! The president and the Board get richer off the backs of their employees. Nothing will fire a recruit up more than that.

Stealing talent from a competitor offers three huge advantages over "regular" recruiting. You gain experienced talent in your industry, Goodyear loses it. You gain market share, Goodyear loses it. Finally, you gain a highly motivated employee who wants to crush one of your main competitors (Goodyear).

As companies continue to cut costs, opportunities to recruit top talent from your competitors will remain bountiful. Stay tuned.