Groom your existing employees

It’s hard to believe, but most executives aren’t born with an MBA in one hand and a laptop in the other. In fact, most of them started out near the bottom (or middle) of the employee totem pole, and worked their way up from there. Are there any would-be execs in your staff? If so, it’s never too soon to start grooming them to move up in the company.

I recommend: Visit Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to take a quiz assessing your company’s culture toward grooming employees. For guidance in empowering your employees, visit HRsmart for a demo of their Development & Succession Planning solution.

Hire a recruiting and/or screening company to find and assess candidates

Now that you’re looking for a high-level employee, it’s definitely time to do pre-employment screenings, personality assessments, and background checks. The key employees in your organization should be chosen with special care, and many companies can handle this for you.

I recommend: Caliper works with small and large companies to find, match, and screen the best candidates for the key jobs in your company. Their tools, profiles, and other resources are well worth every dime.

Use an online recruiter

Go to an online recruiter or job bank, and find out what they offer the entrepreneur or small business looking for some new talent. Granted, some of the execs will be looking for the enormous paycheck, but others – those who thrive on a challenge and the entrepreneurial journey – just might want to take a gander at what you’re offering.

I recommend: Go to Vault’s Targeted Job Boards for talent in specific industries. While you’re there, check out their additional recruiting tools and initiatives – they’re a winning Web site, hands down!

List the positions with professional organizations

To save yourself some money – and aggravation – advertise your job openings with the applicable professional organization for your industry. This will increase your chances of going straight to la crème de la crème.

I recommend: Which national and international associations or non-profit organizations govern/oversee your industry? Call them first about reaching their audience, and then ask them to direct you to other relevant organizations. Go online to Directory of Associations for a searchable database of thousands of worldwide associations. One often-overlooked option is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – this site can lead you to information about your local Chamber.

Pay them according to fair industry standards

Want to attract the top quality talent? Then you must be able to offer them a fair salary for their work with your company. We’re not talking exorbitant – just the best you can do, with increases as your company’s revenues start picking up.

I recommend: Go to Salary.com Professional for quick and easy access to compensation data for thousands of positions. Salary.com Professional, available in monthly or annual subscriptions, lets you customize your answers, export data, and more. Want to try it before you buy it? Then go to their Free Trial. For specific regional and industry data, you might consider purchasing one of their many compensation and benefits Survey Reports.

Show them more than the money

If your prospective new exec has offers from one of the top corporations in the country, you’re not going to win in a salary bidding war for that person. But take heart – many high-level employees prefer the perks, anyway: if you offer them such priceless intangibles as “weekends off, guaranteed,” family-friendly policies, performance-based bonuses, the opportunity to make a difference, and the chance for their own personal and professional development, you might just be speaking their language.

I recommend: Go to HRTools’ “Motivate, Reward, and Recognize” Toolkit for e-tools, forms, and checklists to use in offering – and continue to provide – flexible and individualized benefits to your executives.