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Recruiting Conversations

Recruiting Conversations

By: Richard Milligan Recruiting Coach
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Welcome to the Recruiting Conversations Podcast, a conversation designed to help Recruiting Leaders who manage a team as well as recruit. Richard Milligan is a speaker, author, strategist, and recruiting coach who built 21 teams as a Recruiting Leader.4C Recruiting 2019 Economics Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • The Bait and Switch That's Costing You Producers: 5 Moves to Fix It

    The Bait and Switch That's Costing You Producers: 5 Moves to Fix It
    Jun 2 2026
    Here's the summary rewritten in Richard's voice, speaking directly to the listener. You're growing, which means you're recruiting. But every time you go hard after new talent, this quiet fear shows up. Are you telling your best people they're replaceable? So you slow down. You recruit with one hand on the brake, and both your growth and your retention suffer for it. In this episode I want to flip that tension on its head, because recruiting and retention aren't competing priorities. They're the same skill pointed in two directions, and I'm going to hand you a five-move framework I call the Inward Playbook so you can win at both at once. Episode Breakdown [00:00:53] The Tension Every Recruiting Leader Feels Growth requires recruiting, but the second you go hard after new talent, that fear shows up that you're telling your current team they're not enough. So you recruit with one hand on the brake, and that's exactly why both your growth and your retention suffer. [00:01:25] The Twenty-Six-Year Marriage Principle I've been married to Leah for twenty-six years, and it's not because I was a good dater. It's because I never stopped courting her. The pursuit didn't end at the wedding. The pursuit became the marriage. And the same thing is true for the team you lead. [00:01:53] The Bait and Switch Most of us recruit like a great date and then lead like a flat partner. We pursue a producer hard, we cast vision, we make that person feel like the most important talent in the market, and then the moment they sign, we disappear into operational mode. About three to four months in, that producer realizes the person who recruited them isn't the person they work for. They won't always say it out loud, but they feel it, and they start answering the phone when your competitor calls. [00:02:43] The Framework: The Inward Playbook Whatever makes you compelling to a recruit on the outside, take that same energy and point it inward at the people you already have. Because if we're awesome externally and average internally, we can expect to lose our people. [00:03:15] Move 1: Cast the Vision Out Loud When your team constantly hears where you're going over the next one, three, and five years, recruiting stops feeling threatening and it starts feeling necessary. They get that adding people is how the vision actually gets built. But when your team never hears the vision, recruiting feels random, like you're chasing instead of building. [00:03:52] Move 2: Court the Team You Already Have Retention isn't about perks, it's about connection. Are you having consistent one-on-ones? Do your producers feel like you understand their goals? Do they know exactly how they fit into the next phase? Take the same pursuit you'd give a brand new recruit and turn it around and give it to the producer who's been with you for three years. When people feel seen, they don't feel replaced by growth. They feel like they're part of it. [00:04:20] Move 3: Make Recruiting a Team Sport When you get seven people involved with a candidate, that candidate is 71% likely to join the organization. So bring your team into the process. Tell them the kind of person you're looking for, ask for referrals, let your best people meet the recruit. And here's what's interesting, your best people tend to attract more people just like them. That's how culture scales. [00:05:01] Move 4: Recruit Up, Never Down When you recruit the right way, it raises the level of the team, it doesn't threaten it. Back in 2015 I sat down and looked at the prior year, and anybody I'd added that year grew their business by 32% on average. Growth isn't a threat to your current team. Growth is the rising tide. So the question is never am I recruiting too much, it's am I recruiting the right people. [00:05:40] Move 5: Name It and Put It on the Calendar First, name it out loud. Tell your team the truth, that you're going to keep growing and bring in strong people, and at the same time you're committed to helping every one of them grow inside of this. That kind of transparency removes the tension, because now nothing feels hidden. Second, protect it on the calendar. You can't spend all your time recruiting and expect retention to take care of itself, and you can't spend all your time managing and expect growth to show up on its own. You need rhythms, and when those rhythms are consistent, nothing gets neglected. [00:06:27] Why It Works People don't leave because you recruited. They leave because the version of you that recruited them disappeared. We're all wired to notice when attention we used to have goes away, and that drop gets felt way more sharply than the absence of attention we never had in the first place. So when you stop courting your team, it doesn't register as neutral, it registers as loss. And that's also why involving the team lands at 71%. Belonging isn't one relationship with the leader at the top, it's a web of relationships across the whole organization, and ...
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    11 mins
  • Stop Betting on Potential Alone: 7 Standards That Turn Potential Into Results

    Stop Betting on Potential Alone: 7 Standards That Turn Potential Into Results
    May 26 2026
    You see something in this recruit. The character, the work ethic, the attitude, the way they think. You believe that in the right environment they become a top performer. But the numbers are not there yet. This is one of the most common and most consequential decisions a recruiting leader makes. Get it right and you gain a future star. Get it wrong and you spend a year managing it. This episode gives you the framework to decide with clarity. Episode Breakdown [00:01:25] The First Question: Potential or Projection? There is a critical difference between seeing real indicators of future growth and simply hoping someone will improve. Potential is based on evidence. Projection is based on hope. Do they follow through? Are they coachable? Do they take ownership? Are they consistent even without results yet? The question is not whether you like this recruit. The question is whether they demonstrate the habits of someone who will grow. [00:02:05] Standard 1: Know Your Current Season Are you in a building phase or a scaling phase? If you are building, you may have room to develop high-potential recruits. If you are scaling, you need proven performance and less development risk. A lot of leaders get into trouble by mixing these two phases. Before you say yes, ask yourself: does this decision match the season I am in? [00:02:40] Standard 2: Do Not Lower the Standard. Adjust the Path. Strong leaders do not ignore the production gap. They ask: if I bring this person on, what needs to be true for them to succeed here? That might mean a clear 90-day plan, weekly accountability, specific activity expectations, and more hands-on coaching early on. You are not lowering the bar. You are building a bridge to the bar. [00:03:10] Standard 3: Be Honest With the Recruit Do not bring someone in under vague expectations and hope it works out. Say it clearly: I believe in where you can go, but we need to be aligned on what it takes to get there. Walk them through what success looks like, what is expected, and what will happen if those expectations are not met. Clarity protects both of you. [00:03:45] Standard 4: Protect Your Culture Every recruit you bring on sends a message to your team. If your top performers see you consistently bringing in people who are not producing and not improving, it creates frustration. But if they see someone with clear potential and a clear plan who is growing, it builds belief. Ask yourself: will this hire raise confidence in the direction you are going, or create doubt? [00:04:15] Standard 5: Watch Behavior Before You Watch Results When someone is in a growth phase, results can lag. But behavior shows up immediately. Are they doing what you asked? Are they showing discipline? Are they engaging in coaching? Are they adjusting quickly? If the behavior is right, results usually follow. If the behavior is off, it rarely fixes itself. [00:04:40] Standard 6: Be Willing to Make a Decision Quickly One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is holding on too long because they believed in someone's potential. Belief is important, but it cannot replace accountability. If the recruit is not executing, not growing, and not meeting agreed expectations, address it early. That is not failure. That is leadership. [00:05:14] The Formula That Turns Belief Into Results Bringing someone on for who they can become is not wrong. Some of the best hires you will ever make will be people who were not fully developed yet. But you do not bet on potential alone. You bet on potential plus behavior plus structure plus accountability. That combination is what turns belief into results. [00:05:40] Your Challenge This Week Think of one recruit you are considering right now. Ask yourself: Do they show the behaviors of someone who will grow? Does this fit the season I am in? Do I have a clear development plan? Am I prepared to hold the standard if it does not work? If yes, move forward with intention. If unclear, slow down. Disciplined recruiting is what protects long-term growth. Key Takeaways Potential is based on evidence. Projection is based on hope. Look for behaviors, not just belief. Your season matters. Building phases allow for more development risk. Scaling phases require more proven performance. Do not lower the bar. Build a bridge to it. A 90-day plan with clear accountability is how you develop without compromising your standard. Clarity protects both the leader and the recruit. Vague expectations set everyone up to fail. Every hire sends a message to your team. Ask whether this decision builds confidence or creates doubt. Behavior shows up before results do. If early behavior is off, do not wait for results to confirm it. Belief cannot replace accountability. Make decisions quickly if expectations are not being met. If you want help building a development plan for a high-potential recruit or thinking through where to draw the line on a decision you are weighing right now, let's talk. Visit ...
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    7 mins
  • Your Next Bad Hire Will Cost You a Year: A 7-Part Framework for How to Recruit for Quality Over Quantity

    Your Next Bad Hire Will Cost You a Year: A 7-Part Framework for How to Recruit for Quality Over Quantity
    May 19 2026
    You've been in a growth phase and felt the pressure to add people. So you did. And then you spent the next year cleaning it up. More headcount is not more growth. Sometimes it is more complexity, more culture dilution, and more of your time fixing what should not have broken. This episode gives you a 7-part framework for growing the right way. Episode Breakdown [00:00:32] The Tension Every Intentional Leader Feels Most leaders know that adding the wrong people slows everything down. But the pressure to scale is real. This episode is built for the leader who wants to grow without sacrificing what they have already built. [00:01:15] The Core Shift: Growth Is About Output and Alignment, Not Headcount If you measure success by how many people you have added, you will make short-term decisions that hurt you long-term. Stop asking how many people you need. Start asking what kind of people you need. That question changes your entire recruiting posture. [00:01:40] Standard 1: Define Your Standard Before You Scale A lot of leaders try to figure out their culture while they are growing. That is backwards. Before you recruit, get clear on what a successful person on your team looks like, what behaviors you expect, what performance actually means, and what you will not tolerate. If that is not clear before you scale, you will fill your team with people who interpret your culture differently. [00:02:09] Standard 2: Build a Clear Recruit Avatar If you do not know exactly who you are looking for, you will convince yourself that almost anyone could work. That is where teams get bloated. Define your ideal recruit by what they produce, how they think, how they show up, and where they are in their career. The clearer the avatar, the easier it is to say no. And saying no is how you protect growth. [00:02:39] Standard 3: Focus on Productivity Per Person Most leaders add more people to increase output instead of maximizing the people they already have. Ask yourself: Are they operating at their potential? Do they have the systems, coaching, and clarity to produce at a higher level? Sometimes the fastest way to grow is not adding more people. It is getting more from the right people. [00:03:06] Standard 4: Recruit Fewer, Better Instead of adding five average people, what would it look like to add one high performer who aligns with your vision? Average hires create maintenance. Great hires create momentum. That one person can raise your standards and attract others like them. [00:03:26] Standard 5: Protect Your Culture at All Costs Every person you add either strengthens your culture or weakens it. There is no neutral. Before you bring someone on, ask: Will this person raise the standard? Will they make the team better, not just bigger? If the answer is unclear, that is your answer. [00:03:49] Standard 6: Align Growth With Vision Without a clear vision, growth becomes reactive. You hire when you feel pressure, when you feel behind, when you get excited. When you have a vision, you hire with intention. You know where you are going, you know who you need to get there, and you are willing to wait for the right fit. That is disciplined growth. [00:04:10] The Hard Truth About Fast Growth Not growing fast enough is frustrating. Growing the wrong way is expensive. It costs you time, energy, culture, and sometimes your best people. Do not confuse activity with progress. Real growth is measured by alignment, output, and sustainability. [00:04:35] Your Challenge This Week Look at your current top performers. What do they have in common? How can you find more people like them? Then look at your recruiting pipeline. Are you filling it with the right people or just available people? That clarity alone will change how you grow. Key Takeaways Growth is about output and alignment, not headcount. Measuring success by people added leads to short-term decisions with long-term costs. Define your culture standard before you recruit, not while you recruit. Ambiguity at the standard level creates chaos at the team level. A clear recruit avatar makes it easier to say no. Saying no is how you protect growth. Maximize your current team before adding to it. Sometimes the fastest path to more output is developing who you already have. Average hires create maintenance. Great hires create momentum. Recruit fewer, better. Every new hire either strengthens or weakens your culture. There is no neutral addition. Vision-driven leaders hire with intention. Reactive leaders hire with pressure. Know where you are going before you add someone to the journey. If you want help defining your ideal recruit profile and building a growth strategy focused on quality over quantity, let's talk. Visit bookrichardnow.com and grab time on my calendar. We will walk through how to identify who belongs on your team, how to build the avatar that filters out the wrong fits, and how to grow in a way that makes your team stronger, not just bigger.
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    6 mins
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