The Epicor ERP Purple Squirrel – 3 Tips for Hiring Success!
If you’ve ever had to consider hiring an Epicor ERP Manager you know what a long drawn out process this can be. Perhaps you are a new customer that needs in-house experience and you want to make a hire before your project kicks off. Maybe you need to add a business analyst to your existing workforce. Maybe you are just replacing an ERP Manager that has moved on. Whatever the reason, in my experience finding the right qualified candidate usually takes 3 to 6 months on average. This can be longer if you are in a not-so-desirable regional location where it might be difficult to convince a candidate to move to. This is the predicament most companies face when hunting for their "Purple Squirrel".
Over the years I’ve helped connect customers and users with each other. I've also been a user seeking employment and a customer seeking candidates to hire. I’ve experienced all sides in this dynamic game of cat and mouse and I find that most of time the customer is at a disadvantage. Some of the most frequent deal breakers I’ve seen (from being both a hiring manager as well as Connection specialist) usually revolve around lack of experienced candidates in the area, hiring manager unsure of needs (after all this is a technical role), and pay expectations not being in alignment. Here are 3 tips all hiring companies should be aware of and can make your search more palatable:
A job description is critical to making sure your expectations of duties and pay align with that of the candidates applying for the job. Make sure these are outlined. Also, identify which skills you might be willing negotiate on. 9 times out of 10 you aren’t going to find someone who has the exact skill match for what you are looking for, in your price range. In my experience this is usually because the hiring company expects their candidates to know every facet about the Epicor ERP system. News Flash…this is nearly impossible. Most experienced users are better in certain functional areas than they are in others.
If you want a good pool of candidates and are not in a heavily Epicor user populated area, you must consider paying for relocation or telecommuting. Yeah you might get lucky and find someone in your area, but it’s not likely. Take it from someone who moved to a metro area that now contains a whopping 4 Epicor customers (that I’m aware of). Every time I’ve had to recruit a candidate in this town, I’ve had to look at candidates throughout the United States. It’s the nature of the beast so do yourself a favor a cough up a relocation allowance. You’ll save yourself lots of time and frustration.
The third tip I have relates back to the first. If you still want your cake and eat it too, be prepared to pay, and I mean big bucks. To land an employee that is an expert throughout the software including the ability to do development, you will probably be looking at six figures. Whatever your strategy, I prefer to come up with a budgetary range of salary. Salary offers are then made based on experience. Remember, if your candidate doesn’t have all of the skills needed, but you feel they will be an asset and can grow into their role, then come up with a salary that fits. The savings from your top budget can then be used to invest in training for the employee or used as a consulting offset once they are hired.
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