There is a lot of talk about game changers in sports—the individuals who, more often than not, spell the difference between victory and defeat. They are every team’s dream player and, in every other facet of the economy, they are every hospitality employer’s dream new hire. The goal of recruiting, therefore, should be to recruit more game changers than the competition.

While hospitality recruiters have always focused on the best talent, it would be a mistake to describe game changers as “A” level performers. They are much more. They not only excel at their own work; they raise the level of work done by everyone else around them. They change the game because they turn the team—or the business—into an “A” level performer.

So, where do you find these game changers and how do you recruit them? In my book, “The Career Activist Republic,” I introduce a number of concepts for identifying and engaging these extraordinary individuals—men and women who are best described not by their impact, but by their defining characteristics.

Concept #1: Focus your time and effort where it is likely to have the greatest payoff.

It is, of course, both politically correct and accurate to acknowledge the presence of game changers among active job seekers. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, at any point in time, just 16 percent of the American workforce is actively in transition. In other words, four-fifths of the workforce is composed of what is conventionally known as “passive job seekers.” And, the probability is simply much higher that you will find the game changers you need in that larger group.

Concept #2: Recognize (and accept) that passive job seekers aren’t job seekers at all.

84 percent of the workforce who are not actively engaged in a job search are “prospects.” They aren’t seeking a hospitality job or a change in employer. They don’t visit corporate career sites or job boards unless they are drawn to those locations by something they value. What do these passive prospects value? Anything that will make them better. They may not be job seekers, but they are always looking for ways to advance in their field. That’s why I call them “career activists.” They can be activated to consider employment opportunities by the content they find useful.

Concept #3: Use a pull-pull approach when developing content for career activists.

First, transform your career site into a center of excellence for career advancement by featuring one or both of two kinds of content:

• Content that will help these game changers manage their career effectively—set appropriate goals, deal with problem bosses—not conduct a job search—write a resume, take an interview.

and/or

• Content that will enhance their knowledge, skills, credentials, or market awareness so they are able to compete successfully for ever more challenging and rewarding employment opportunities.

Then promote that content to pull the right passive prospects to your site.

Second, transform your job postings into electronic sales brochures targeted directly at game changers. These individuals don’t care about the “requirements and responsibilities” of a job; they want to know the answers to five questions:

• What will they get to do?
• What will they get to learn?
• What will they get to accomplish?
• With whom with they get to work?
• How will they be recognized and rewarded?

This content is the best way to pull passive prospects into an active state or what is commonly called an applicant.

Game changers are the key to victory in today’s highly competitive global economy, but game changers can’t be recruited with traditional strategies and tactics. What’s required, instead, is a focus on that segment of the workforce where there is the highest probability of success, an understanding of this population’s unique interests, and techniques that leverage those interests to pull them into the enterprise.