From Human Resource Executive Online’s Uncertain Economy, Uneven Hiring (emphasis mine):
Richard Fanelli, president of Fanelli McClain Design Studios, a commercial interior planning and design firm located in Fairfax, Va., says that his company is not hiring right now, but they’re scouting.
“We have to have the workload to support new hires,” he says. “But if I were to find the right person, I might hire them and then market harder to justify the hire.”
That is an interesting turn of phrase, isn’t it? “Scouting” is an excellent verb to use in this context. This is a practice we preach, but most companies don’t scout consistently. This lack of consistency leads to a mad scramble after a salesperson walks in on a Friday afternoon and resigns.
Today’s high productivity, fast-paced market may make these scouting activities difficult for a sales manager to accomplish while growing revenue. That is where a company like ours can stand in the gap and provide scouting reports on available candidates.