Always on

Steve Paley has deftly combined aggressive with passive in refining the recruiting tactics at the fast-growing security firm he runs.

The aggressive: Paley, president and CEO of Sarasota-based Rapid Security Solutions, knows what he wants in a technician or salesperson, and he doesn't dillydally. “I'm on all the time,” says Paley. “If I'm in a restaurant, and I get really good service, I will begin chatting with that person about what we do.”

The passive: Paley says the biggest lesson he's learned in eight years at RSS is the best employees are the ones not looking for a job — the passive ones. “They aren't the ones you find on Indeed, Craig's List or Monster,” he says. “These aren't the jobs where would take out an ad in a newspaper.”