Where to
start in our reflections about the current hiring paralysis that affects
organizations? With the manager who will
not hire anyone who does not bring a pen to the interview? (He is in the food industry).
Or with a company that was unable to fill a standard engineering position despite having 25,000 applicants*? Or, maybe with the stubborn reliance on gut-decisions that often run against better knowledge and – job
descriptions in general?
I start with the hiring manager and their mental schema of a prototypical dream candidate,
the “purple squirrel”. One who thinks and acts
the way they expect, require and desire. In short: their "Ideal Employee", who embodies a plethora of (often) unrealistic
expectations towards real people. People who might never be perfect, but who could become
pretty close to perfect. If they only let them.
Don't chase the purple squirrel
Every single
manager I have ever asked admitted that they have a certain ideal image of a
perfect employee. While there is nothing wrong with high expectations and a
sense of perfection, it becomes a problem if it hinders our judgment about others.
I strongly believe that today’s hiring problems such as the perceived lack of
qualified candidates and the use of exhaustive interview processes are in part
due to the way hiring managers consider applicants.
Sure, if we look
for a purple squirrel in a hoard of brown squirrels, our search will be
unsuccessful. Our response to this initial frustration is to want to make them all purple. We either
reject the brown ones, or torture them with (ridiculous) questions just to make
sure we get the candidate closest to purple. But what if we
never find it?
4 steps for a better hiring process
If you find
yourself with unrealistic expectations towards new job applicants or existing
employees, try this:
1. Functional aspects test: What
do you actually need from your employee?
Focus on the
business objectives at hand and define the skill set and required
qualifications of employees as precisely as possible. Leave out all unnecessary
qualities that are not absolutely crucial. Write a short and well-thought-out
job description. Be reasonable. (For example, does a head chef really need a
pen to be a great cook?)
2. Reality Check: What is the potential impact of your Ideal Employee image on
applicants?
Be aware of
your Ideal Employee image. Do not allow your real candidate pale beside your
imaginary creative-and-efficient-and-independent-and-team-working imagined superhero/heroine.
(Remember, none of the 25,000 applicants in our above example ever had a
chance).
3. Re-Adjust Focus: What is the goal that you want to accomplish?
Put the
emotional aspect on the back burner. Don’t wait for the magical buzz between
yourself and the applicant but focus on the things you want to accomplish through
and with them (see point 1.). Do not get carried away with personal traits too
much (you don’t want to make friends but need a great business associate).
4.
Create the
right context for Your Real-Ideal Employee
People can
be made into great employees: in an
amazing work place they will thrive, in a healthy organizational culture they
will grow, through your leadership style and management skills they will become
what you need.
Bottom line: if your old strategies didn't help you find great employees, try to change your mind. Think forward, not backward: allow future employees to be molded into your vision instead of forcing them into something they don't even know yet. It will make your work relationships and - hiring processes - easier.
References:
* Cappelli,
P. (2012). Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs: The Skills Gap and What Companies
Can Do About It. Wharton Digital Press.
