Thinking Outside the Pool: The Changing Face of Hiring
The changing face of hiring
Business is changing, and our approach to recruitment needs to change with it. Flatter structures are replacing the old hierarchies. Modern professionals value culture and passion as much as their paychecks. The pace of change grows ever more rapid. From the new graduates entering the bottom of a business to the high priced help at the top of the pyramid, we need to re-assess how we recruit to meet the needs of this brave new world.
Looking past the CV
One important step is to place less emphasis on CVs, with their list of old jobs and qualifications, and more on the personal qualities that make a good employee. An employee with a high degree of self-awareness will be better able to apply the right skills to the job, to recognize their limits and to find ways to grow past them. This creates far greater flexibility, vital in a fast paced world.
Finding people who fit well with existing teams also matters, possibly more than the skills on their CVs. Research shows that top leaders recruited into organizations often fail because they are not a good fit with the existing management team. A mismatch in working styles leads to isolation and a lack of connections with the real work of the organization. Companies such as Ingersoll Rand are starting to use measures of ‘fit’ to find leaders better suited to their organization, and it’s a point worth considering for others employees too. We’ve all seen how clashes of personality and working style can damage a team’s morale and productivity – why not hire to avoid that?
Thinking outside the box
Some companies are experimenting with new approaches to the recruitment process. Open source software company Automattic puts any potential new hires through a trial process where they work for a set period at an hourly rate. At the end of that time both the potential employee and existing Automattic staff know whether they want to work together, and around 40% of these tryouts are hired. It’s a time consuming process, but one that leads to very low staff turnover.
The point isn’t that this is the best approach for everyone, but that organizations don’t have to stick with traditional recruitment processes. Some organizations may even want to hire talent and build roles around it rather than hiring talent for specific roles. This may seem counter-intuitive, but many organizations adapt their structures to fit existing talent. Why not do it to bring in the best talent from outside?
Thinking outside the pool
Software company SAP has taken another approach, targeting an unusual talent pool for recruitment. Last year they announced their intention to recruit 650 autistic employees, tapping into their talent for repetitive, detailed work to improve the software testing process. It’s a new opportunity for an often-overlooked part of the workforce, and an opportunity for the company to get the best possible talent by looking in an often-overlooked place.
Such specialist talent requires different approaches to recruitment and management, but by taking this approach to a range of roles companies could build truly diverse and innovative groups of employees.
Future talent
By thinking beyond normal recruitment processes, looking for personal qualities rather than just qualifications and experience, companies can recruit far more suitable candidates. And as more and more firms come up with innovative new ways to recruit, who knows what the future might bring?
Shameless plug…Ready to expand/enhance the capability of your talent acquisition process? Method3 is ready to talk when you are.
Image credit: alphaspirit / 123RF Stock Photo
Mark Lukens, MBA
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