Costly talent acquisition pales in comparison to the consequences of poor hiring. Paul O’Donnell identifies the three perilous profiles in staffing and offers strategies to overcome their impact on hiring success
While winning and retaining customers is regarded as a top priority for most companies, many describe recruitment as their most difficult challenge. The ability to attract and retain talent for key roles determines the success or failure of most major initiatives.
As expensive as talent acquisition seems, it is less costly than the consequences of poor hiring.
Leaving key roles empty or not being able to retain talent causes a continuous cycle of organisation misery and cultural crisis.
However, poor talent acquisition and retention is often due to their focus on the three most dangerous people in staffing: Cinderella managers, unicorns and ageing rock stars.
Cinderellas
Cinderella managers fear making decisions and falling foul of organisation politics.
They keep roles unfilled way past midnight, often at the expense of other employees left to carry the workload.
No number of candidates will address the ever-increasing range of needs and concerns. The shoe just never fits.
Everyone wants to avoid making expensive mistakes, but the damage to your employer brand from such indecisiveness is real. Hiring becomes more challenging as frustrated candidates share their experiences.
Address this by ensuring staffing processes have clear timescales, defined metrics, commitment and allocated responsibility so that hiring managers stay on point.
Unicorns
Organisations that chase unicorns seek only the “perfect” candidate. However, the perfect candidate does not exist.
The organisation will apply more and more resources to seek out what cannot be found.
The search for a unicorn often arises from poor hiring needs analysis, unrealistic strategy or underinvestment in a role. The cost of the position being empty is rarely considered.
Unicorns do not exist because top talent will not move to a role they can already deliver. High performers want a new position to stretch them, so offer something new to learn, a new challenge and something that builds their skill portfolio.
Work out your must-haves versus your nice-to-haves when filling a role. Prioritise the essentials, create a development plan for other issues, and hire for potential, not just experience.
Ageing rock stars
Although Baby Boomers have started retiring, some still hold senior positions and have the final say on recruitment.
Their expertise makes them valuable to firms. However, sometimes they do not possess the intergenerational flexibility to work with and understand the motives of later generations.
They can misread the desire of younger employees to work smarter as not wanting to “work hard”. They see the passion for connected relationships with line managers as not having respect for authority. These newer employees are put off at an interview if they sense an ageing rock star who has not adapted to new ways of working and they will not stay long if they report to one.
Ask your younger employees to give feedback on the experience of working with your organisation. If such a manager exists, share the feedback with them. Coach this key manager away from these perspectives.
Paul O’Donnell is CEO of HRM Search Partners
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