Top people are scarce - just ask any organization how tough it is to attract the best, let alone select the best. At the same time, I'm willing to bet that more top people - the right people for the right jobs - slip through the cracks in the selection process than anyone could imagine or admit. Here are ten of the top, invisible ways those cracks occur.
Top people are scarce - just ask any organization how tough it is to attract the best, let alone select the best. At the same time, I'm willing to bet that more top people - the right people for the right jobs - slip through the cracks in the selection process than anyone could imagine or admit. After thousands of dollars in recruiting, interviewing, travel and all the other assorted expenses in time, effort and money associated with attracting top candidates, organization after organization drops the ball on top candidates. And they don't even know it!
Here are ten of the top, invisible ways those cracks occur:
Failure to understand that recruiting is as much a selling process as it is an evaluating process. To get top people requires as much selling as it does evaluating. And top people are doing just as much evaluating as they do selling. It's a two way street - but it's amazing how many people don't realize that, and take a "I've got something you want" approach. Top people slip right through the cracks when they see that behavior.
Organization's don't know a top candidate when they see one. That sounds funny, but it's not. It means time hasn't been taken at the front end of the process to identify and define what a top candidate will look like in terms of the really important things.
Superficial knockout factors: A manager I know will not hire a person who smokes cigars - period. I don't mean someone who insists on smoking cigars at work. I mean recreational cigar smoking - away from work. Apparently this manager had a bad thing happen with a cigar smoker early in his career. Everyone of us has biases about the strangest things - they can and do get in the way of hiring top people. The beard, the frayed collar, the wrong college, speech patterns - you name it - they are knockout factors in many organizations.
Poorly kept restrooms and break rooms and lunch/dining /meeting rooms. Nothing says a poor environment like a badly served public use area. Nothing can chase top people away more than the appearance of a poorly kept facility.
Lack of preparation. Nothing speaks to this more than unprepared interviewers, repetitive use of the same questions/scenarios from multiple interviewers - the "tell me about yourself" question. Holes in the interview schedule. Lack of interviewing skills and preparation. Bad choices of interviewers.
Secrecy. The " don't tell them anything that may tip them off to what we are looking for." If you treat a candidate as a mushroom, it speaks to how they will be treated as employees.
Poor follow up and lack of feedback. "What you do shouts so loudly I can't hear what you're saying." When that top candidate leaves the facility, how long before contact is made? It's amazing how often weeks can go by before a follow up call is made to the candidate. The excuse is often that the candidate - if truly interested - should get back to the organization. True - but failure to keep that communication door open on the part of the company lets top people fall through the cracks - without a sound.
Relying on staff people to maintain contact. If you're a candidate for a HR job, then a HR hiring manager should be the key communication link. But HR people should not be the key communication link for other functional areas. They can coordinate and pester and cajole hiring managers, but the Hiring Manager has to be the link.
Lack of respect for the candidate's time. I had the misfortune to work with a manager who, as a matter of practice, kept candidates waiting for hours beyond the time set up for an interview. The worst case was a General Manager candidate who waited four hours before finally bowing out. We never saw him again - even though we tried to reschedule him. What a waste - of everything.
Overly long process. There are so many pressing, proximate things that can keep pushing selection to the back of the line. Before anyone realizes it, months have gone by and no decision has been made. I suspect in many cases a fear of making a mistake in selection has a hand in this. In any case, top people don't have to wait around. They slip through the cracks - and then show up working for a competitor.
Take the time to audit your own process. If you see any of these ten invisible ways, take action to correct them. Top people are tough enough to get in the first place, without adding self inflicted conditions as a barrier.
Our Greatest Source of Security
The only real source of security any of us have in this time of change and downsizing and merging and new business models and all the other stuff we see, read and hear - is what? The only real security any of us have comes from our own accomplishments. Top performers - the people who will prosper even in the toughest of times - believe that. For others it's a frightening thought - or a frustrating thought - or just plain not true.
7 Steps To Developing Personal Power
The most successful people are those who know who they are. They know that each of us is made up of three selves. Each of us is first, the person we think we are - our self concept; second, the person we want others to think we are - our mask; and third, the person others think we are - our perceived self. These can be three very different people. Successful people know that, and work hard to closely align their three selves.
Captain Sullenberger, Preparation, Routine and Opportunities
Hats off to Captain Sullenberger and his crew and their rescue - I can't think of a better word to describe what they did - in saving the passengers and themselves when they had to ditch in the Hudson River. The accolades and gratitude and respect that the crew have received are well earned. And there is a real lesson for all of us as we go about the business of our lives
