Employment Topics

May/June 2002

Poverty in the midst of plenty

DESPITE HIGHER JOBLESSNESS, TOP TALENT REMAINS ELUSIVE

DURING THE HIRING FRENZY of the late 1990s, corporate recruiting often fell victim to what newsletter publisher Peter D. Weddle calls the “round peg syndrome.” As long as the peg was round and smaller than the hole, it didn’t matter how well it fit.

The online job boards, with their millions of résumés, were especially good at producing round pegs. Hungry recruiters and researchers would log on at two a.m. to harvest the nightly crop.

Today, with jobless claims remaining at or near ten-year highs, Weddle asserts that it is “inappropriate and dangerous” to settle for the merely adequate. Not hiring the best employees, he says, “undercuts an organization’s performance in a very unforgiving economy and opens the door for competitors to recruit the outstanding performers who were overlooked.”

He is exactly right, and companies and institutions everywhere should set their sights on finding what Sanford Rose Associates calls the “people who make a difference” in their employer’s performance.

Herein lies the rub: It’s easier said than accomplished.

If one were just looking for bodies (provided, of course, they possess some particular skill, educational degree or whatnot), the job boards might be a start. But as more and more job-seekers flood those sites (some from half-way around the world), clutter increases at a corresponding rate while utility declines. Everything begins to look alike.

Larger companies, of course, post jobs on their own websites – with résumés dumped directly into applicant-tracking software, which does an awfully good job of organizing and storing data but can’t pick that star individual with the right brainpower and personal chemistry to lead the organization to new heights.

In search of Ms. or Mr. Right

Where is that individual? He or she may be out of work and pursuing those proverbial “other opportunities.” For example, if your company seeks a new CEO, get in line to contact Rick Belluzzo. He’s the ex-president and COO of Microsoft, who recently announced his intention to leave the company after only 14 months on the job, reportedly due to philosophical differences with boss Steve Ballmer.

On the other hand, it is statistically far more likely that the perfect fit for your organization is more or less happily employed and not presently seeking new opportunities. Accordingly, his or her résumé is unlikely to be in general circulation. Smart employers, particularly those who have trimmed corporate fat and are operating lean and mean, realize that “keepers” need to be kept and therefore are more sensitive than usual to their best employees’ morale. And, if one has a decent job and the added bonus of even being appreciated from time to time, why take chances in today’s economy?

Executive search consultants, of course, make a living from knowing how to find needles in a haystack. Sanford Rose Associates tries to take a lot of the guesswork out of recruitment with a rigorous profiling process known as Dimensional SearchÒ, which gets beyond the limitations of typical job descriptions.

The job description in the box above is so vague that countless MBAs would match the description but fail miserably in the interview, not to mention on the job. Dimensional Search is designed to ferret out the actual job requirements, experience factors and management style that will predict success on the job. If the profiling process raises other issues, such as compensation or long-range opportunity, they can be resolved at an early stage in the recruitment process.

Painting that picture of opportunity

Given the tenor of the times, opportunity stands at or near the top of the hierarchy of needs. Employees these days are unlikely to subject themselves and their families to the disruptions and anxieties of major career moves without the opportunity for major opportunity. Money can buy a candidate’s loyalty – but only lots and lots of money. The promise of a small raise or slight improvement in benefits and perks is unlikely to attract the happily employed.

Don’t be irritated when the good search consultant asks, “Why would my best candidates want to take the job?” The search consultant (who is also asking candidates why they would want to leave their present place of employment) is simply trying to understand the opportunity – sometimes hidden – that exists in most jobs and would appeal to the right candidate.

Here’s a list of possible opportunities:

• Running one’s own show
• Having the opportunity to walk before running
• Working for a world-class company / market leader
• Helping take us to market prominence
• Working in a larger environment with more resources
• Working in a smaller environment free of cumbersome bureaucracy and politics
• Building your own staff
• Having the right team already in place
• Enjoying all the attractions of a major city
• Enjoying all the attractions of this rural paradise

As the list above demonstrates, not all opportunities will appeal to all people; for example, the take-charge kind of person is not looking for the chance to grow into new responsibilities over time. It’s better to sort out such factors early than to have them become a surprise later.

In similar vein, as SRA’s Dimensional Search process makes clear, not all personalities fit into all corporate cultures. A highly dominant individual, who thrives on making decisions based on incomplete information, will feel frustrated in a culture that prizes analyzing decisions from every possible angle – just as a highly analytical person will feel trampled in a “shoot now, ask questions later” style of culture.

Employers pay recruiters for hard work, not false steps. Search consultants are able to focus on the former when they have up-front, in-depth knowledge of the open position, what challenges it will present to the new incumbent and what kind of individual will blossom in your company’s environment. Meanwhile, false steps can be avoided by the candid sharing of all possible information, the mutual cooperation of hiring manager and recruiting firm throughout the search process and, last but not least, the commitment of both parties to find and hire the best possible person in the shortest possible time.

Finding People Who Make a Difference®

Copyright © Sanford Rose Associates 2002
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