When positions open up within an organization and employers begin their search for someone to fill these roles, those conducting the executive search and hiring processes are always concerned with trying to find the absolute cream of the crop, that individual with the flawless work history, education, and skill set that they believe will allow this person to seamlessly fit into the role in question and take on the duties and responsibilities necessary without a hitch. Unfortunately there are two primary factors that more employers fail to take into consideration in these efforts. First, there is the fact that, even should employers find the a candidate who appears absolutely flawless on paper and simply shines through the various stages of the interview process, studies have shown that the likelihood of this individual transitioning effortlessly into their new role and meeting the expectations set for them at the start, are highly improbable. Far more often than not new employees tend to fall shy of their new employer’s expectations, particularly over the first few months and year as they seek to mesh into the organization’s structure and culture and learn how to fill their role there in.
Second, there is the state of the job market to consider, as the struggling economy and high unemployment rate has flooded candidate pool with under qualified individuals all jumping at any seeming opportunity they can find, and making the initial stages of the executive search and hiring process a great deal more difficult for employers than it already was. However, what some companies are now coming to learn is that the just might have the ability to take this second problem and turn it to their own advantage if they are willing to think beyond their typical impression of what makes the ideal candidate, and begin thinking about how they can use these issues to suit themselves.
To begin with, if employers would only acknowledge the fact that there is a necessary adjustment period that even the greatest employees will have to weather in their initial time at a new company, then they can come to withhold their expectations and learn to use this time to their benefit. Next, while it may have become increasingly difficult during the current talent shortage to find those ideal candidates that they so want, that is not to say that there is not hidden talent just waiting to be tapped in any number of those under qualified individuals whose resumes flood employer inboxes every time they begin candidate sourcing.
If more employers would learn to hold off judgment until they had really taken a more careful look at their candidates’ resumes and given themselves the opportunity to talk with some of those candidates whose only flaw is that they lack certain experience or skill qualifications, they may find that it can actually be of great benefit to consider hiring such an individual and providing them with training opportunities to fill in the gaps. Not only does this allow a new hire to immediately become immersed in their work with the organization as they learn and grow in the process becoming exactly what the company needed rather than just the best they could find, but it can also help build a sense of loyalty and commitment from the individual towards this company that gave them a chance and allowed them to better themselves from the very start.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
