Depending upon who you listen to unemployment is 8% or 12% and some even say 20% when we consider those who’ve stopped seeking work.
Then why is it so hard to recruit good people?
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We hire people based on their job history but we fire them when we find out who they are.
Over my twenty-plus years of business consulting experience I have observed thousands of employee hires. I have personally interviewed and made recommendations on hundreds of candidates in every industry and company culture imaginable. I have yet to discover that candidates with the best experience and job history make the best employees. I have seen those with NO experience, industry knowledge, formal training or relevant work history beat the pants over those with the experience..
Why?
Because merely having the experience, work history and job knowledge does not mean you possess the attitudes, behaviors and discipline necessary to excel. On the other hand if you have the attitudes, behaviors and discipline you are open to learn all you need to know. In short success is not based upon WHAT we know but rather WHO we are.
I am not saying that work experience. industry knowledge and job history is meaningless. In fact possess these competencies can often mean a shorter training or acclimation period. It could make on-boarding faster. But work history will not make-up for poor attitudes, behaviors and discipline.
Even mass murders Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy had a great resumes. They were pillars in their community. They did all the right things except who they were in secret was evil and sinister.
While it is likely that candidates with good attitudes, habits and behaviors will usually have a good resume that’s not always the case. Life intervenes.
I am always amazed at how employers congregate to one of two extremes…
Either they are completely oblivious to candidate behaviors focusing ONLY on their work experience and job duties or they hold candidate’s to unrealistic behavioral requirements which even they themselves fail to satisfy!
How about being realistic.
Sometimes when I’m listening to employers Yammer on about the kind of candidates they want to hire I think… even I myself wouldn’t qualify!
So is you are in the recruitment process begin to think differently about the human capital you are recruiting. Think attitudes, behaviors and discipline more so than industry experience, job knowledge and work history.
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