Just like
with vegetables, homegrown is always better when it comes to talent
resources.
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The proverbial bright red tomato
will not arrive by accident
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Too bad most of industry has
gotten out of the gardening business.
Follow me here for a minute. If
you want the best garden in the neighborhood, with the biggest, most colorful
and healthiest produce, you have to invest time in the process of helping the
produce along. A beautiful, bright red,
hearty, sweet tomato doesn’t get that way all by itself. It takes a master gardener to water,
fertilize, ensure proper sunlight, etc. to cultivate a tomato plant that
produces the kind of tomatoes a master gardener demands. I’m assuming you are connecting the dots
here. In many organizations, hiring
managers expect every new hire to be a bright red tomato. They have forgotten the notion of actually
having to invest some time and effort to develop individuals to perfection. You know the concept - you hire an employee
that possesses the basics (a seedling), proper degree, right personality for
the organization, proven work ethic, appropriate years of experience in the
field, and you train and mentor them (water and fertilize) with the specific
skills required for your organization’s unique needs. What a concept! It’s so fundamental, it seems silly to even
point it out as an increasing problem affecting the success of many
organizations today. But it is just
that. A significant problem.
With the
economic downturn in 2008 – 2010, most organizations were forced to reduce
costs, and hence, “luxuries” such as training departments were either
significantly reduced, or done away with altogether. Every organization tightened their belts, making
headcount reductions across departments, and the individuals who were left were
required to perform the roles of what previously required two or more
individuals. Employees learned by doing,
because they had to. Ultimately, for as
painful as this time period was, many employees emerged with new skills sets
which made them more valuable to their current employer, or more marketable to
others. However, as this downturn
exponentially took a 180 degree turn upward in many industries, this trend also
left significant talent holes that are adversely impacting many organizations as
they have been unable to fill the holes fast enough to prevent the ship from
continuing to take on water.
I see it
everyday - hiring managers searching for the A++ candidate to no avail. One who possesses every single attribute,
skill, and years of experience in performing each and every facet of the job
description. If the candidate is missing
even one element (maybe they’ve never programmed a specific brand of robot),
they are disqualified without consideration.
That’s it. Case closed. And, the search continues. Many times for months, even years. Many hiring managers will say that they don’t
have time to train new employees. I
believe they don’t have time not to.
Time is of the essence. Realistically,
an individual can be hired and trained in the areas they are deficient more
quickly than the perfect A++ candidate can be identified, persuaded to make a
job change (as they will most likely be employed), agree to relocate (necessary
in many cases), commit, actually resign from their current job without being
offered and accepting a counter-offer, and be sitting in their seat in their
new office ready to work.
Equally as
important as the time factor in the quest for the perfect employee is the cost
of this quest to the organization. My guess is this cost, the cost of waiting
for the perfect employee, while workloads pile up, existing employees approach
burnout, deadlines are not met, and customers are lost, dwarfs the cost of
having someone in the role that may not be 100%, but can contribute to the
organization at maybe an 85% level and, imagine this, LEARN the remaining 15%
of the job, while on-the-job.
We’ve all
heard the stories and read the statistics of the number of technical workers
who, out of necessity, left industry over the last few years for new
careers. We all know the talent pool has
shrunk to an all-time low. However, what
I see every day are hiring managers, and workforce planning professionals, who
intuitively know this, but who still believe the perfect candidate is out there
and they believe they will find them. Well,
I say, at what cost? It’s almost like
they’re on a mission, but a mission that has no predictable end or
outcome. Hiring managers have to begin
to ask themselves how long they are willing to look. How is their organization being negatively
impacted every week that ticks by and that perfect candidate has not been
identified? Are they bypassing excellent
employees, who have the capacity to contribute and excel in their
organizations, by neglecting a fundamental, tried and true methodology used by
organizations since the inception of the industrial age – training.
My call to
industry leaders, hiring managers and human resource professionals alike is to
bring training back. Whether on-the-job,
classroom oriented, or even virtual, training programs have resulted in the
development of some of the most successful and talented individuals in modern
business history. Individuals are not
born as experts in any field. They are
trained, mentored, encouraged, tested, and ultimately, challenged to learn and
perfect their skills so they can contribute to the growth and success of their
organization. So, hiring managers, don’t
shop around endlessly searching for that perfect, bright red tomato. Grow your own!
