The famed Greek sculptor Lysippos created a bronze statue known as Opportunity. He stands on tip-toe, for he is ever running. He has a pair of wings on his feet, for he flies with the wind. His hair hangs over his face that one may take hold of him; the back of his head is bald that none may take him from behind.
As a leader, few opportunities are greater than choosing people to be on your team; few hold more anguish than the ones that got away. Professional sports teams have been defined by the history of athletes they chose to draft or not. Companies are heralded or haunted by the talent they maximized or missed.
Hiring practices of old grow more obsolete as the very nature of work and the workplace changes. But the need for talent, and an eye for talent, never changes. You didn’t get to where you are without such an eye; and if you did, your days are numbered. Leaders who cannot build the best team are quickly exposed.
To leverage your company’s eye for talent, you must see differently and you must be differently. The reason you must, which I will discuss at the end, isn’t just because you are after the best talent for the sake of your company. There is a larger motivation. But first….
Three Dynamics to See
- Your community’s focus must be on potential more than on past history.
The speed of change calls for capacity not just competence. Though behavioral assessments in hiring have decreased, the need remains to identify more than skills. Capacities, such as able to learn, able to be flexible, able to work under pressure, able to resolve conflict are far more important and not as easily developed.
This is the key: hire what you cannot develop (character and capacity) knowing that you can develop what you did not hire (certain skill sets). - Your community must see the value in upskill.
The top two human capital risks remain low employee engagement and excessive time to fill positions.
94% of employees said they would have stayed longer if a company had invested in the employee’s career development. The majority of candidates today prefer a company with employee-led learning.
The ability to recruit within, from a pool of employees who have invested in their development, improves retention, accelerates the hiring process and leverages new hire productivity. - Your community needs to see ageless talent.
65-plus Baby Boomers are the fastest growing workforce. They and Generation X tend to exercise the longest tenure. Diversity of generation is upon us. The old points of resistance have given way to the flexibility and technologies by which work may be done, means that are not age-discriminate.
Three Dynamics to Be
The talent you seek is searching. Some argue that they are choosier than you, that the hiring process has been reversed: Candidates are interviewing companies. I prefer not to promote an us vs. them mentality; the 2020’s have introduced a culture-first decade, and culture creation requires mutual commitment. As to candidates, they are looking for three qualities they can commit to.
- A compelling brand
75% of candidates are considering your brand before applying.
What sets you apart?
Is your proposition clear?
Is your benefit distinctive?Is your culture reputable? - Future value
Executives believe the biggest return on investment is to redesign jobs to deliver better value. Yet, just over 40% of HR leaders are redesigning jobs and moving people to where future value is created.
The issue at stake? Besides the innate desire to do that which holds value and to be on the cutting edge of development, future value in the minds of an employee means job security. Job security is one of the top three reasons a candidate signs on, and the number one reason and employee stays. - Employee experience
Nearly 100% of hiring professionals state that employee experience is more important than past measures and incentives.
Employees are looking for companies that are doing work differently and for the right reasons. Have you shifted to continuous performance management, where you are away from assessing past performance and into aligning toward goals? Do you offer personalized benefits (such as flex time, days-off, recognition, on-site services) based on milestones. Employees enjoying continuous performance management are 8 times more engaged than those on an annual review cycle.
As you review the above, you notice I slipped in a word. I repeated it three times. It is the key mindset shift to talent acquisition. You are not building a company. You are building a community. Today’s workforce wants to be more invested not less. But they don’t want to be invested in the old measurements of what makes a successful company. They do want to be invested in a compelling brand that in turn is invested in their well-being; and that well-being is demonstrated through employee development, flexibility and whole-life health.
A candidate thinks: “I know I can do the job.”
A candidate wonders: “Will it be worth it?”
Enfold hires into a community in which they are valued and bring value, not just a company in which they produce, and you have won the battle for talent and have become a talent magnet.
