Hiring attitude, not only qualifications, experiences or skills

Thailand is undeniably a major investor destination. This is due to its infrastructure, geographic location, a hub of APEC business, as well as rich in material and cultural resources. Their e-commerce and IT business is booming.

Thailand continues to provide significant employment opportunities to both Thais and expatriate employees. Despite the export market being currently slow, job opportunities continue to be generated and the demand for people within the job market provides significant opportunities for people seeking employment. According to Office of the Education Council (2007), 400,000 students graduate every year from university in Thailand, and 27,000 students graduate from overseas (ICEF Monitor, 2015). However, Thailand is struggling with shortage of manpower.

Considering these statistics, why then is it so hard to find suitably qualified and experienced employees? There is a perception for modern businesses to remain competitive in the local and global economy they need employees that not only have necessary qualifications and skills but also an understanding of the commercial pressures that these modern companies are subject to everyday. So employees not only need to demonstrate their academic achievement, they need to understand and embrace the commercial challenges the employers face.

Potential employees of these modern companies should realize that qualifications, although very important, are not the only attribute that employers need. There is now an increasing requirement for employees to demonstrate other wider behaviors and attitudes. These are easily classified and measured, they include work ethic, commitment, loyalty, ability to solve problems, time management, embracing challenge, leadership and team work.

All employees joining companies go through the recruitment process. This process should always include assessment of these behaviors and attitudes to ensure that the selected candidates have both the ability and attitude to fully contribute to the commercial success of the company. e.g. an employee having the right qualifications and experience but with the wrong attitude is no better than an employee with wrong qualification and experience. In fact, an employee with the wrong qualifications and experience but who has right attitude can always learn to do the job.

Companies need to continuously adjust their business models to remain competitive in changing markets, so need to also continuously assess their workforce needs. Ensuring that employees joining companies join with the right attitude and behavior, additional to the qualification and experience, so  maximizing their contribution.

Our team at Parker Bridge is fully engaged with these challenges and all our recruitment processes are designed to address the full spectrum of qualifications, skills and attitudes to ensure we present only the most capable candidates to our clients.

If you recognize these challenges and are looking for a recruitment agency that understands these attributes, the Parker Bridge team are ready to help you.

Richard Malpeli
Director – Asia
Parker Bridge Recruitment Co., Ltd.