Leadership The challenge of recruiting well

Today as businesses face ongoing challenges, one topic continues to stand out. It is an issue, which in commodities grew in 2001 and continuously bites businesses and their leaders in the heel.

Staff recruitment 

Recruiting and employing staff is vital for the survival and development of a business:

• Get this right and your business will flourish 
• Make a few mistakes and the results can impact a company’s results and even be catastrophic.

In commodities, 2001 /2002 was a turning point that saw a change in mentality and philosophy in how people were recruited. It has had a disastrous impact on the entire industry.

It brought in short-termism and fear.

Enron collapsed at the end of 2001. The impact reverberated across the commodity sector.

Companies closed their commodity businesses. Others used the excuse to fire expensive but highly qualified staff and replace them with cheaper but inexperienced personnel. An era of fear had begun

The new managers who had been brought in were cheaper but less qualified. Afraid for their own position and survival they did not dare recruit individuals who were more qualified than them. 

This permeated down the hierarchy. Managers and employees were no longer concerned about the business: They were focused on their own survival and on receiving their salaries and bonuses. The negative recruiting cycle had begun and poor management grew. 

Today we see the results of this approach that has impacted the industry for the last 15 years: 

Many businesses have not been able to adapt to all the changes required because of a lack of basic competency across the ranks that would allow a company to adapt and develop.

Nepotism within certain departments has blocked growth. 

Risk managers are not paid to find solutions. They would therefore rather turn a new business down and their departments become the famous “ business prevention teams “. 

As the saying goes if you pay peanuts you get monkeys!

Some might consider this harsh but when you consider the multiple crises and bankruptcies we have experienced, analysing some of the root causes is a healthy and necessary approach.

The fact is that certain basic guidelines remain constant when considering staff

• Cheaper is not always better
• Inexperience comes at a price
• A long list of qualifications might not replace experience in the field.
• Diversity is essential and brings value to a company

Add the fact that in many companies the entire recruitment process is conflicted and you have a fundamental problem. 

Will a marketing manager want to recruit a person who can do his or her job faster and better? Probably not unless that person is incentivised to bring on board real talent.

In certain companies I have seen a culture of employing “your own”. The manager is of a certain nationality or from a specific university and suddenly the entire group comes from the same country or background. This is clearly bad for business and causes serious risk management issues. 

Today due to the unemployment issues in the West (Europe and USA) a pool of highly talented and qualified individuals can be found for all types of roles and industries. Their backgrounds and creeds are varied but they all have similarities:

Professional and knowledgeable and can bring immediate value-add to a company. 

We must also consider the fact that due to an aging population people need to work longer and that the retirement age will move back over time. An employee does not need to be in the 25-35 age bracket to be an asset to a company. 18 to 65 works well and North America has already understood that. Age discrimination is banned and a more meritocratic approach allows individuals to work and contribute to the success of a company with more divers backgrounds.

This diversity brings depth, strength and even character to a business. It will give a company a more human feel and often a better work setting. As most of us spend the majority of our day at work, a healthy, sound, pro-active and positive environment can only bring benefits to both the company and its staff.

Apart from Scandinavian countries and the UK, Europe does not yet have that approach towards diversity and recruting. Job adverts can be found stipulating age ranges that make no sense and are in fact illegal. HR managers continue to allow nepotism when recruiting. Candidates are interviewed by staff who clearly do not want to see a new person join for fear of losing their own job.

It is here that leadership must step in to ensure that new personnel are brought on board with the right expertise and qualifications to allow the company to grow and flourish.

Business leaders must not encourage the “fear for one’s job” approach. A manager must ensure that appropriate and non-conflicted staff interviews a new potential recruit. Nepotism must be removed as this causes serious conflicts of interest, adds risk to a business and can stunt growth and development. 

Good staff is the driving force of any business. It is its lifeline and its engine.

Good leadership is when managers ensure that the right staff are brought into a firm, are treated with respect and understand that the future of the company is based on a joint and long lasting collaboration.