A Total Lack Of Introspection

You do not have to go far in my area to find a company shorthanded.?Interestingly enough, the further away geographically the locus of control is the more likely that the company is to be shorthanded and the greater the extent of being shorthanded.

Locally owned companies are doing okay.?Those with a naturally high rate of turnover are a little less so.?But companies that have corporate headquarters more than a reasonable driving distance away are struggling.?

They are struggling due to a lack of introspection.?They are holding out for what they deem as the perfect fit.?The person making this decision is far removed from the situation that they are supposed to be alleviating.?And there is no doubt a great deal of pressure on them to move only the best candidates forward.?The problem is that they are overlooking great candidates because they do not fit their mold.?

Hence, mass-market retailers like Kroger and Walmart are struggling to keep shelves stocked and checkouts moving.?It is the reason that regional banks are lacking critical employees.?It is the reason why national manufacturers with local plants cannot find workers.

And it is why they keep relisting roles after rejecting qualified candidates.?They do not understand the local applicant pool and are not taking the time to properly examine a candidate.?

Many banks locally have at least 3 or 4 interior teller windows and 2 outside teller windows.?That means that at the busiest hours, they need 5 or 6 people.?At peak, they may have 3.?

One bank where I know people who have applied and been rejected for entry-level roles like teller had lines that rivaled Chick-fil-A.??I walk in and there is one teller.?Not one teller working the interior and one the exterior, but just one teller.

I have had to adapt to buying products when I see them in stock across multiple shopping trips versus one weekly grocery shopping trip.?Order ahead? Half the list is unfulfilled.

The same goes for fast-food franchises that are not locally owned.?They go through some computer at the franchisor to the franchisee in another state, then to the local manager.?

Manufacturers are the same way.

The term “entry-level” is not honored by these hiring professionals.?

Tellers are entry-level roles.?The ads say that you need only a high school diploma and a year of cash-handling experience.?You don't need any banking experience.?No finance degree is required.?One of the questions asked during the initial online screen that disqualifies you is lack of banking experience or lack of a finance degree.

“Trainee” positions in manufacturing are similar.

Applying at a mass market retailer is the exact opposite.?Too much retail experience or a college degree and you are considered to be a flight risk.?They would rather hold out for an unskilled individual than one might make a career out of it.

The truth is that “overqualified” individuals have approximately the same tenure as those that meet the ideas in the hiring professionals' minds.

An individual with a finance degree and banking experience is looking for a higher-paying role than entry-level.

Until and unless corporate America has a strong bout of introspection we will see a continued decline in these companies.?And there is the kicker, the more these companies decline at these locations, the more they will lean on these archetypes.

We need change makers to take a risk and realize that those who do not fit the mold are just the right person for the role.?If you let someone with a college degree stock your shelves and give them an opportunity to advance, they will stick around and advance.?Those employees who climb the ladder internally will out-deliver if given the chance.

If you allow someone who meets your minimum stated requirements for a role, to take on the role, they will succeed.??