Chasing purple squirrels

There was an article in the NY Times about companies reluctance to hire even as business and the economy are on the upswing. http://nyti.ms/15y35Jv

My Tweet at the time was, “Employers waste time and lose good candidates while hunting purple squirrels.”

Managers, and often their HR/recruiting professionals, are too often afraid to hire someone either because they’re afraid of making a hiring mistake (and they get so few chances to hire someone these days they think they can’t afford to), they’re not confident that the upswing in the economy will continue, or their hiring skills have atrophied to the point that they no longer know how to make a hiring decision.

You cannot run a business, manage, or hire from a position of fear. Not making a decision is making a decision. And too often the wrong one.

 

4 thoughts on “Chasing purple squirrels

  1. While the article you referenced certainly has some validity to it, I think one of the main mismatches in communication between recruiting/HR, Hiring Managers, and candidates has to do with compliance mandates such as OFCCP, USCIS, and SOX. There are reasons why candidates are not a fit for specific positions, and that has less to do with finicky hiring managers looking for their “purple squirrels” or “pink unicorns” than it does with strict compliance adherence.

    • Kristen,
      You’re absolutely right, compliance is another issue that must be addressed. We’ve all seen situations where managers bring in people they’d like to hire, completing an “end run” around HR and we’re the bad guys who put a stop to the process. No question about it.

      The article points out, and I concur, that there are many instances where it appears that the employers just don’t have any idea of what they want and keep candidates dancing endlessly while the employers change the tune.

      Thanks for the good reminder about compliance issues!
      Only the best,
      Ron

  2. Hello Ron
    Started following you recently. Good reading!
    As Kristin notes manadates: I understand those manadates can be a pain. Trying to end run around them, well, you know how easy that is! It is like following Washington on Healthcare reform! You both have valid points. So I ask both of you; Are the best technically qualified hired by companies? Or have people become just a checklist where the boxes are filled in? Is that what hiring has come too?
    As we said at a company I worked at; You can have a good part with bad paper and it will not leave the building. But a marginal part……..
    Best regards!
    God Bless!
    Joe

    • Joe,
      Glad to have you on board.
      The answer to your question is, and I am NOT an attorney, “It depends.” In some organizations the best are hired, and in others, usually those with higher turnover stats, hiring is merely another thing to be checked off the To-Do List with little regard for doing it properly. Then again, that’s often where a solid HR professional can make a difference.
      Here’s hoping…
      Only the best,
      Ron

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