Managers’ are working within a far more complex business environment than a decade ago and this underpins the need for hiring decision makers to ensure the right caliber hire. This is often problematic due to the convergence of several factors including: the business model may not be the best for the company, the hiring criteria may be wrong, the interview process may concentrate on the wrong issues and selection benchmarks although made in good faith, may be inappropriate.
The dilemma is in selecting today’s business leaders and support staff to work on unique projects, promoting new ideas and initiatives against difficult deadlines, under stressful business conditions. We also recognize that markets are rapidly moving, and so the qualities required in people need to be adapted to meet market demands.
The human component is complex, the value to the business in a new-start up or within a rapidly changing market is both difficult to determine, and hard to quantify. It is vital that hiring criteria reflect business needs, and qualities inherent in the right person for the job. But unfortunately, this does not always happen and for many businesses, eager to establish a regional presence or take advantage of alliance possibilities, hiring mistakes have proven costly.
Furthermore, not only has business suffered due to the hiring of unsuitable managers, business models have been mistakenly adapted in the belief that what works well in one context, can be expanded with the same success.
There is a wonderful example of the case of an alliance between a major chip maker and a world renowned inter-enterprise software company and software supplier, to create a dedicated business selling enterprise resource solutions (ERP) to small businesses. Both companies selected their own high achieving managers to run the new venture - with disastrous consequences. One of the contributing factors to the flop was their lack of “situation relevance” - none had developed adequate experience under similar business start-up and market conditions before.
Any career move will embrace two sets of “needs”, those of the individual and those of the business. One of the dilemmas faced by anyone who is looking for a career challenge, is being sure that the new employer is in the game for the duration and that they are able to offer career advancement, professional and personal growth and job enrichment. This is often a leap of faith by the individual in the management of the company.
Past performance can be a good indicator of how someone may perform in the future, but it is the analysis of the experience and its relevance to the needs of the business that is the key to success. One of the problems faced by many, especially in the Middle East, is the practice of recruiting from within the same industry or company type. For some reason, credence is given to industry specific experience as opposed to situation relevance.
On the face of things, this is understandable, but this approach can often address the wrong criteria in determining qualities needed in the right people for the job. It is often symptomatic of a lack of understanding of the traits needed in a business leader or support manager, and the needs of the business. Perhaps attempts to define these qualities in sometimes simplified terms of skills-sets and “competencies” may be a contributing factor.
A managers’ prior experience is a crucial part of what they bring to the job. Consider a new start-up venture in an emerging market and the skills that would have been developed and honed establishing fiscal, legal, barriers to entry, most cost effective legal form etc. Align this with a back-drop of working within a diverse cultural business context, in a region of political instability.
Would the skills and experience gained under such circumstances prove more valuable to a new start company, even if the industry were different? Could it be argued that such a person would be more suitable than someone who has the appropriate industry background, but has never been exposed to similar business problems - and has never learnt to “street-fight”?
This is an often vexing matter, and it’s not surprising that organizations do hire the wrong people for the job, and individuals often make the wrong career moves. For many companies, the hiring criteria are misunderstood, simply because the business model is unsuitable and the hiring needs not understood.
Little wonder we see dissatisfaction so early after a new role has been accepted!
(Based in Dubai, David Thatcher, [email protected], is managing director of career management firm Bernard Haldane Associates in the Middle East.)