I was standing in line yesterday at my favorite lunch place where you can order just about any kind of salad you want. On one side of me stood a tall guy (who I will from now on refer to as "tall guy") and his friend was on the other side (to differentiate him from his buddy, let's call him "short guy", even though he wasn't really short). I offered to let the two of them stand next to each other, but they were happy just where they were. They then proceed to talk over my head so there was no way I could possibly avoid eavesdropping on their conversation:
Short Guy asks Tall Guy, "What are you getting for lunch?"
Tall Guy responds, "I am freestylin', I always freestyle" (which in the lingo of this salad place means he will tell them what ingredients to put into his salad).
"Not me," says Short Guy. "I always mess it up. I end up mixing blue cheese with eggs, and it comes out tasting terrible. So I just order the chicken caesar all the time."
I walked away from this interchange thinking - wow, here's place specifically for people to create their own lunch and this guy chooses not to, he prefers a "packaged" lunch.
This is the case with recruiting as well since it involves people, and people have unique tastes, needs, values and preferences. It points to how diverse we all are, that there is no exact solution that works for everyone. If something as simple as a salad is this complex, what does that mean for recruiting?
What it clearly tells me is we need recruiting programs (structured interview processes, formal training, mentoring) that meet the needs of the majority, but that we also need to be flexible and add small touches or flourishes that are personalized (special coaching sessions, training outside the formal program) to address both types - the ones that want the pre-packaged job solution and those that want to "make it up as they go".
Photo by double.reed
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