{"id":523,"date":"2017-08-29T10:02:52","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T14:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acsconsults.dnsuk.net\/?p=523"},"modified":"2023-06-19T13:09:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T17:09:23","slug":"thoughts-on-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/thoughts-on-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts On Change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I read a post on LinkedIn today that linked to a blog by Idea Champions that had a number of quotes on \u201cChange\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/ZSPx1s\">https:\/\/goo.gl\/ZSPx1s<\/a>).\u00a0 Things like \u201cBe the change you want to see in the world\u201d and \u201cWe must be willing to let go of the life we have as planned, so as to accept the life we have waiting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This started me thinking about how we go about our work lives, tolerating sub-par performance in various aspects of our organizations.\u00a0 Specifically, talent management and acquisition.<\/p>\n<p>One of the observations I\u2019ve made regarding talent acquisition \u2013 whether permanent or contract &#8211; is that at least two-thirds of employers are frustrated with their process:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>\u201cIt takes forever to find and hire someone.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>\u201cIt seems that most of the folks we hire are average.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>\u201cWhy don\u2019t the best people want to work here?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>\u201cWe lose too many folks in their first year of employment.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>\u201cI have to interview 20 people just to get one that\u2019s reasonably qualified.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>\u201cMillennials just don\u2019t want to work for companies like ours.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>(Had to throw that last one in there. If I had a nickel\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And the list goes on.<\/p>\n<p>For all the symptoms that lead to dissatisfaction, there are contributing factors and root causes behind them. Without a whole lot of effort, one can assess, analyze, and overcome these issues, leading to vast improvements in effectiveness of the hiring process and a higher caliber of talent for the organization.<\/p>\n<p>Why don\u2019t companies address it?\u00a0 Why are they unable or unwilling to change?<\/p>\n<p>We see two root causes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Recognizing and appreciating the problem: <\/strong>It seems that many firms are content to accept the status quo.\u00a0 They treat the symptoms as \u201cjust the way things are\u201d.\u00a0 Like the copier that seems to jam more often than it should, or the machine that you whack on the side to get to work right, people start to accept the current state as an unchanging reality.\u00a0 They talk to friends and peers in other organizations, and conclude it is the same everywhere.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, while the symptoms are acknowledged, there is no realization or vision of a better way.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Motivation to take action: <\/strong>Other firms recognize the issues, but believe there is not enough \u201cpain\u201d to change from the status quo. They tolerate underperformance in what is arguably the most critical factor in ensuring long term success because they perceive \u201cwe have higher priorities\u201d or \u201cnow is not the right time\u201d or dozens of other excuses.\u00a0 So, it never gets done.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We equate it to eating right and exercise.\u00a0 Many of us want to be healthy but tolerate gaining a pound or two a year, and say \u201cI\u2019ll start a diet and exercise next month (after the holidays, next year, etc.)\u201d.\u00a0 Then, we wake up one morning and find we can\u2019t achieve our goals in because we are physically limited \u2013 too weak, too tired, not strong enough, etc.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the same with talent.\u00a0 Quite often, firms tolerate inconsistent results in hiring only to find when the organization needs to grow, evolve, and achieve a goal or vision, they struggle.\u00a0 Revenue, profitability, and \/ or market position suffers.<\/p>\n<p>If there is any \u201cgood\u201d news with this, sadly, it\u2019s that you can be mediocre and stay even in your sector.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Are you OK with being mediocre? \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>What to do:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Look at the current hiring process and results you get. <\/em><\/strong>What are the symptoms you see?\u00a0 Are an unacceptable percentage of your hires disappointing in some way? \u00a0List them out.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Find internal champions with the desire to make it better.<\/em><\/strong> Look for those that most directly feel the sting of a bad or mediocre hire.\u00a0 The Production Manager that is fighting fires.\u00a0 The VP of Sales who let\u2019s go every other new person. \u00a0Spend time with them to get a commitment to try something different.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Set your goals.<\/em><\/strong> What will a \u201cbetter\u201d process look like?\u00a0 What are the gains you hope to achieve?\u00a0 How will you measure these both quantitatively and qualitatively?<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Design and pilot a revised workflow and hiring process. <\/em><\/strong>Whether it\u2019s your internal OD \/ CI specialist or a firm like Advisory and Consulting Services, chances are you\u2019ll need a guide to get to the root causes, help step out of the current mindset, to challenge the status quo, and to rework your process.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Measure the results, adjust, and expand the program.<\/em> <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of course, the approach above is a simplistic high-level summary of how to get where you want to be, and every firm has its unique set of challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Advisory and Consulting Services has helped numerous firms in central Ohio with their talent acquisition challenges.\u00a0 If \u201cbeing average\u201d just isn\u2019t cutting it anymore, contact us for an initial consultation at no charge.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Rich Grunenwald can be reached at <a href=\"mailto:rich@acsconsults.com\">rich@acsconsults.com<\/a><\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0or (614)561-3412.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I read a post on LinkedIn today that linked to a blog by Idea Champions that had a number of quotes on \u201cChange\u201d (https:\/\/goo.gl\/ZSPx1s).\u00a0 Things like \u201cBe the change you want to see in the world\u201d and \u201cWe must be willing to let go of the life we have as planned, so as to accept [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acsconsults.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}