Companies Missing Out on Great Employees

Picture by Daniel Millhouse

In today's job market many corporations have become too narrowly focused in their search for new employees. Often recruiters are too cookie cutter in their approach which prevents them from discovering employees that might have the exact experience they're searching for, but have a skillset that not only would help them meet the needs of the job, but also excel at that very job.

Fashion retail can often be a perfect example of this. Many fashion retailers will look for experienced managers to run their stores, only looking at candidates that either worked for their competition. Sometimes their qualifications can be so strict that only a past employee can meet them. Companies will require experience in a particular piece of computer software that is proprietary to that company, meaning only a former employee is the only person that would have past experience using it.

The problem with this type of narrow search is that potential job seekers who have a wealth of knowledge and/or experience can often be overlooked. As in the previous example of fashion retail, they will often overlook someone who may have worked in retail selling other similar types of products such as shoes.

Many times, a recruiter will also overlook someone because they haven't worked in the same exact field, missing out on a chance to hire someone who has a skillset that could easily translate into the type of work they are looking for. An employee with years of electronics retail management experience for example, should easily be able to transfer those skills into sporting goods. A solid manager has the base of skills needed to manage any type of retail. Common sense, hiring/training/development, profits and losses reports, sales techniques, public relations, cash management, and more.

And a skillset doesn't even have to remain within the same industry. Many different industries can use similar skillsets. A manager in retail for example can work in an administrative office setting because many of the skills of those positions are interchangeable. A social media manager has the right computer skills that could fit with a data entry job as well. A radio DJ could be a good stadium announcer. All jobs that are in different industries, but with similar skillsets.

A good recruiter could find someone that fits the cookie cutter mold of what they are looking for, but a great recruiter is willing to look for someone that fits outside of the box and can be awesome in the role they are looking to fill because they bring a wealth of outside knowledge with them.

Training in the Workplace an Oversight

Picture by Daniel Millhouse

In today's job place there are so many different companies that now run operations their own way and utilize proprietary software that at least some training should be expected. Unfortunately, many companies view this as a hindrance and refuse to relinquish any payroll toward training new employees on how they do things. This is not to say that the employee isn't qualified, but every company has their own timeframes, their own systems put in place, and many have their own computer programs that are not used outside of the company itself.

On job search boards it is not uncommon for companies to even advertise that they prefer a candidate to have experience with a particular software program. The problem is that this program is exclusively used by said company, meaning that the pool of candidates they would consider are potentially limited to past employees. Sticking to this qualification preference, the company loses out on potential candidates that could be a better overall fit to that company, only if they are given some basic training on how to use the program.

In some cases, companies have even done away with employee training manuals, preventing employees that learn better by reading from adapting easier to the job. The cost of a training manual in minimal. It is only slightly more when every employee is given their own copy to keep. Various statistical reports show that when an employee is trained more efficiently, turnover rates drop like a rock. The cost of a personal training manual compared to the possible cost to train a new employee months later is very minimal and should be a main factor in the decision of a human resources department to expand on new employee training.

One of the problems is that the mentality is that of the previous century when most registers were nearly all the same and the workplace featured no computers. Training was more basic then and it was easier to insert a new employee into a position. This is no longer true. With payroll cuts and a more complex workplace in the current century, a new employee who is inserted into a new job instantly with no previous training is likely to fail in the job or at least hit some speed bumps along the way. The more experienced workers may be able to relate the new job to previous ones or at least have an idea of what the expectations might be, but often these employees with more previous experience cost more and inexperienced employees are hired instead because of their cheaper cost.

Not only is training needed when it comes to computers. Every retail company has their own procedures when it comes to marketing and other visual standards. Some companies prefer a single display or display per product while others prefer to flood the floor with as much as can fit on the shelves. Some prefer price tags in the corner, some prefer price tags on the back of the product. Shoe stores have different ways of just tying their laces for shoes that are displayed. While this training isn't intense by any means, it is still needed to have a more efficient workplace.

The old saying, "You have to invest money to make money," still holds true today. Dr. Laurie Bassi, the CEO of McBassi & Company put that theory to the test from an investor stance. Along with a business partner, she launched an investment firm that specifically buys stocks in companies that invest heavily in employee training compared to others. She had a 24 percent return over the previous year, two years in a row, topping the Standards & Poor's index by four percentage points.

Cutting corners, especially when it comes to staffing only hurts the company ultimately. It may save a dollar today, but cost two dollars in the future, only leading to the company's eventual downfall.