The war for talent is over. Everybody lost.
Every person in recruitment has heard someone assert that “we’re in a war for talent”, and I’ll be honest, I believed it for most of my career.
When you are trying your hardest to close a great software engineer who has 6 competing offers, and you lose at the last moment, it certainly feels like you’re at war!
This old McKinsey coined phrase has taken on an irrefutable status in the modern tech-world.
But, is this the right way to think about modern recruitment?
The concept of a “war for talent” argues that demand for employees continually increases and supply is constrained, therefore all organisations are competing for the same limited pool of people.
On face value, this seems like an accurate assessment of the current recruiting landscape. There are over 38,000 open jobs on Linkedin at the time of writing! However, the “war on talent” is predicated on the assumption that all employees are created equal.
Everyone knows those colleagues that are absolutely thriving in their company, and those who have huge aptitude and work ethic but just can’t seem to quite reach their full potential.
So what differentiates the performance of these individuals?
Passion.
Study after study has shown that passion for the work you are focused on is the most important factor in driving performance in the workplace.
Simon Sinek summarised it beautifully:
“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion.”
When you are tackling challenges you are passionate about, you will do higher quality work and expend discretionary effort to ensure that results are exceptional. The best thing about finding this alignment is that all of the hard work actually invigorates you rather than tiring you.
So we aren’t actually in a war for talent.
We’re in pursuit of passionate people.
I have the honour of working every day with a phenomenal recruiter, Charlotte. Our paths had crossed a few times prior to the timing being right to join me at Opencare but it was a risky hire for me.
She had never worked on the corporate side of recruitment, only in an agency.
She had never hired a software engineer or a Facebook marketer (although she did hire a brewmaster).
She had never conducted an interview herself.
We regularly laugh about the fact that during our interview I had to draw a conversion rate funnel to explain it to her.
Charlotte’s mind was blown.
For a company that is data driven to its core, this was a worrying sign.
So why take the risk?
What was abundantly evident was her passion for connecting with people, hearing their stories, continuous learning, and infectious joie de vivre.
Every challenge I’ve put in front of her she has overcome with unrelenting enthusiasm and a powerful sense of self-reflection and growth. When you share a piece of feedback with Charlotte, you hear it incorporated into the next phone call or meeting.
She has grown from a sourcer that had never interviewed anyone into a full-cycle, end-to-end Talent Partner who can hold her own against recruiters with 10+ years of experience.
All while riding scooters between meetings beaming ear to ear.
Why?
Because she’s passionate about recruiting and learning new things every day, this role is perfect for her and she’s given 110% since day one. Everyone at Opencare recognises not only her exceptional skills in her craft, but also her positivity around the office every day.
I could story after story about so many people at Opencare who all share these attributes and also perform at a truly phenomenal level. But, I’ll save those for another time.
Once you relinquish the belief that everyone in recruitment is in constant competition for the same individuals (those fabled “rockstars” that we were all so hot on a few years ago) you can really begin to build a strong, resilient team for the right company for your needs.
Companies need to focus on hiring individuals who are passionate about their business, customers, challenges, and vision.
When you find these passionate people, you will be repaid by incredible performance and engagement. They will inspire those around them and deliver results above and beyond what you would ever ask for, or expect. All with a huge smile on their face.
On the other side, let’s consider the impact of hiring those who aren’t passionate about the challenges they are about to embark upon.
We’ve all been wooed by candidates with impeccable pedigree and a glorious resumé that we all fawn over and rush to get an offer out to them and beat the competition. You invest hours in selling them on the virtues of the company, and all the exciting opportunities that they will get in this role.
🎉 You close them. They choose you. 🎉
You’re excited by what they will bring and all the incredible innovations that they will drive. They’re going to raise the bar for the company.
They join and quickly become an average performer, not terrible, but not the exemplar of creativity and expertise you had hoped for. They quit within 9 months.
So what went wrong?
You were so focused on “selling” the role and beating the competition that you didn’t consider that you should have checked to see if they actually passionate about what you had to offer. Because of this they never found their niche where their passion could flow freely into a set of problems.
I speak from experience of having made this mistake many, many, many times at Google, Flipp, and Opencare so I hope sharing this helps someone avoid falling into the same trap!
Key takeaways
- Hire candidates who are passionate about your business, vision, and challenges
- Network with other recruiters, and ask for help when you need it!
- Trust yourself to say “no” to those candidates who aren’t excited by what you can offer
- Don’t focus on their pedigree or experience, instead look at where they want to grow and focus their energy
