- Why might organizations decide to allocate more resources toward marketing or product design rather than using those same resources to do a really good job in employee recruitment and selection?
It is understandable why an organization would choose product design or marketing to invest in rather than staffing. After all, as consumers we are not purchasing the company’s excellent hire. Rather, we are purchasing a product or being influenced to purchase a product by clever and catchy advertisement. I started buying Old Spice products 10+ years ago because of the funny/entertaining commercials they had such as this one:
I think something more tangible such as the product or something easier to measure like the effectiveness of advertising are easier for companies to invest in. It is hard to measure the cost of a bad hire or maybe not even a bad hire. Perhaps the individual is just less than an optimal hire. These costs don’t always jump out directly on a finance report making them easier to overlook.
- What are the potential strengths and weaknesses of an organization’s decision to not prioritize recruitment and selection in favor of a focus on other aspects of the business?
Some of an organization’s strength prioritizing product development, for example, over staffing is that the organization may develop a very good product that is appealing to consumers. This could lead to higher market share, increased revenue, and increase margin dollars. They may also be able to stay on the cutting edge of technology for their product and stand a better chance of becoming an industry leader.
A potential weakness of not prioritizing staffing is they may hire the wrong people to design and manufacture their product. The organization may have a great vision and idea. However, if they do not have the right people, they will not be able to make a great product. Another weakness may be that too many wrong hires create a toxic work environment. This may drive out some of the better employees or create workplace issues that take away from productivity.
One response to “The Case for Recruitment and Selection”
John,
I love those Old Spice commercials! They were my favorite growing up and I too started buying them because of how fun the commercials were. It was a great decision to push resources into marketing and rebranding the product, however I ask where this idea came from? A potential strength of hiring the right person is the ideas they bring and the direction they push the company. So while yes, I agree that putting resources into product design can increase market share like it did for Old Spice, they still needed to have the right people in place to make this shift happen. It is a Catch-22, increase market share by investing in the product but you need the right people in place to make that happen.
Best,
Seth Yates