purpose

Savvy businesses understand this (maybe due to the recent data that says that "the cost of a bad hiring decision can be as much as 2.5 times the employee’s annual salary"), often investing heavily into their recruitment strategy to ensure the right culture fit is established early on. This can be from simple behaviour-based competency interviewing - all the way to employing tech platforms that align corporate and personal value systems at the attraction stage.

Unfortunately, this myopic view of the recruitment function assumes that their role is to simply get the 'right' person on the boat; often forgetting that the expectation and psychological contract goes both ways - and lasts a long time!

The reason? Authenticity.

I’ve watched countless short values videos with professional voice-overs; or ‘fun’ ones where the board is forced to mime along to the company song whilst dressed in silly outfits. I’ve heard organisations shout about highly undeserved awards and I’ve read stiff, PR-agency-run Twitter feeds. I’ve seen many, many eloquently written and aspirational values statements, or the ‘about us’ page on the company website that reads like Donald Trump’s self-congratulating resumé.

Now don’t get me wrong: There’s nothing wrong with either having a clear Employer Value Proposition, or having a large budget. It’s the lack of authenticity! Spin, bluster and PR will only do damage to your chances of retaining quality people.

If you sold me a car, promising it was the most economical, stylish, fastest, easiest-driving vehicle the world has ever seen - I can only be disappointed when a few weeks later I notice that these facts start to unravel.

And the solution? Much the same with all honest relationships, admit your failings. Explain what you’re good at, and what you’re working on. Don’t swear blind that you’re true to your values when you’re not.   

Anyone can create the impression of your organisation being a great place to work. But often, it’s in the post honeymoon period where the new recruit realises that they might not have been the only one telling half-truths in the interview…