Recently I was working on identifying recruiting sources for a client. I ended up at two sources which were almost identical. The physical locations were very similar. They were physically close. A few minutes from each other actually. The people who were at the locations were demographically identical. The goals of the people were also very similar. My visits were at the same time of day.
However, there were many clues underlying a significant difference in values
The first mistake is when the above clues are overlooked. The second mistake is when people decide to move forward with both of the sources even when they see the clues. They decide that two is always better than one. They tell themselves they will hold the second group to a higher standard when hiring. They never do. They always have lots of reasons to undercut the standard. They need warm bodies. They have a contract they have to fulfill. They promise themselves they will reinstate the standard once the contract is completed.
At one point, I caught a vision of two employees from each recruiting source sitting next to each other waiting for their interviews. The two higher value candidates would not be impressed with the two lower value candidates. Would they walk out? Maybe. Would they question why they are there? Absolutely. Do you want either of these scenarios to happen? NO!!
As time moves along, the lower values candidates turn into lower value employees. The employer never has a good time to “clean house” of the lower value employees. This is when the costs and lack of productivity start piling up. One of the quickest ways for the costs to start increasing is when the higher value employees get tired of the consequences of working with lower value employees. They decide to move on. Losing just one good employee will severely cut your productivity.
This is why I rejected the one source and never recruited there
So what happened next? I continued to look for good recruiting sources which fit my client. It took a couple of weeks, but we found another quality recruiting source. It was clear the values were in alignment with the first source. I was so glad we had the inner strength to say no.
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