What’s the best possible way to help your competitors succeed?
How about by taking their staff off their hands?
Imagine this scenario: The candidate in front of you is like manna from heaven! They’ve worked for all of your competitors. In fact, some of the strategy information they are in the process of telling you might just possibly give you that competitive edge that you’re looking for!
But consider these facts before you hit the ‘Hire Now’ button:
1. While the candidate is conspiratorially ‘telling all’, fast forward 18 months and it is likely they will be telling someone new about YOU.
2. Having considerable experience gained from a competitor tells you about the past, not about their suitability to deliver for the future.
One of the most common hiring mistakes is to hire someone who comes directly from a competitor with the ‘right experience’. Many executives even go on fishing expeditions, looking at competitor talent and creating packages to reel in big fish from elsewhere.
If two candidates seem equally qualified for a position, and one has slightly more experience, the decision seems easy. Experience wins.
But how many times have you come across someone whose five years of experience actually adds up to just one year’s bad experience repeated five times?
Our advice is “don’t exclusively think of hiring from a competitor”— unless you want to do them a favour. You could be simply recycling inept people through different organisations – just because they have the ubiquitous ‘experience’. Whatever people do at their prior companies – good, bad, or indifferent – they are likely to do at yours. And your competitors will probably thank you. Immensely.
Contact Melvin Day at mday@marketingmoves.com or on +44 (0) 1932 253352 if you’d like to discuss recruiting the right candidate for your role.
