I recall a while back that a colleague asked me to help him fill a position of senior consultant in his team. I put the word out among my contacts and quite quickly had a couple of really excellent CVs to forward on, which I did.
A couple of weeks later, having not heard any news, I checked in with my colleague to see if he’d followed up with the candidates. He hadn’t.
When I asked why not, as both really did seem a potentially excellent match for the job, he replied “Job protection, Dom, job protection.”
The firm I was working for didn’t interview either candidate, my colleague’s team continued to underperform and in that one sentence, all my professional respect for him went up in smoke.
I don’t understand why people don’t realise that they need to recruit the best people. In the example above, it wasn’t a question of the candidates wanting too much money, or even of being too senior – their experience matched the job spec, which is why they sent their resumes. The problem was that the incumbent team leader knew that he wasn’t as good as he should be and didn’t want to be found out.
The reality is that if you hire brilliant people and coach them properly, you will bask in their glory. Oh, and in a competitive market, the business should benefit, too.
Dom – mon brave – that is why some are corporate beasts and others are prepared to fly the nest and do stuff on their own/ collaborate with others and realise everyone wins. INMHO Its a (in) security issue, I have never ceased to be amazed how agencies work in that the some of the most talented people are stymied from expressing their brilliance by those who are either jelous or threatened by that excellence despite the fact that the skill will result in the whole team winning. Play as a team win as a team, talk up the team but play as an individual – you all lose. Obvious one but felt it worth a comment!
How does an agency differ from any other company in that some people are stronger than their colleagues in some areas and weaker in others? I don’t see any difference at all. I do agree that a balanced team will always beat a bunch of individuals.
“If we hire people smaller than ourselves, we become a company of midgets. If we hire people bigger than ourselves, we become a company of giants” – David Ogilvy