Hire for attitude, train for skill
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10:44 PM |
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Hire for attitude, train for skill - that's the gist of a new article in the HBR. Can't argue with it, it makes perfect sense.
But then, I thought about the industrial scale recruitment drives that quite a few companies launch for entry level positions. No way you can effectively gauge the attitude of some 25,000 to 30,000 youngsters straight out of college. That, to a certain extent, explains the high attrition rates at firms that recruit this way.
I guess, the ground reality at this stage is one of large companies hiring for 'learnability' or basic intelligence, and being able to think quick on one's feet. It's about all that the HR folks can do in such a situation.
Now, you can either bemoan the job-hopping nature of these youngsters, but still carry on with business as usual, since you realize that this is a price you're prepared to pay for reckless growth, or else you acknowledge that it's not a problem with the youth, not even a problem with the HR strategy, maybe it's the corporate strategy that should be examined !
But then, I thought about the industrial scale recruitment drives that quite a few companies launch for entry level positions. No way you can effectively gauge the attitude of some 25,000 to 30,000 youngsters straight out of college. That, to a certain extent, explains the high attrition rates at firms that recruit this way.I guess, the ground reality at this stage is one of large companies hiring for 'learnability' or basic intelligence, and being able to think quick on one's feet. It's about all that the HR folks can do in such a situation.
Now, you can either bemoan the job-hopping nature of these youngsters, but still carry on with business as usual, since you realize that this is a price you're prepared to pay for reckless growth, or else you acknowledge that it's not a problem with the youth, not even a problem with the HR strategy, maybe it's the corporate strategy that should be examined !
PS: As usual, the armed forces do it right, evaluating a person's attitude and then sending them off to the NDA/IMA/OTA for bringing the rest up to speed.