81% of CEOs say that their business always looks to equip employees with new skills
– – PwC 2015 Global CEO Survey
Recruiting for Agility and Collaboration
Recruitment in the industrial economy was driven by the principles of the mass markets it served. Templates were developed in the form of rigid job descriptions. Candidates were judged on trust and efficiency based on a résumé of standard accomplishments. Skill requirements for specific jobs were well-defined and paramount. Ability was measured in years of experience.
In the connected economy, the ability to learn and collaborate are as important as current experience and individual skill-sets. CEOs are looking for agile workforces who can adapt to fast-changing market conditions, learn on the job and collaborate to create new solutions.
Future-Proofing Your Workforce
Establishing minimum standards for specific job skills is still a critical part of the recruitment process. But the ability to look beyond current abilities and assess the capacity to learn and adapt are critical in hiring a workforce for the connected economy, as
Google’s senior VP of people operations, Laszlo Block explains:
If it’s a technical role, we assess your coding ability, and half the roles in the company are technical roles. For every job, though, the number one thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it’s not I.Q. It’s learning ability. It’s the ability to process on the fly. It’s the ability to pull together disparate bits of information. We assess that using structured behavioral interviews that we validate to make sure they’re predictive.
Jumping Into The Global Talent Pool
In the industrial economy only the multinational giants could play on the global stage. In the connected economy, start-ups are becoming billion dollar companies overnight because of their access to global talent as well as global consumers.
As business becomes more globalized recruiters need to appreciate the value that global candidates can bring in terms of cultural diversity and local market knowledge. But as INSEAD Professor, Erin Meyer, told Strategy+Business magazine, this means having the courage to step outside traditional comfort zones:
One problem that arises—and this often happens with U.S. companies— is that they have a strong American culture in their organization. When they’re in China, for example, and are hiring Chinese employees for their company, they’re choosing the most “American” Chinese talent they can find.
Internally, that makes things easier. But it has two clear disadvantages:
First, it may make it more difficult for these firms to be close to their customers. Second, people in various parts of the world are trained since childhood to see things differently.
If you recognize that, and you manage a global team, it can be a huge advantage to have some team members who see the forest while others see the trees. But if you’ve hired the people who are the most similar to your own culture, then you lose out on the advantage of diversity.
71% of participants say they actively search for talent in different geographies
– PwC 2015 Global CEO Survey
Treating English Fluency Like Any Other Job Skill
While globally diverse teams increase innovation and creativity, as well as bringing you closer to your local markets, they can also present challenges for workforce communications.
Progressive global businesses treat English fluency like any other job skill, with English assessments becoming an integral part of the recruitment process. As with other skills, benchmarks for minimum standards should reflect the communication needs of the initial position, while integrated learning programs can broaden the potential talent pool. Candidates with inadequate English can bring their skills up to standard with on the job training.
Source: Pearson English
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