I recently read a Harvard Business Review article, Stop Lying to Job Candidates About the Role, https://hbr.org/2019/06/stop-lying-to-job-candidates-about-the-role, by Atta Tarki and Jeff Weiss. Atta and Jeff discussed the importance of “full disclosure” to candidates. This is what we at Acumen Executive Search have been saying for years. People need to come into a position with “their eyes wide open.”
Clear expectations need full disclosure and challenges openly discussed in order to know if the candidate is a good fit and if the candidate finds your organization to be a good fit.
“Too many hiring managers avoid telling candidates the truth about a job. Their logic is that if applicants find out how hard they will work or how boring the core of the open jobs are, they will walk away. This is a mistake. To hire effectively, you have to be honest about what working at your firm is like and what it takes to be successful.” states the opening paragraph.
Acumen learned early in our 12-year history that it is about asking hiring managers the hard questions to determine “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of a position AND the company. Then it’s about asking hard questions of our candidates to determine the fit.
I recommend the article for all hiring managers. Hiring needs to be a win/win for both sides of the equation in order to have a successful employee and to have a high retention rate. Why go through the process of hiring and then have to do it again 6-months later when the candidate realizes that the position is not what they signed up for?
I also recommend the article for people looking at making a career move. It is your responsibility as a candidate to ask hard questions too and to understand expectations to determine if this is the right opportunity for you.
If you would like to learn more about Acumen, please visit www.AcumenExecutiveSearch.com.
by Suzanne Hanifin