Talent Thinks Different

Meet Talent Where They Are

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I see corporations and HR managers post job listings daily and I often wonder whether they want talent and skill or not.  They certainly list everything under the sun and the moon along with a subtle reminder that they only want FULL time and most likely IN the office.  Not really sure if they will include a chain with that badge or not.  When searching for help, why not list what you need and see what comes out? For some, it may take them 60 hours a week to do the job. For others, they may do it in 20 and do it better.  Open your mind a bit, folks.  Not everyone has the same skill.

So, what’s the point?  Are they aware that there are options other than full time?  Are they even aware of what work they want done or is this about synergy, communication, ideas, being hardcore, and the other buzzwords you see from corporate managers to signal how tough they are and how in control they are because they don’t actually know the details?  It’s ridiculous.  

Don’t get me wrong. I like offices.  I own some offices.  I like to go to work at my office instead of my house.  However, I don’t care where my team is.  If they need an office, it’s here.  If we need to meet, we can do it.  I don’t care how many hours they are at their desk.  The only thing I care about is what I need to get done.  Sometimes, this is time and place specific. But, others, it’s simply a project.  I don’t believe most professionals are machines for which you try to grind productivity out of merely for the sake of doing work.  If you allow them to do the right work in the right way, everyone wins.  I know that is a strange concept in the corporate world but truly, if you do it right, capital and labor can both win.  Work only needs to be done if it is useful.  If it is just work for work’s sake, don’t bother.

I’m a big believer in meeting people and talent where they are.  Some people want and need a full time job.  Some companies need that much work.  However, many companies will do just fine with fractional services. Lower cost than hiring a full time person to sit at an office waiting for a meeting to break out and often higher quality and experience than they can otherwise source themselves.  

Have you been in an office lately? What do people do?  They talk to each other (I guess that’s the synergy) and they have meetings.  It’s enormously inefficient.  High talent people don’t want to do this.  High talent people can earn more by dispensing with the hobgoblin of inefficiency promulgated by most HR departments and leveraging their day for high value engagements.

If you want talent, you need to meet it where it is.  And, if your business doesn’t need talent, maybe just have some more meetings about synergy and maximizing productivity.