We recently went to a seminar and the presenter talked about how securing the “unique candidate” can give an organisation the edge they need to win in business.
That led us to thinking about what really is unique talent in the HR context? We often hear people describing how hard it is to find the right talent. But we wonder whether this is actually about someone having a unique skill set or whether it is really about us looking at people in a unique way rather than through a traditional view. Are we doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result?
If we keep hiring the same people and looking for a typical linear CV, then how are we evolving HR? Hiring a candidate who might look a little different on paper but has loads of potential may mean you’re introducing to your business a new perspective, a fresh take on issues and perhaps even help improve the HR profession over all.
We recently had the pleasure of working with a candidate who was just that – initially appearing to have the CV of a person that we thought we couldn’t help. However she sounded great over the phone and so we had organised to meet for an interview. But when looking at her resume again just before the interview we found ourselves asking “why are we meeting this person, I am not sure we can help her?”
In interview she was a total knock out. A team leader and people manager for several years, she had become the “go to” person for helping other managers with their people issues. In her operational role, she had seen and experienced many issues that an HR advisor would coach managers through. She had also completed an HR qualification while working. However her most impressive attributes were her communication style, approach, maturity and her innate ability to have difficult conversations with people and get the right result.
She had been having a tough time when it came to securing an HR role – she was being overlooked because her resume didn’t look right. We were fortunate to be working with a forward thinking HR Manager who was open to us putting people forward who we thought had potential and would be the right fit for the team. The candidate was offered the role and is now thriving and delivering well to the business.
This reinforced for us the idea that perhaps the unique candidate is right there under our noses – we just didn’t know we were looking at them.
