Katherine writes:
Everywhere you look there are articles bemoaning the skills gap. CEOs surveyed by PwC identified the “availability of key skills” as among the top four business threats to future growth.
I’m convinced that the skills gap exists, in large part, because we don’t define the job role in enough detail. We are so focused on skills we fail to analyse how the person needs to be motivated in order to carry out the job to the best of their abilities. Many job descriptions are a combination of knee jerk reactions and fairy godmother wishful thinking.
When I sat down with the stressed hiring manager in Cambridge, it turns out that my client has written a job description based on:
- A long-serving employee who left the business, leaving a sizable knowledge gap behind
- Added-in management tasks he hasn’t time to do and wants to delegate
- A few “nice to have” emerging technology skills he thought would give them an edge on the competition.
No wonder my client is stressed – does such a person exist?
Changing business demands
I can sympathise with my client’s needs. His IT function has moved from a back-office technical function – where people were seen and not heard – to a strategic and customer-oriented business resource. He requires a different set of skills and motivations that may exceed the capabilities of many IT professionals.
However, just because the need is there, writing unrealistic job descriptions is only going to exacerbate the situation and add to the “skills gap” frenzy.
To test the job spec's feasibility, I take my client through a simple exercise to decode the motivations he would like the candidate to have. We group the results under the headings Technical and Leadership skills. The person he is looking for needs to be motivated as follows:
Technical: Analytical – Problem Solver – Task Focused – Detailed
Leadership: Proactive Initiator – Goal Orientated – People and Task Focused - Strategic
It doesn't take too long for my client to see that he is looking for two polar opposites, a split personality. We have a laugh when I write "IMPOSSIBLE" at the top of the page!
Helping him think through “what do you need more of and less of and why” makes the recruitment of a candidate much more possible.
And changes his perception of the skills gap in Cambridge. I leave him muttering that he has in fact seen a few CVs that might be worth another look...
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