"I have hired the best employee who has the same qualities as Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg," said no employer ever.
Hiring is the trickiest part when it comes to building your A-team. As an employer, you may have your preferred qualities or the ideal picture of what your star candidate looks like, one who is the perfect “fit” for the job.
But maybe it’s a good idea to do the otherwise. Yes, consider NOT actually hiring someone who seems to be your star candidate. Here are 5 compelling reasons why.
It’s pretty normal to hear of companies taking weeks, months, some even years to finally fill up a coveted position. And maybe it’s because the ‘ideal’ employee is either hiding under a rock, or behind an ugly resume, and may pop up once in this lifetime. Sometimes, even the circumstances stand in your way as they may already be happily employed by somebody else.
Because of their expertise, experience and portfolio, the star candidate does not come at a cheap rate. They know their worth and they typically place a hefty price on their services. While this may be a piece of cake for other enterprises, this is not good news for small businesses. Their entire budgets may be depleted just on the candidate’s salary alone!
Sometimes what these star candidates have on paper does not translate to how they are in real life. There have been cases where a skill set just looks good on paper. It’s a different story when actual work is being done.
While this is not an exclusive trait for star candidates as there are always exceptions, some candidates do not seem to be trainable nor coachable to be able to fit in a company’s specific culture. While they may have the right skill set, it’s a different story when they don’t believe in your company’s values and culture. It can then lead them to become unmotivated, or have rifts among co-workers and superiors.
There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance and most of the time, too much of the former results in the latter. While not true for all cases, there are highly-skilled online workers whose overconfidence turns into cockiness, which can then overshadow their own abilities. This dangerous form of carelesness, according to Star Wars, is not good to have in a business that’s aiming for growth.
Here are three steps you can take to avoid engaging with this particular type of star employee:
You don’t need to search far and wide. You may have some staff right now who can perfectly do the job for you with just a bit of training. Make use of what you have right now, and you might just discover an innovator within your midst.
Don’t just zero-in on an applicant’s credentials and abilities. Try to get to know people even during the interview process. Oftentimes, you’ll get a feel as to that person’s attitude, and whether or not they are a good fit.
They don’t refer to a your instinct as a second brain for nothing. Most of the time, if you feel like the candidate is not a good fit, chances are that you’re right. You can also get the opinion of other trusted officials who only have your business’ interests at heart.
What do you think? Do you agree with the 5 reasons why you shouldn’t hire a star employee? Let us know in the comments below.
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