Learn how change can be your biggest competitive advantage
One of my best candidate interviews was with a senior marketer applying for a global innovation role. We discussed how the industry was changing and the changes we were making to capitalize on new opportunities. The candidate was engaged and excited, both by our challenges and his ideas on how he could manage them. He became our lead candidate.
Some leaders and recruiters see large-scale change as a source of candidate concern. They fear that candidates will be repelled by the uncertainty, instability and risk that come with transformation. I have found the opposite; an aggressive change agenda is a positive attribute that implies an environment within which candidates could thrive and perform.
A large-scale change agenda enhances many attributes of an employer’s value proposition. It provides opportunities for new colleagues to develop leadership capabilities essential for future growth and career advancement. It also helps them to shape the future direction and culture of an organization. Companies going through big changes have more projects to manage and most provide greater exposure to leaders and cross-functional peers. These projects also offer development opportunities when new tasks, responsibilities and roles are taken on. Job interest can also be heightened through building a new operating model and implementing it.
It is rare when a business doesn’t have a big change to make. Most are faced with a constantly changing operating environment and are in a perpetual state of flux. Economic globalization has intensified the need for them to continually adapt and reinvent themselves in order to stay competitive. They need to rethink and change the way they operate or suffer the consequences of poor performance, or worse, irrelevance to its customers and consumers. Change or die is a reality.
The ability to lead change has become a new leadership capability. All big changes require significant organizational adjustments – new attitudes, capabilities, processes, systems and relationships – and leaders must be able to demonstrate confidence, comfort with ambiguity and grace under pressure as they lead their people through these unknown, difficult and uncomfortable changes. An aggressive change agenda provides the experiences required to develop these skills.
Here are ways to promote an organization’s change agenda as a valuable attribute to candidates:
Describe the need for change
One of my best candidate interviews was with a senior marketer applying for a global innovation role. We discussed how the industry was changing and the changes we were making to capitalize on new opportunities. The candidate was engaged and excited, both by our challenges and his ideas on how he could manage them. He became our lead candidate.
Some leaders and recruiters see large-scale change as a source of candidate concern. They fear that candidates will be repelled by the uncertainty, instability and risk that come with transformation. I have found the opposite; an aggressive change agenda is a positive attribute that implies an environment within which candidates could thrive and perform.
Share the destination of the company once the changes have been made
Describe lessons learned from past change initiatives
Profile people who have worked and are working on change projects
People are drawn to winning teams and exciting projects. They are also inspired by leaders who have excelled within an organization based on their demonstration of leadership capabilities and performance. These leaders could be future mentors to new recruits too. How you phrase their stories will convey the culture of the organization and the types of recognition and rewards that a candidate can expect to earn.
