6 hurdles to overcome when hiring HR professionals
Time and again our firm is asked to support on sourcing and hiring great professionals from across all of the specialist areas of HR.
And as part of that, we usually hear a very frustrated hiring leader wondering why they haven’t had success in finding and securing great talent using their own internal resources.
So here are 6 of the most common factors that we see contributing to the challenges for hiring across all levels and specialist areas of Human Resources:
Unrealistic expectations: Too often there is a limited pool of qualified, high performance HR professionals available in the job market. However roles being hired for typically have a long and frequently unrealistic “wish list” of blended skills, with (ironically) an insistence that those “unicorn” candidates also have direct industry experience to ensure they will be “a credible fit” and “able to understand the culture and working terminologies” within the employing company (so much for transferable skills). In those instances, finding candidates with the right mix of technical and interpersonal skill expertise, industry knowledge and potential for “unique” culture fit results in a tiny if not non-existent talent pool indeed.
Increasing demand: The demand for experts across all specialist areas of HR continues to grow across all industries (certainly those that we’ve been hiring for across many years anyway). This growth was in part driven by the challenges of Coronavirus lockdowns and subsequent remote workforce arrangements; and fuelled with executive appetite for support to achieve diversity, mental health and environmental targets within socially responsible companies. With organizations continuing to recognize the importance of effective HR practices in managing human capital, the competition for skilled HR professionals continues to be significant, making it harder to attract top talent.
Evolving roles and responsibilities: The role of leaders within the HR profession has long expanded beyond administrative tasks to include strategic initiatives to affect significant organisational changes for companies to gain a competitive market edge. Most HR leadership roles now require a whole new benchmark for creativity, data competency and expert thought leadership to design and deliver commercially sustainable solutions, in addition to advanced business acumen. Until such time as data and fiscal proficiency is the “norm” for the HR professional, the talent pool for demanding new roles will remain small.
Soft skills requirement: regardless of the role within the function, HR professionals are expected to universally have strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively engage with employees, resolve conflicts, and build relationships. Assuredly, despite nearly all professing advanced competencies in this area, we know from years of HR hiring that these skills are frequently lacking. And for many stakeholders, assessing these soft skills during the hiring process can be subjective and challenging, as they may not be easily quantifiable or evident in a resume or interview.
Cultural fit: HR professionals play a crucial role in shaping an organization's culture and values. Finding candidates who align with the organization's culture, values, and goals will often be challenging in part as they may again not be easily tested and proven from a resume or interview. Of course hiring someone who does not fit well with the organizational culture may lead to conflicts and difficulties in building strong employee relationships but rather than subjecting an existing team to work overload, or risking losing the headcount budget for the hire, many hiring leaders will plough ahead with a “risky” hire, only to have to remove and replace that person within a short period of time. And equally as problematic, is the insistence on “perfect” culture fit, so roles remain empty for months or even years.
Salary expectations: Skilled HR professionals will typically have high salary expectations due to the demands and the critical nature of their expertise and work achievements. Especially when they have no reason otherwise to change from their well rewarded, challenging roles where they have already garnered respect and recognition. Organizations who are not offering something extra-ordinary in terms of work content and accountability and/or benefits, will likely face challenges in meeting salary expectations within their budget constraints, especially if they are competing with larger companies or industries that offer higher compensation packages.
Certainly we see a number of other themes when we explore why companies are finding it difficult to attract, hire and retain talented HR professionals; and we’ll address these in additional articles. In all instances though, overcoming these challenges requires organizations to implement effective recruitment strategies, invest in authentic employer branding, offer competitive compensation packages, and leverage diverse sourcing channels. In the current and foreseeable term, great HR candidates will continue to have the luxury of choice as to where and for whom they work.
About the Author
Leanne Morris is well known as a both an outspoken advocate and critic of the HR profession. With long standing networks across all specialist areas of the function, and a multi- continent work history, she is a sought after subject matter expert on international HR hiring trends and HR hiring best practice.