‘Labor market is doing too well: shortage of staff’. Young talent is more in demand than ever’. These are headlines you see daily. However, it is precisely now that it is important to be critical of your new recruits.
It’s a common oneliner in business: winners have a plan, losers have an excuse. A one-liner introduced by Marc Lammers, successful field hockey coach of the Dutch ladies from 2000 to 2008. Under his watch, the women’s hockey team became world champions in 2006, and Olympic champions in 2008. An ultimate crowning achievement of a long-lasting cooperation. Apart from the fact that we all stood cheering at these historic moments at the time, Marc Lammers also casts an interesting glance at the business world with his vision (in the book and the documentary Gold, among others). Wisdom that we also take with us, and recognize, in the field of recruitment & selection.
The labor market is running at full speed right now. According to the latest figures, nearly one million vacancies will be created this year. This is mainly due to the continuing economic growth. On the one hand, this means that companies are taking on more people; on the other, people are daring to change jobs more quickly in order to achieve their ambitions. The success of a company can be traced back 1:1 to the people who work there. A wrong assumption can therefore be the difference between winning or losing. But as an employer, how do you find out if you are really bringing in the topper you think he or she is?
An important ground rule in our view for that is whether a person is aware of his or her future plan. It seems like a clue, but can you clearly articulate your own ambition within a few minutes? Where do you want to be in a few years? And what do you need to achieve this? Are you aware of your own strengths, but also your development points? Dare to put that dot on the horizon, both as an employee and as an employer. And how can a possible collaboration contribute to the path that both want to take?
It is also interesting to continue asking why certain career choices were made. Do they fit within the plan to fulfill the ambition? Or does the person come up with excuses for certain choices (think mismatch with supervisor, for example)? It is the winning plan to which Marc Lammers refers.
Develop, excite, connect. That is what we as WerfSelect stand for. If you would like to discuss your ambitions and how we can support you in achieving them, we would love to hear from you.
Are we going for gold together?
by Dennis van Vulpen
