Last week, I had the opportunity to take my family to the Washington State Fair. The fairgrounds are about 30 minutes from my house, which makes it easy to spend one afternoon per year, enjoying all the activities a state fair has to offer.
The food is the main attraction. Where else can you get a roasted turkey leg smothered in BBQ sauce with a gigantic “elephant ear” for dessert? My fingers are still sticky! We also enjoy the animal barns. This year, we got to see an Egyptian Sphinx—a hairless cat that has the temperament of a dog in the affection it shows toward humans. The Egyptian Pharoses liked these animals so much that they requested one be placed in their tomb so that they could enjoy the cat’s companionship in the afterlife.
At some point during the afternoon, I usually part ways with my wife and daughters and head over to my favorite exhibit–the “gadget barn.” This is the large building where all the fair vendors congregate in an attempt to sell the public the latest revolutionary product. There is everything from rubber roof tiles for your house (made from recycled tires) to car wax that supposedly lasts five years. This year I learned that the Sham WOW was actually a fake! The chamois booth sales guy showed me the benefits of purchasing the REAL 100% rayon chamois (patent number included). Needless to say, I got the “first-day-of-the-fair special.”
This type of sales technique has always intrigued me. It feels odd to relate to someone who is force-feeding you information for their own benefit. Granted, some people are quite talented at this type of dialog, and it can be quite entertaining. If a vendor is going to be successful in the gadget barn, they must be a performer and be executing at the top of their game.
What would happen if we tried to apply these same tactics to recruiting? If you are thinking that the results would be terrible…I agree! However, this is exactly what many hiring managers do–especially when they’re attempting to recruit from their competitors. Without listening first, they quickly start listing the benefits of working on their team, without really understanding the needs of the candidate.
This kind of recruiting arrogance turns people off in a big way. As we discussed last month in WorkPuzzle, people need acknowledgment and attunement to become attached to a company. Attunement means “to adjust or accustom your response to become receptive or responsive to someone else.” This is what causes someone to engage in a recruiting dialog–not a detailed understanding of what they’re missing by not being on your team.
Tomorrow, I’ll illustrate how this mistake makes its way into both the candidate advertising process and the interview process. Until then, did you know you can now buy the California Car Duster online? …and I thought the only place you could get it was at the fair!
