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Organizations are hiring wrong!
When it comes to investments, we are often reminded that “past performance is no guarantee of future results.” In other words, don’t assume an investment will continue to do well in the future simply because it has done well in the past.
This is great advice, and I therefore find it strange that when organizations hire new talents, they give excessive emphasis to a candidate’s past accomplishments. This is, in my view, dangerous especially in today’s rapidly changing and increasingly complex business landscape. The factors (or the skills) that allowed the candidate the ability to perform well in past, may no longer be present or be the right ones for today.
When hiring, especially for leadership positions, while past performance should be considered, a more important consideration would be the candidate’s ability to contribute to the future. Such a change in mindset would require hiring managers to look less at past accomplishments, and more for: (a) thought leadership; (b) soft skills like adaptability, critical thinking, and the ability to learn; and (c) values like a sense of accountability, integrity, and resilience.
When we hire (or promote), we are investing in our organization’s future. We should therefore have our eyes on the future, not on the past.
