AS SEEN IN AS SEEN IN

Are paid trials effective in recruiting top talent? (Julie Labrie featured in The Globe and Mail)

A Globe and Mail reader recently asked this question: “Are paid one-week trials for manager roles a good idea?” My short answer is “no” and you can read my full response as to why, in the Careers section of the newspaper online (or scroll to the end of this article). More importantly however, I believe this well-meaning hiring manager was asking the wrong question.

This person was looking to hire a manager with both technical and people skills, and had experienced some false starts recently, with new hires not lasting through probationary periods. That is frustrating. However, to find a solution, the hiring manager did what we see many prospective clients do – seek to add additional safe-guard type layers to their processes to fix the problem, without examining gaps or errors in their current process.

It’s human nature to think this way, since we can’t see our own blind spots. Many hiring managers mistakenly presume the singular factor that matters in this equation is how new hires perform at work. That is not the case.

A better question to ask in such a recruitment challenge is: What did we miss when we chose our previous unsuccessful hire? In other words, what did we NOT see?

At BlueSky Personnel Solutions, we often see new clients evaluating talent from a siloed perspective. Their considerations focus squarely on one thing: Does this candidate have the skills and experience to do this job? In any organization that’s a well-oiled machine however, nothing works in isolation. Recruitment processes must take this into account.

Every employee’s performance is inter-dependent on the sum-total of an organization’s parts. This means successful hiring is dependent on several critical variables, beyond just the skills and experience required for a position.

When we are recruiting for our clients, we ask several questions up front, pertaining to the organization, department where a new hire will be working, company and team culture, etc. We take a wholistic approach to our searches.

In our experience, taking a cookie-cutter approach based solely on a job description, can result in uninformed decisions – albeit inadvertently.

So, here are three important questions and considerations that we bring to our clients, to immediately set up recruitment efforts for success. You can consider these in your hiring process too:

  1. Consider the last employee who was highly successful in this job. What working style, and approach did this person have? How did they interact and work with you and your team? Use this information to build a psychographic profile that can guide you in finding your optimal candidate to fill this position.

 

  1. What personality profile did the last person have? What about the rest of the team? Get clear on the personality types that thrive within your company’s culture, and specifically within the team culture where this new hire will be managing direct reports. For example, do your employees thrive with a manager who is free-flowing and collaborative manager who seeks input from many voices across the team? Or do they do better in a more structured environment where clear guidelines and expectations are shared from the outset?

 

  1. What kind of onboarding process do you currently have in place – are you setting up your new managerial hires for success? Are you giving them the right type of support to meet them where they are? Consider the needs of introverted learners, versus extroverted ones for example. How do your current processes help new managerial hires get settled into their new environment?

 

While one-week paid trials for manager roles may seem like a good idea at first blush, it could have other significant and potentially negative consequences for the rest of your employees. This must be factored into your solution-seeking.

First, the most important message being communicated to employees with paid trials is that the company’s leadership does not have confidence in their own recruitment decision-making. As such, they must resort to trials for confirmation.

Second, if consecutive trials prove to be unsuccessful, consider the toll this can take on current team members, in terms of uncertainty, the chaos of change, and a critical role that continues to remain unfulfilled.

Finally, beyond losing out on candidates who are currently employed full-time, who can’t take a week off for a trial (as I noted in The Globe and Mail), the optics of requiring a trial suggest that your company’s recruitment process isn’t working as well as it should. This can be a deterrent for high-demand talent whom your competitors may also be wooing.

Taking a 360-degree approach in your search process will dramatically increase your chances of securing the best talent for your company. We see these hiring successes every day, and with this strategic approach, your recruitment efforts will pay off in spades as well.


If you are in the market for Bilingual (English/French) talent to join your team, it would be our pleasure to support you. We are connected to Canada’s most in-demand talent. Simply call us today at: 416-236-3303 or send an email to: [email protected].  We look forward to serving you!