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Keep The Romance Alive
By Ron | October 27, 2008
Hiring someone is a lot like getting married. The recruiting phase is all romance and lust. The recruiter is chasing the new candidate like a smitten teenager. Sometimes, the applicant plays hard to get or sometimes she is calling the recruiter incessantly. As a determined staffing professional, I used a technique that, many times, worked - I sent flowers to the house - what’s more romantic than that? I would continue to “woo” candidates until I got them agree to marriage, oops, I mean, got them to accept my offers. As a good recruiter, I would still keep up my ardent approach until I saw them march down the aisle, oops, I mean, until they showed up for work.
I have heard the initial phase of employment referred to as the “honeymoon period.” I used to have a friend that told me that his love affairs always lasted about six months, then the romance would wear off and reality would set in…. the “warts” would start showing up. Isn’t this what happens after we hire someone? After a few months, employees become “old hat.” They become like that annoying spouse who no longer is as attractive. We stop recruiting. We have forgotten why that person was so attractive to us in the first place.
I have talked to countless managers, who when the times get rough, start blaming their employees for everything. They sounded like bitter spouses who shed any responsibility for hiring them in the first place (marrying them) or coaching along the way (marriage counseling). As a Human Resource person, I used to remind my managers that divorce, oops, I mean…termination should be the last resort. Working on any relationship is hard work no matter whether on the home front or at work. It is important to ”keep the romance alive.”
Topics: HR |