It’s about calibre. The word ‘talent’ can be overly used, almost to the point, it is interchangeable with terms such as candidates, applicants, job seekers etc. This is not the case here. I am referring to skilled, adaptable, dependable candidates, who are loyal and have integrity. 

So, to be clear, we may have an abundance of job seekers, but we cannot confuse talent with job seekers and candidates. The heart of the problem is – calibre. And it is this in which we are in short supply.

Which brings me to where I have been spending my time of late – how to tackle such an ongoing issue, because this will not fix itself nor is it a passing phase. I am not making too ‘much ado’ about it. It is real and will impact many businesses. 

My contemplation in a nutshell: 

• Sourcing strategies are a big-ticket item (this is us!)
• Your business proposition: in being competitive to attract talent (this is you!)
• And then there is how we view talent (combined effort, you, and us?). This is where we have our best opportunity, our advantage point to leverage. We need to be open and dare to uncover our biases in seeing where we place our value and importance. And then reflect…. 

For an age, I have been advocating to hire on what I had termed ‘AI’, ? attitude and intelligence! i.e., over skills and experience. 

At EST10, we practise what we preach. To that end, everyone at EST10 is hired based on a value fit, smarts, and attitude. When hiring for Consultants, I would love nothing more than experience – but not at the expense of values. Instead, I look for capability to train (I) and willingness to be trained (A). And if you have that, we are delighted to invest in you with patience, training and the right resources.   

So, how else can we look at candidates in uncovering talent? I.e. if demand is high, supply is low, what other avenue or source can supply our needs? What different facets of a candidate or strategy should we be ruminating? 

I believe this to be ‘character’, namely someone’s character traits. And it differs from values. The importance of a person’s character has risen to the surface of my thinking, and I believe you might also be feeling the same. Character is becoming more and more important and relevant to all of us. 

I am not giving COVID-19 the benefit of this revelation, for I believe the importance of a person’s character has been dancing around our subconscious for a long while now. The gradual emergence of this trend started much earlier. The shortage of talent in the workplace and the behaviours that have resulted in this high demand, low supply equation have caused us all to reflect on this. 

I believe wholeheartedly, the issue of character is important to all of us and has been for a long while now. 

When I refer to someone having good character, it’s to do with integrity, honesty and dependability – how you operate. It’s really about who you are, at work, home, in public, in view, not in view.

It is the totality of you. It’s who you are right now, based on your beliefs, your experiences, how you have been conditioned, taught, brought up, trained, schooled, the development of your thoughts, brain thinking patterns etc.

It’s not as easy as we might think, but I also don’t think we should make it overly intricate. Always look for the small signs. To start, though, we need to be aware of the biases that influence us conditionally and be mindful of first appearances and impressions. These do count, as I have always maintained for job seekers, BUT, don’t be fooled by appearances alone – the old don’t judge a book by its cover is what I am referring to here – on both levels by the way! 

For candidates, I consider everything, all through my experience with the person. So, for example, I note how they treat our administration team, how responsive they are to our phone calls and actions required on their part in booking interviews, being on time, returning calls, showing manners and gratitude. 

When recruiting for our team, I look holistically, at all facets, from being on time, showing initiative in areas not on the ‘job description’, staying back on their own initiative. When I witness people picking up a piece of rubbish on the reception area – unasked and not knowing they have been viewed doing so, unloading the dishwasher without being asked (read this blog for more on that), offering to pick up lunch when they can see others in their team flat out, holding a door open, being happy to be at your place of work. When it looks to be all done so effortlessly, these are the telling signs and signals. If you are a keen observer, not only will you see personality traits, but also that which is harder to see, a person’s character.

I am sure we have all been there at times in our careers when someone came through at the 11th hour – right when you needed it. That person with character! These are the people to treasure and look out for. The people who extend themselves and do so because its who they are. 

When people are working with you of this ilk, it is likely they will also be finding higher meaning and purpose in the job they are doing for you and your organisation. When we find the meaning of what we do, this is where the magic and joy occur. We are not ‘labouring’ our job, we are engaged in our job. And this… is what makes a business more than great! 

For anyone looking to hire, I would encourage you to look for a candidate with the right character traits and values. Compromise on experience if you can. I wish for you, what I want for my own business, people with the highest integrity, the right values, beliefs and of great character!

“The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back.” – Abigail Van Buren 

Roxanne Calder

As Founder and Managing Director at EST10, Roxanne has an all-encompassing role that includes building and growing the business, as well as actively recruiting and consulting.

After completing a Bachelor’s Degree at Monash University, Roxanne began her recruitment career with renowned recruiter Julia Ross. From there, Roxanne worked in HR and recruitment with a number of global players and boutique businesses throughout Australia, the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong for over 20 years. She has been responsible for managing large teams and projects, implementing RPO models, managing and assisting businesses to an IPO and assisting companies in setting up their recruitment teams and processes.

Following completion of her MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management, Roxanne launched EST10 in July 2010. In doing so, she hoped to combine the flexibility and high touch service levels of boutique agencies with the structure and strategy afforded to larger firms. Roxanne believes in high-touch, high-care consulting and is always on the lookout for consultants that share this vision of recruitment.