No business is perfect, and often businesses partner with Project Resource Partners because they have challenges that need to be addressed. Often that is the reason for the transformation. These challenges may be structural and/or cultural, and successful candidates will need to understand and contend with these.

It does also mean that often a business needs to address these with candidates through the interview and screening processes, whilst still appearing as an attractive opportunity to the market. What you need to do as an organisation is ensure that there are no surprises when the candidate comes on board, that the candidate is engaged and understands what is going to be required in the role.

Doing this in the right way ensures that the outcome is positive for all parties and ensures that the engagement and therefore the transformation is far more likely to be successful.

The following are two critical ways interviewers and hiring managers can ensure that with their recruiter they hire the right person and that that leads to the right outcomes that benefit both the candidate and the organisation.

CHALLENGES ARE OPPORTUNITIES

Provided that the resources are allocated effectively, and there is true desire to change, there is always the ability for candidates to learn and to develop new skills. Contractors often can withstand complex, demanding and challenging situations and see the upside they present for their employability post-delivery.

Further to this and from my observation, candidates often enjoy pushing themselves and derive significant satisfaction out of delivering complex pieces of work in a difficult stakeholder environment. Presenting a business’ challenges realistically and providing the right candidate with an opportunity to improve their skills can turn a difficult environment as a growth and development opportunity.

EMPOWERMENT

If a company is engaging a specialist to assist with these kinds of challenges, they need to enable the specialist to get it done. There needs to be a willingness to provide enough organisational support to ensure the challenges can be resolved and the project delivered.

Let the person you have hired work through the challenges, while ensuring there are open lines of two-way communication and that the backing is there through effective managerial support for complex and challenging situations.

By empowering a transformational specialist with this support, candidates will feel comfortable attacking difficult situations and the business will achieve better outcomes.

In conclusion, if you want to hire the right candidate for the right challenge then the more honest you can be through the hiring process, including with your recruiter, the more likely it is that you will hire the right candidate. Then, if you provide them with the right environment it is far more likely that your transformation will deliver what it is that you want it to.

Dan Corbett

Consultant

Project Resource Partners

Level 7, 360 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 

T +61 3 9949 8100 D +61 3 9949 8105

E  dcorbett@projectresourcepartners.com.au