Leadership’s Future: When Standards Slip
by Miki Saxon
If you have ever had to hire for any position whatsoever you know it’s imperative to consider exactly what the requirements are before you start interviewing and even better to write them down. Additionally, writing them down keeps them from being too fluid and forces you to consider what you actually need when faced with a candidate you really like who doesn’t have them.
The better you are at analyzing and understanding your team’s weaknesses and future needs the better you become at hiring the right person at the right time and for the right reasons.
There are many managers who can’t be bothered to expend the time and energy required to do this and that goes a long way to ensuring the candidate’s (and the manager’s) success.
These managers often shoot for the stars, but quickly roll over, drop the standards and settle for the first warm body that passes by.
Doing so damages the team, imperils whatever projects are being done and even jeopardizes the company’s future by reducing quality and shipping shoddy goods.
Our nation’s schools are responsible for manufacturing the future workforce.
Much of the executive management are choosing the road of least resistance and dropping standards in an effort to raise production numbers.
The result is the same—reduced quality and shoddy goods.
The difference is that there is no alternative supply. Eventually, as the economy improves, you will have no choice but to buy those goods.
The solution for investors is to force management to improve quality, not lower the metrics to look good.
Image credit: Design and Technology Student on flickr
