You might think that change managers with good soft skills would be valued highly. In a shrinking economy, companies that are efficient and adapt to changing circumstances have the best chance of survival. Many will downsize or introduce new working methods, and some will continue to invest, introducing new technology and working practices to drive efficiencies. They also may outsource or off shore, but either way change is inevitable within the business and the way it is managed critical to its success.
Some companies will recruit external managers to implement their change programmes; others will recruit from within. When deciding who to entrust with managing the business change employers always look at track record but I have seen a shift in attitude towards the value placed on soft skills when recruiting.
A year ago advertisements were very clearly highlighting the need for soft skills. The technical skills needed for the job were given, but experience of delivering communications programmes and having excellent stakeholder management skills were desired differentiators for candidates. Now that is changing. Advertisers home in on the ‘doing’ traits, the deliverable, requiring ‘demonstrable experience’ sometimes going so far as stipulating the number of projects, their currency, and requiring similarity of industry/company type.
Perhaps this is because project timescales have shortened, or costs squeezed so the nice to haves are left behind. As Gerald Price of Change Track says ‘Companies are not averse to bringing in new people but they expect them to come equipped with real life experience and the ability to quickly assess how to achieve the required goal and thereafter to provide the skills and determination to actually deliver what they say’.
Perhaps other factors are at work. Everyone is taking a precautionary approach. With a larger pool of candidates, employers are expecting the successful applicant to fulfil over 95% of their requirements in their skills/experience matrix whereas they would have previously expected a 70% match. This means the job requirements become more stringent, to help filter the candidates and reduce the workload through the selection process.
The focus moves to the ‘what’ rather than the ‘how’, and the ‘been there, done it’ experience. Making the candidates tick more boxes to succeed reduces the chances of a wild card succeeding and often leads to a more transactional style of working, but this is already being factored into corporate behaviour before the recruitment process starts. After all when jobs are on the line people are more willing to tolerate a more direct approach and employers welcome candidates who take the hard tack.
Gone are the benign metaphors for business as an orchestra or as a team sport. The new metaphor for business is boxing. Harvard Business Review (Mar 09) reflects the need for employees to be able to absorb blows and matches agility against absorption like the Ali Foreman fight. Quoting Lucy Kellaway of the FT: ‘soft is out, and hard is in’.
Our thanks to Heather Northey of N:management
www.nmanagement.co.uk
