Comments on: Outliers and the True Secret to Success http://www.ere.net/2009/04/17/outliers-and-the-true-secret-to-success/ Recruiting News, Recruiting Events, Recruiting Community, Social Recruiting Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:35:23 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: EB news - Employer Branding Today by Universum Quarterly - Switzerland http://www.ere.net/2009/04/17/outliers-and-the-true-secret-to-success/comment-page-1/#comment-11907 EB news - Employer Branding Today by Universum Quarterly - Switzerland Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:30:23 +0000 http://www.ere.net/?p=7505#comment-11907 [...] Outliers and the True Secret to Success [...] [...] Outliers and the True Secret to Success [...]

]]> By: Kelly Magowan http://www.ere.net/2009/04/17/outliers-and-the-true-secret-to-success/comment-page-1/#comment-11826 Kelly Magowan Sat, 18 Apr 2009 08:10:53 +0000 http://www.ere.net/?p=7505#comment-11826 Thank you for an informative post. I am yet to read “Outliers” however have read Gladwell’s other books, which contain great information (though are too repetitive in some places) None the less, the points and issues you raise in respect to hiring the best talent are valid. Unfortunately is seems that for many involved in the recruitment process, only the minority are focused on having a clearly defined position, value proposition and the expertise to hire the right person for the job based on transferable, skills and competencies in addition to personal attributes. For the majority of those hiring, they go through the motions, many claiming they are too busy to do things properly (like write a relevant job spec or ad) which is rather disconcerting when that is the reason they are employed. I hope that in time HR and Recruitment will be more favorably viewed and valued by businesses, leading to an increase in standards. Too much hiring is reactive, robotic and simplistic at best. As you have so rightly put, when it comes to recruitment, “None of this matters much if you don’t define the actual work required. This is the core problem with vague or generic job descriptions…..” The result is companies find themselves with average performers, which can be attributed more to their hiring than the actual employees. Kelly Magowan, www.sixfigures.com.au Thank you for an informative post. I am yet to read “Outliers” however have read Gladwell’s other books, which contain great information (though are too repetitive in some places)

None the less, the points and issues you raise in respect to hiring the best talent are valid. Unfortunately is seems that for many involved in the recruitment process, only the minority are focused on having a clearly defined position, value proposition and the expertise to hire the right person for the job based on transferable, skills and competencies in addition to personal attributes.

For the majority of those hiring, they go through the motions, many claiming they are too busy to do things properly (like write a relevant job spec or ad) which is rather disconcerting when that is the reason they are employed.

I hope that in time HR and Recruitment will be more favorably viewed and valued by businesses, leading to an increase in standards. Too much hiring is reactive, robotic and simplistic at best. As you have so rightly put, when it comes to recruitment,
“None of this matters much if you don’t define the actual work required. This is the core problem with vague or generic job descriptions…..” The result is companies find themselves with average performers, which can be attributed more to their hiring than the actual employees.

Kelly Magowan, http://www.sixfigures.com.au

]]> By: Keith Halperin http://www.ere.net/2009/04/17/outliers-and-the-true-secret-to-success/comment-page-1/#comment-11819 Keith Halperin Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:23:28 +0000 http://www.ere.net/?p=7505#comment-11819 Thanks Lou, I also enjoyed Outliers. What I particularly found stimulating is the downplaying of "talent" or innate ability in favor of hard work and luck, and how the latter two combine. For example: if you were born right after the Canadian Hockey birth date cutoff, you were more likely to be more physically mature, which got you a bit of extra attention and training which boosted your motivation toward putting in even more training to improve, which got you more attention and training which further improved your motivation. If you were born too late, too bad.... I also liked his comments (perhaps in the book perhaps in a talk) where IMSM, he said that meritocracies are usually "stacked"- they aren't based on pure objective ability or achievement. The $64k question for us as recruiters and as individuals is to detemine if the "Meritocracy Deck" is stacked "fer ya" or "agin ya". I look forward to when employers use your more logical and objective tools for recruiting. Cheers, Keith Halperin, keithsrj@sbcglobal.net Thanks Lou, I also enjoyed Outliers. What I particularly found stimulating is the downplaying of “talent” or innate ability in favor of hard work and luck, and how the latter two combine. For example: if you were born right after the Canadian Hockey birth date cutoff, you were more likely to be more physically mature, which got you a bit of extra attention and training which boosted your motivation toward putting in even more training to improve, which got you more attention and training which further improved your motivation. If you were born too late, too bad….
I also liked his comments (perhaps in the book perhaps in a talk) where IMSM, he said that meritocracies are usually “stacked”- they aren’t based on pure objective ability or achievement. The $64k question for us as recruiters and as individuals is to detemine if the “Meritocracy Deck” is stacked “fer ya” or “agin ya”.

I look forward to when employers use your more logical and objective tools for recruiting.

Cheers,

Keith Halperin, keithsrj@sbcglobal.net

]]> By: Amanda Blazo http://www.ere.net/2009/04/17/outliers-and-the-true-secret-to-success/comment-page-1/#comment-11818 Amanda Blazo Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:27:42 +0000 http://www.ere.net/?p=7505#comment-11818 Lou, Outliers is a must read for anyone interested in learning about not only recognizing opportunity but acting upon it and acting boldly. At Govig & Associates, AE candidates are required to read the book before their final interview with the President. I've read it and it has truly changed the way I view situations. Thanks for posting this article and sharing Outliers with the rest of the ERE community. Lou, Outliers is a must read for anyone interested in learning about not only recognizing opportunity but acting upon it and acting boldly. At Govig & Associates, AE candidates are required to read the book before their final interview with the President. I’ve read it and it has truly changed the way I view situations. Thanks for posting this article and sharing Outliers with the rest of the ERE community.

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