HAYS IRELAND BLOG

THOUGHTS ON THE WORLD OF WORK

Friday 1 June 2012

The Liverpool way?

What is the best way to recruit?

Liverpool Football Club have announced their new manager today, the most important position in the whole club and business. Whilst football recruitment is very different from what we are used to in the world of work, the manner in which this very public process has played out over the past few weeks has made me think of parallels in our business.

Let me start with a brief background to set the context. Liverpool Football Club is arguably the most successful team in the history of English football. In the seventies and the eighties they were the benchmark that other clubs in England and across the world aspired to, both on the pitch and in their business dealings. It was even given a name - the ‘Liverpool Way’. Unfortunately since that glorious period they have had an ignominious fall from grace.

They were bought over by an American conglomerate two years ago who have already been through two managers and have announced their third today. Two weeks ago they told the media they would carry out a rigorous process looking at all applicants for the position. They drew up a long list of targets including some of the best managers / coaches in football and subsequently received widespread criticism.

If you’re not a football fan, this may puzzle you. Why would you not look at all the top options available? Well as someone once said “football is a funny old game”. It can be very insular at times and a bit of a buddy network. So even though, as mentioned before, they are the most important person in the business, it’s typical for clubs to line up one or two targets very quickly instead of doing an extensive search of all the options available to them.

Whilst hiring a football manager for a top premiership club is very different to say, hiring a receptionist, there are similarities to hiring a CEO or a very senior person for a large multinational. There’s more of an executive search or headhunting process. I’m sure if IBM or Accenture were looking for a senior member of staff, they would search far and wide and aim for the very best. So why shouldn’t football clubs?

Nonetheless whilst hiring a CEO, CTO or CFO requires a very a specialised recruitment technique the modern day recruitment methods are catching up fast. The arrival of LinkedIn opened a whole new world to the recruitment consultant. So nowadays when a recruitment consultancy like Hays is looking for the right candidate for a financial controller job or a Java developer or a funds administrator they have a number of techniques. The extensive database of candidates is the first option. Then there’s the broadcast method of advertising, on job boards, in newspapers etc. But the arrival of LinkedIn has made the modern recruitment consultant a headhunter. They will actively seek out passive candidates, not only on LinkedIn but via a wide range of online resources searching for the ideal candidate.

Which brings me to my next point in relation to football. When seeking candidates, it’s not just about qualifications and relevant experience; just as important, if not more, is cultural fit. Sam Allardyce was hired as the Newcastle manager in 2007 and lasted 8 months. Alex McLeish was hired by Aston Villa and lasted 11 months. They had all the credentials but just didn’t fit in. The same thing can happen in the workplace.

Anyone involved in hiring when screening and interviewing candidates should judge whether a candidate is the right cultural fit for a company. This is where the value comes in using experts. A good recruitment consultant can find suitable matches to a job spec but it takes a great consultant to go beyond that and find a candidate who has that special magic that will ensure they will join a company and transform its business.

So Liverpool have hired Brendan Rodgers, a young ambitious manager from a smaller club. Ironically, at face value it looks like after all the media frenzy of the past two weeks they’ve followed every other football club and appointed the second man they’ve interviewed after a short review period, but I’ve no doubt, like any good recruitment consultant they’ve reviewed many, many options before putting through the two best matches.

Time will tell…..

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