Over the weekend we took our son shoe shopping for new basketball shoes. He prefers regular running/athletic shoes to the hi-tops that we purchased last year. Upon arrival at the store we immediately found several name-brand pairs that cost more than we had intended to spend. But he really liked the style and they way they felt on his feet. We decided to just pull the trigger and were about to leave the store when he found one more aisle. He exclaimed that he found "the pair" when he saw the shoes you see in the captioned photo. They were an off brand, 1/3 the cost of the other pair we had agreed upon, and clearly a lower quality shoe. He was convinced, however, that this was the pair for him.
Because they were brand new, we let him wear them around the house to break them in. So far he has complained about the hardness of the heel, lack of support, difficulty in tying them, and overall is unhappy with the performance of the shoe. He loves the way they look, but is beginning to realize the quality just isn't there.
How often do employers make this same mistake? Hiring the employee that looks good from a 30,000-foot perspective, perhaps with a few shortcomings, but they are overlooked because the salary requirements were under budget. While at the same time not wanting to hire the employee that is clearly a better choice, but just simply costs too much or might take a little longer for the return on investment.
One client really brought this to light for me last week, which is why I am blogging about this topic today. As they outlined what they want to see in their next hire, they were adamant about the fact that money was NOT going to be a determining factor. Although tough to quantify in black and white numbers, they were convinced that hiring inferior quality candidates in the past cost them more productivity and profit than if they had just hired the right people from day one. It can impact balance with the team, trust with producers who depend upon internal staff, unrest among customer service if paired with a bad producer, and the list could go on and on.
Don't hear what I'm not saying - salary requirements do not always determine the value of a candidate. It is possible in today's market to find an incredible candidate at a lower price in some cases. But if your final decision comes down to price, you will lose far more often than you will win.
p.s. I will keep you posted in weeks to come whether or not these shoes make my son run faster and score more points, like he is convinced may still happen.......
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