The Experience Paradox In Human Resources

Why?

It’s a powerful question. Why? Why is it so important? As kids we were always questioning our surroundings because we were trying to learn and understand the world around us. We wanted to know why we can’t touch the stove, why do we need to go to school, why the sun is yellow and the sky is blue, why do we have rules, why we dream... Some of these are easier to answer than others. And as we grew, we started asking more complex questions in search for meaningful explanations. We were curios.

However, through early adulthood we tend to start asking less questions, which might have to do with the fact that more often than not we got “rewarded” for our “silly” questions with: “I don’t know.”, It’s just how it is”, “That’s how it’s always been.” These unsatisfying answers, however, failed to dampen our thirst for understanding.

The appropriate reaction would’ve been “Go and find out the “why”.”

There lies a potent force in questioning, in challenging the norm. Embracing the spirit of "why" nurtures a culture of inquiry and progress. It is a reminder that stagnation is not our only option, that a better understanding can lead to improvement, and that, ultimately, each "why" is a gateway to unravelling the complexity of our world.

Experience

How does the “why” fit into the hiring process?

Recruiters love to ask the prospect candidates the question: “Why would you be a good fit for this company?”

More likely than not those candidates have related experience and they would answer: “Ohh because I have experience in this position and I have been using this tool for decades, and I have been in this industry for years...”

But is that really the best candidate? Well, not always. And I’d argue that most often than not, it actually isn’t someone who’d be the best fit for the organizational needs.

As humans we like to take the easy way out in life. Recruiters love to find someone who already has similar experience and knows how to do the job, so they don’t have to “waste time” teaching them how to do the work. However, it is becoming evident that having experience should not override someone’s personal qualities such as perseverance, resilience, problem solving and creativity, as well as their communication style, and work preferences.

It’s crucial to asses if the potential candidate is the right fit for the company culture and if his values align with the direction in which the company is moving in the future.

What does having experience actually mean? As per Cambridge dictionary - Experience is (the process of getting) knowledge or skill from doing, seeing, or feeling things.

The longer we are a part of a certain environment, for example working for the same company for years, going through different seasons and challenges, facing problems and finding solutions for that particular market, setting or area - the more experience we have on that terrain.

Every entrepreneur that wants to expand their business seeks growth and development in ways no-one has ever seen before.

Having someone on your team who has all the experience “been there done that”, doesn’t really reflect the needs of the company. Those candidates can be too reliant on their past experience, “We have always done it like that.” “This is the strategy that will bring us results because it has always worked in the past.”

That’s not how the industries work... The environment is changing, the policies, the supply and demand are changing, preferences are changing, technology is changing... Even the famous quote says: “The only thing constant in life is change.”

The changes we are experiencing in the world bring so many yet unthinkable problems that will require out of the box solutions, solutions no-one has come up with before. We need to be ready to be there to solve the NEW problems.

„Given that the world is changing quite rapidly, the relevance of one’s experience does not hold steady. In fact, those who have grown up in a specific industry are likely to follow practices they have learned throughout their careers without questioning the very rationale behind the established norms.“ (Leia Ruseva and Richard Okyere Mensah)

Capacity

Furthermore, the #1 trait that companies should peruse in potential candidates is capacity. Capacity is “someone's ability to do a particular thing“. It’s someone’s ability to learn, adapt and grow in any given environment. 

More often than not, companies go out chasing the best talents, the most experienced people in the industry, to fulfil their labour shortages. The grass always seems greener on the other side. They completely neglect the employees that they already have, and would be able to take on more challenging roles within the company. After all, the grass is greener where you water it.

Many current employees would have the capacity to learn new skills, acquire additional knowledge and reach the next level if they would be trained properly, instead of just being left to stagnate and “master” the trivial tasks they’ve been doing for years.

Almost everyone would improve their performance if the standards would be raised higher, provided that the new objectives would be clear and that there would be an explicit learning plan and guidance in place.

Sometimes filling the senior roles is not about finding someone who is an expert, rather it is about helping someone from a lower-level position develop the skills needed for the job.

The most revolutionary things came from people who had zero experience in the industry, but they decided to challenge the old beliefs and were willing to think big, beyond the possibilities and beyond borders.

Some famous examples include: Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, with no prior experience in retail, that built a multi-billion-dollar company. Steve Jobs established Apple, one of the most iconic companies in recent history, despite dropping out of college and without engineering expertise. Elon Musk, who had no previous experience in car manufacturing or rocketry, successfully pioneered the first mass-produced electric car at Tesla and the first-ever reusable rocket at SpaceX.

Even tough these are extraordinary examples, the key takeaway is that individuals with „lack of experience“ tend to do better because they tackle the challenges from a different perspective unconstrained by the (perceived) industry limitations.

The Paradox

As Robert Glazer, the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners explained, he discovered that the "experienced" hires often underperform, while junior team members proved to be more successful filling the managerial roles.

He named the pattern “The Capacity-Experience Paradox."

The number #1 are the under-performers who can perform their basic duties but do not have a capacity to grow. These employees are not willing to learn, adapt and develop. Those people are usually the first to lose their jobs in today’s demanding and competitive market.

Number #2's are so called “hard choices”, the workers who are gradually improving their performance, and they might have been an asset in the past, however they fall short in meeting the current demand and the company's needs. As Glazer explains they are “hard choices” because they are doing decent work, but are not helping the company grow. It’s vital to asses if they are still a good fit for the role they hold at the organization.

Number #3 or the A Players are the ones that the companies want the most. Those are the employees who stay on the demand curve and grow into new roles within the company. However, they are the ones who need to perform better every year, learn, adjust and develop constantly.

Lastly, the #4’s are the Unicorns or Stars. Those are the people who overachieve and greatly contribute to the company growth. As the author notes, these people are rare and you cannot solely rely on them.

Another danger of the experience hire that the author emphasizes is that, even if the company hires someone who has more knowledge that required, if their capacity to learn is weak they will under-perform. It is important to understand the speed with which individuals are able to grow.

As reported, the best hires companies made are the “individuals that came form outside your industry or from inside of your company.” These individuals are enthusiastic learners with a high capacity to acquire and apply new knowledge.

Conclusion

Current talent evaluation practices often rely on prior industry experience, overlooking personal motivations and skill acquisition. Past accomplishments don't explain how skills were acquired or how the career choices were made. Assuming success only comes from specific industry experience overlooks the transferability of skills. Top performers possess qualities like work ethic, strategic thinking, creativity, and adaptability applicable across domains. Individuals with these qualities are the ones making big changes in the world. Capacity over experience any day.

Lets embrace curiosity, question the current beliefs, go deeper into understanding why things are the way they are and lets challenge ourselves to do better, do the impossible, do the unseen and create a new reality.

And to the companies asking about relevant industry experience in their application processes, I’d like to propose a question: “WHY does it matter?”