Olly and The Fried Egg
12th December 2019
Picture the scene… on a stormy Sunday evening I’m on the sofa in front of a roaring fire watching TV and having a “cwtch” with my lad Olly. We’re chatting away about his rugby match earlier that day when out of the blue he says “Dad, please can I have a fried egg?”
Well Olly it’s getting close to bedtime and you just said you are full after tea
But I’ve never had a fried egg Dad
You tried egg years ago and decided you didn’t like them
What do they taste like?
Really nice Olly, you can have them scrambled, poached, fried, as an omelette and some people even eat them raw. Why do you want one Olly?
Because they will make me strong and give me muscles
Really, who told you that?
No-one, I was watching Anthony Joshua on YouTube and he has seven eggs for breakfast, and he has big biceps and pecs
Yes, he does Olly, not sure that comes just from fried eggs though, he puts a tremendous amount of time in to training to get his muscles so strong
Can I try one though, please?
Ok Olly, for breakfast tomorrow I will get you an egg
So, at 6 am, Olly creeps into my bedroom and reminds me it’s time for his egg
By 0630 Olly declares fried egg is ok but not his favourite and he’s going to the gym to build his muscles rather than rely on eggs
This got me thinking, Olly’s connection with eggs and muscles is in some ways just like hiring…
Many people only see the end result, the successful candidate.
What isn’t sometimes appreciated is the process, diligence, persistence and hard work behind the scenes to attract, screen, enthuse, manage and on-board the knock-out candidate.
And as with Anthony Joshua, if a part of the process is not working the results can be devastating such as his defeat to Andy Ruiz Jnr back in June 2019 where Joshua by his own admission says he was undertrained, “undercooked”
Scroll forward 6 months and after focusing on training, diet
and his game plan Joshua returns to winning ways
So, when it comes to hiring, are your processes and game plan delivering you the victories you need in the war for talent? Or do you have to go back to camp and try again each time?
If they are not, perhaps its worth having a fresh set of eyes look at things for you over a coffee.
Let me know, I’ll bring the biscuits and I promise no eggs!…
