OR is Open Resourcing, the internal marketplace for jobs (mis)used in Shell
GSXX is the name for my little team within GS (Shell Global Solutions)
Probably the most important decisions I make every year for GSXX are recruitment decisions. Get it right, and I strengthen the team and get all sorts of positive spin offs. Get it wrong, and I create a problem, not least for the person I recruit. How many people have you seen suffering in job that they were just not right for?
Over the years, I think we have become quite effective in GSXX at recruiting. The proof is in the pudding, and I reckon our hit rate is 80-90%, despite our proclivity for taking some large risks. That is something I'm very proud of, especially when you add in what we have been able to do to develop these people and send them off on strong career trajectories.
We follow a few key principles. They may not be right for everyone, but they are certainly right for us.
The first principle is to use OR as it was designed. No preferred candidates, ever, stated or unstated. No-one gets in without a rigorous comparative process judged against other applicants. No special deals. I honestly can see no downside to following this rule, and it depresses me terribly to see how OR (and MOR) are so abused, especially for senior jobs. It is as though the old dinosaur planners still run the company like they did in the 70's. No excuse. If you have a good candidate, then let them apply fair and square. The worst that will happen is that OR yields no-one any better and you can be more confident you have the right person. On occasion, someone else will emerge who is better, and that is just a bonus.
The second principle is to use the team to recruit the team. I encourage everyone who expresses interest (and bothers to get into personal touch) to get to know at least one other team member before applying, so they have a bigger idea what they let themselves in for. Then I select a panel of three team members plus myself to conduct the selection - first pre-selection, then interviews with two pairs, then final selection. This has enormous advantages. First, I make better decisions through the advantage of more people giving opinions than just me (interviews are well known as little better than sticking pins into the newspaper for making judgement). Second, the candidates are in a far better position to know us and select us - we remember this is always a reciprocal process, us choosing them and them choosing us, and the more knowledge there is the better. Third, we achieve super fast on-boarding, both because the newcomer already knows some of the team before they arrive, and because the team, having been part of the selection, is disposed to welcome the newcomer and make them succeed. Try this, it works!
The final principle is put attitude ahead of experience. Yes, it really helps if someone has an MBA and has done six strategy jobs and knows GS inside out and is a chemical engineer, of course it does. But most of those gaps are trainable over time. What often isn't trainable is a customer focussed attitude, a work ethic, and team disposition, curiosity and servant leadership. Have all of these and some potential to learn and we can usually create a top team member. I concede this third principle is easier to apply in GSXX than for most teams, but claim that it is a good principle for everyone. If someone has applied for a JG4 where they have already performed exactly the same job for 20 years at the same level, will they grow much with you, or be motivated working with you, or help you find new ways of adding value? Probably not. You need some safe bets, but not too many - take some risks!
So, in summary:
Use OR properly, always
Use the team to recruit the team
Attitude over experience
If only we all followed these principles, my own belief is that we would have a stronger culture and a stronger performance. Oh, and a lot more fun too.
I'm off to the Algarve now. And I need it. Hope you have a holiday soon too, and enjoy it. See you in August!
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