Mad about career nomads?

Well, hiring career nomads is clearly a risk, they will leave at some point, and the cost of hiring them and their replacement makes a very real impact on business resource.

In light of this, companies often resort to only utilising career nomads in specialist functions or when they have a talent shortage in specific areas and need subject-matter experts.

I am a career nomad myself, having worked across six countries in many varying roles, often for only 12 months at a time. I can completely empathise with the emotions and thoughts of any recruiting manager who sees my CV pass across their desk: ‘He has jumped around a lot’, ‘He is a flight risk’, ‘Not worth the effort of interviewing and training him if he is only going to leave…’. 

However, I would like to highlight some of the benefits that hiring career nomads might bring to your organisation and also how you can maximise the potential impact of these ‘risky’ hires:

• Agility. All the career nomads I have met are able to adapt to situations and think on their feet. Often being thrown into different roles with little experience, they are able to adapt effectively to ensure success.
• A fresh view on challenges. Having been across many different companies, and often sectors, career nomads are more likely to have seen possible solutions to the challenges your team and company are facing. They bring fresh ideas. Those individuals who have always been with the same company or worked in the same sector may be ‘institutionalised’ into a certain way of thinking and therefore, may not even see the areas requiring improvement, let alone a way to achieve this.
• Curiosity. These employees have a curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit that may go against the culture of your organisation. They will help to break the mould of a culture that may inadvertently be restricting further business success.
• Client service. Moving around from business to business, sector to sector and country to country gives a greater understanding of how to deal with clients from different cultural backgrounds or with a variety of issues. Personally, I feel working as a bar manager has given me a much better ability in dealing with client complaints in a professional business capacity, it has even affected my persuasive powers in the boardroom.
• Knowledge. All the interesting information career nomads may have picked up from competitors and the wider market is priceless. Qualifications are one thing, but the varied experience and skillset that can be shared with your team and the wider organisation can have a resounding effect. Research has continuously shown that diverse teams, are more productive and successful and that they overcome problems more rapidly and effectively¹.
• Passion. I have been passionate about doing the best I possibly could at every role I have been in, regardless of how long I was there. Career nomads can make a huge impact in a short period of time. In fact, they often have the desire to leave their legacy at an organisation, knowing full well that they will need evidence of good results to help them obtain their next role.

Regardless of all the benefits laid out above, and this is far from being an exhaustive list, companies are still not willing to take the risk on professionals with unconventional CVs.

The Korn Ferry institute carried out research in this area and their results showed there is a disconnect between how talent and hiring managers view job-hopping²:

• 88% of the respondents who participated in the Korn Ferry Institute survey, said switching jobs has helped advance their career.
• Employers said they still hired more for industry expertise and years of experience within that industry.
• 85% of hiring managers said they preferred to hire candidates with a ‘conventional’ resume.
• 87% of hiring managers said they factored in the number of years of experience specific to the job regardless of other experience.
• Only 55% of employers said their company frequently hired professionals with ‘non-traditional’ career paths.

Clearly hiring career nomads is a risk most organisations don’t seem to be willing to take. Therefore, they are missing out on the many benefits. So, how can we mitigate the risk of hiring career nomads to exploit their skills and experience effectively?

Organisations need to try to utilise these individuals effectively by creating an environment that keeps career nomads challenged enough to stay, supplying projects, specialised roles and training that helps them grow and ensures their role does not stagnate. Work to improve the effectiveness of managers and leaders dealing with career nomads and support work-life balance and flexible working opportunities. On the flip side, organisations need to capitalise on career nomads’ ideas, implementing them effectively and training staff in these specialist elements so, should they leave, other staff have the skillsets and knowledge the career nomad is taking with them.

Ironically, career nomads are probably here to stay, with younger professionals moving companies more often. Therefore, organisations need to overcome the fear of hiring those with unconventional resumes and put in place processes to ensure the lessons learned from these staff members are retained and effectively exploited.

 Sources:

¹Driskell, T., Salas, E., Driskell, J. E. (2018). Teams in extreme environments: Alterations in team development and teamwork. Human Resource Management Review. 28(4). P. 434-449.

²Orr, E., McMullen, T. (2020). The principles of hiring nomads [Online]. Accessed on 20^th January 2020. Available at:  Korn Ferry: The principles of hiring nomads