Makiko Tachimori (Fukui) is vice-chair, Women In Business Committee, and president, Harmony Residence, Inc.
executive impact

Managers know best: Why you should abandon existing screening standards

4 Comments
By Makiko Tachimori (Fukui) for The Journal (ACCJ)

Companies have always sought the best talent, but the sad reality is that only the top few are reaching this goal. Why? Because most are sticking to what I call the Existing Mid-Career Recruiting Standard (EMCRS).

When the population was growing, and rich talent was entering the workforce each year, the EMCRS was functioning well. But not anymore. As society ages and the population shrinks, this approach is no longer enough.

During the period of rapid economic growth, the seniority system, simultaneous recruitment of new graduates, lifetime employment, the retirement system, and EMCRS worked well. Among these, EMCRS is the easiest to change, and a move away from it is the fastest way to obtain results and revitalize the entire employment system. Because it will not directly affect the rights of existing employees, this change can be enforced quietly and directly by upper management.

So, what is the EMCRS to which most companies cling? As a recruiting professional, the top three conditions that I hear companies fuss over are: age, gender, and experience in the field.

As mentioned, this worked in the past but fails us now. We need to face the fact that Japan labor ranks 22nd in productivity among the 35 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries, and first in aging and shrinking population. If our ultimate goal is to find and hire talent that will drive growth in the company, will age, gender, and experience matter that much? Will we be able to find talent by sticking to these old standards?

The answer to both is no. If we abandon these three conditions, we will discover ample rich, untapped potential. An excellent guide to achieving this is the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan’s Women In Business White Paper "Untapped Potential: A Collaborative Blueprint for Achieving the Japanese Government’s 2020/30 Overall Target of Women Holding 30 Percent of Management and Leadership Positions by 2020."

Companies that are successful in finding this talent—especially for management roles—are not clinging to the traditional EMCRS. Instead, they look at a candidate’s motivation, willingness, and purpose.

Another important fact is that upper management should get involved in the initial screening process instead of delegating this important task to someone else. It is upper management that truly understands how to screen for these qualities, because they are the ones who decide the business strategy.

When searching for management-level talent, it is dangerous to delegate the initial interview process to those who are not involved in deciding the business strategy. Why? First, they are not responsible for executing the strategy. Second, they will usually stick to EMCRS for initial screening. And third, it often creates a conflict of interest, such as not wanting to hire someone more talented than themselves.

It is critical, therefore, that upper management be directly involved in the initial screening. There are many recruitment firms and HR managers that do not understand the business strategy, and thus the qualifications necessary to execute the strategy.

It is time for top management to take the lead, to see potential talent with their own eyes. Only then will you discover that the common sentiment—that there is no qualified talent in the market—is not true.

Wise managers know exactly what qualifications are needed, and will not screen out candidates based on age, gender, or experience. This will open the doors to a world of rich, untapped talent and enable your company to execute its strategy much more quickly and successfully.

Custom Media publishes The Journal for the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

© The Journal (ACCJ)

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

4 Comments
Login to comment

...the Japanese Government’s 2020/30 Overall Target of Women Holding 30 Percent of Management and Leadership Positions by 2020.

The goal for 30% of managerial roles held by women by 2020 was, and still is unrealistic, based on the fact that recruiting standards didn't follow suit. I completely agree with the author.

Meanwhile, companies are trying create jobs for working moms, but the only "success" stories I often hear about are placing women in call centers or clerical work. 1,000 yen / hour, and not on a managerial track.

Getting women in the workforce into managerial roles will require shorter hours for both women AND men so someone can be at home to support children, and an effort to open more daycares accessible to employees. Just look at what the rest of the world has been doing to support dual working families.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Just finding a millennial who can spell is hard enough now. They "loose" out on "to" many jobs.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

In this case, substituting age, gender, and experience in favor of motivation, willingness, and purpose won't change the situation. 

Unless it can be proven that motivation, willingness, and purpose are statistical predictors of job success, the change will just be kicking the can down the road.

Involving managers or executives won't help either unless they have been trained in interview techniques which provide for no leniency in the questions asked to candidates.

Involving executives in the everyday processes will only worsen the situation. They should be shortlisting firms which can conduct the process for them.

The only proven process is to develop statistically-based analyses which can predict the thoughts and behaviors based on personality traits.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites