Hiring and Managing the Overqualified
by Ladan Nikravan | Talent Management
The abundance of overqualified talent applying for jobs below their
education and skill levels is yet another lingering effect of the
lackluster job market. But this pool of job seekers should not perceive
their overqualification as as burden, and talent managers should realize
that, if properly managed, these workers can offer more than managers
expect.
Traditionally, companies avoid hiring overqualified workers because
they tend to be unhappy with the limitations of their position or are
unmotivated to excel in assigned tasks and thus commonly quit. Although
many are simply grateful to be working right now, overqualified
employees still need to be strategically placed and supervised by talent
managers to ensure they're adequately challenged.
"Smart companies want the best athletes," said Janice Ellig, co-CEO
of executive search firm Chadick Ellig. "In a market with an oversupply
of great talent, companies should always be on the lookout for people
who will not just help them today but will fit their strategy going
forward."
In a labor market where job seekers sometimes outnumber openings 5
to 1, the rise of overqualified talent in companies is not surprising.
These mature and skilled individuals are just as productive as their
less skilled counterparts when placed and led properly.
"The cultural fit within an organization has to be there for an
employee," Ellig said. "The values have to be in sync. The
communications have to be a two-way street. If those are all in play and
in place, great people will surely stay."
Managers: Challenge Them and Let Them Grow
Employers are seizing the opportunity to stock up on discounted
talent, but without the foresight to develop their roles, many of these
employees will not stay. Employees need challenges and room to stretch
to maintain motivation. Organizations that hire overqualified employees
need to find more meaningful work for these employees, challenge them
and accommodate the types of skills and qualifications they have.
"If a position is not quite at the level of a candidate, a company
can look at doing several things to fully utilize that talent and keep
the person engaged," Ellig said. "They can combine two positions into
one to broaden the scope. If that's not possible to do, they can look,
and promise, to do that down the road. If they can't do that now or
later, the individual should be given a stretch project assignment, even
if it's outside of his or her particular department or sphere of
expertise, to add fresh perspective, view and value to the organization
and their own work."
Overqualified employees could conduct on-the-job training and mentor newly hired employees, for example.
"Since companies aren't spending the same amount of dollars in
training and development [as] they have in the past, when you have very
experienced people you can use them as advisers to people less
experienced," said Kathryn Kehoe, managing director at CMF Associates.
"When you have people who have a lot of experience, they've worked
through several economic cycles and have come through the eye of the
needle, and that familiarity with the industry should be used to train
the less experienced."
According to David First, vice president of learning and
development at Suffolk Construction Co., hiring an overqualified
candidate also challenges veteran employees in a positive way.
"You want to have a culture in your company where people aren't
going to be threatened by being challenged, think being challenged is a
good thing and believe having very talented people below them is a
positive," he said. "You want to take the best people you possibly can
and challenge yourself as an organization to keep them engaged and happy
in their positions."
Changing the work environment to allow more autonomy and embrace
stimulating work will compel overqualified candidates to grow within
their positions and expand their job duties in multiple directions.
"A lot of times you can grow and it doesn't have to be vertical,"
First said. "It can be horizontal, it can be side to side into different
positions, it can be learning about different roles, it can actually be
about something T-shaped so that you're learning across the
organization. It's all about challenging folks and watching them move."
Managers of overqualified employees must use empowerment and
development to overcome the negative impact of perceived
overqualification.
"You might find that they find creative ways to improve the product
or service, improve the job, make it more challenging for them and
at the same time produce levels of product or service that you haven't
seen before," said Edward Lawler, author of Talent: Making People Your
Competitive Advantage and professor of business at the University of
Southern California Marshall School of Business. "It's not automatic
that just because someone is overqualified they will necessary leave.
It's a risk, but it's far from a guarantee."
Organizations: Reap the Benefits
There are several benefits that come from hiring an overqualified
candidate. When an employee with a lot of work experience joins an
organization, he or she brings a lot of experience. Prior experience is a
valuable quality in a prospective employee, and the more experienced he
or she is, the more able the individual is to deal with difficult
situations. Additionally, he or she can become a source of inspiration
for other employees, who may want to learn from that employee's
experience.
"Companies need to be open to other ways of doing things," said
Audrey Tillman, executive vice president of corporate services at Aflac
Inc. "Overqualified employees bring new and valuable ideas to
organizations, and managers should want to hear from them. Someone who
has proven talented, experienced, hardworking, energetic, and has
aspirations is very beneficial to a company. Even though we're
tightening our belts, we still want to give employees opportunities to
stretch and grow outside day-to-day work."
A healthy and productive work environment is essential not only to
improve employee efficiency but also for the overall growth of the
company.
"You need to hire for today but keep in mind the business unit of
tomorrow," Ellig said. "Hiring an overqualified individual gives a
company tremendous bench strength and vast potential. You'll always have
an abundance of talent and a succession plan."
As we progress into economic recovery, that bench strength will
become increasingly important. Today's overqualified hire will be the
perfect person for a higher-level position in 12 to 18 months, Kehoe
said. The potential to retain an overqualified employee depends on
prospective opportunities for the position the employee is in as well as
the overall outlook of the company.
"You need to see if your organization is expecting to grow and
develop and come up with more complex products or service delivery,"
Lawler said. "If you are, then it makes sense to hire someone who is may
be a little overqualified, providing you can see a way for them to grow
the job or see people moving or retiring fast enough for the individual
to move up."
If a company is focused on the future and has inventoried top
talent and projected employment gaps, both the employee and the employer
stand to benefit.
Handling the Truth
Most overqualified employees do not have to be reminded of the
opportunities they are currently being given. Many unemployed
professionals are willing to take pay cuts and drop a few steps down the
corporate ladder for the promise of a paycheck. In fact, in some cases
candidates are hiding lofty degrees, titles and experience to get a foot
in the door. Withholding that information is the only option some
overqualified candidates see in order to get an interview.
"All of the attention that comes from the press on the dangers of
hiring someone who is overqualified for a job and the potential of
negative consequences that can come from that hire have caused things
like this to happen," Lawler said.
First agrees and said society has deterred talent managers from seeing the benefits of hiring an overqualified individual.
"I can't blame these candidates for wanting to put food on the
table or pay their mortgage," First said. "In a closer-to-perfect world,
we would have organizations understanding that these people can
contribute more than anyone else and that they're lucky to have them."
In order to form an agreeable, lasting relationship, both the
overqualified employee and the employer must be honest and forthcoming
with information. Prospective employees need to know the scenario
they're coming into from the start and what the expectations of that
role are.
"Companies need to communicate their needs very thoroughly so there
are no unmet expectations," Tillman said. "What's available is what the
employee is applying for. That's all there is, and if they take that
position, they're accepting the roles that the company should have made
very clear."
Experienced, highly qualified workers have a lot to offer, so
rather than looking at the worries in hiring someone who's
overqualified, hiring managers should focus on what they're getting,
which, if properly managed, can be a better asset than imagined.
What Do Employees Think? Just Ask
New employees join an organization with a high level of commitment, but the honeymoon stage doesn't have to dissipate.
Problems arise in the employer-employee relationship when
expectations do not become realities. In order to ensure ongoing
commitment well after the employee gets situated, companies are using
new-hire surveys to assess new employees' level of satisfaction.
Turnover costs are one of the largest controllable expenses
incurred by organizations, and communication in early employment is
crucial to develop a healthy relationship and maintain commitment from
newly acquired talent. Establishing a strong bond between an employee
and employer boosts engagement and can drive results faster.
"There's so much going on with the new hires that you just don't
know if you don't ask," said Beth N. Carvin, CEO of Nobscot Corp. "It's
all about retention and helping employees get off to a good start with
an increased speed to productivity. New-hire surveys help organizations
audit their processes; it's a wonderful way to really improve procedures
and reduce early turnover."
Carvin said employee turnover is a bigger problem now than ever
before. In the past, employees were willing to work through obstacles
and often opted to stay to avoid being perceived as job hoppers.
Although the recession has put a tighter leash on those wishing to jump,
employees are still more likely than before to leave.
"Today, people are less likely than ever to stay if there's an
issue, if it doesn't feel right or if the expectations are different
from what they thought," Carvin said.
To effectively use new-hire surveys as an engagement tool,
companies need to have a scheduler who plans the distribution of surveys
to new hires on a staggered basis and a determined process on how to
conduct surveys. The compiling process and questions asked depend on
company preference; what's more important is what is done with the
numbers obtained.
"Collecting data is as good as what you do with it," Carvin said.
"You can collect all the data in the world, but if you don't use it,
there's no point in even having it. It's really important that as you're
collecting this data, you begin to create action plans and create a bit
of a road map of things that you can work on or solve that can improve
the process."
Survey results need to be aggregated in a way that highlights
trends rather than individual or anecdotal performances. The purpose of
these surveys is to improve the process and organization - not to
provide performance data on the individual employee. According to
Carvin, a company can best guarantee honest feedback if employees
understand the purpose of the survey and receive clear communication on
when it is coming. Tangible proof of improvements from previous survey
results help, too.
"New-hire surveys can create a company standard that acts upon the
criticism of new employees and the inclusive opinions of everyone in the
organization," Carvin said.
Through the use of new-hire surveys, organizations can identify
critical job features that ensure the success and satisfaction of newly
hired employees and forge a strong employer-employee partnership that
minimizes turnover.
"Taking action is really important for improving your organization
and improving the corporate culture around employee feedback," Carvin
said.
[About the Author: Ladan Nikravan is an associate editor for Talent Management magazine.]
