While it is well noted and often quoted that "employees don't quit companies, they quit managers," it is the less explored concept that candidates don't choose to work for companies they choose to work for hiring managers that I have been looking into the last few months.

 

To be sure a top driver of company choice in China is brand recognition, and this is probably not going to change anytime soon.  We work on a lot of marketing positions at my company, we are known across Asia for our expertise in consumer goods and luxury brands so you would expect this to some degree but I am willing to stand by the statement above.  In China brands sell and for many candidates only a "brand" company will do.

When we move higher though, into senior management roles and positions in more technical fields like supply chain, strategic marketing, and finance, the manager that will be leading a candidate for the next few years becomes very important and is often overlooked as a selling point.

When we work with a candidate and talk about opportunities that will move their careers forward we usually look for a few standard criteria to make sure a position is a good match.  The basics are job fit, job stretch, opportunity to learn, and compensation. 

I like to make sure the candidates I introduce will keep in mind that they are interviewing their future boss as well as being interviewed so it is my practice to provide them with some insights into the hiring manager's background and style.  This should be used as a starting point in the interview and lead to further questions that will help show the benefits of working under the manager.

I would like to see more time being spent in interviews sharing the background of key team members and leaders to show what they have gained from working at the hiring company and where their experience may take them.

The move from a paradigm of selection to attraction may take a bit longer to catch on at most firms around the world, in the mean time we can feature the hiring manager as a selling tool to top candidates as a way to increase the job fit and address the candidate?s skills gap.  You do sell on the skills gap, right?