Trends in Human Resources:
Once you have a selection of potential candidates, Balance’s suggestion is that it is important for the applicant to prove past performance. They believe this is more important than what the applicant promises to achieve in their new role. They follow this philosophy because past achievements are better predictors to what applicants are capable of in the near future. Experience indicates that any applicant can read a textbook and propose fantastic plans about what they are going to do, but if they haven’t achieve these results in the past, then it raises doubts because it presents an element of risk.
When hiring at a senior level, the strategic goal is often to improve and further develop the management team. Placing new people in a company brings new insights, and challenges old systems and processes. With these fresh ideas comes a new energy that flows through the organization.
Another important aspect to establishing a possible fit for candidates for a job position in Curaçao is to explore their personal history and motivations – especially if there is a need to relocate them. Balance explores this towards the end of the process, often with the last two or three candidates, as part of their final assessment. It is very important to get this right, many business people can attest to having experienced unsuccessful recruitments where six months into the role, the new hires decide that Curaçao is not for them and return to their home country. Therefore, engaging with applicants in interviews for high-level positions in Curaçao is essential, it is extremely unwise to put forward an applicant with whom you have not met or spoken. Any applicant can have an enchanting letter of introduction and accompany it with a qualified CV. However it is not until you personally speak with the candidate and get to know them that you will be able to form a
How the Recruitment Game is Played TEXT KATY BRANUM
Balance, an established mid and high-level management recruitment company, was launched six years ago and concentrates on giving advice to a wide variety of companies on topics such as organisational development and human capital, as well as recruitment. They shared their insights in finding the right fit with new hires and the role that technology plays in this process. Finding the right job candidates for placement in Curaçao is not always a straightforward pro-
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cess, because even if the job title is familiar to the applicant, tasks and responsibilities can be quite different to what is found elsewhere in the world. It is important when promoting a vacancy that companies don’t just look at a job title without looking at the skill set that is required. Just promoting the job title can result in incorrect candidates, or perhaps result in a too narrow search net. Sometimes by reframing the job role, a wider net can be cast and with the right skill set communicated - the result can be a better quality of candidates applying.
| NUMBER 1 | 2016
