New “professions” pop up like mushrooms nowadays: CPO, Chief IoT Officer, Chief Happiness Officer, COSKR… OK, the latter is fictional. For now. And they are finding their way into many companies’ standard role groups. But why? What was wrong with the old ones?
Part of the reason for the arrival of these new roles is due to the rapid evolution of the digital age and the integration of new technologies, but many companies are also becoming more “visionary” with their mission, more ambitious with what they want to achieve and, consequently, more creative with the roles they need in their organization. So these mushrooms are not just job titles.
Evolving companies
Fast-growing companies are necessarily more reckless, fearless and disruptive than ever before. They eat challenging business objectives for breakfast. Companies of this kind need a solid and innovative organizational model with new concepts. They cannot, therefore, replicate what has already been done in the past. Instead, they design new processes and policies tailored to their needs, which are constantly changing as they evolve. And that’s when those mushrooms pop up.
Let’s take a real example: “Chief People Officer (CPO)”. In this case, alongside the role of HR Director, it is likely that the CPO popped up on HR’s org chart because certain companies have realized that their People are fundamental to the success of the company. Hence the need to focus more on their development and retention rather than giving way to a “natural” attrition and then selecting (and training) new people. In this case the mushroom is due to the implementation of a whole new people strategy.
Recruiting the New Mushrooms
@Recruiters: How are you going to find the right candidates for roles that didn’t exist until recently? What will your key search words be? The good news is that the right candidates already exist on the market. They are mushrooms in disguise. Until these new professions become extremely common within organizations, the candidates you are searching for are likely to have more traditional job titles, but you should look for signs of “mushroom potential”.
Here’s another example: It doesn’t matter what your candidates’ job titles are now for a Chief Internet of Things Officer opportunity. What does matter is that you recognize the signs for your candidates to comfortably become one. The ideal candidate is likely to have led and successfully delivered advanced digital projects, where new technologies and devices play a key role in driving company advancement and sophistication levels.
What an exciting Next Big Challenge (and a great sales pitch recruiters!). If you are having difficulty finding the right candidate, take 3 strategic steps to provide you with some inspiration.
And aside from the recruitability signs, let’s not forget that the most talented candidates are those who (also) have:
- an impressive ability to adapt
- extraordinary curiosity
- excellent learning skills
And the wisest companies are hiring more and more based on the above and the candidates’ soft skills, and not purely on the basis of those who tick all the boxes on technical skills.
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