Partnering with the best Housebuilding businesses, I stop the wrong people from joining. Over 6750 meetings in 22 years of headhunting. I won't pretend to be your best friend. I'm paid to search. I don't want CVs.
When I track and monitor people’s careers, I look carefully at the timelines and promotions in particular. This week, I noticed a Land Graduate becoming a Senior Land Manager within 3 years. My first question as a Headhunter would be to ask how many sites have they identified and bought? Sites that have personally been managed through the acquisition process. The second question would be to take me through each step of that journey, assuming one site had been bought. I would probably ask questions about the current planning frustrations, the NPPF and the wider considerations. How many planning meetings have been attended, how did they conduct their research, what led them to creating a certain mix, rate of sale and margin. What was the sign-off process, how many bidders were they against etc. Is three years long enough to consider being a Senior Land Manager? It will be for the individual to demonstrate their skills and ability at the point of climbing the ladder further, unless being promoted internally. Have we witnessed over-promotion in other departments as a mechanism to keep staff?
Benjamin Schamberger
11mo
This happens in the world of software all the time. It leads to some difficult conversations down the line when the person is applying for a job at another company expecting high salaries with very little experience. One of the solutions used is to simply widen the spectrum and introduce mid-tiers. i.e Junior, Junior +, Intermediate, Intermediate +, Senior etc. as well as various degrees of management. That allows for a more accurate growth metric as well as justifiable salary increases.
Fred Carter
11mo
Lots of workers are promoted to the level of their incompetence.
Ian Menham
11mo
Oh yes and mostly with disastrous consequences. There is no substitute for ‘time served’. There are of course exceptions to the rule, but in my experience, they are few and far between.
Dave Culpin
11mo
Yes. Sometimes "promotions" are given to justify pay rises or higher salaries.
Chris K.
11mo
Thats a valid comment given the talent available in the market at the moment to help nurture and develop the teams in place!
Neill Ferguson
11mo
The shortage of staff in the industry is driving the over promotion in many areas of recruitment the end result is people are moving from company to company after it becomes evident they don’t have the skill set to succeed.
Bryan W.
11mo
Spot on!
Barratt West London
11moIt’s an interesting point and also I think more generational. Those of us at a certain age consider longevity with a company almost a badge of honour, whereas talking to friends much younger, they have no worries changing companies or jobs after 12 months to further their career. As your elude to through, experience isn’t always gained in a short period of time, but title can be. Time will tell which approach is correct I guess 🤷🏽♂️