You are not a perfect boss and you don't run a perfect company.
It may be your baby, and you would like to think it's perfect (just as all parents believe their babies are the most beautiful baby ever), but the reality is, your company is just average.
There are good things and bad things. Maybe it's slightly above average, maybe slightly below. But the chances of your company being in the top 10 percent of companies to work for are pretty slim.
And yet, when you hire, do you look for the perfect person? The person who checks all the boxes? After all, you want only the most qualified people working for you. And, as such, are you struggling to fill your positions? (If you're not, then feel free to disregard the rest).
What if you chilled out a little and started looking at people who don't check all the boxes?
A viral post on LinkedIn from Salina Dayton highlighted one company, Tegus, that encourages imperfect people to apply. Its job postings include this paragraph:
Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Tegus we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
What would happen if you followed Tegus' example? Think about these things:
Just about anybody can learn to do just about anything with enough desire and hard work. You didn't roll out of bed one morning and know everything you do now. You had to learn and work and struggle.
Lots of skills are similar. If you can program in one language, it's easier to learn a second programming language. Look for similarities, not a perfect match.
You still have to train. Managers want to hire people who can "hit the ground running", but those people don't generally exist. You have to train everyone. So, don't worry about the stress of having to train someone on a task. You'd have to train them in your systems, policies and practices anyway.
There are more critical things than hard skills. You can teach hard skills. There are training classes for just about everything. But does the person have the drive? Are they interested in your industry? Do they have the soft skills that they need for this job? (Not every job requires the same soft skills).
You get more candidates. Considering people without 100 percent of the skills broadens your talent pool. If you're really set on finding the right person, getting more applicants can only help with that.
When you reject people who aren't perfect, you have such a small talent pool of perfect people that they wouldn't want to work for your imperfect company anyway. Go ahead and branch out and it will benefit your business.
Inc
