What is Lateral Hiring?
Lateral hiring is the process of employing fresh talent who already work in a similar job at another business. It is used for job positions that are generally harder to fill, such as senior executive roles. Lateral Hiring is most typically used for positions that demand a highly specialized set of skills, experience, or knowledge.
Lateral hiring is a smart approach to recruitment that can provide important benefits for organizations aspiring to establish diverse and high-performing teams. When companies consider candidates from outside the traditional talent pool, they have access to an extraordinary blend of unique abilities, perspectives, and backgrounds needed to fuel creativity and growth.
In today’s ever-changing business world, being adaptable and responsive is the key. Through lateral hiring, organizations can bring in fresh talents from different backgrounds to build up their current team and introduce new ways of thinking. This exchange of ideas may lead to breakthroughs, defy conventional wisdom, and prepare the company for long-term success.
Moreover, lateral hiring is useful in planning for the future and developing a strong talent pipeline. This way, businesses can identify and attract top talents from other industries or roles that they can groom into future leaders. This approach eases the transition period and maintains the flow of expertise.
Lateral hiring is a strategic investment in an organization’s future. Adopting this approach allows firms to outpace their competitors by enhancing their dynamic, multi-skilled workforce, laying the groundwork for future growth, and reaping the current benefits of increasing returns on investment.
Lateral Hiring Vs Traditional Hiring
Lateral Hiring:
The lateral hiring process employs a strategic approach that prioritizes recruiting candidates with flexible skill sets and backgrounds over direct industry expertise. On the one hand, it enables organizations to reach far beyond the geographical boundaries of their talent base, and the infusion of varied experiences is a precursor to innovation and development. One very important distinction to point out is that hiring laterally is not the same as hiring traditionally, which usually requires prior industry experience. The selection process based on lateral hiring emphasizes the ability to adapt and produce not only in the business domain but also in all other spheres. When companies take into account multifaceted backgrounds, they get a chance to form more oblique-angle teams, which are good at dealing with transforming business atmospheres.
Traditional Hiring:
Instead, traditional recruiting usually consists of a tendency to concentrate solely on experience within a determined branch of an industry and set of competencies. Such an incorporated system is often based on finding potential candidates who have already demonstrated accomplishments in similar roles or organizations. However, while this approach may foster a sense of certainty and a sense of belonging, it also fosters an environment that inhibits the expansion of thinking and creativity. Hire after hire means more hiring managers select people who follow a more linear career path, which covers a consistent and very specific industry or function.
The Need to Consider Lateral Hiring: Benefits of Lateral Hiring
Lateral hiring has a lot of advantages to offer, from narrowing skill gaps and speeding up the growth process to increasing diversity and laying the foundations for an innovative culture. Organizations should thoughtfully include external talent to plan for sustainable growth and long-term success. Here’s why it’s important to consider lateral hiring: Here’s why it’s important to consider lateral hiring:
1. Fresh Perspective
Lateral hires bring lateral thinking, innovative theory, and varied experience from previous jobs and companies. A new surge of fresh ideas can shatter the status quo, dissipate stagnation, and innovate the enterprise.
2. Fill Skill Gaps
It is possible that the organization does not have a certain skill or does not retain the necessary expertise. Employing through lateral hiring can help companies avert the skill gap challenge as it gives you professionals who have the requisite knowledge and experience, subsequently making your team competent.
3. Accelerate Growth
Hiring seasoned professionals at the top level can assist the organization in scaling its rapid growth trajectory. They usually have the most valuable network, expertise in the industry, and leadership skills that can help prioritize, accelerate, and execute strategic initiatives and business expansion plans.
4. Enhance Diversity
In organizational lateral hiring, diversity is not just about demographics but also about different thoughts, experiences, and backgrounds. Employing different people is the foundation of creativity, making decisions, and serving customers better.
5. Competitive Advantage
The present-day business world is characterized by a high tempo of competition. This is why every business must strive to stay ahead of its competitors. Sideways hires may bring with them competitive intelligence, market knowledge, and best practices from their previous jobs, and that is an important factor in how the organization can compete.
6. Cultural Refresh
By attracting new talent through lateral hiring, organizations can revitalize the culture by introducing new values, work styles, and attitudes. It will help to improve morale, increase engagement, and thus renew the working environment.
7. Leadership Development
In many cases, cross-hire executives come with a track record of leadership. Companies can enrich their leadership by introducing seasoned outsiders who can mentor, guide, and give internal talent exposure to new leadership styles. This will then create a pipeline of future leaders.
8. Capacity Building
Lateral hiring enhances the organization’s capacity by introducing more resources and special skills. This makes it possible for the company to undertake new projects, break into new markets, or handle the most complex tasks that would not be within its reach if it had to rely on its current staff.
9. Risk Mitigation
The downside of relying solely on internal talent for promotions and succession planning is that it can lead to certain risks, such as groupthink or stagnation. Organizations try to prevent these risks by instilling new talent and ideas into the organization through lateral hiring, decreasing their dependency on a single talent pool.
10. Fast-track Innovation
Companies typically link lateral hires with a proven track record of innovation and problem solving. Through this incorporation, companies can apply these experts’ experience to the creation of new products, process improvements, and technological breakthroughs at a faster rate.
Common Challenges Faced by HRs During Lateral Recruitment
Lateral hiring can be a useful strategy for organizations, but on the other hand, the strategy can be challenging, so it is important to manage it carefully. Some of the major challenges that organizations face while lateral hiring include: Some of the major challenges that organizations face while lateral recruitment include:
1. Integration Issues
One of the main challenges is that the new member should be able to fit into the existing team and the organizational culture. Lateral recruits might face resistance from the current employees; they might struggle to adjust to new techniques and systems; or they might experience difficulties in developing connections with the new hires.
2. Cultural Fit
It is quite difficult for the employer to make sure that the new hire will be a proper fit with the values, culture, and norms of the organization. Cultural mismatches can lead to conflicts, morale deterioration, and decreased productivity, putting the success of the lateral hire and the team as a whole at risk.
3. High Expectations
Due to their prior experience and skills, lateral hires typically face high expectations upon onboarding. However, inadequate management of these expectations can lead to dissatisfaction in the hiring process and frustration within the organization, particularly if the hired individual fails to demonstrate immediate positive results.
4. Internal Resentment
The current staff may experience a sense of being neglected or worthless if there is a new person, coming from outside, hired in a position of authority or strategy. This may lead to resentment, loss of motivation, and even employee attrition of the workforce if not handled on time and proactively by the management.
5. Knowledge Transfer
While lateral hires from previous jobs or other organizations bring valuable knowledge to the team, sharing this knowledge with the rest of the team can be challenging. As the organization fails to possess the proper documentation, training, or mentoring programs, there is a possibility that it may not fully utilize the new hire’s abilities and experiences.
6. Retention Risk
This could lead to lower employee loyalty among lateral hires, which in the future can cause a high turnover rate of new employees, especially if they are not satisfied with their role or feel that they have no connection with the company culture. Therefore, it is critical to have more and more initiatives to keep your talent in your organization for the long term.
7. Cost Considerations
Side hiring can be costly, involving a recruiter fee, relocation expenses, and possibly higher compensation requirements than those expected for internal promotions. Organizations should be cautious in their decision to implement lateral hiring and take into consideration the costs and benefits of this approach to ensure a good return on their investments.
8. Overlooking Internal Talent
Organizations may neglect to groom or even promote internal talent to fill vacant positions among the external hires. This situation could potentially discourage the remaining employees and delay the succession planning process.
9. Mismatched Expectations
Disagreement between the organization’s vision of the job and the candidate’s thoughts about the job role, responsibilities, and career progress can cause dissatisfaction and turnover. Effective communication and an understanding of expectations at all stages of the hiring process are a must.
10. Onboarding Challenges
Effective onboarding and support during the transition process are crucial for the successful integration of lateral hires into the organization. On the other hand, inefficient onboarding processes or no support from bosses or colleagues can cause the new recruit to not be able to do his role effectively.
A Step by Step Lateral Hiring Process
Identify Talent Needs:
To do that, start by defining the internal positions or positions in the organization that need to be filled. This should be done by the company’s strategic direction, desired growth plan, and identified skills deficiency.
Job Analysis and Description:
Conduct a job analysis that identifies the basic requirements, essential competencies, educational background, and work experience needed for a specific job post. With this analysis, you can now come up with a stellar job description that covers all the responsibilities and qualifications of the particular job.
Formulate a Recruitment Strategy:
Given information from the job analysis and workforce needs, determine the right recruitment plan. This can be done using the following; websites for job listing, interview as a service platforms like InterviewVector professional connections, career fares, social media, and recruiting firms, among others.
Candidate Sourcing:
Conduct active sourcing by always approaching potential candidates using resources like networking, referral and passive candidate sourcing. Use the ATS, resume screening, and different talent acquisition tools for the search.
Screening and Initial Assessment:
Resumes, cover letters, and portfolios should be scanned to have a list of candidates who match the job requirements. Screen through telephone or video call interviews to assess the qualifications and experience of the candidates for the positions.
Interview:
Further, arrange and prepare comprehensive interviews with the candidates to understand their aptitudes, work profiles, competencies and corporate values. It can be a process of several short interviews with the heads of departments and team members, partners, and clients.
Assessment and Selection:
Schedule an evaluation, case or work sample as a method of determining the right skills for the position. Use feedback from interviewers and other stakeholders to make the right decisions.
Reference Checks:
Conduct comprehensive, reference checks to verify the level of the qualifications and the experience of the qualified candidates in past job responsibilities. Contacting the candidates’ professional references is not all; ask for help from your personal network.
Negotiation and Offer:
When you offer a job to the selected candidate, offer them an attractive job position with only the following details: compensation, benefits, starting date and any other terms that are pertinent to the job. Do a plan of negotiation to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.
Onboarding Planning:
Create a very detailed onboarding program so the new staff member’s onboarding process is as easy as possible. Onboarding sessions, training programs, introductions to key team members, and access to every resource the candidate will need should be included.
Onboarding and Integration:
Implementing this onboarding plan for the new hire in such a way that it can support the new job and organization effectively. You should try to arrange a mentor or buddy for the onboarding process.
Performance Management and Feedback:
Set up concrete performance criteria and goals for the new employee and give them feedback, and regular support to help them succeed in the position.
Retention and Engagement Strategies:
Create tactics to increase lateral hiring, retention and engagement (e.g. career development plans, recognition programs, line of sight checks to see how you’re personally developing employees’ careers if they’re not already doing so).
Some Quick Tips & Best Practices for Successful Lateral Hiring
- Make sure to unambiguously state the duties, responsibilities, and skills needed for that role so that you can attract the right candidates for the organization.
- Online job boards, professional networks, referrals – and recruitment agencies – can help you reach a broad pool of candidates who are well-qualified and experienced.
- Select candidates not only by their excellent technical skills but also the alignment of candidates with company values, culture and team dynamics.
- Intervene and have interviews carried out in a timely and professionally structured manner to find out candidates’ skills, experience, and suitability for the role.
- Get their diverse perspective and commitments to the process, and involve relevant stakeholders, such as hiring managers, team members and senior leaders, in the hiring process.
- Market research, and propose competitive remuneration packages to attract the best in this competitive market.
- To have a positive experience for the candidate, maintain transparency, and be timely with your feedback.
- What would be the design of an inclusive onboarding programme for these new hires to get on the ground up and running in their teams and culture within a short duration of time?
- To be creative, innovative, and better working conditions, include diversity and inclusion as top priorities in your recruitment.
- To be more efficient and effective, review and make changes to your lateral hiring process routinely, get feedback from stakeholders and make changes consistently.
The Future of Lateral Hiring
Lateral hiring will change drastically in time because of technological progress, changes in workforce structure and creative hiring strategies. Decision-making will be based on analytics data, where organizations will leverage data from candidate profiles, performance data and hiring outcomes to make more informed decisions. Education will be more of a role about skills and potential than it is about traditional credentials because companies will want competent people with the right set of skills and the capability to grow. Besides, there will be a huge pool of talent to choose from for remote work, which means that the organization can select the best talent from anywhere in the world. Lateral hiring practices are among the top driving forces behind building more diverse and inclusive teams, and among them, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will be the key ones. AI tools will drive the personalized candidate experience and the new normal will be the personalized and engaging recruitment process. Moving forward, we will focus on how to create and foster continuous learning and upskilling to allow for flexibility and adaptability of the job market for candidates and existing employees.
As a future force in lateral hiring, InterviewVector, an interview-as-a-service platform, provides the potential to be a major player in the future of lateral hiring with the use of innovative technology. It takes out inefficiencies and makes the hiring process more effective. Here’s how InterviewVector can help:
AI-Powered Candidate Matching:
InterviewVector scans candidate profiles and job specifications using AI algorithms to help candidates move from one lateral hiring position to another.
Predictive Analytics:
InterviewVector analyzes past recruitment data and candidates’ performance indicators to give you predictive information on the top performers and how to optimize the hiring process outcomes.
Automated Screening processes:
InterviewVector takes the extra work out of the screening process and offers assessment tests, video interviewing, and behavioural assessments to help organizations objectively and consistently evaluate candidates.
Enhanced Candidate Experience:
By utilizing AI-powered chatbots, personalized communications and interactive assessment tools integrated within InterviewVector’s simple and engaging recruitment process, we see higher candidate satisfaction and engagement.
Data-Driven Decision-Making:
InterviewVector allows organizations to derive actionable insights and reports from candidate data, interview feedback, and hiring results. This, in turn, enables the organization to continually improve the lateral hiring process.
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