Today, most of the organizations have learnt and built robust processes for hiring talent from both the universities and the market. While hiring fresh talent from universities revolves around brand of the company among the youth and the pay packet, for lateral recruits, the parameters are very different. This article examines the challenges faced by recruiters in hiring mid level managers.

Defining the minimum year of experience is the first challenge that lay before the human resource department. The minimum experience requirements vary with the role and the type of job for which the candidate is sought. The age and the experience bracket of the prospective candidates must be carefully scrutinised as the further direction of the task is dependent on the recruited manager. The role of the middle management is crucial for any organisation as they are the “doers” who function as leaders, coordinators, mentors and administrators who direct the team activities towards achievement of the overall goals of the entity.

With the scale of operations widening, the need for mid level managers is on the rise. Attracting candidates and recruiting the right candidate is another challenge that is to be faced. With the demand for them on the rise, the company goodwill and the working culture has an important say in drawing proficient manager. They should be capable of meeting the global requirements put before them by the company.

Identifying and meeting the changes in the psychology of the mid-level managers pose another threat in their recruitment process. The modern-day mid-level managers expect the company to provide the route for climbing up the career ladder at a faster pace. However, as job insecurity is a major psychological barrier that the current mid-level management faces, balancing both imposes a great challenge to the management. With increase in age and experience the ability to cope with the changes in the system reduces. While hopping from another job to the current environment they tend to look for familiarity of the system depending on the years of experience of the candidate. This is mainly because of the fear of having to prove himself again.

Retaining the hired mid-level managers is tough as the churn is very high among them. Better prospects, both monetary and non-monetary, inability of existing management to appreciate an outsider’s view point, not invented here syndrome, are some of the causes for the job hopping. The unwillingness and the barrier to accept and adopt the ideas of a “fresh blood” into an existing system by the existing employees result in disinterest to the task performed, thereby making it unattractive. Similarly the ‘not invented here’ syndrome which is the antipathy to the implementation of the ideas on account of the source of them can be another reason for the attrition rates in this level of hierarchy. The inability to retain them leads to the wastage of time and resources of the company.

Fostering a culture which is positive to fresh blood and their ideas can go a long way in ensuring the success of an entity.