No one would argue that a new VP of Sales or Operations is a key hire. After all, they probably have a hefty six-figure salary and will manage hundreds of staff members. The impact of a bad hire is potentially very high.
Compare that to a commodity role like a call center agent: one person out of a team of 30 
or 40, their salary is (likely) nowhere near six figures, and there’s always another one in the pipeline if they don’t work out.
The reality behind this comparison has one important factor though – volume. I believe that because these roles are seen as commodities the whole approach has been oriented to match. However, if you look at call center metrics, every 10% of turnover roughly equates to 1% loss in company revenue. Call center turnover goals are usually around the 40% mark, with actual turnover closer to 70% and worst examples at more than 100%: that’s a lot of revenue left on the table.
Arguably, it’s a more impactful problem to solve IF there was a way to scale the solution. In other words, fractionalize the amount of effort per person, but have the same level of success per hire as an executive candidate. Well, there is a way and it requires nothing other than a focus on the key habits and behaviors of what makes people successful in commodity roles. These behaviors define the way we work, and how we are likely to fit in the unique and diverse environments of individual companies and roles. Those behaviors have the same impact on performance regardless of whether your salary is $190,000, $90,000, or $9/hour!
So, it’s okay for recruiting companies to want to focus on the elite positions in organizations, but there’s no reason not to provide automated solutions for the masses also. After all, they may have a bigger impact on revenue overall!
At the end of the day, each team member is critical to the success of any business, regardless of rank, function, etc.
Adrian Wood is the Co-Founder of Shadowmatch USA, partnering with companies to build better teams through powerful behavior-based team development, employee development and recruiting and talent deployment solutions. Wood has advised major clients including Bimbo Bakeries, Cisco, Citrix, Sprint and many others that excellence in the workplace is about behaviors, not personality. Follow him @aw_shadowmatch or Shadowmatch USA @ShadowmatchUSA on Twitter; like his company on Facebook; subscribe to their blog; or email him directly at adrian.wood@shadowmatchusa.com.
