Kate and Will seem to have made an art of subtly adapting Royal tradition to meet with their modern expectations of marriage and parenthood. They demonstrated this just yesterday with their appointment of Prince George’s Godparents.
Keeping with tradition, they have appointed seven individuals as the infant’s Godparents but have mainly chosen old friends instead of Royal Family members. This has given them more freedom of choice when choosing who to allow a special bond with their very special son. Without the limitation of keeping to a royal pool of candidates they have been able to look across the whole of their close circle of friends and pick the best candidates based on their own merits and not their family name. They have chosen seven friends who will be a part of George’s life in their own unique ways.
If only we had the same luxury when hiring new employees! Harvard Business review discusses the ‘purple squirrel’ conundrum which occurs during recruitment. The ‘purple squirrel’ term refers to the perfect candidate who embodies all the right qualities for the position available, will work for the right money and is local. The purple squirrel has mythical status and many companies waste time and money waiting for this mythical creature to scurry across their vacancy but is it worth it?
One way to save time and disappointment is to pick the best grey squirrel that presents itself but even then you might not be getting the whole package. Why not, like Kate and Will, pick several grey squirrels?
Flexible working arrangements are no longer the exception but the rule. More and more companies are embracing the benefits of offering their employees flexible working arrangements which includes the option to job share or work part time. So rather than waiting for that one perfect candidate, employers have the option of choosing two or more great candidates who will reap the same rewards working together. Harvard Business Review shares one success story of this way of working and the two executives in question say they wouldn’t work any other way.
(Those of you who are CIPD members have access to the full article through online journals at the CIPD website. The article is called ‘two executives, one job’ and is in the February 2005 issue.)
So the purple squirrel may still be mythical, but those grey squirrels are just as good when combined. Furthermore, they are more likely to stick around due to the other benefits of flexible working such as increased motivation, higher productivity and increased business potential.
Kate and Will seem to be experts at this game and their selection of Godparents presents a well selected group of individuals from different age brackets and skill backgrounds who will bring more to Prince George’s life than one person ever could so why not do the same? You couldn’t find a better deal.