Hiring from Outside the Company: How New People Can Bring Unexpected Problems
As life-long employment fades and the workforce becomes increasingly mobile, many companies look to hire skilled, experienced workers to improve productivity quickly. Those workers, however, often bring baggage from prior jobs that can negate the benefits of their prior experience, according to new Wharton research.
Companies might be better off investing in training fresh recruits with little experience in an industry so the companies can have more control over how the new workers adapt to their new employer's corporate strategy and culture. The research found that training may be more productive than paying a premium to hire experienced workers who might come from a different sort of corporate environment.
"Human resources managers will want to [hire] people who worked in a related industry or firm for the skills they bring. That makes sense from a human capital perspective, but we question whether that's all they bring with them. Do they bring other experiences ... positive or negative?" asks Wharton management professor Nancy Rothbard, co-author of a paper titled Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance. Rothbard wrote the paper with Gina Dokko of New York University's Stern School of Business and Steffanie L. Wilk of Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business.
Drawing on psychological theory, the authors examined employment applications and hiring records at two call centers for a major property and casualty insurance firm. The authors set out to assess not only the impact of bringing in skilled and knowledgeable workers, but also cognitive and behavioral responses that developed during [the new workers'] previous employment.
When More Experience Means Less Success
In interviews with managers early on in the project, Rothbard and her colleagues discovered that the issue of cross-corporation baggage kept coming up. A senior human resource manager told the research team, "We tried to hire from our competitors and paid a premium for the experience -- but those hires were the least successful." Another manager quoted in the paper said: "People are weighed down by the baggage they bring in."
Rothbard says executives at the insurance company told of hiring a talented and highly trained adjustor from another insurance company. While the hiring company provided high-end insurance with a strong emphasis on customer service, the adjustor came from a company that was more focused on keeping costs down. Rothbard says the adjustor just could not help himself from "nickel and diming" customers on their claims, even though that attitude conflicted sharply with the firm's strategic direction and culture.
"It was so embedded in his ideas about how to do the job that even at this other firm, where management tried to instill the other set of values, it didn't translate," explains Rothbard. "He had the skills to get up and running quickly in the [basics] of what an adjustor does, but ... he was ultimately not adaptable to the strategy and norms of the new firm. His experience tended to trap him."
Rothbard describes employment "baggage" as a set of norms and experiences that shape the workers' response to their jobs as much as, if not more than, the industry and occupation-related skills and knowledge they bring to their work.
According to the paper, "Habits, routines, and scripts that contribute to performance in one organizational context may detract from performance in a different organizational context. That is, the relationship between prior related experience and performance may not be wholly positive. Indeed, despite the common assumption that prior related experience will improve performance, past research findings have been mixed about the effect of work experience on performance."
Rothbard and the other researchers were intrigued by the notion that the norms and values employees pick up in the culture of one firm are not easily shed as they cross organizational boundaries. "Those kinds of transfers really are not discussed at all when we talk about mobility of the workforce. We assume people are cogs that can be plugged in and they will perform similarly in different environments."
Incidentally, Rothbard says, managers in certain industries may find the research particularly important. "For example, consulting firms have very large differences in culture and strategy and mission. It can be very difficult to overcome the years of acculturation you get from one firm."
The transition between companies is an increasingly important issue for employers and workers. In the late 1970s, Americans were estimated to have an average of seven employers during their working years. By 2005, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found the average American worker born in the later years of the baby boom had 10.5 employers by age 40.
The research team reviewed the work history of more than 7,200 employees and applicants to explore the relationships between prior experience and productivity. Their findings show a strong relationship between prior experience and knowledge and skills on the job. At the same time, however, the models indicate that prior experience does not always signal increased productivity.
A Factor in Reviews: 'Cultural Fit'
Beyond those results, the researchers were able to examine employment reviews to delve into the question of individual employee adaptability and the impact on productivity. Supervisors rated employees on adaptability. The researchers found that people who were more adaptable did not reflect a negative relationship between prior experience and effectiveness on the job.
The authors also looked at "cultural fit" within the organization. For employees who felt they fit into the culture of the firm, the negative effects of prior experience in the occupation are not pronounced. For employees who said they did not fit well into the organization, there was a significant indication of the negative effect of prior "baggage."
Rothbard says the research findings are important not only in light of the increasingly mobile workforce, but also because so many companies are in a constant state of change themselves. "If your business has changed, you need to consider trying to retool people, not just in terms of their skills, but in terms of their values," Rothbard suggests. "Not that people can't shed these things. But it may take more training and socialization than you" first expected.
According to Rothbard, companies may want to use a mentoring program to help employees from similar companies readjust to the culture and mores of their new firm. "I know it seems odd that if you hire someone with experience to then say, 'Here's your mentor,'" Rothbard acknowledges. "But maybe they need a mentor for the values of the company, not so much the skills needed for the job."
Rothbard says that when companies hire employees with experience, they tend to rely on that experience as a substitute for training. "Maybe they pay more for those people and invest less in training, but we suggest that might be a mistake. You really need to think carefully about your training and socialization to mitigate the negative effects of the trouble people have transferring the way they think about how the job is done."
Finally the researchers used the data to gain insights into the role of cross-company transfers of skills, as well as cultural baggage, on long-term careers. The research indicates that the advantage of prior task-relevant knowledge and skills diminishes the longer an employee stays at the new firm.
"Over time as individuals become socialized into the new firm, the amount of prior work experience they brought with them matters less for the skills they demonstrate on the job," says Rothbard. "However, the negative direct relationship between prior work experience and performance does not diminish as much, suggesting that the norms and values people bring with them may persist quite substantially."
The new research findings should help companies develop hiring and training strategies that fit well with their own culture, Rothbard adds.
"If you have a strong culture and a clear strategy in doing things that differ from your competitor, you may want to think carefully about whether you want to hire for experience or whether you want to hire people with less experience and invest more in training them in your model," Rothbard advises. "If your competitive advantage is the culture of your company, you want to be careful about bringing in people with a long tenure in their occupation or industry and think about how that prior experience is going to bring positives as well as negatives to the firm."
http://www.knowledgeatwharton.com.cn/in ... cleID=1910
How New People Can Bring Unexpected Problems
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新员工有新麻烦：外来雇员给公司带来意想不到的问题
随着终生职业这一概念的淡化以及员工流动性的增加，许多公司开始雇佣技术娴熟且富有经验的人以提高经济效益。然而，沃顿商学院的一项研究报告指出，这些人常常带着上一份工作的习惯，这甚至能够否定他们先前的工作经验。
培训在某一领域毫无经验的新手，公司可能获得更好的回报，因为公司能够更好地指导新员工，使他们融入新公司的发展战略以及企业文化中。该研究发现，对新员工进行培训可能比支付给经验丰富、但来自其他企业氛围中的雇员一笔可观费用带来更多的经济效益。
“人事经理们会想要招聘那些在相关领域或公司里任职过的人，因为他们有这方面的能力。从人力资源这一角度来说，该论断是合理的，但问题是，他们是否只带来工作能力？他们是否也将其他的经验一并带来——不论是积极的还是消极的？”沃顿商学院管理学教授南西·罗巴德（Nancy Rothbard）提问道，她与纽约州立大学斯特恩商学院的吉娜·德科（Gina Dokko）和俄亥俄州立大学菲舍尔商学院的史蒂芬妮·威尔克（Steffanie L. Wilk）共同撰写了论文：《审视工作经验：职业背景如何影响工作表现》（Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance）。
该论文作者以心理学理论为指导，研究了两个电话客服中心雇员的职位申请情况以及雇佣记录，这两个中心均为某一大型财产保险公司服务。他们不仅评估了工作熟练且经验丰富的雇员对企业的影响，而且从新员工在前任工作中形成的认知和行为反应这一角度对该问题进行了调查。
当经验与成功成反比时
该项目早期在访问经理人时，罗巴德和她的同事们便发现，员工任职不同公司时所带有的个人习惯这一问题被不断提及。一位高级人力资源经理告诉研究小组：“我们试着从竞争者那挖来人才并支付给他们一笔额外奖金以换取他们的经验——但这些受雇的案例却都是最不成功的案例。”文章中还引用了另一位经理的话说：“这些人的才华因其从前任公司带来的包袱而被降低了。”
罗巴德说到那家保险公司的执行经理们向她谈到他们从另一家保险公司雇佣来一名才华横溢且经验老到的主管的事情。该公司提供高端保险产品并十分注重客户服务，而这位主管来自于一家更强调节约成本的企业。罗巴德说这位主管因此无法很好地服务那些“微不足道”的客户，满足他们所提出的要求，他的这种方式与该公司的战略方向和企业文化相违背。
对此罗巴德解释道：“对于怎样做事他脑中的概念根深蒂固，甚至在新的公司中，管理层在试图向他输入新的价值观念时，他已无法进行转变。一开始他可能很快适应协调工作的基本内容，但是……他最终无法适应新的策略和新公司内的行为准则。而正是他的经验拖了后腿。”
罗巴德形容雇佣“包袱”为一套完整的规范和经验，帮助他们完成工作，相当于他们为自己的工作所带来的某一行业或职业相关的技能和知识。
根据这篇论文，“习惯、常规和惯例这些在某一组织环境中做出有效贡献的宝贵财富往往在另一组织环境中的表现适得其反。也就是说，雇员在前一个工作中拥有的技能与他今后所能做出的绩效之间不一定呈正比例关系。更确切的说，“拥有相关工作经验能够提高工作业绩”这一普通推断已不再成立，之前的研究结果是：职业经历对于工作绩效的影响好坏参半。”
雇员在甲公司养成的习惯和价值在他们跨越组织界限时不易改变，罗巴德和其他的研究人员谈到这一论点时倍感兴奋。“一般人们讨论劳动力流动这一问题时，这种转变类型从未被提及。我们总是想当然地认为雇员都是零件，可以被随意嵌置在不同的机器上，并且照样工作。”
罗巴德说，有时某些行业的经理人会发现该报告的独特重要性。“比如，无论是文化还是战略或者企业发展目标，咨询公司之间常有巨大的区别。要克服多年来在某公司接受的文化，是十分困难的事情。”
如何在新旧公司之间过渡，对于雇主和员工来说都变得越来越重要。上世纪七十年代末，平均每个美国人要更换七次工作。到2005年，美国劳动力统计局的数据显示：“婴儿潮”后期出生的美国工人到四十岁时平均每人换过10.5次工作。
本论文的研究团队调查了超过7200位雇员和申请人的任职记录，研究工作经历和工作绩效之间的关系。结果显示，任职经历、专业知识和职业技能之间的关系密不可分。然而同时，研究模型也告诉我们，任职经历不能总是带来工作业绩的正向增长。
业绩评估的重要指标：“文化适应度”
除了这些结果以外，研究人员还对他们的业绩评估作了调查，深入到单个雇员的适应力及其对生产力的影响这一问题上。上司们对员工的适应能力给出了打分。研究人员发现，适应能力比较强的员工表现出的过去经验和工作效率之间的关系比较积极。
论文作者还对企业内部的“文化适应度”进行了检视。感到自己能够适应公司文化的员工称自己之前的工作经验并未带来负面影响。而那些说自己无法适应新组织的员工则普遍感到先前的经验“包袱”严重影响了自己的表现。
罗巴德说研究结果不仅因为人力资源的流动性不断增长而变得重要，更因为许多公司本身也在不停地进行变革。“如果你的业务有所改变，那么你不仅要考虑在技能方面重新训练员工，更要改变一下他们的价值观念。”罗巴德建议道：“并非人们不能甩掉这些旧习，而是这可能比你原先想象的要更困难些。”
据罗巴德的观点，企业可以启用一套辅导计划来帮助从同行业的其他公司转来的新员工重新融入到该公司的文化和规范中来。罗巴德承认，“对一位富有经验的雇员说：‘这位是你的老师，’显得有些奇怪。但他们需要的是一位能够告诉他们公司价值在哪的老师，而不是教授他们技能的老师。”
罗巴德说，企业在雇用有经验的员工时，往往以他们的经验代替培训。“也许公司支付给这些人更多的工资，降低了对培训的投资，但我们觉得这也许是错误的。建议你慎重考虑培训和同化事宜，以减少员工改变思维方式适应新工作所承受的负面压力。”
最后，该报告通过数据透析了跨公司技能转换和文化包袱对于长期职业生涯的影响。研究显示，雇员在新公司的时间越长，先前相关工作经验和知识的优势就越淡化。
罗巴德说，“随着时间的推移，雇员逐渐适应了新公司的文化，就他们在新岗位上所需的技能来说，之前的工作经验越来越不重要，然而，工作经验和工作绩效之间直接的负面关系却丝毫没有减小，也就是说人们所带的价值和习惯会十分顽固地跟随他们。”
罗巴德补充道：“这一新的研究成果可以帮助公司制定新的招聘和培训策略，以配合其自身的公司文化。”
罗巴德的建议是：“如果你有鲜明的文化和清晰的行事策略，有别于你的竞争对手，是找一个有经验的人还是雇用一名缺乏经验的人，逐渐使他适应你的工作模式？这一问题需要三思而行。如果你的竞争优势是公司的文化价值，你应该谨慎考虑，是否招聘一个在别的公司或行业有长期任职经历的人，并且认真思考一下那些先前的经验给你的公司带来积极的或是消极的影响。”
http://www.knowledgeatwharton.com.cn/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&articleID=1910
随着终生职业这一概念的淡化以及员工流动性的增加，许多公司开始雇佣技术娴熟且富有经验的人以提高经济效益。然而，沃顿商学院的一项研究报告指出，这些人常常带着上一份工作的习惯，这甚至能够否定他们先前的工作经验。
培训在某一领域毫无经验的新手，公司可能获得更好的回报，因为公司能够更好地指导新员工，使他们融入新公司的发展战略以及企业文化中。该研究发现，对新员工进行培训可能比支付给经验丰富、但来自其他企业氛围中的雇员一笔可观费用带来更多的经济效益。
“人事经理们会想要招聘那些在相关领域或公司里任职过的人，因为他们有这方面的能力。从人力资源这一角度来说，该论断是合理的，但问题是，他们是否只带来工作能力？他们是否也将其他的经验一并带来——不论是积极的还是消极的？”沃顿商学院管理学教授南西·罗巴德（Nancy Rothbard）提问道，她与纽约州立大学斯特恩商学院的吉娜·德科（Gina Dokko）和俄亥俄州立大学菲舍尔商学院的史蒂芬妮·威尔克（Steffanie L. Wilk）共同撰写了论文：《审视工作经验：职业背景如何影响工作表现》（Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance）。
该论文作者以心理学理论为指导，研究了两个电话客服中心雇员的职位申请情况以及雇佣记录，这两个中心均为某一大型财产保险公司服务。他们不仅评估了工作熟练且经验丰富的雇员对企业的影响，而且从新员工在前任工作中形成的认知和行为反应这一角度对该问题进行了调查。
当经验与成功成反比时
该项目早期在访问经理人时，罗巴德和她的同事们便发现，员工任职不同公司时所带有的个人习惯这一问题被不断提及。一位高级人力资源经理告诉研究小组：“我们试着从竞争者那挖来人才并支付给他们一笔额外奖金以换取他们的经验——但这些受雇的案例却都是最不成功的案例。”文章中还引用了另一位经理的话说：“这些人的才华因其从前任公司带来的包袱而被降低了。”
罗巴德说到那家保险公司的执行经理们向她谈到他们从另一家保险公司雇佣来一名才华横溢且经验老到的主管的事情。该公司提供高端保险产品并十分注重客户服务，而这位主管来自于一家更强调节约成本的企业。罗巴德说这位主管因此无法很好地服务那些“微不足道”的客户，满足他们所提出的要求，他的这种方式与该公司的战略方向和企业文化相违背。
对此罗巴德解释道：“对于怎样做事他脑中的概念根深蒂固，甚至在新的公司中，管理层在试图向他输入新的价值观念时，他已无法进行转变。一开始他可能很快适应协调工作的基本内容，但是……他最终无法适应新的策略和新公司内的行为准则。而正是他的经验拖了后腿。”
罗巴德形容雇佣“包袱”为一套完整的规范和经验，帮助他们完成工作，相当于他们为自己的工作所带来的某一行业或职业相关的技能和知识。
根据这篇论文，“习惯、常规和惯例这些在某一组织环境中做出有效贡献的宝贵财富往往在另一组织环境中的表现适得其反。也就是说，雇员在前一个工作中拥有的技能与他今后所能做出的绩效之间不一定呈正比例关系。更确切的说，“拥有相关工作经验能够提高工作业绩”这一普通推断已不再成立，之前的研究结果是：职业经历对于工作绩效的影响好坏参半。”
雇员在甲公司养成的习惯和价值在他们跨越组织界限时不易改变，罗巴德和其他的研究人员谈到这一论点时倍感兴奋。“一般人们讨论劳动力流动这一问题时，这种转变类型从未被提及。我们总是想当然地认为雇员都是零件，可以被随意嵌置在不同的机器上，并且照样工作。”
罗巴德说，有时某些行业的经理人会发现该报告的独特重要性。“比如，无论是文化还是战略或者企业发展目标，咨询公司之间常有巨大的区别。要克服多年来在某公司接受的文化，是十分困难的事情。”
如何在新旧公司之间过渡，对于雇主和员工来说都变得越来越重要。上世纪七十年代末，平均每个美国人要更换七次工作。到2005年，美国劳动力统计局的数据显示：“婴儿潮”后期出生的美国工人到四十岁时平均每人换过10.5次工作。
本论文的研究团队调查了超过7200位雇员和申请人的任职记录，研究工作经历和工作绩效之间的关系。结果显示，任职经历、专业知识和职业技能之间的关系密不可分。然而同时，研究模型也告诉我们，任职经历不能总是带来工作业绩的正向增长。
业绩评估的重要指标：“文化适应度”
除了这些结果以外，研究人员还对他们的业绩评估作了调查，深入到单个雇员的适应力及其对生产力的影响这一问题上。上司们对员工的适应能力给出了打分。研究人员发现，适应能力比较强的员工表现出的过去经验和工作效率之间的关系比较积极。
论文作者还对企业内部的“文化适应度”进行了检视。感到自己能够适应公司文化的员工称自己之前的工作经验并未带来负面影响。而那些说自己无法适应新组织的员工则普遍感到先前的经验“包袱”严重影响了自己的表现。
罗巴德说研究结果不仅因为人力资源的流动性不断增长而变得重要，更因为许多公司本身也在不停地进行变革。“如果你的业务有所改变，那么你不仅要考虑在技能方面重新训练员工，更要改变一下他们的价值观念。”罗巴德建议道：“并非人们不能甩掉这些旧习，而是这可能比你原先想象的要更困难些。”
据罗巴德的观点，企业可以启用一套辅导计划来帮助从同行业的其他公司转来的新员工重新融入到该公司的文化和规范中来。罗巴德承认，“对一位富有经验的雇员说：‘这位是你的老师，’显得有些奇怪。但他们需要的是一位能够告诉他们公司价值在哪的老师，而不是教授他们技能的老师。”
罗巴德说，企业在雇用有经验的员工时，往往以他们的经验代替培训。“也许公司支付给这些人更多的工资，降低了对培训的投资，但我们觉得这也许是错误的。建议你慎重考虑培训和同化事宜，以减少员工改变思维方式适应新工作所承受的负面压力。”
最后，该报告通过数据透析了跨公司技能转换和文化包袱对于长期职业生涯的影响。研究显示，雇员在新公司的时间越长，先前相关工作经验和知识的优势就越淡化。
罗巴德说，“随着时间的推移，雇员逐渐适应了新公司的文化，就他们在新岗位上所需的技能来说，之前的工作经验越来越不重要，然而，工作经验和工作绩效之间直接的负面关系却丝毫没有减小，也就是说人们所带的价值和习惯会十分顽固地跟随他们。”
罗巴德补充道：“这一新的研究成果可以帮助公司制定新的招聘和培训策略，以配合其自身的公司文化。”
罗巴德的建议是：“如果你有鲜明的文化和清晰的行事策略，有别于你的竞争对手，是找一个有经验的人还是雇用一名缺乏经验的人，逐渐使他适应你的工作模式？这一问题需要三思而行。如果你的竞争优势是公司的文化价值，你应该谨慎考虑，是否招聘一个在别的公司或行业有长期任职经历的人，并且认真思考一下那些先前的经验给你的公司带来积极的或是消极的影响。”
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