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In reality, of course, society has both problems. But this lady is right. It’s not necessarily just a hiring problem — and why wouldn’t hiring be a problem, when we regularly let HR own the top of that funnel? — but it’s a promotion problem. Most companies only promote off easily-observable metrics and political connections, henceforth typically extroverted assholes become the entire leadership team, and that drives good people away. You can never build a consistent high-performing culture if all you do is promote assholes, and you can never keep the best people if there are no opportunities for growth outside of sales roles. These are just, well, facts. It’s easy to blame shitty hiring processes for every flaw of work, because again, HR typically owns those processes and crapping on HR is like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s harder to criticize promotional processes, because those are set at top levels, and crapping on top levels is usually the equivalent of having a pink slip nailed to your forehead. But in reality, the problem is two-fold: it’s how we bring people in, and it’s how we bring people up. Both create turnover. It’s not just one thing.
Can I solve these problems? I can kind of solve the hiring problem, sure (it’s not about tech, tho) and as for promotions? Not really. Execs mint like-minded and like-looking people. But there is something to a fear-based management culture and scarcity thinking that perhaps we could adjust.
