Amitai Givertz’s Recruitomatic Blog

As a child, I remember being amused for hours by the fish in Mrs. Frostick's pond. I can't recall what species they were, but I do recall that when I dropped a small blob of bread in the water the fish would all make a mad dash to the surface and frantically splash around. The writhing would subside until another blob of bread was dropped in and the wriggling and splashing would resume. What fun!

I want to thank Dave Lefkow for reconnecting me to this wonderful childhood memory. In his article Why They Hate Recruiting he references a piece published last year in Fast Company. The work was entitled: Why We Hate HR, and at the time it generated its own feeding frenzy of comments and debate. The blob of bread Dave dropped in the pond has again provoked the same frantic reaction. And it is as amusing as it was the first time round.

Please don’t get me wrong. Of course we should be debating issues relating to HR, recruiting, strategy, C-level engagement, strategic direction, the whole megillah. But we should also be conscious of what’s really going on here – here in the pond.

As I reflect on my childhood experience, I wonder whether feeding Mrs. Frostick’s fish was the real attraction for me, or the realization that I – Son of Man – had the power to turn this splish-splashing on and off at will. I conclude it must have been the latter. It didn’t take me long to realize that a glob of spit would have the same effect as a blob of bread. The fish never had a clue.

Similar Posts:

• Alternate Uses for Indeed.com: Part Two
• How to Hire Better Salespeople
• Which Side of the Fishbowl?
• Memo to Mr. Zappe: It’s called “Bait and Switch”
• Many Sides to Every Story