”Sorry, we can only consider people who have experience in our sector”… says the Splitter.
If I had a dollar from everyone who has heard that from a potential employer or recruiter – I’d have retired years ago.
As a consultant, I marvel at the idea that some feel that skills sets are not transferable between sectors. I began my career in marketing in the software sector, then moved to sales followed by HR – both in the manufacturing sector. In my mind, my HR skills in particular, are transferable to any industry, especially those with departments similar to the organizations where I have worked – sales, customer service, operations, R&D, engineering, health, safety and environment, finance, management, accounting, IT etc.… Funny, don’t most organizations have similar departments?
I know when I was recruiting, I may not have been a technical expert in the field we were recruiting for, but that is why the line managers were involved. All sectors and departments have one big commonality – people. People are people wherever you go. It is just the focus of organization that is different.
A colleague gave me her perspective on this “requiring prior experience in the sector” mind-set. She believes there are two kinds of people – Splitters and Clumpers. Splitters are people who see things (cups and glasses, chairs, or organizations in different businesses) as different and discrete. The others she calls Clumpers. They see the differences in things but are able to find the similarities across different things more easily (things to drink out of, furniture to sit on, organizations that need HR and Finance and IT support). Clumpers are able to step back, look at information and find the similarities.
In organizations you need Clumpers and Splitters. They both have merits. But when you are trying to build bigger and better organizations you need Clumpers to set the direction, as they can take their vast knowledge across different experiences and be strategic, leveraging their knowledge and experience to provide a good solution. The Splitter can then join in and dive down to the right level to get to the unique pieces of the puzzle for any given circumstance.
Fortunately I have had many Clumpers brave enough to hire me to help them with their work, despite having been a consultant steeped in manufacturing experience (granted in three different sectors)! I have worked in sectors from manufacturing to professional services, profit to not-for-profit and charities, social justice to actuarial services. Sometimes I need to understand the business that they are in for context – but the HR issues – they are often the same.
Part of what makes our Osborne Group team so strong is that our Principals have experience in almost every sector. We have demonstrated time and time again that our functional and management expertise allows us to cross sector boundaries with ease. If we don’t have specific experience in our client’s sector, we can still help because we draw upon the profound levels of experience we have collectively to resolve client issues.
I guess you could say we’re a great group of Clumpers!
By Sarah Hisey
Human Resources
Visit osborne-group.com for other ideas and opinions from our Principals on a range of topics. Their views are their own and do not necessarily represent The Osborne Group’s perspective. The Osborne Group provides interim executive management, consulting and project support across all sectors and over a broad scope of service areas.
