Buying for all the wrong reasons…

I was reading Seth Godin’s blog this morning about why people purchase what the do and how little of it is dependent upon the facts.

From a logical perspective – It makes no since at all.  Why wouldn’t someone look at their needs and look at the products logically and determine what is the best product for them is (this goes beyond HR Technology).  Why would someone spend the thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on a system that didn’t fit their basic needs or would require extensive work arounds?  Why would someone pay more for a product that gives them less value?

Branding. Image. Respect.

We live in a country where being logical isn’t appreciated and encouraged.  As a culture we are driven by our emotions, feelings and since of pride we have associating ourselves with a particular brand.  In the last week on twitter I have been involved with conversations about why someone else’s Hurley is better than my 5150 snowboard (I don’t know – I love my Empress) and the great debate on adidas vs. nike (nike lost the consensus there).  People in our world are drawn to and attracted to a companies because of the way those companies make them feel when they are wearing them/riding them/being a part of the experience – not because they are technically any better or worse for the most part.  We idolize athletes and movie stars while ignoring academics & innovation.  As a culture, we are not entirely logical people.

HR Technology, specifically Applicant Tracking Systems – falls right in line with our fascination with the “ooohhh..shiney’s”  For many companies – selecting the right ATS is vital to creating a solid talent acquisition structure from a holistic perspective – the candidates, outside vendors you may work with, sourcing teams, recruiters, hr staff, hiring managers, other technology you use…. Yet so many of us have been tricked educated to think that the brands that we see advertised the heaviest, or have the most clients or are the most expensive are the best.

For the last few years I worked at a non-profit helping small to mid-size organization’s select new HR Technology pro bono (for those of you that went to public schools in Milwaukee – that means FOR FREE)  Why in the world would I do such a thing?  Because I LOVE this industry and I believed (and continue to believe) that companies were buying the wrong products based on the feelings they got from the advertising or because their friend at another company seemed to like it.  I worked with more than 250 companies and the way they were going about making their decisions was scary to an analytical like myself.  ”This one is pretty”  ”I liked them at the booth at the conference – they were nice” “Their sales guy has the same name as my son…” “They have the most clients, they must be the best” “This one is more expensive than the rest – must be the best, should I fight for a bigger budget?”  (Yes, those are all real comments I heard)

In John Sumser’s top 100 influencers report on J. William Tincup on Recruitingblogs.com (I swear the link works this time JD) Tincup(check out their awesome new site if you haven’t already)  made a point that I wish I had the credibility and guts to say when I knew that someone was actually listening  - that the whole talent management game has been a sales & marketing pitch – with little (if any) technological advancements and support to back up the outrageous prices and features being sold by the guys on top – It has been all about the integration and bigger and better systems and the reality is – that just doesn’t work for most companies.

Here is a sampling that I enjoy:

Tincup believes strongly that the market has been “bamboozled” by Talent Management vendors. With some examination, this means that he believes that Mercedes level expectations were created just before Smart Car realities hit.  “The Talent Management Suite rhetoric exposed critical weaknesses in most HR operations. The clear identification of deficiencies and redundancies in most HR operations simultaneously scared and attracted the customer. Then, when the bottom fell out of the market, they could not afford to fix the problem that they’d identified to their bosses. The customer has egg on her face. The economic landscape is unravelling the idea of an integrated Talent Suite.”

Again – the point of the matter that both of these postings/blogs/articles/etc have in common is the fact that we are just getting sold on technology by companies that have AMAZING branding & marketing budgets teams (and some that just have a name you know).   At least in terms of HR Technology, it is time we stop making decisions based on the “ohh…shiney’s” and start looking at what product will actually work best for YOUR organization and its processes.   It is time to look analytically at a product (that doesn’t mean that the user interface doesn’t matter, btw) and how well it suits your needs – not who has the biggest booth or trapeze artist’s hanging from the ceiling (no offense to the company that does that – I actually enjoy watching them, but it doesn’t make me want to buy your product any more than before).