The New Dictionary of Hiring

Preference Debt

/PREF-RUHNS DET/

NOUN

Preference Debt is future hiring difficulty accumulated by failing to give tomorrow's critical talent a reason to choose you today.

MEANING

Preference Debt is wonderfully invisible when nobody's hiring. The engineers, operators and executives you'll need next year are getting on with their lives, with no particular reason to think about you.

‍

Then the strategy changes, the requisitions open and recruiting discovers that every important relationship has to begin from zero. Nothing broke overnight. The debt was building all along. The vacancy just made it visible.

Defined by:
James Ellis,
Employer Brand Labs

Category:

Essentials

Related Terms:

→

Preference Infrastructure

Talent Demand Creation

The New Dictionary of Hiring card: Preference Debt, noun. Future hiring difficulty accumulated by failing to give tomorrow's critical talent a reason to choose you today. Abstract iridescent glass shape on a white background.

MAKE THE CHANGE

Instead of:

Switching employer brand on only when hiring becomes urgent.

Ask:

When we need these people next year, will we already mean something to them?

EXAMPLE

Leadership knows a hard-to-find team will be needed next spring. Nobody talks to that talent market until the openings go live. Recruiting starts the clock with no reputation and no relationships.

HOW TO USE IT

Look at the capabilities the business will need six to twelve months out. Identify where the right people don't know or consider you, and start building evidence and relationships before the roles open.

SAY IT TO LEADERSHIP

We can already see what we'll need to hire next year. If we leave those people cold until the jobs open, we're choosing a slower, more expensive search.

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH

Preference Infrastructure: Preference Debt builds up when you don't invest in Preference Infrastructure; the Preference Dividend is what you collect when you do. Talent Debt is about missing people, not missing reasons to choose you.