Inexperience Counts?

That's a headline in the latest issue of ForbesLife Executive Woman (I added the question mark). Are they commenting on the Presidential race? Actually, they are citing a recent study conducted by graduate business professors at Wharton, Ohio State and NYU.

At an unnamed major insurance company, the researchers looked at the performance of certain nonsupervisory employees. New recruits were compared to experienced outside hires. The result: the inexperienced newcomers fit into the corporate culture more easily and were more likely to act in concert with corporate strategy. The professors' hypothesis is that experienced people are set in their ways, and are thus less likely to adapt to new corporate environments. They go on to note that corporate culture is vital to the successful operation of a business.

The professors acknowledge that inexperienced hires come with a cost: the need for training that, presumably, experienced hires do not require. We already have noted that brokerage firms, which once ran extensive training programs to turn recent college graduates into financial advisors, have long since scaled back or eliminated them, in a cost-cutting move. Now they depend heavily on poaching each other for experienced FAs. Of course, there is a chicken-and-egg problem here. If no one wants to train new FAs, how does anyone learn to become one? That's another question, for another day.

The planted axiom, or unspoken assumption, in this academic study is that the company in question has a corporate culture that should not be challenged or changed. That I find hard to digest. Every organization can stand further improvement, and it's a danger signal, in my opinion, when one starts to think that it has all the answers, and is not amenable to change or to fresh perspectives. On the other hand, to run a successful team, you need everyone pulling together and supporting common goals. It's a delicate balancing act between having a coordinated effort in the short term and being open to long term evolution.

So, for you students and career changers who may have difficulty selling your talents to an employer who demands experience, take heart from this study, and from the election results. Indeed, consider citing them to bolster your case.