In the early 80s, Van Halen was rocking arenas. Eddie wailed away while spandex-clad David Lee strutted the stage with endless amounts of hair spray and moxie. They brought bigger equipment, cranked up their amps, and did whatever they could to blow out some kid’s ear drums.
They were Van-Bleepin’-Halen!
They also refused to eat any brown M&Ms.
In fact, they wrote that into their contracts. When they arrived at a new city, it was the first thing they looked for in their dressing room. Brown M&Ms in the bowl? Full-on hissy fit.
What a bunch of divas!
Well, not exactly.
Van Halen realized their bigger, louder equipment tested the arena’s power supply. Lionel Richie and Tina Turner weren’t blowing out ear drums. Genesis didn’t turn it up to 11.
The presence of brown M&Ms meant the people in charge hadn’t read the contract. Fuses could blow during ππ’π±π΅πΆπ³π¦. ππ¦π’πΆπ΅πͺπ§πΆπ ππͺπ³ππ΄ could end in a stage fire.
Right now, our hiring process has been overwhelmed by bots. We’ve made applying so easy, candidates can tailor their resumes to match thousands of job postings.
Machines are talking to machines.
It’s a nightmare for candidates and hiring managers.
Maybe it’s time for a Brown M&M Clause in job postings.
Make job seekers do something unquestionably human to finalize their application. Add some hurdle that proves humans are responding to humans.
If the job is local, have them write their favorite food on a napkin and drop it off. Or include some brown-bag meet-up for applicants who want to learn more. Maybe ask people to send a photo of something in their fridge or shoot a video explaining their favorite road trip.
And if you’re on the hiring manager end of things, want to improve your brand? Be human. Demonstrate empathy. Commit to providing feedback to everyone who completes the quirky assignment. Everyone.
In a world drowning in bots and automation, the companies that win won’t be the most automated; they’ll be the most human. Our processes should reflect that.
What’s your brown M&M suggestion?
