If only people – excuse me, talent – were automatons and didn’t care about where they worked, who they worked for, the culture of the company, the style of the boss, the length of the commute, the salary and benefits, perhaps the brand of beer in the corporate lunchroom…

Think Pleasantville before the awakening of color.

If all recruiters and hiring managers were great interviewers and experienced psychotherapists, if virtual or on-site were location options, if people didn’t have to worry about child or elder care…

If hiring managers didn’t have personality or education biases, if all jobs were reachable in 15 minutes by luxurious and reasonably-priced mass transit, if any house could be purchased for $100K…

Think The Truman Show before his eyes were opened.

If the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and an Honest Politician really existed, then this on-going discussion about a “War for Talent” wouldn’t be taking place – because if all the related variables were no longer “variable” then most jobs would be filled.

Skills, experiences, and potential are everywhere yet there are so many personal and professional variables that both impact and cloud people’s rational thoughts about jobs and work. Hiring managers turn down tremendous candidates then ask for more because while this one is an 8 out of 10, their experience with a certain software package is with an earlier version and not the new cloud-based one; recruiters with ESP turn down a perfectly great person because the recruiter in all their wisdom “knows” the person won’t be a culture fit (pssst – [wink-wink] they’re too old or too young; too ethnic; too smelly; too much consulting; too many jobs; etcetera); candidates turn down a great job offer because the commute is too long, the salary is $5K too low and they wanted to “reach” $100K, they have to wear a suit…

SMH X SMH X SMH = “We can’t find anyone – we definitely have a talent shortage.”

Why do all the academic/policy discussions about STEM numbers never include recruiting leaders who actually know how to create strategic workforce plans AND recruit? Why don’t economists ever talk about quality recruiting, honest employment branding, and effective human resources? When was the last time an ARIMA Model interviewed a candidate? The way I see it, you can put the 100 smartest economists in a room and they wouldn’t have any idea how to (a) create a single job nor (b) how to recruit for one. Yet their forecasts practically dictate employment policy and headline material like “War for Talent.”

So companies and their weak hiring teams buy into the “War for Talent” drivel because it’s what one resorts to when talent acquisition people and processes are ineffective; and when hiring managers are certain that the only employees right for them have 15 out of 10 qualities and only work for Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google. It’s time – as my friend Pete Radloff says – to put this phrase to rest.

Non-military or paramilitary wars aren’t fought by recruiters; however, recruiters, hiring managers and their companies can fuel their recruiting efforts by honestly and knowledgeably engaging and stewarding their talent communities, by knowing the opportunities far beyond the job descriptions, by focusing on performance and fact over flawed subjective beliefs,

The real words are engagement and honesty…