What are daft decisions? What do vague job adverts teach us.

What are daft decisions? What do they look like? I recently came across a rather peculiar – and frankly, rather meaningless job advert. The advert simply stated that the company was looking for energetic and hard-working staff, followed by the contact person's name and number.

What makes the advert strange, in my view, is that it contains a bare minimum of information. This situation is not ideal for either the jobseeker or the company that posted the advert. Why? It means unnecessary work for both parties: the jobseeker has to call to find out even basic details, such as working hours and the location.

The company's contact person must be prepared to deal with a flood of calls, meaning they have to spend valuable working time answering questions that could easily have been answered in the advert itself.

How does this relate to decision-making? And what does this sort of behaviour say about the company? Firstly, it can be said that this approach paves the way for unnecessary work. Let us clarify that all this extra work is of a nature that could be prevented with a single, proactive measure.

This ties in with the human tendency to make decisions with minimal deliberation, driven by the subconscious. The subconscious is able to anticipate, selectively prioritising safety. That's where its strength lies, and indeed, that's what it's designed for. Longer-term planning, on the other hand, is where it falls short, and that 'longer term' needn't be more than five minutes before the ability to anticipate begins to wane.

To put it clichédly: small actions can have a big impact. At first, one might think: let's put out a blunt, uninspiring advert so that those who are interested will call and introduce themselves, allowing us to do some initial screening. However, this fails to take into account the potential increase in workload, or the fact that many suitable candidates who might be interested may not call because they might think: 'If the company can't be bothered to put any effort into the advert, why should job seekers?'

Perhaps the recruiting company might think: 'In difficult times, competition for jobs is fierce, so we'll easily find the right people.' Perhaps so; on the other hand, this sort of attitude shows a hint of arrogance, even naivety regarding the company's appeal.

How foolish choices lead to resource waste

Foolish decisions are a waste, a squandering that takes its toll on everyone. Foolish choices are those that make people's lives more difficult and hamper the operations and profitability of businesses; at a societal level, they make life difficult, even unbearable.

Foolish decisions lead to unsustainability and to structures and systems that function for a time, until they collapse when resources run out. The easiest path is not always the best; indeed, a complex and laborious one can turn out to be an insurmountable trap. In other words, the most efficient route depends on the specific circumstances; however, if efficiency is taken to extremes, we can easily find ourselves in a situation where we are strangled and impoverished.

The optimal approach is one that conserves resources whilst achieving maximum output – in other words, finding the 'sweet spot' where the resources used yield the best possible result. And, it should be added, the primary aim should not be to seek maximum output, but rather benefit. If benefit isn't the top priority, it's possible that water poured into a sieve will simply run straight through the bottom.

I'm not saying that everything in life and in the world has to be optimised to the nth degree – that's neither possible nor sensible to aim for. Returning to the job advert I mentioned, it's rather pointless to have someone else do a job that you could easily do yourself.

Anyone who has decided to draw up – and indeed publish – a job advert like that hasn't given any thought to potential applicants; whether they even have their own company – let alone a contact person. Nowadays, job adverts are expected to include as much information as possible – not that any law requires it, but applicants themselves prefer to have as much information as possible. Why? It's easier to decide whether a role is of interest or not based on preliminary information.

Company reputation: You spark interest by standing out

A generic job advertisement alone is not enough to spark much interest, unless you're in a real bind. It's said that people these days are demanding when it comes to work, and why shouldn't they be; they spend a lot of time on it. It is incorrect to say that it is only applicants who are demanding; hiring companies and organisations are too. The law very often requires specific education and qualifications for various jobs. Gone are the days when a primary school leaving certificate was enough to enter the world of work.

Often, it is not enough for the job to match one's education; there are other factors that influence an applicant's motivation to submit an application. These include, for example, working hours – early risers are less likely to enjoy working night shifts – location, as public transport doesn't go everywhere, and pay – how much your personal life costs right now.

A motivated employee is always the best asset for an employer. Motivation to work is influenced by the factors mentioned above, as well as a host of other factors. It's easy to wonder about that job advert I've come across and how lacking it is. These days, people are extremely particular about reputation and quality. One might wonder: if a company cares so little about the quality of its job advert, what must it be like with their products or services?

As I said, small actions and signals can have a big impact. In my own work, my aim is to do everything as well as possible, with no slip-ups or blank spots. To put it clichédly: once trust and reputation are lost, they are extremely difficult to regain.

Why do leaders take shortcuts in decision-making?

What makes someone come up with such a strange solution as a job advert that says absolutely nothing? Is it a rush, perhaps a momentary lapse of judgement, or simply incompetence? Drafting a proper advert should be easy, even if the most important details are just listed with bullet points.

Being pressed for time can sometimes catch you out; if it's an urgent recruitment drive, then a blunder like that is, in a way, understandable. But surely there must be someone within the organisation looking to hire who has the time to do the job properly; it wouldn't take more than an hour or so.

And, besides, all companies and organisations of any bigger size have an HR department whose responsibilities include recruitment, so they ought to have time to draft a proper job advertisement.

From the recruiter's point of view, it's a shame if a skilled candidate decides not to apply simply because the organisation couldn't be bothered to put together a proper job advert that would attract the best candidates. It is even more of a shame if people fail to apply for a good job and end up unemployed simply because they felt the substandard job advertisement showed a lack of regard for them.

Decision-making always requires information; if there is no information, what is the basis for a decision? Nothing. In other words, it's quite easy to decide not to apply for a position about which there is no information, or where you have to go to great lengths to dig it up, simply because of someone's laziness.