In most households in China problems are solved by making a ‘cup ‘o cha’, and offering a listening ear.

The tea itself is not the point. It’s just the fulcrum, or tool, that you use to leverage the problem.

‘Tea?’ is the universal word for welcome; sit down; share your troubles. It says that you are fully accepted as you are.

Tea is also an excellent metaphor for candidate engagement. In this context, tea represents the common courtesies that are easily forgotten in the non-stop-rush that we call China. I am not saying that common courtesies are always a necessary and sufficient cause for a failure to engage with candidates, but I would suggest it is sometimes the case.

What prompted this little musing is that over the years I have noted how candidates that engaged well with me did not necessarily fare so well with hiring managers. I can accept there would be differences in our respective approaches, and I am willing to admit that I make mistakes, but after careful consideration I have concluded that in some cases engagement never even started.

The logic of this is that when you visit someone else’s house or office you expect the common courtesies of that culture. If you don’t see the local equivalent of the tray with the teapot and the tea cups, you are likely to be a bit surprised, but make the assumption that someone must be making the tea in the background. It’s hard to admit that the host might not have bothered, and even harder to admit that you are not a welcome interruption to their daily routine.

You wait for the tea in silent anticipation.

In many cases, if the tea never arrives, engagement never starts. So the candidate in our story never settles down, and may as well not be there. Meanwhile, the hiring manager fools himself into thinking he is interviewing someone who is fully engaged with him. But often the candidate is still waiting for those little courtesies, and the fidgeting is a function of their discomfort, not interview nerves.

This is especially true for passive candidates. They have a good situation in front of them, and need a very good reason to make them jump to another company. They are there to be sold an opportunity. The lack of common courtesy really smarts because these candidates are making a big effort, and for something that may not work out.

Asking them to sit down so that you can ask them why they want to work for you just doesn’t cut it.