Why the most impactful hires often don’t fit the typical job description and ways to adapt to their potential.
By Simon Kent
“Game-changing talent is not just about brilliance. It is about alignment, growth, and the ability to elevate others. When you combine that with a clear strategy, that is when real progress accelerates,” says Switzerland-based Fred Patitucci, chief people and culture officer at Philip Morris International.
As Patitucci notes, there are times when organisations come across exceptional candidates that are destined to make a remarkable difference, and when that happens, HR has to pivot to achieve success. The environment needs to be right for the talent to flourish—ensuring the organisation accepts the new talent and that they can use their skills to their full extent.
Zarina Tasheva, HR director at ALS Central Asia Uzbekistan, says finding this kind of talent is a mix of strategic search and unexpected discovery. For large projects, the type of hard skills required is generally clear, but she says a candidate with more soft skills could make a big difference. “Sometimes during networking, professional discussions, or even internal projects, you meet someone whose thinking is much broader than the role they currently hold. You observe how they approach problems, how they take ownership, and you realise that this person could create much bigger value than their current position suggests.”
Operating from Uzbekistan, Tasheva says there is a relatively small talent pool for such specialised and transformational roles, so HR and business leaders alike often rely on professional reputation, recommendations, and previous personal experience to find these individuals. The onboarding process can also be different by being more relaxed. “The assessment becomes less about whether the candidate perfectly matches a job description and more about how they think, how they solve problems, and how they deal with uncertainty,” she says. “Instead of focusing only on competencies, we try to understand their mindset. In many cases, these people have experience across several areas rather than one narrow specialisation.”
Patitucci agrees that landing game-changing talent is both a strategic and opportunistic activity. PMI’s own talent requirements have shifted significantly as the business has moved away from being a tobacco company to a consumer goods business for smoke-free products. “Growth today is not just about scale,” says Patitucci, “It is about capability, adaptability, and mindset.”
Fulfilling talent requirements needs careful and deliberate planning. Above all, says Patitucci, it is imperative that recruits align with the company’s purpose while pushing the company forward, to be better. When a senior or specialist appointment occurs, the company is clear about why that appointment has been made—whether that’s to address capability, connect with company growth, and so on. Transparency around this will reduce resistance about why the appointment has been made among existing staff.
“People are far more open to change when they understand the strategic intent behind it,” Patitucci says.
“If someone joins the organisation who may have a strong impact or drive meaningful change, the team should understand why this person is joining and what value they are expected to bring. This transparency makes onboarding smoother and helps ensure that the new colleague arrives in an environment that is ready to listen to and support their ideas.” – Cornelia Kunz
Bringing in such talent successfully can mean the company will adapt the role to reflect and unlock the individual’s potential. “Rather than asking whether the candidate fits perfectly into a predefined box, we ask whether we are designing the right environment for their potential to compound over time. Internal mobility, transparent access to opportunities, and structured development platforms help us make that possible,” Patitucci says.
Alongside these considerations, the company must also make the groundwork ready for the new leader. “We learned quickly that hiring differently without preparing the system creates friction,” he says. “You cannot introduce new capabilities into an old environment and expect magic to happen. That is why preparation matters.”
Cornelia Kunz, CHRO and managing director at Fusion Business Solutions, Germany, agrees that transparency around special appointments is required if they are to be successful. “If someone joins the organisation who may have a strong impact or drive meaningful change, the team should understand why this person is joining and what value they are expected to bring,” she says. This transparency makes onboarding smoother and helps ensure that the new colleague arrives in an environment that is ready to listen to and support their ideas.
“When everyone understands why this person has been hired and what contribution they are expected to make, resistance usually decreases,” she argues. “It’s about aligning the organisation, setting expectations, and creating an atmosphere in which this talent can bring their strengths to life–without unnecessary obstacles.”
At international school Nord Anglia Education, Regional Human Resource Director for Europe Lauriane Mounard says her business has solid internal processes for recognising and promoting talent. However, their external processes can appear “over-engineered,” creating the danger of decision fatigue among those trying to appoint and restlessness in candidates.
“For transformative profiles, I prefer to invert the model,” she says, operating from Switzerland. “Instead of putting the person through our process, we create the conditions for their best thinking. I watch how they challenge us. If they cannot push back in the process, they will not shift the organisation once inside.”
However, a game-changing leader is not always appropriate for the business, as sometimes the organisation simply isn’t ready to admit such a person. “We have seen talented individuals arrive with strong ideas for the future, yet unable to bring their teams with them,” says Mounard. The company’s induction process gives significant time for individuals to understand how their culture really works, which can flag issues early on. Mounard says there are areas within the business that require strengthening, such as openness and autonomy. “These patterns point to limited cross-functional teamwork and limited freedom for people to act in their scope of responsibilities,” she explains. “HR needs to identify these dysfunctions and challenge the systems that push us toward familiar profiles. When there is pressure, the instinct is to return to what we know.”
As such, part of HR’s role is to challenge leaders to step outside that comfort zone. “This means more than just finding and appointing game-changers, it means creating an organisation which is safe enough to be disrupted by the incoming talent,” she says.
“That means protecting transformative leaders from institutional resistance while holding them accountable for bringing people with them,” she adds, highlighting how a business needs to deliver enough psychological safety for teams to say when they do not understand the direction should that occur as a result.
Finding and onboarding game-changing talent is therefore only half the battle for HR. Because of the roles these individuals must take, there is still work to be done once these candidates enter the workplace. With the right tools and approach, their full potential can be reached.
