I was disappointed to read the comments made by Liane Hornsey from Google in the closing keynote session at the CIPD’s annual conference (News, PM 2 October). By stating that she will not hire people to positions until they have received 100 per cent backing from their prospective colleagues, I cannot help but think that Google is on a slippery slope to the mundane!

Having worked in recruitment for the past 12 years, and in HR prior to that, it is a constant source of frustration when companies and recruiters seek to fill positions with a tick list mentality. By doing this they take out the wild card entry and seek to play safe by recruiting firmly within defined criteria – even if no-one is actually sure why those criteria had been set!