Businesses hire high-skill workers even if there's no job for them. Here's why

Then, “The person helps build their job description.”Fifty-seven percent of recruiters say they’ve hired for a specific skill set even if there was no existing role for the candidate, according to a Korn Ferry survey late last year.“They want to create a pipeline,” says Jeanne Branthover, co-head and managing partner of executive search firm DHR International’s New York office. Many recruiters are unclear about how to hire for the new digital world, prompting firms to bring on digitally savvy candidates and then invent roles for them, such as digital sales or manufacturing specialist, Zabkowicz says.Recently, while searching for a chief digital officer for a financial firm, Branthover spotted a candidate so impressive the company decided to create the position of chief strategy officer, putting him on track to eventually become CEO.Yet concocting new positions to leverage the skills of job candidates can breed resentment among existing employees, says Steve Saah, an executive director for Robert Half.“(Employers) have to have a plan to communicate it internally and be transparent with the current staff,” he says.