Staffing in the New Economy
is a costly proposition. To complicate matters more, recruiter wanna-be’s
and 3rd party hiring resources barrage many of us each day. Making
the right choices for your organization may mean sink or success
over time. Whether you hire a contract recruiter full-time or use
agencies “on contingency,” there are advantages and disadvantages.
If your organization
is in a high growth mode that you anticipate will last for six months
to a year, and you have little or no recruiting staff—get yourself
a dedicated recruiter. If you only have a few highly specialized
difficult-to-fill positions (i.e., very technical or single one-of-a-kind
requirements) go with a few carefully selected contingency firms.
When you get to the VP or “C-level” jobs look for a well-respected
retained search firm in your industry.
Let’s examine ways
to get the most (support-wise and $-wise) from the first two.
Expensive On-Site Recruiters
My cohorts may hate me for telling
you this, but I firmly believe contract recruiters should work on-site
at least four days a week. To be truly effective they must be physically
located with their client group, NOT with human resources. They
should be given a space where they can talk openly and freely about
salaries, stock, the company, and potentially other sensitive matters
without disturbing surrounding workers or creating potential internal
equity issues.
They should provide you a full-range
of services, not just pulling resumes off job boards. This means
sourcing, screening (phone screening notes should accompany the
resume being sent to the hiring manager) interviewing, negotiating,
and closing the candidate. Sounds like a full sales cycle? It is!
If you get a good recruiter, their evaluation of the candidate’s
fit in the organization will be invaluable. When selecting a recruiter,
ask them to give examples of their behavioral interviewing techniques
and how they assess the technical skills and abilities of a candidate.
If they can’t articulate this, don’t hire them.
A huge advantage of on-site recruiters
is their ability to get to know upper management’s philosophy, the
corporate culture, and to have the opportunity to interact daily
with line managers. Be sure to make them part of the post interview
evaluation process and include them in staff meetings if appropriate.
Only in this way can they experience the team interactions and better
assess a potential candidate’s fit for the environment and future
success in the organization.
Make your recruiter more efficient
by giving them the tools they need to do the job: laptop (most recruiters
are workaholics and this ensures a “have-work, will-travel” mentality),
access to job boards and research, employee referral programs, job
fairs, etc.
But be careful. Don’t waste your
recruiting dollars having an expensive contractor setting up interviews,
attending unnecessary meetings, cranking out offer paperwork, or
standing at the copy machine. Hire a temp if you need to!
Negotiating skills
are extremely important in today’s marketplace. When selecting a
recruiter, ask for a story about their greatest close and one about
a special candidate they sourced. Make sure you give your recruiters
the recruiting ammo they need such as salary information, stock
incentive plans, insights into your competitors, why you are better,
and your organization’s long-term goals.
On-site recruiters
have a huge advantage in closing a candidate—particularly if they
are doing face-to-face interviews. Having an on-site full time recruiter
with high energy and dedication to your cause—one who believes in
what the company’s goals and vision are—can be an invaluable asset.
Paper-Pushing, Auto-redialing, Contingency
Agencies
People from these groups plague everyone
who hires people these days. If you are not careful, you will find
yourself with a three-page list of agency contracts, endless phone
calls, and a daily flood of useless email. My advice: pick four
to six good agencies and work closely with them. You can identify
those that are good by asking others who have tried finding people
in similar positions or try using them for a single position. You
may want to work with those that specialize in certain areas: marketing,
sales, accounting, or a specific technical area. You may also look
for those who specialize in your industry: health, telecom, software,
or others. Make sure you develop a good relationship with the ones
that produce. Tell other agencies that contact you that you are
not signing any new contracts, but will keep their information on
hand should the ones you are working with not be of service. Heaven
forbid you should piss one off and they make it their goal in life
to recruit YOUR employees away.
Here are some hints to make your
agencies add more value:
1.
Make sure agency recruiters follow your policies
and procedures. Companies operate differently so don’t expect them
to know your policies.
2.
Let agency recruiters know how you expect them to
work with you: for instance, “only email” or if calls are acceptable,
only a certain number a week.
3.
Have them sign YOUR agreement not theirs; make NO
exceptions. These agreements should be standard, approved by your
attorney. Believe me your life will be easier.
4.
All resumes should go through either your Human Resources
department or to the recruiter designated for the client group the
candidate is being presented for. No calls to hiring managers!
5.
Keep your website updated and steer the agency to
it for job openings instead of spending your valuable time going
over the requirements on the phone.
6.
The agency should provide a full phone screening.
Make it clear what you expect. You should only see candidates ready
to move, NOT just resumes. By this I mean the agency should have
contacted the candidate, told them about the company, assured the
candidate is interested and available, gotten current and expected
salary information, and done a pre-screening against the job requirements
for skill match and for fit for the organization.
7.
Once the candidate has been presented, YOU
own their information not the agency. Take the ball and run. Interviewing,
reference checking, negotiating, closing should all be done by your
on-site staff or managers.
Let’s face it; no one recruiter has
access to all resumes no matter how many sources they have or know
how to use. But before you dismiss them altogether understand that
some agencies really do have an “in” with specific companies and
industries as well as have very strong databases of their own. Many
agencies are very hard working, successful, and can be quite an
asset. I personally advocate a combination of on-site recruiters
and agencies.
Sourcers: The New-Age Internet Wizards
If you have many internal resources
and are building up or subscribing to job boards, contact lists,
attendee lists, paper resumes from job fairs, or faxes no one is
looking at, consider getting a “sourcer,” especially in lieu of
hiring another recruiter. If good, they can do magic. Find one with
AIRS
training, if possible. They can free up your recruiter to do the
real sales side of the job and take full advantage of the money
you are already spending on these resources. Sourcers are the factory
worker of the future; their ability to “people-mine” is extraordinary.
In Closing
The recruiting and staffing process
is a constantly changing and evolving occupation. There are many
choices of how to approach it and ideas on what works and what doesn’t.
One sure bet is that it is and must remain a well-oiled, continuously
moving machine. I hope I have given you some insight on how to feed
your recruiting monster!
Debra Young has
over 20 years experience in staffing, recruiting, and human resource
management. She has a significant record of accomplishment recruiting
in high-growth industries, managing entire staffing processes, lowering
cost-per-hire and strategic planning for long-term staffing needs.
From the Editor
by way of disclosure: Young is responsible for bringing together
LiNE Zine’s Editor in Chief, who she worked with at PeopleSoft,
and LiNE Zine’s Webmaster. We are personally thankful for her introduction
and guidance in recruiting matters over the year. LZ
VDY030701GR
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