The Answer Isn’t “We Try Harder”

Fay Hansen’s Workforce Article (Survey Data Emboldens Cry for Recruiting Funding) leaves you with two emotions:

1. Underappreciated, being asked to recruit more with less resources and

2. Inadequacy with the tool or system you currently have

If you’re feeling either of these, then you’re one of the many recruiting teams that are gutting it out and either can’t get the permission or the time to improve your tools. If tools aren't THE answer, what is the question? Let’s think about it.

ADP (who sponsored one of the surveys) is a solution vendor. Do you really think they would conduct a survey that would disprove their offerings? I’m not down on solution-providers – my own company uses an ADP service. I’m suggesting that if you want your recruiting to be appreciated or even justify an expenditure or two, start with changing your recruiting itself. Anything else is just “trying harder”. Remember that phrase? It was the advertising tag line from Avis, “We try harder"? The commercial is funny, earnest, but not very inspiring. It’s hard to be impressive when your success is measured by what others do or don’t do.

So the question is, How do I review my recruiting? Let me suggest several areas to review:

• Corporate plan - All companies have objectives and goals tied to regular time intervals (months, quarters, years). What are they for your organization: rapid growth, slow down, retooling, circling the wagons or incrementally changing? This is the bull’s-eye to organize your recruiting game and marshal resources.

• Data – You have the “why” you’re recruiting. Do you have a clear “what” needs to be delivered? You may not a system to tabulate or report, but planning can be pretty simple. There are two basic types of planning. Pick one and start using it:

o Top-down - Driven down by top leadership and is usually communicated in the language of headcount. Think of this as a sort of “mandate” from your executives.

o Bottom-up - Driven up from the lowest level in the organization and is based on proven needs (statistics and trends). This, in turn, is then bubbled up the organization to executives.

• Process - Lay out your recruiting process in a flowchart. Then have someone who is in an operations role from another part of the company review it with you. What things rest on assumptions? Where are there gaps in the exchange of information? Where can you minimize delays?

• Individual – Has every one signed onto the aforementioned areas? If not, reinforce with training and education. If so, great! Now focus on helping them improve their time management and communication (for ideas, try here and here)

Tools can make sense when recruiting is in alignment with the business. So, review your recruiting first. Don’t immediately go out and buy tools. If you stand up and say “We try harder”, no one will give you a prize or respect.

Comments

[Jessica Lee]

nice post. i think too often, recruiters rely on "the tool." to deal with volume, to bring organization to your world, to have better data, an ATS is a great tool... but i've recruited without an ATS, with a half-ass ATS, with the most robust ATS you can ever imagine... and honestly? i don't believe an ATS has ever made me a better recruiter. it sure has made my life easier in some circumstances. it's made me more efficient in other circumstances... but it's also made my life hell in many circumstances, trying to find a way to re-engineer policies or procedures to fit with the tool, or trying to re-engineer the tool to fit with my policies or procedures. then you add in educating HR and recruiters, hiring managers... and sometimes, getting caught up in the tool makes you totally lose sight of what's important - the actual recruiting... which you don't need an ATS to do.

[William]

Yes, too many folks make to with just web-based email account (let alone all the online apps Google now offers). I can cathardicly admit to subscribing to a board or tool because it was "best practice" or chatted up real well - but it only added frustration and loss of budget. Here's to Jessica's comment: Have a game plan first!

[KD]

William -

My favorite part of your post - flowchart the process. That's valuable in itself, and by going over it with the ops folks, you can improve it and maybe most importantly - by letting them have input, get their agreement on responsiveness and turnaround levels....

KD