Improving the effectiveness of your sourcing organization
The following are some learnings around how to make your sourcing more effective, especially if varying levels of experience exist within the team.
Understanding the fit: You may be reading this and go "no kidding", but the reality is this step is commonly skipped over in the process. Understanding the fit has to do with a solid working knowledge of the industry, the business group supported and how the role fits into what that leader is trying to accomplish. Where this usually breaks down is in one of the following areas:
If the sourcer is working through the recruiter, there is an expectation that the recruiter will ask all of the right questions when meeting with the hiring manager.
If the sourcer/ recruiter meets with the hiring manager and there is a lack of preparation coming into the meeting. This includes the sourcer / recruiter not presenting industry knowledge and using the meeting time to validate assumptions around expectations.
If the Recruiter is the Sourcer, the focus is more on the skills, versus the business goals the hiring manager is trying to accomplish. As a result, the recruiter finds the right skilled person, but the applications of the skills are misaligned.
Solutions: The key is planning, planning and communication. Assume nothing and talk about everything. Wikipedia.org can be a super tool when seeking to understand an industry, a position, a skill set. Interestingly enough, wikipedia if leveraged appropriately provides some good data points that can be used during a hiring manager discussion.
Secondly, have all of your recruiters / sourcers go in prepared to a hiring manager discussion. Again you might say no kidding, but 9 times out of 10 it does not happen, unless it is an Executive Search. Prepared means one or more of the following: Understand the industry; Have a prior discussion with the HR Gen of that business unit to understand any nuances that may positively / negatively impact the search efforts; Look on Linkedin, Spoke and your own ATS system to bring some profiles to calibrate against. People are visual, if you give them something to look at and respond to, you are more likely to get closer to the desired outcome at the very beginning of the search effort.
Duplication of Effort: Recruiters workloads are not getting any lighter, so therefore it is easy for individuals to go to the path of least resistance. However this path, especially if multiple people or vendors are assisting can be costly and unproductive. At SourceCon, Rob McIntosh presented a sourcing channel checklist. He broke this checklist into roles and activities. I took this channel sheet back to my organization, as well as peers, and began to ask questions, here is what I found:
Recruiting and sourcing teams that do not work from a plan perform duplicate work efforts. This lack of planning typically results in overlap when searching resume databases, contacting the same resources or networking through the various social networking sites
Continue to manage from the plan. Use the plan as a management tool to understand how the recruiting team is using each of the sources.
Don't pay sourcing vendors to do the same work performed internally. Face it, recruiters like the job boards. If you are using a resume mining and screening vendor, so do they. Pick one..
Not all sources generate results, so stop using the source and move on. Time is not a commodity in the recruiting business. Leverage your ATS data to begin understanding how your organization fills a particular type of role best and build from there.
Solutions: I truly believe that duplication of effort is something that requires constant monitoring. Now with that being said, I would also recommend the following:
Create the channel plan.
Create a channel plan that supports the sourcing strategy. A high volume, low complexity, localized plan will look very different from a high complexity, low volume, national search. Know what it takes to execute both and build a quick project plan to maximize time and resources.
Keyword Sets: Create sets of keywords that can also be divided by channel.
Manage to the sourcing plan. Conduct a review with the team on their activities and the results generated. Immediately seize activities on sources that are not generating the desired results and get the team to move on.
Prioritization: Not all sources generate results. Not all of the easiest sources will generate the results for the position that is being searched for. The concept of What source will generate the best results first requires sourcing knowledge, industry experience and reviewing the metrics to better understand what works inside your organization Activity for activity sake, still does not result in a hire. This only causes ill will, especially if there is segmentation between the recruiters and the sourcing team.
Solutions:
High Volume / Low Complexity: These are processing related sourcing plans. This requires activities that may leverage recruitment marketing, resume mining, job posting, radio advertisement, creative employee referral campaigns and drip market efforts leveraging contacts within the ATS. This plan may require the assistance of a resume mining vendor, an experienced sourcer/ recruiter as well as some good recruiting administrators. Each have there own role in getting the desired outcome accomplished. Know what works to execute a plan.
Low Volume / High Complexity: These are more strategic sourcing plans. This will include market research, competitive intelligence, employee referrals, cold calling and industry networking. Depending upon the type of role will determine which of these activities goes first.
The reality is, prioritization of a sourcing strategy may require someone who can serve as the organization's sourcing strategist. This person must be able to turn around a project execution plan quickly and articulate clear directions to multiple stakeholders in the process. This person must be a data jockey, who can pull reports from the ATS and leverage data to identify those activities which have a higher possibility of generating results first and baking this into the plan.
Showing posts with label Sourcing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sourcing. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
10 hiring tips for startups
Be role specific
Hiring is the most important decision at startup stage. Here are some hiring tips for startups
1. Hire for a specific role and not because you are impressed by the person.
2. Don’t think of the role, write it down along with the skills and experience you’d need the person to have in order to perform well in the role.
Give comprehensive picture of the company
3. Create a clear and interesting script about your company, nature of business, future potential and how that role fits in. Use any recognition, commendation that came your way in the script.
Remember in case of startup jobs, both interviewer and aspirant are evaluating each other. You need to come across as a worthy employer.
4. If you are not sure you can assess abilities, there is no harm asking a known senior or ex-boss to sit through the interview with you.
Learn during the process, he may not come everytime.
Right information
5. Give a clear picture of your current state, strengths and limitations.
Assess the same about the candidate. Right information is key to decision making.
6. Working for startups requires abilities like initiative, selfdiscipline, cost consciousness, multitasking, resourcefulness and risk taking more than subject matter expertise.
Don't be defensive
7. Do not get defensive about your startup status. All big enterprises started out as one. Everyone works for the future; make sure you are able to define bright future loudly.
8. Ask for references and do not limit to two. Take five references, talk to all, get a feel.
Take enough time
9. Hiring is the most important decision at startup stage. Give it your enough time, prepare, read stuff and meet many candidates. Do not delegate hiring.
10. Do not hesitate to headhunt the right guy, no matter how big a company she works for currently. You’ll be surprised how bored good professionals can get working in working big companies.
Your job can give them the freshness they want. Worst she can do is say “no”. There is a high probability that she’ll refer some one else who fits in.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Recruitment Process in India.
The recruitment process in India is designed in such a way that each candidate gets the desired profile according to its own choice. Place the candidate from the right profile, the best job recruitment agencies, the solution is the end of most Indian job recruitment agencies.
The job recruitment agencies in India involves identifying those posts, preparing the job description and person specification, advertising, management of the response, the prequalification process, organizing meetings, conducting interviews, making decisions, the appointment and action. This means that a lot of time and resources must be invested before the right candidate is selected.
Most recruitment agencies in India follow three stages in the recruitment process, which are essentially short list of application, preliminary assessment and final interview and selection.
The recruiting India process may include a written test to judge the particular skills of a candidate. In this case, the test must be carefully prepared, not to deviate from the subject. Much can be found on the candidate's resume. A good presentation of his resume is in an organized way and refined talk a lot on the individual. His mentality and attitude can be judged according to his resume.
Then the interview, which is an important and crucial part of the recruitment process. The person who takes the interview of the candidate must be well prepared in advance. Concerns such as the location of the interview, the timing, structure of the question of strategy, the style of taking the interview must be decided in advance, so that nothing is excluded, and all subjects properly treated.
In addition, there are a number of things that must be taken into consideration in the recruitment process. Until the final decision about a certain candidate is taken, it is important to keep in regular contact with the candidate. The decision-making process should not take too long to prevent candidates from taking any other occasion. An applicant must be informed once the decision is made. He or she must say the entire process of his appointment clearly with the details of all documents to be submitted. A record should be kept of the candidate file for future reference.
The recruitment process must be strong and justified and shall withstand external scrutiny. Only a good job recruitment agency with a good understanding of the area and the process can execute the same success. In India, most of the recruitment agencies to understand the needs of clients and candidates and they work in a planned way to recruit people.
The job recruitment agencies in India involves identifying those posts, preparing the job description and person specification, advertising, management of the response, the prequalification process, organizing meetings, conducting interviews, making decisions, the appointment and action. This means that a lot of time and resources must be invested before the right candidate is selected.
Most recruitment agencies in India follow three stages in the recruitment process, which are essentially short list of application, preliminary assessment and final interview and selection.
The recruiting India process may include a written test to judge the particular skills of a candidate. In this case, the test must be carefully prepared, not to deviate from the subject. Much can be found on the candidate's resume. A good presentation of his resume is in an organized way and refined talk a lot on the individual. His mentality and attitude can be judged according to his resume.
Then the interview, which is an important and crucial part of the recruitment process. The person who takes the interview of the candidate must be well prepared in advance. Concerns such as the location of the interview, the timing, structure of the question of strategy, the style of taking the interview must be decided in advance, so that nothing is excluded, and all subjects properly treated.
In addition, there are a number of things that must be taken into consideration in the recruitment process. Until the final decision about a certain candidate is taken, it is important to keep in regular contact with the candidate. The decision-making process should not take too long to prevent candidates from taking any other occasion. An applicant must be informed once the decision is made. He or she must say the entire process of his appointment clearly with the details of all documents to be submitted. A record should be kept of the candidate file for future reference.
The recruitment process must be strong and justified and shall withstand external scrutiny. Only a good job recruitment agency with a good understanding of the area and the process can execute the same success. In India, most of the recruitment agencies to understand the needs of clients and candidates and they work in a planned way to recruit people.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
What is a "headhunter" or "recruiter"?
Job Headhunters And Recruiters
What is a "headhunter" or "recruiter"?
A headhunter is actually a professional placement specialist or executive recruiter. What they do is they get a request, typically from a client company, and the company will say, "We're looking for an executive or a professional who can do XYZ. Please help us find this individual." The executive recruiter at that point will either go into their database of candidates and/or they will actually recruit or headhunt at other companies to find the most appropriate individual or individuals they can introduce to their client company, and hopefully get them placed.
How does a headhunter or recruiter get paid?
Typically a headhunting company will be paid by the client company, and that's always the way that you want to go if you're an applicant. So if you are thinking of using an executive recruiter or headhunting firm to help you with your job hunt, be sure to ask them, "Are you employer paid or are you applicant paid?" And the most reputable headhunting firms are going to be company paid.
What are guidelines for working with a headhunter or recruiter?
With job headhunters and recruiters, the most important thing to remember about working with a headhunter is that they are in the business of sales. Headhunters make their money by every placement that they make. Most reputable executive recruiting companies are the ones who have good relationships with high quality client companies and who are looking to recruit top level people. Therefore it's very, very important when you're interviewing with those types of companies to find out what their track record is and what types of companies they typically work with. Do they have areas of specialization that they place? It is very important because obviously if you're in accounting, you don't want to be recruited to be working with an executive recruiting company who places people in the healthcare field. So you must ask recruiters a lot of questions.
What are guidelines for working with a headhunter or recruiter?
A good head-hunter or executive recruiter is going to spend the time to really get to know you and what your needs, goals and objectives are; not just for the short term, but also for your long term career plans. The last thing that an executive recruiter wants to do is place a candidate with the client company (remember that the client company is the one paying the bill) and then have one or both parties be unhappy after a few months. They are really looking for that long term win-win relationship, between the candidate and the client company. So, if you paint a very honest picture for the recruiter you're working with, he or she can then take that picture of you to the client company and that's going to ensure that long term success for you.
How do I find a headhunter?
With job headhunters and recruiters, the best way to find a really good headhunter is through referral. Find some other people who have worked with a headhunter and get the name of the specific recruiter that they have worked with. Additionally, you can also call around to other employment agencies and find out what types of relationships they might have with executive recruiters. Certainly you can go to the internet but you might not always get an honest picture of who this company is going to be, so your best bet is to contact recruiters armed with a lot of questions. And be sure that those recruiters answer your questions to your satisfaction.
-------------------------------------
What is a "headhunter" or "recruiter"?
A headhunter is actually a professional placement specialist or executive recruiter. What they do is they get a request, typically from a client company, and the company will say, "We're looking for an executive or a professional who can do XYZ. Please help us find this individual." The executive recruiter at that point will either go into their database of candidates and/or they will actually recruit or headhunt at other companies to find the most appropriate individual or individuals they can introduce to their client company, and hopefully get them placed.
How does a headhunter or recruiter get paid?
Typically a headhunting company will be paid by the client company, and that's always the way that you want to go if you're an applicant. So if you are thinking of using an executive recruiter or headhunting firm to help you with your job hunt, be sure to ask them, "Are you employer paid or are you applicant paid?" And the most reputable headhunting firms are going to be company paid.
What are guidelines for working with a headhunter or recruiter?
With job headhunters and recruiters, the most important thing to remember about working with a headhunter is that they are in the business of sales. Headhunters make their money by every placement that they make. Most reputable executive recruiting companies are the ones who have good relationships with high quality client companies and who are looking to recruit top level people. Therefore it's very, very important when you're interviewing with those types of companies to find out what their track record is and what types of companies they typically work with. Do they have areas of specialization that they place? It is very important because obviously if you're in accounting, you don't want to be recruited to be working with an executive recruiting company who places people in the healthcare field. So you must ask recruiters a lot of questions.
What are guidelines for working with a headhunter or recruiter?
A good head-hunter or executive recruiter is going to spend the time to really get to know you and what your needs, goals and objectives are; not just for the short term, but also for your long term career plans. The last thing that an executive recruiter wants to do is place a candidate with the client company (remember that the client company is the one paying the bill) and then have one or both parties be unhappy after a few months. They are really looking for that long term win-win relationship, between the candidate and the client company. So, if you paint a very honest picture for the recruiter you're working with, he or she can then take that picture of you to the client company and that's going to ensure that long term success for you.
How do I find a headhunter?
With job headhunters and recruiters, the best way to find a really good headhunter is through referral. Find some other people who have worked with a headhunter and get the name of the specific recruiter that they have worked with. Additionally, you can also call around to other employment agencies and find out what types of relationships they might have with executive recruiters. Certainly you can go to the internet but you might not always get an honest picture of who this company is going to be, so your best bet is to contact recruiters armed with a lot of questions. And be sure that those recruiters answer your questions to your satisfaction.
-------------------------------------
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Know Why Recruiters Are Worth What They Charge !!
>>>
“When I need a heart by-pass, rest assured that I won’t select my surgeon on the basis of what he charges.”
That’s what an ailing executive recently opined when he was informed by his doctor about his arterial blockage problems.
Why then are corporate executives so tightfisted when dealing with what is so commonly thought of as the “heartbeat” of their companies . . . top-talent?
Companies think very little about paying the often excessive fees charged by their outside accounting and legal firms . . . or even to the gaggle of consultants who promise cost-cutting and streamlining miracles in other areas of operations.
Yet, when faced with brain drains, talent deficiencies or the need to replace one employee with a better one, their thoughts too often turn to parsimony. This K-mart mentality belies and contradicts their stated objectives to “hire the best,” especially at pecking order levels below the “big picture” executive suite inhabitants.
Of course recruiting fees can vary from firm to firm but, when they do, you will almost always find that those on the low side are sure to exclude some very key ingredients of the process, all of which are vital to providing the indispensable services necessary to satisfy the needs of the employer.
So why are recruiters worth what they charge? Just a few of the often unspoken reasons are:
Expertise - Nobody knows the employment marketplace better than a professional recruiter . . . nobody! In-house human resourcers, no matter how effective, view the marketplace through an imperfect or misrepresentative prism and tunnel vision is their occupational hazard.
Just as physicians are cautioned against treating members of their own families, so too is it folly for an in-house H/R professional to believe that they have an undistorted and unbiased picture of the employment landscape. They are vulnerable to the pressures of internal politics and cultural dimensions which do not hinder the outsider.
Street-smart recruiters already know the neighborhood, including the unlisted addresses so often overlooked by the insiders.
Cast a wider net - A professional fisherman will always have more to show than a weekend angler. Recruiters are in the marketplace day in and day out. They know the unfished coves, reefs and inlets that are unknown to others. The job-hunter bookshelves are filled with lore about the “hidden job market.” The same holds true for professional recruiters who have a detailed roadmap to the hidden talent sources which will never be accessed by newspaper ads, alumni associations, applicant databases, job boards or any of the other more familiar sources of people.
There are occasional pearls through these sources (and someone inevitably wins the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes too) but you have to shuck an awful lot of smelly oysters to find them. Recruiters only give you oysters proven to contain pearls. Your only job is to determine which pearl is the best.
Want to catch what you’re fishing for? Hire a guide!
Cost - There is a misconception among employers that the cost of a hire equals the cost of the ads or Internet postings run to attract the person hired. Nothing could be further from reality.
Try adding these to the true cost and you’ll see just how cost effective an outside recruiter can be:
Salaries and benefits of the employment/recruiting staffs plus those of the line managers involved in the hiring activity (who are not productive in their normal job pursuits when they’re out recruiting); travel, lodging and entertainment expenses of in-house recruiters; source development costs; overhead expenses including but not limited to telephone, office space, postage, PR literature, applicant database maintenance, reference checking, clerical costs to correspond with the hundreds of unqualified respondents, etc.
Unbiased third party input - Contrary to what some believe, recruiters don’t try to put square pegs into round holes. A recruiter’s stock-in-trade is their integrity and their reputation for finding someone better than a company could have found for themselves.
For a mid to senior-level executive, the average recruiter may develop a “long list” of a hundred or more possibilities. Each must be called and evaluated against the position specifications as well as the personality “fit” with the company and the people with whom they will ultimately work. Once this is winnowed down to the “short list,” an even more intensive interviewing process begins to narrow the search to a panel of finalists for review by the client.
This process is not, as some believe, simply romping through the file cabinets, harvesting from the Monster lookalikes or putting the job opening out to others on the recruiter’s network with crossed fingers that someone good will show up.
It is highly unlikely that a professional recruiter will be plowing new ground with your opening. They deal within spheres of influence far more familiar with your needs than any internal recruiter and, more often than not, view the finalists as people who are competent to solve client problems rather than just fill an open slot in the organizational chart.
Because they want to do business with you again and again, they are looking for (and challenging you to excellence by hiring) the “truly exceptional” rather than the “just satisfactory” so often settled for by in-house hirers.
Confidentiality - Advertising or otherwise publicly proclaiming an opening, aside from its cost and demonstrated ineffectiveness for sensitive senior level openings, often creates anxiety and apprehension among the advertiser’s current employees who wonder why they aren’t being considered or worry about newcomer transition problems. Just as often it alerts competitors to a current weakness or void within the company.
Speed - The recruiting process is always faster through a search professional who is continually tapped into the talent marketplace than one having to start the process from scratch. For every day that a key opening remains unfilled, a company’s other employees must grudgingly do double duty. And this doesn’t factor in the profit opportunities or competitive advantages lost to a company because a position remains unfilled or is done on a part-time basis by others less qualified.
Post-Hire Downtime - Not only is speed an essential part of the professional recruiter’s process, the ability to locate a person who can immediately “hit the ground running” with a minimum of “ramp-up time” saves time after the hire. All too often, a hire selected through less effective sources offering a smaller talent pool requires several months of expensive training and orientation.
Reality - Professional recruiters often recognize and have a duty to inform clients that they may be mistaken as to the type of person sought, the salary required to attract them or the possibilities that the solution might just lie in areas outside the traditional target industries . . . something an internal recruiter is politically disinclined to do. Too many hirers fail to understand that a professional recruiter’s primary function is not necessary to fill a slot but to provide the right candidate to solve a problem.
Negotiation - As Master negotiator Herb Cohen had says that, “negotiation is the analysis of information, time and power to affect behavior . . . the meeting of needs (yours and others’) to make things happen the way you want them to.” As a buffer and informed intermediary, the professional recruiter is better able to blend the needs and wants of both parties to arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement without the polarizing roadblocks which too frequently materialize in face-to-face dealings.
Prioritizing company resources - It is often amazing to see how much of a company’s revenues are squandered on non-productive perks for existing high-level employees while they penny-pinch on what is every company’s lifeblood . . . talent acquisition.
Club memberships and the like may be fine, but no one with an IQ higher than Forrest Gump’s believes that these expenditures substantially contribute to a company’s profit margin. But one well-placed employee can be the cause of a company’s profits skyrocketing. And the fee for having hired these people pales to insignificance when compared to the contributions they make to the bottom line.
The next time you think a recruiter’s fees are too high, put them in the proper perspective before asking for that Blue Light special or spinning your wheels thrashing about trying to fill vital openings with less effective (but not necessarily less expensive) pedestrian methods. Savvy executives learned long ago that the fee paid to a recruiter is a shrewd strategic investment, not an extraneous expense. They also know that the “best” is far different from the “best available.”
Once you have a handle on these ?closes’ you’ll have a much better chance of turning a prospect into a paying client.
Courtesy: Fordyce Letter
I find this wonderful article (by Paul Hawkinson) and thought to share it with u all.
Thanks!!!
“When I need a heart by-pass, rest assured that I won’t select my surgeon on the basis of what he charges.”
That’s what an ailing executive recently opined when he was informed by his doctor about his arterial blockage problems.
Why then are corporate executives so tightfisted when dealing with what is so commonly thought of as the “heartbeat” of their companies . . . top-talent?
Companies think very little about paying the often excessive fees charged by their outside accounting and legal firms . . . or even to the gaggle of consultants who promise cost-cutting and streamlining miracles in other areas of operations.
Yet, when faced with brain drains, talent deficiencies or the need to replace one employee with a better one, their thoughts too often turn to parsimony. This K-mart mentality belies and contradicts their stated objectives to “hire the best,” especially at pecking order levels below the “big picture” executive suite inhabitants.
Of course recruiting fees can vary from firm to firm but, when they do, you will almost always find that those on the low side are sure to exclude some very key ingredients of the process, all of which are vital to providing the indispensable services necessary to satisfy the needs of the employer.
So why are recruiters worth what they charge? Just a few of the often unspoken reasons are:
Expertise - Nobody knows the employment marketplace better than a professional recruiter . . . nobody! In-house human resourcers, no matter how effective, view the marketplace through an imperfect or misrepresentative prism and tunnel vision is their occupational hazard.
Just as physicians are cautioned against treating members of their own families, so too is it folly for an in-house H/R professional to believe that they have an undistorted and unbiased picture of the employment landscape. They are vulnerable to the pressures of internal politics and cultural dimensions which do not hinder the outsider.
Street-smart recruiters already know the neighborhood, including the unlisted addresses so often overlooked by the insiders.
Cast a wider net - A professional fisherman will always have more to show than a weekend angler. Recruiters are in the marketplace day in and day out. They know the unfished coves, reefs and inlets that are unknown to others. The job-hunter bookshelves are filled with lore about the “hidden job market.” The same holds true for professional recruiters who have a detailed roadmap to the hidden talent sources which will never be accessed by newspaper ads, alumni associations, applicant databases, job boards or any of the other more familiar sources of people.
There are occasional pearls through these sources (and someone inevitably wins the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes too) but you have to shuck an awful lot of smelly oysters to find them. Recruiters only give you oysters proven to contain pearls. Your only job is to determine which pearl is the best.
Want to catch what you’re fishing for? Hire a guide!
Cost - There is a misconception among employers that the cost of a hire equals the cost of the ads or Internet postings run to attract the person hired. Nothing could be further from reality.
Try adding these to the true cost and you’ll see just how cost effective an outside recruiter can be:
Salaries and benefits of the employment/recruiting staffs plus those of the line managers involved in the hiring activity (who are not productive in their normal job pursuits when they’re out recruiting); travel, lodging and entertainment expenses of in-house recruiters; source development costs; overhead expenses including but not limited to telephone, office space, postage, PR literature, applicant database maintenance, reference checking, clerical costs to correspond with the hundreds of unqualified respondents, etc.
Unbiased third party input - Contrary to what some believe, recruiters don’t try to put square pegs into round holes. A recruiter’s stock-in-trade is their integrity and their reputation for finding someone better than a company could have found for themselves.
For a mid to senior-level executive, the average recruiter may develop a “long list” of a hundred or more possibilities. Each must be called and evaluated against the position specifications as well as the personality “fit” with the company and the people with whom they will ultimately work. Once this is winnowed down to the “short list,” an even more intensive interviewing process begins to narrow the search to a panel of finalists for review by the client.
This process is not, as some believe, simply romping through the file cabinets, harvesting from the Monster lookalikes or putting the job opening out to others on the recruiter’s network with crossed fingers that someone good will show up.
It is highly unlikely that a professional recruiter will be plowing new ground with your opening. They deal within spheres of influence far more familiar with your needs than any internal recruiter and, more often than not, view the finalists as people who are competent to solve client problems rather than just fill an open slot in the organizational chart.
Because they want to do business with you again and again, they are looking for (and challenging you to excellence by hiring) the “truly exceptional” rather than the “just satisfactory” so often settled for by in-house hirers.
Confidentiality - Advertising or otherwise publicly proclaiming an opening, aside from its cost and demonstrated ineffectiveness for sensitive senior level openings, often creates anxiety and apprehension among the advertiser’s current employees who wonder why they aren’t being considered or worry about newcomer transition problems. Just as often it alerts competitors to a current weakness or void within the company.
Speed - The recruiting process is always faster through a search professional who is continually tapped into the talent marketplace than one having to start the process from scratch. For every day that a key opening remains unfilled, a company’s other employees must grudgingly do double duty. And this doesn’t factor in the profit opportunities or competitive advantages lost to a company because a position remains unfilled or is done on a part-time basis by others less qualified.
Post-Hire Downtime - Not only is speed an essential part of the professional recruiter’s process, the ability to locate a person who can immediately “hit the ground running” with a minimum of “ramp-up time” saves time after the hire. All too often, a hire selected through less effective sources offering a smaller talent pool requires several months of expensive training and orientation.
Reality - Professional recruiters often recognize and have a duty to inform clients that they may be mistaken as to the type of person sought, the salary required to attract them or the possibilities that the solution might just lie in areas outside the traditional target industries . . . something an internal recruiter is politically disinclined to do. Too many hirers fail to understand that a professional recruiter’s primary function is not necessary to fill a slot but to provide the right candidate to solve a problem.
Negotiation - As Master negotiator Herb Cohen had says that, “negotiation is the analysis of information, time and power to affect behavior . . . the meeting of needs (yours and others’) to make things happen the way you want them to.” As a buffer and informed intermediary, the professional recruiter is better able to blend the needs and wants of both parties to arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement without the polarizing roadblocks which too frequently materialize in face-to-face dealings.
Prioritizing company resources - It is often amazing to see how much of a company’s revenues are squandered on non-productive perks for existing high-level employees while they penny-pinch on what is every company’s lifeblood . . . talent acquisition.
Club memberships and the like may be fine, but no one with an IQ higher than Forrest Gump’s believes that these expenditures substantially contribute to a company’s profit margin. But one well-placed employee can be the cause of a company’s profits skyrocketing. And the fee for having hired these people pales to insignificance when compared to the contributions they make to the bottom line.
The next time you think a recruiter’s fees are too high, put them in the proper perspective before asking for that Blue Light special or spinning your wheels thrashing about trying to fill vital openings with less effective (but not necessarily less expensive) pedestrian methods. Savvy executives learned long ago that the fee paid to a recruiter is a shrewd strategic investment, not an extraneous expense. They also know that the “best” is far different from the “best available.”
Once you have a handle on these ?closes’ you’ll have a much better chance of turning a prospect into a paying client.
Courtesy: Fordyce Letter
I find this wonderful article (by Paul Hawkinson) and thought to share it with u all.
Thanks!!!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Managing the Sourcing Function:
Improving the effectiveness of your sourcing organization
The following are some learnings around how to make your sourcing more effective, especially if varying levels of experience exist within the team.
Understanding the fit: You may be reading this and go "no kidding", but the reality is this step is commonly skipped over in the process. Understanding the fit has to do with a solid working knowledge of the industry, the business group supported and how the role fits into what that leader is trying to accomplish. Where this usually breaks down is in one of the following areas:
If the sourcer is working through the recruiter, there is an expectation that the recruiter will ask all of the right questions when meeting with the hiring manager.
If the sourcer/ recruiter meets with the hiring manager and there is a lack of preparation coming into the meeting. This includes the sourcer / recruiter not presenting industry knowledge and using the meeting time to validate assumptions around expectations.
If the Recruiter is the Sourcer, the focus is more on the skills, versus the business goals the hiring manager is trying to accomplish. As a result, the recruiter finds the right skilled person, but the applications of the skills are misaligned.
Solutions: The key is planning, planning and communication. Assume nothing and talk about everything. Wikipedia.org can be a super tool when seeking to understand an industry, a position, a skill set. Interestingly enough, wikipedia if leveraged appropriately provides some good data points that can be used during a hiring manager discussion.
Secondly, have all of your recruiters / sourcers go in prepared to a hiring manager discussion. Again you might say no kidding, but 9 times out of 10 it does not happen, unless it is an Executive Search. Prepared means one or more of the following: Understand the industry; Have a prior discussion with the HR Gen of that business unit to understand any nuances that may positively / negatively impact the search efforts; Look on Linkedin, Spoke and your own ATS system to bring some profiles to calibrate against. People are visual, if you give them something to look at and respond to, you are more likely to get closer to the desired outcome at the very beginning of the search effort.
Duplication of Effort: Recruiters workloads are not getting any lighter, so therefore it is easy for individuals to go to the path of least resistance. However this path, especially if multiple people or vendors are assisting can be costly and unproductive. At SourceCon, Rob McIntosh presented a sourcing channel checklist. He broke this checklist into roles and activities. I took this channel sheet back to my organization, as well as peers, and began to ask questions, here is what I found:
Recruiting and sourcing teams that do not work from a plan perform duplicate work efforts. This lack of planning typically results in overlap when searching resume databases, contacting the same resources or networking through the various social networking sites
Continue to manage from the plan. Use the plan as a management tool to understand how the recruiting team is using each of the sources.
Don't pay sourcing vendors to do the same work performed internally. Face it, recruiters like the job boards. If you are using a resume mining and screening vendor, so do they. Pick one..
Not all sources generate results, so stop using the source and move on. Time is not a commodity in the recruiting business. Leverage your ATS data to begin understanding how your organization fills a particular type of role best and build from there.
Solutions: I truly believe that duplication of effort is something that requires constant monitoring. Now with that being said, I would also recommend the following:
Create the channel plan.
Create a channel plan that supports the sourcing strategy. A high volume, low complexity, localized plan will look very different from a high complexity, low volume, national search. Know what it takes to execute both and build a quick project plan to maximize time and resources.
Keyword Sets: Create sets of keywords that can also be divided by channel.
Manage to the sourcing plan. Conduct a review with the team on their activities and the results generated. Immediately seize activities on sources that are not generating the desired results and get the team to move on.
Prioritization: Not all sources generate results. Not all of the easiest sources will generate the results for the position that is being searched for. The concept of What source will generate the best results first requires sourcing knowledge, industry experience and reviewing the metrics to better understand what works inside your organization Activity for activity sake, still does not result in a hire. This only causes ill will, especially if there is segmentation between the recruiters and the sourcing team.
Solutions:
High Volume / Low Complexity: These are processing related sourcing plans. This requires activities that may leverage recruitment marketing, resume mining, job posting, radio advertisement, creative employee referral campaigns and drip market efforts leveraging contacts within the ATS. This plan may require the assistance of a resume mining vendor, an experienced sourcer/ recruiter as well as some good recruiting administrators. Each have there own role in getting the desired outcome accomplished. Know what works to execute a plan.
Low Volume / High Complexity: These are more strategic sourcing plans. This will include market research, competitive intelligence, employee referrals, cold calling and industry networking. Depending upon the type of role will determine which of these activities goes first.
The reality is, prioritization of a sourcing strategy may require someone who can serve as the organization's sourcing strategist. This person must be able to turn around a project execution plan quickly and articulate clear directions to multiple stakeholders in the process. This person must be a data jockey, who can pull reports from the ATS and leverage data to identify those activities which have a higher possibility of generating results first and baking this into the plan.
The following are some learnings around how to make your sourcing more effective, especially if varying levels of experience exist within the team.
Understanding the fit: You may be reading this and go "no kidding", but the reality is this step is commonly skipped over in the process. Understanding the fit has to do with a solid working knowledge of the industry, the business group supported and how the role fits into what that leader is trying to accomplish. Where this usually breaks down is in one of the following areas:
If the sourcer is working through the recruiter, there is an expectation that the recruiter will ask all of the right questions when meeting with the hiring manager.
If the sourcer/ recruiter meets with the hiring manager and there is a lack of preparation coming into the meeting. This includes the sourcer / recruiter not presenting industry knowledge and using the meeting time to validate assumptions around expectations.
If the Recruiter is the Sourcer, the focus is more on the skills, versus the business goals the hiring manager is trying to accomplish. As a result, the recruiter finds the right skilled person, but the applications of the skills are misaligned.
Solutions: The key is planning, planning and communication. Assume nothing and talk about everything. Wikipedia.org can be a super tool when seeking to understand an industry, a position, a skill set. Interestingly enough, wikipedia if leveraged appropriately provides some good data points that can be used during a hiring manager discussion.
Secondly, have all of your recruiters / sourcers go in prepared to a hiring manager discussion. Again you might say no kidding, but 9 times out of 10 it does not happen, unless it is an Executive Search. Prepared means one or more of the following: Understand the industry; Have a prior discussion with the HR Gen of that business unit to understand any nuances that may positively / negatively impact the search efforts; Look on Linkedin, Spoke and your own ATS system to bring some profiles to calibrate against. People are visual, if you give them something to look at and respond to, you are more likely to get closer to the desired outcome at the very beginning of the search effort.
Duplication of Effort: Recruiters workloads are not getting any lighter, so therefore it is easy for individuals to go to the path of least resistance. However this path, especially if multiple people or vendors are assisting can be costly and unproductive. At SourceCon, Rob McIntosh presented a sourcing channel checklist. He broke this checklist into roles and activities. I took this channel sheet back to my organization, as well as peers, and began to ask questions, here is what I found:
Recruiting and sourcing teams that do not work from a plan perform duplicate work efforts. This lack of planning typically results in overlap when searching resume databases, contacting the same resources or networking through the various social networking sites
Continue to manage from the plan. Use the plan as a management tool to understand how the recruiting team is using each of the sources.
Don't pay sourcing vendors to do the same work performed internally. Face it, recruiters like the job boards. If you are using a resume mining and screening vendor, so do they. Pick one..
Not all sources generate results, so stop using the source and move on. Time is not a commodity in the recruiting business. Leverage your ATS data to begin understanding how your organization fills a particular type of role best and build from there.
Solutions: I truly believe that duplication of effort is something that requires constant monitoring. Now with that being said, I would also recommend the following:
Create the channel plan.
Create a channel plan that supports the sourcing strategy. A high volume, low complexity, localized plan will look very different from a high complexity, low volume, national search. Know what it takes to execute both and build a quick project plan to maximize time and resources.
Keyword Sets: Create sets of keywords that can also be divided by channel.
Manage to the sourcing plan. Conduct a review with the team on their activities and the results generated. Immediately seize activities on sources that are not generating the desired results and get the team to move on.
Prioritization: Not all sources generate results. Not all of the easiest sources will generate the results for the position that is being searched for. The concept of What source will generate the best results first requires sourcing knowledge, industry experience and reviewing the metrics to better understand what works inside your organization Activity for activity sake, still does not result in a hire. This only causes ill will, especially if there is segmentation between the recruiters and the sourcing team.
Solutions:
High Volume / Low Complexity: These are processing related sourcing plans. This requires activities that may leverage recruitment marketing, resume mining, job posting, radio advertisement, creative employee referral campaigns and drip market efforts leveraging contacts within the ATS. This plan may require the assistance of a resume mining vendor, an experienced sourcer/ recruiter as well as some good recruiting administrators. Each have there own role in getting the desired outcome accomplished. Know what works to execute a plan.
Low Volume / High Complexity: These are more strategic sourcing plans. This will include market research, competitive intelligence, employee referrals, cold calling and industry networking. Depending upon the type of role will determine which of these activities goes first.
The reality is, prioritization of a sourcing strategy may require someone who can serve as the organization's sourcing strategist. This person must be able to turn around a project execution plan quickly and articulate clear directions to multiple stakeholders in the process. This person must be a data jockey, who can pull reports from the ATS and leverage data to identify those activities which have a higher possibility of generating results first and baking this into the plan.
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