Is your Recruiting Team becoming lazy due to the economy?

Is your Recruiting Team becoming lazy due to the economy?

During the past several months I have had the opportunity to speak with many Entrepreneurs, Executives and Recruiters about their recruiting strategies in the down economy. I find that in many organizations the focus has moved away from Recruiting with the blame being placed on the economy. In several organizations I have spoken to the Recruiting Function is being looked at as an overhead rather than a strategic function of the business - again with the blame being placed on the economy. While we all know that layoffs and hiring freezes are a reality in today's economy in many cases I blame Recruiters and Recruiting Management for not ensuring that their organization understands the strategic value of the recruiting function in a down economy.

Acquiring "A Talent", even in a down economy, is a challenge. While 2009 has seen hundreds of thousands of professionals being downsized we all know that the best talent is probably still employed. While job boards may produce large numbers of candidates in an economy like we are experiencing today are these candidates really your best prospects? Is your organization seeing you bring value by developing "A Talent" or is the organization frustrated by seeing nothing but unemployed candidates from job boards?

The current economic climate presents many great opportunities for Recruiting to bring value to the organization. I am a huge proponent of a pipeline approach to recruiting. Today many "A Players" are nervous about the future of their organization and are open to having conversations with Recruiters. Even if you do not have open positions what a great opportunity you have to build relationships with "A Talent" and introduce your organization. In many cases you will have the opportunity to speak with candidates you might not normally have the opportunity to speak to due to uncertainty in their organization. Recruiting is about relationships and as Recruiters this economy gives us a great opportunity to go out and build relationships with "A Talent". If you want to bring value to your organization get off the job boards and get out there and build relationships with top talent for your organization's current and future open positions!

Another way to bring value to your organization is to take the opportunity while hiring is slow to build your organization's employment branding, social networking strategies, recruitment culture, candidate experience strategies and staffing strategies. Eighteen months ago I was hearing from organizations that they were too busy to concentrate on important activities like candidate pipelining and employment branding. The slowdown in hiring that many organizations are faced with presents the perfect opportunity to position the organization towards future recruitment success. As the economy turns around and we again find ourselves in a candidate driven job market will your organization be in a position to compete for "A Talent"?

A down economy is not the time to be lazy. Get out there and show your organization the strategic value of the recruitment function even when hiring is slow.

Does your organization have a proactive or a reactive staffing strategy?

Does your organization have a proactive or a reactive staffing strategy?

Recruiting is about building relationships. While that should not be a newsflash for anyone involved in the recruitment/staffing function most Recruiters are focused on transactional activities - reactively filling positions rather than proactively building relationships and taking a pipeline building approach to recruiting. The most effective recruiting functions take a proactive approach and are always actively recruiting for passive candidates with skill sets their organization most often hires.

By developing talent pipelines prior to need Recruiters become ambassadors of the organizations employment brand. Rather than approaching a candidate to present a specific employment opportunity Recruiters are focused on introducing the organization and building a relationship. When a position does become available the Recruiter now has a pipeline of passive candidates who have already been introduced to the organization and already have an interest in the organization. Because the Recruiter has built a pipeline he/she can quickly present a pool of qualified candidates.

Sounds simple right? Then why don’t more organizations focus on proactive candidate pipeline building?

Some managers responsible for recruitment and staffing are hesitant to move to a proactive pipeline based recruiting strategy because they do not understand how to manage results. Traditionally Recruiters have been evaluated based on the number of hires they produce. The successful Recruiting Manager will add pipeline matrixes to their overall evaluation process.

By proactively building a pipeline of candidates Recruiters can ensure that when staffing needs arise the best possible talent is being brought into the organization. By reactively responding to open reqs Recruiters are not always finding the best candidates and often must rely on the ranks of the unemployed who have posted their resumes on job boards. Additionally a proactive pipeline approach to recruiting significantly reduces the time invested per hire and cost per hire. Combined with effective employment branding and building a recruiting culture in your organization a proactive pipeline approach to recruiting can quickly make a dramatic increase in the effectiveness of an organization’s recruiting programs.

As I mentioned in a previous post most Recruiters and Recruitment Managers are not trained to think strategically. Recruiters are taught to fill an immediate need and most of their duties are operational and tactical. Future success depends on Recruiters and Recruitment Managers thinking strategic and long term. The goal of an organization’s recruitment function should be to move from a transaction driven function to a relationship driven ambassador of the organizations vision and brand.

As with many of the strategies I discuss today’s down job market is the perfect time to develop and kick off a pipeline based proactive recruiting strategy.

Is your organization ensuring a positive candidate experience?

Is your organization ensuring a positive candidate experience?

Anyone who knows me professionally knows that I believe one of the most important aspects of any recruitment program is a positive candidate experience. For over 15 years I’ve watched both agency and corporate Recruiters act dismissive and even disrespectful towards candidates who may not be a fit for the req sitting in front of them despite the fact that the candidate who they do not move forward with can be their best branding and networking resource. While recruiting can be a transaction based profession it is also a relationship driven profession. The long term success of any recruiting program is going to be based on the relationships built and the experience an organization provides candidates.

A positive candidate experience goes far beyond an effective recruiting and on-boarding process. Candidates need to be kept informed of their status, given timely and valid feedback and treated with respect at each step in the process. At Human Capital Consultants our process is designed to ensure that regardless if a candidate is hired or not that candidate is left with a positive impression of Human Capital Consultants and our client.

This starts at the beginning of the recruiting process. The number one complaint candidates will have about an organization’s recruiting process is not receiving a response to their resume submission. Candidates often complain that they feel like their resume went into a black hole and they do not know if it was even received. If a Recruiter is going to take a couple of moments to review a resume why not take a couple more moments to e-mail the candidate, thank them for their interest and if they are not a fit give them a brief explanation why? While the candidate may be disappointed that they are not being considered for the position this will differentiate the Recruiter and the organization from the many others who did not respond at all.
Many Recruiters forget that even in an employer driven economy the “sell” is two way. While the candidate is selling his or her experiences and successes to the Recruiter the Recruiter should be selling the company, opportunity and growth potential to the candidate. In fact, at Human Capital Consultants our process is to sell the opportunity before we talk to the candidate about their background. We feel strongly that even if the candidate is not a fit for the role that candidate should leave the conversation excited about the client company and want to tell others about the opportunity. This is basic viral based branding!

Case in point is our client GotVMail (http://www.gotvmail.com/) in Needham Massachusetts. GotVMail is an entrepreneurial rapidly growing near start-up that offers a unique corporate culture, opportunities to work with cutting edge technologies and do interesting work, great opportunities for personal and professional growth and a benefits package that rivals much larger companies. The members of our Recruiting Team who have supported GotVMail over the years truly believe GotVMail is a great company to work for and that enthusiasm is evident when our Recruiters talk to candidates. When screening a candidate for GotVMail our initial goal is to sell GotVMail . We spend a considerable amount of time on the front end of the conversation talking about GotVMail and the position. Our goal is to get potential candidates excited about GotVMail even before we determine if a candidate is a fit for the role we are recruiting. This approach has resulted in creating a buzz about employment at GotVMail, has produced a consistent flow of referrals and a positive brand.

Another valid complaint from candidates is lack of communication and response from Recruiters. Once a candidate has spoken to a Recruiter they will often find that they have no idea what their status is and cannot reach the Recruiter to find out. Often times if a candidate is not a fit for the role the Recruiter is working to fill – either determined by the Recruiter or the Hiring Manager – the Recruiter becomes dismissive to the candidate and will not communicate that information. Recruiters need to be communicative and responsive to candidates. If at some point in the process a candidate is determined to not be a fit that candidate must receive timely feedback if you are going to ensure a positive experience. Not only can that feedback help a candidate better prepare for their next potential opportunity but the Recruiter will differentiate him/herself from the Recruiter who is not providing feedback and help ensure a positive candidate experience.

We all know that a candidate who has a negative experience will tell as many people as they can but did you ever consider that a candidate who has a positive experience – even if they didn’t get the job – will tell just as many people? Did you ever consider that your greatest referral source can be candidates who did not get hired?

I suggest that organizations (both corporate recruiting departments and agencies) implement a program to measure and improve candidate experience ratings. By knowing what candidates are thinking as they leave your recruiting process organization can work to improve the candidate experience. I guarantee the results will be worth the effort!

I do not intend to address the entire candidate experience in this post and of course there are many other aspects to creating a positive candidate experience. Examples include how the candidate treated in the interview process. How hiring managers handle interviewing. How interviewers present the company and opportunity. Organizations should look at every step in the recruiting process and determine how they can improve the candidate experience.

Remembering that we will again move back to a candidate driven job market today is the perfect time for organizations to evaluate and make improvements to the candidate experience.

Recruitment Video is an important part of an Employment Branding Strategy

Recruitment Video is an important part of an Employment Branding Strategy

Video is the #1 form of Internet communication and can be one of the most effective medium an organization uses to build its employment brand. Recruitment videos posted on an organization’s career site, distributed via podcasts and posted on YouTube and social networking sites can create excitement for the organization by allowing potential candidates to experience an organization’s corporate culture, values, see multiple employees’ passion for the organization and see what it’s like to live and work in the organization. Google’s recruitment video “An inside look at Google” as been viewed over a half million times on the Internet. Other organizations such as Yahoo, Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, JP Morgan, TiVo, the U.S. Army and Home Depot have found great success using recruitment video. I recently read that studies have shown an effective recruitment video can increase passive candidate flow by up to 30%.

An organization’s recruitment video is not a commercial and should not be scripted. The goal of the video is to give an inside look at the company and employees doing real work. A recruitment video should show real employees telling real stories about the organization. The video should also include a message from the CEO or an executive in the area of the organization the video is targeted. The more real the video is the more effective it will be. An effective recruitment video should be 2 to 4 minutes in length. Remember you want a potential candidate to take action so make the video compelling and fun. When you create your recruitment video give potential candidates an avenue to respond by including a link to the organization’s career site and if possible an e-mail address for candidates to forward their resume.

Recruitment video is a great way to increase employee referrals. Encourage employees to include a link to recruitment videos in their e-mail auto-signatures and individual FaceBook, LinkedIn, Ning, MySpace and other social networking site pages. We’ve discussed using viral marketing techniques to build employment branding. Ensure that those writing about the organization include a link to the organization’s recruitment video.

Remember that your recruitment video is only as good as the employment site it directs potential candidates to. Potential candidates will visit an organization’s employment site to confirm if what they hear about the organization is true, read detailed information about the organization, and submit their resume. The career site should clearly identify the organization’s culture, values, vision, current job openings and benefit programs. The site should reflect an organization’s brand and strengthen a candidate’s desire to consider employment opportunities with the organization. Included on the site should be testimonials from employees that reinforce what potential candidates viewed in the video.

Is your Recruiting Team ready for tomorrow?

Is your Recruiting Team ready for tomorrow?

Many Recruiters and Recruitment Managers do not see that the recruiting profession is changing. The skills that made Recruiters successful in the past will not bring organizations to the front of the war for talent in the future and the Recruiters of tomorrow will not find success using the same techniques that make them successful today. The Recruiter of tomorrow will embrace online social networking and viral marketing techniques. The ability to build social networks, build online relationships, build and manage internal referral programs, and build an organizations employment brand are skills that will make Recruiters successful in the future. It is projected that up to 50% of candidate referrals will come through online communities in the future. Is your organization’s Recruiting Team ready?

Most Recruiters and Recruitment Managers are not trained to think strategically. Recruiters are taught to fill an immediate need and most of their duties are operational and tactical. Future success depends on Recruiters and Recruitment Managers thinking strategic and long term. The goal of an organization’s recruitment function should be to move from a transaction driven function to a relationship driven ambassador of the organizations vision and brand.

Executives with responsibility for Recruiting should ask themselves:

• How is the organization measuring the success of the recruitment function?
• What is the organizations employment brand? Is the organization’s employment brand visible to the potential candidate pool?
• Is the organization’s employee referral program producing the intended results? What is being done to increase referrals?
• Is the organization encouraging non-recruiting employees to get involved in the recruiting process by leveraging social media/viral marketing techniques, individual networks, and other means to refer candidates?
• Is the organization tracking candidate experience ratings? What is being done to increase these ratings?
• Is the organization’s recruitment team going beyond just having memberships on social networking sites such as LinkedIn and truly working those networks for candidate referrals?

This is only a start. We will again move to a candidate driven market and organizations must be proactive today and embrace Web 2.0 methodologies to win the war for talent.

Is employment branding a part of your organization's recruitment strategy?

Is employment branding a part of your organization’s recruitment strategy?

One of the most important aspects of your organization’s overall recruitment strategy is developing and managing your employment brand. Candidates rate an organization’s employment brand the 2nd most influential factor when considering employment opportunities. Google is the world’s most recognized employment brand. Google’s employment brand was built in a short period of time and exclusively through viral marketing. Google’s employment brand has been written about in every major business publication and as a result of its branding Goggle receives over 3,000 resumes per day. Other organizations such as Southwest Airlines, IBM, GE, Disney and HP have implemented similar employment branding techniques and are finding similar results.

While smaller organizations should not set out to compete with Goggle’s employment brand they can strive to become the number one brand in their vertical. A viral based approach to employment branding will result in the ability of the organization to attract top candidates. If you have to pay to get your message out it will not be credible. A successful employment branding strategy must be viral and must excite potential candidates to take action.

Successful employment branding emphasizes stories about an organization, an organization’s recruitment process and what it’s like to work in an organization which can easily be spread by employees and candidates. Employment branding has been called the #1 strategic way to increase application traffic yet on average companies spend less than 5% of their recruitment budget on employment branding.

The goal of any organization’s employment branding should be to build the organization’s reputation as a top place to work in order to attract top talent. Your employment brand should be credible, believable, and concentrate on the spreading of positive stories about the organization, being talked about in the media, and winning awards. Some of the components of your employment branding initiative should include:

· A well developed and implemented employee referral program.
· Development an execution of a “Recruitment Culture” (see previous post).
· Utilization of social networking (LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo, Twitter, Ning, etc.).
· Viral Marketing.
· Recruitment Video.
· Career site SEO
· Award programs.
· Articles in targeted business publications.
· Presentations at conferences

An organization’s employment branding should lead potential candidates to a strong career site. Candidates will visit the career site to confirm if what they’ve heard about the organization is true and read detailed information about the organization. The career site should clearly identify the organization’s culture, values, vision, current job openings and benefit programs. The site should reflect an organization’s brand and strengthen a candidate’s desire to consider employment with the organization. Included on the site should be testimonials from employees and video showing employees doing engaging work. Video should definitely be a part of employment branding as it can excite candidates and allow them to see feel and hear the passion and excitement of an organization’s employees. Google’s recruitment video “An inside look at Goggle” has been viewed over 500,000 times on the Internet.

Positive employment branding will result in a significant increase in the volume of unsolicited resumes, higher quality candidates, higher offer acceptance rates, an increased number of employee referrals, improved employee retention rates and an overall increase in the success rates of an organization’s recruitment programs. Remember that your employment branding is only as good as your candidate experience ratings.

Building a "Recruitment Culture" in your organization

Building a “Recruitment Culture” in your organization

An important step in any recruiting strategy is to go beyond the typical employee referral program and build an internal Recruitment Culture. A Recruitment Culture is a mindset where every employee in an organization is responsible for helping to uncover talent every day. Referral bonuses or rewards are a primary tool but the mindset must be that it is in an employee’s best interest to work with the best talent available – and understand the role they can play in securing that talent. A Recruitment Culture dramatically increases the amount of people and hours involved in recruiting without hiring additional recruiting staff.

To be successful employees in an organization need to understand that because of their professional and social networks they can play a significant role identifying talent brought into the organization. Because these employees are not Recruiters and are doing the actual work in the area being recruited there is automatically more credibility than if the candidate were speaking with a Recruiter or HR Representative. Because the employee is doing the job the prospective candidate will be doing the employee can explain the work much more accurately and give an expectation of what it is like to work for the organization.

Employees should be encouraged to network within online resources such as LinedIn and Facebook as well as with former co-workers and college alum. Viral marketing techniques should be incorporated – encourage employees to write about the organization on professional blogs and forums. Employees should be encouraged to post positive stories about the organization, news releases and stories about what it’s like to work in the organization. Additionally employees e-mail auto-signatures should include a blurb about the organization and a link to the organization’s employment web page.

Employees who make referrals should be involved in the interview process and rewarded for their efforts. An employee making a referral will be excited about the referral’s candidacy and should be given the opportunity to interview the candidate. The employee will feel engaged, empowered and have positive things to say about the organization and position.

Rewards should be given both at the time of the referral and the time the referred candidate is hired. When an employee makes a referral give them a small cash reward, gift card or some other reward for their efforts. A cash bonus should be given when/if the referral is hired.

A Recruitment Culture will lead to a positive employment brand built by an organization’s employees and will attract passive candidates who have not previously looked at the organization or are not even currently looking for work. The key is to implement a Recruitment Culture as part of an organization’s overall recruitment strategy and train employees on what it means, their responsibilities to the success of the program and organization and their rewards.

Careerbuilder.com study finds 1 in 5 workers plans to change jobs in 2009

Careerbuilder.com study finds 1 in 5 workers plans to change jobs in 2009 despite job market conditions

Despite the current job market and predictions of more layoffs in the first 6 months of 2009 a Careerbuilder.com study finds that 19% of workers plan to leave their current job before the end of the year. Six in ten workers say that the economy and tightening job marketing are not making them reconsider their plans to change jobs in 2009. In the study “2009 Job Forecast” Careerbuilder.com surveyed more than 8800 U.S. workers.

In the survey participants gave a variety of reasons for wanting to leave their current jobs:

· 49% stated that better pay and/or career advancement opportunities are the primary reasons they plan to leave their current jobs.
· 14% stated that they are looking for an environment where they feel more appreciated.
· 10% stated that they want to work for a company that is making a difference.
· 7% stated that they plan to change careers entirely.
· 3% stated that they are leaving their jobs to go back to school.

In the study Careerbuilder.com evaluated key factors that influenced job satisfaction and company loyalty and found the following:

Compensation

· 25% of workers are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their compensation.
· 35% of workers did not receive a compensation increase in 2008.
· Of those workers who did receive a compensation increase in 2008 25% were given an increase of 2% or less.
· 63% of workers did not receive a bonus in 2008.

Career Advancement

· 26% of workers are not satisfied with the career advancement opportunities at their current job.
· 80% of workers did not ask for or receive a promotion in 2008.
· 20% of workers felt they were overlooked by their employer.

Work/Life Balance

· 18% of workers are dissatisfied with the work/life balance in their current job.
· 54% of workers feel their workloads have increased in the past 6 months.

Training/Learning

· 23% of workers are not satisfied with the training/learning opportunities at their current job.
When searching for a new job the Careerbuilder.com study found that:
· 32% of workers say a company’s stability and longevity in the market are the most important attributes they look for in a new employer.
· 20% of workers say that good career advancement opportunities is the most important attribute they look for in a new employer.
· 14% say a good work culture is the most important attribute they look for in a new employer.
· 12% say the ability to offer flexible schedules is the most important attribute they look for in a new employer.

As Recruiters working in a down economy this is important information to evaluate and provides greater opportunities to recruit passive candidates. When we understand the motivation of the candidate pool to consider new opportunities we can help fulfill those candidates’ desires and make better matches for our clients.

In today’s business environment it is no longer sufficient to simply identify technically qualified talent. To grow organizations must formulate effective strategies for attracting, developing and retaining key talent. By understanding candidate’s motivation to seek new opportunities companies have the opportunity to create programs to retain their top employees.

Building your perfect employee: How to do it and why it works

Building your perfect employee: how to do it and why it works

You might be scratching your head wondering, “Has Mike lost it?” in response to the title of this post. The answer is a firm “no.” That’s because I’m not discussing robotics or something that might be created at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, but instead, a really simple practice anyone in charge of staffing can implement within their organization.Whether you’re a manager of a team of individuals or a recruiter responsible for staffing an entire company, you can build your own version of what I like to call the “perfect employee profile” by observing the traits of some of your top performers and looking for those characteristics in new prospects. Once you get the system in place, building the profile and using it will only become easier.

The desirable traits you select need not be limited to technical ability, and certainly should not be limited to typical models of so-called successful employees. The idea is that by building your own profile, you will discover and honor those specific traits that your top performers possess, and make use of in your unique work environment.

Traits used for your perfect employee profile should also include the degree to which a person is a good “cultural fit” with your team, or the company for which you’re staffing. Think about intangible things like enthusiasm for his or her work, commitment to deadlines and whether or not he or she is good at maintaining relationships with current or prospective clients. Naturally, depending on your business, these traits will change. For example, if you’re working with a small tech start-up, and programmers work in a lively and off-beat environment, the “perfect employee” won’t be someone who likes structure and climbing the corporate ladder.

Building your perfect employee isn’t a general observation of who does well at your company. You can’t simply say, “Jane’s a good programmer because she’s efficient.” Saying someone is “efficient” is only half the battle. You also have to find out what motivates them, what makes them succeed in that particular environment. Sure, it’s more work for managers and recruiters to cultivate this information, but in the end, you’ll find better candidates who last longer in positions because you’ve done your homework.

Top 5 Recruiting Mistakes You're Making Right Now

Mistake #1: Looking for candidates when you don’t have an established on-boarding process.

It seems obvious: don’t start looking for candidates for a position if you’re still working out how the whole process will work for you and your organization. But you wouldn’t believe how many smart business people make this mistake. Plain and simple, before you even consider hiring, have a firm process in place, and make sure everyone on your team knows what it is and how it works.

Mistake #2: Interviewing candidates without a sense of urgency.

Even during an economic downturn, time is money. Most of the time, doing anything without regard for being timely is a huge mistake, but this is especially true when it comes to recruiting. Life is fast, and people want (and need) to make important decisions without waiting an eternity to hear from a company that’s interested in them. So, if you see a candidate that fits your company’s needs perfectly, be prepared to schedule an interview immediately. If after the interview it is apparent that the candidate is a fit for your organization and the position be prepared to make an offer. In some verticals, it’s still a candidate’s market—and your prospective employee simply won’t wait around for you.

Mistake #3: Your job descriptions aren’t defined or are outdated.

If you don’t update your job descriptions before you post an available position, you’ve hindered your hiring process. Why make it more difficult for a person to figure out if they’re the right fit for a job? You also want to make sure your job descriptions are clear and accurate to avoid having to make a change to the description last minute, which could cost you your candidate entirely. Bottom line: companies should have clearly defined job descriptions that describe the company, benefits, responsibilities of the role, experience requirements, and growth opportunities right from the start.

Mistake #4: You’re hiring out of desperation.

When someone vacates a key position in your company, hiring right away might seem like the right idea. However, hiring out of desperation is a recipe for disaster, and will most likely cost you more in productivity and team morale than if you simply waited and conducted a thorough and proper search.

Mistake #5: Forgetting to sell the candidate on your company.

I’ll let you in on a secret: candidates aren’t the only ones “selling themselves” in a job interview—you’re also selling your company, and the position. Naturally, embellishing the position in question is not helpful, but sharing the strengths and positive attributes of your organization during the interview process is essential. Remember, you want to get people excited about the job. If after your best pitch the candidate doesn’t seem to share the enthusiasm, then you might consider moving on to the next candidate.

New year, new blog!

Welcome to the Human Capital Consultants blog! Nowadays, it seems like its pretty cool to have a blog. But that’s not why I started HCC’s. Instead of just pontificating on random topics, I want to be able to share with people like you what I’ve learned during my almost 15 year career in human resources and recruiting.

First, a little bit about HCC: we’re a strategic professional services consulting organization serving industry leading clients across the United States. Since you can read our mission statement right on our website, I won’t bore you with that and instead, will tell you that my team is focused not on “filling” positions, but on finding the right people. Since each of member of the HCC team brings their own unique set of skills to the table, our strength resides in the simple fact that our skills combined are a powerful tool for any company, large or small.

The HCC blog will encompass a variety of topics. This is a place for me to share information about recruiting practices and trends in human resources. It’s also a repository of information—for business executives, entrepreneurs and HR leaders, those in the recruiting industry, and those interested in being recruited. In this way, I hope to attract a broad audience of business executives, recruiting professionals and job seekers.

With the launch of Human Capital Consultants’ new blog, I really hope to connect with everyone out there who has something to say about any of the topics posted. So comment, get conversations going, and most importantly, network (that is what we do, isn’t it?)! I look forward to hearing from you, and sharing my own experiences as an entrepreneur and recruiting industry professional.

Best,

Mike Astringer