As we continue deeper in to a hiring slow down, hiring freeze or worse it provides all of us opportunities to review our processes, procedures and expenditures. Recruiters of all types, corporate or placement industry have an unexpected and largely unwelcome chance to retrench and develop more effective methodology for the coming recovery. Following are some suggestions that we had identified internally or through dialogue with Talent Acquisition personnel nationally.
Effectiveness & Effectiveness
Search Plans
On the agency side we have a format that we utilize with every open position to develop a search plan. It includes actions, target dates, responsible parties and desired results. They are outstanding when there is a firm commitment on the part of all the stakeholders, especially the hiring managers to follow the plan. Now would be a good time to introduce something along these lines in your organization; it will be easier now as opposed to when the war starts up again.
Make sure that this includes targeting passive and active candidates. Posting a job on a job board and watching resumes pour in is not recruiting! As the market picks up you must know how and where to find top tier candidates.
Candidate Communications
Behave like a quality headhunter. Keep your candidates warm and informed, no news is not good news for someone in a search, especially those in transition. Your company's brand in the marketplace will be affected if you are not communicating consistently and effectively.
Interview Plans
Develop structured interview question which focus not only on the specific job requirements but the culture or fit of an individual into an organization. Use them consistently and make sure that hiring managers are as well. Data has its most value when a base line or a norm can be established. As you develop cultural fit questions use them for every position and share the results. An excellent way to begin this process is to ask your existing staff what characteristics successful employees' posses that is unique to your organization. This is a form of concurrent validation one of the two most powerful forms of validation for any selection instrument.
Candidate Evaluation
What are the final criteria to be used in evaluating candidates? Do you utilize assessment tools? Do all the stakeholders participate in evaluating the candidates, if not then why are they part of the interview process? Think about a quick conference call with all the stakeholders to ensure that there is alignment.
American Express has projected the following related to business travel: "The average cost per domestic trip in North America will increase by 1.2% to $1,002 in 2009, the company estimates. Last year, American Express estimated a 3.9% increase for 2008. The average cost per international trip for North American business travelers will increase by 3.5% to $3,452. Last year, American Express estimated a 7.8% increase for 2008."
Even with these continuing increases in travel costs there remain a number of opportunities for organizations to save significantly on their candidate travel budgets. A few suggestions follow:
Teleconferencing
Many people are most comfortable with a face to face interview and there are a number of services and companies that facilitate the process effectively.
Video Interviewing
This is a relatively new technology and some vendors are really perfecting the technology. The vendors who have their act together can provide you with a very efficient product from both a time and cost basis. We have developed a strategic partnership with one specific vendor who has an outstanding product. Review your options, if you would like some suggestions we would be more than happy to share our experience in this area with you. Call us at (770) 857-0002 x 224 or email jim@hrdracc.com
Sourcing is often pointed to as a major problem, I take exception with this from both the internal recruiter and agency perspective. The internal process is often a significant hindrance in staffing as it is often too slow. These options not only save on money, but also on time. The fastest way to lose a candidate is through a slow process. Review your process once a candidate is identified, speak with peers and try to identify best practices for streamlining the process.
Review Your Tool Kit
You have the time to look at the following areas to make sure your process is working as well as it can. It is a lot easier when the requisition volume is low.
o Web Site Quality, message and ease of navigation
o Advertising
o Leveraging other Technologies
o Social networking, where is the right place for you
o Government resources, both state and local
Cut Costs
Advertising
Review the effectiveness of your current relationships, renegotiate with those who are working well for you and as importantly take advantage of free sites like www.Craigslist.org. Many communities have local resources or networks for recruiting, find out what they are and use them.
Referral Programs
Do you have a program in place, is it utilized, and how effective is the program? Today is an excellent time to begin to review this process. It is one of the most effective and efficient means of finding quality employees. Reward, recognize and incent those who participate. Once again this is an excellent place to look at best practices, there are some superior programs out there.
Agencies/Vendors
Develop your strategic partnerships, demand more effort and quality from your vendors. Every search firm you work with must be screening and culling your candidates. Don't work with the "Publisher's Clearinghouse" search firms that are looking for the easy placement. Save your self time and money, require detailed candidate reports and evaluations for every candidate presented. In the long run a quality responsive agency will save you money in the form of time and effectiveness. From our perspective the organizations that will provide us exclusivity for some period of time receive the most attention from the recruiting staff.
It is coming; the only question is when. Don't be caught unprepared.
"The mission statements for any sourcing program should be to find the strongest people possible in the shortest period of time at the lowest reasonable cost"
- Lou Adler
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In HR, we manage one of the largest expenses in the organization - the salary and benefits of our workforce. 