Recruiting has clearly evolved over the last several years. Back in the day, I could have asked any recruiter what their goal was and they likely would have replied with a number of hires per month. Back then it was all about the numbers. The role of the recruiter was to wait with their catcher’s mitt in hand for the next requisition to pop open so they could push it through the process and get a hire. The objective: get as many hires as you can in a month with the illusive “quality of hire” a mystery to most. Fast forward to the economic crisis where companies began tightening their belts and new philosophies like “fewer bigger bets” suddenly emerged. Recruiting will have to change with the times or become irrelevant.
- Align your team with the right vision. Your team will approach things very differently if their focus is three hires per month versus candidate at the center. Balance the foot forward with the requirements of the job. Make sure that you are able to flex with the business demand and the candidate supply, while ensuring that the vision is clearly defined and communicated to your team. If the company you work for has an aspiration to be the best customer service provider, your recruiting organization should reflect that.
- Know the future needs. Get ahead of the game; make sure that you are clear about what is happening in your business now and as far into the future as possible. Understand the competition and what they are doing. Know the talent landscape and the type of profile that you need for the future, not just for today. Partner with your finance team to develop a forecasting process for future needs.
- “Interlock” with your client, HR and Finance partners. When recruiting is disconnected from finance or other HR functions, the ability to achieve business results is greatly inhibited. Where there is a common taxonomy and activities tied to an overall rhythm of the business, every aspect of recruiting improves dramatically. Move in synch with your HR and finance partners speaking a common language to your clients.
- Enable shared accountability. Implement a common goal across the business, finance and HR, including metrics and rewards tied back to quality hires and their impact on business results. Make sure you have a good mix of facts and data measures that matter to the business and to HR. Know what levers to pull to impact your business bottom line.
While the trusty catcher’s mitts are within reach, we don’t have to grab them as frequently with these key principles in place.
Kelly McGill is an HR Director at Microsoft. Kelly possesses over 15 years of diversified business experience with major emphasis in Organizational Change Management, Leadership Development, Process Improvement, ERP and HR Technology Implementation, Marketing and Talent Assessment and Selection. Over the last 3 years, Kelly has been the Director of Global Staffing for the Microsoft Business Division, which includes Microsoft Office, Microsoft Exchange, Dynamics CRM and Unified Communications. She is also a writer and holds the Human Capital Strategist (HCS) designation.
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Kelly,
You are right on target with your advice. We have been watching the changes in workforce planning and recruiting, and it's most definitely a different game. In particular, your comments about collaboration between recruiting and other areas of the business, especially HR, are more relevant than ever. Today there are significant opportunities for HR to lead, but only if they are more involved. Here are some of my additional thoughts on the topic: http://blog.yoh.com/2010/01/how-hr-can-become-leaders-in-workforce.html
-Matt