COOPERATE WITH YOUR RECRUITER
A few weeks ago my wife and I watched the movie “Pursued” starring Christian Slater. It’s the story of a corporate recruiter who goes above and beyond the call of duty to land the right prospect for his client. While I truly doubt corporate recruiters would go to such drastic lengths as stalking, murder and espionage, the movie did prompt me to think about the role corporate recruiters will play in attracting talent in the years to come.
I would be the first to admit that I have often wondered whether we really do need recruiters anymore, or whether they are a dying breed. After all, with the advent of job boards, online recruiting and many of the internet support tools, do we really need them or are they just middleware whose time has passed?
I have also started to think about the type of employee I would want to attract. Quite frankly, I find myself focused on the higher hanging fruit (i.e. employees who are solidly entrenched in their current business). I wouldn’t necessarily want to talk to candidates who already have one foot out the door. This is where I believe corporate recruiters can really add value. The good firms will find me candidates who didn’t even know they were looking for a new opportunity. I want candidates who are full of passion and excitement — not ones who checked out of their business six months ago. My concern is that job boards and online recruiting tools attract the low hanging fruit and great companies want better than that. Ultimately you need to determine whether you want to merely fill a position or take the longer-term approach of adding new components of human capital.
Now, in fairness, I’ve heard my fair share of negative comments about the profession. “Corporate recruiters are the scum of the earth” is a comment I have heard more than once. It’s interesting, however, that as I pursue what people mean by this, it all boils down to the fact that recruiters get a bad reputation for doing exactly what we have hired them to do: find us great people. If this is true, then why aren’t salespeople considered bad people? After all, their role is to take business away from other companies. Why aren’t people in advertising agencies bad people? They, too, help to promote competition that might take our business away. I personally believe it’s seldom the action that gets us in trouble, but more often the intent. In essence, I don’t believe recruiters in general are bad, but I do believe there are bad recruiters out there. Your mission is to align with the ones that make the most sense to you.
One of the questions I have asked recruiting firms is, “What drives your business: corporate brand or the skills of the individual recruiter?” Their answer is universal: clients buy the skill, integrity and values of the recruiter over any associated brand of the company they represent. Successful recruiting is very much an individual relationship that takes time to nurture and develop. As the skills shortage looms, I think companies are going to be better served if they are diligent on building a few strong partnerships with recruiting firms, taking the time to build relationships that allow the recruiter to truly understand the “soft” value corporations bring, such as work experience and culture, and the soft skills they are ultimately looking for.
I recently heard of one Canadian company that employed more than 120 recruiting firms in the last year, and I was left to wonder how any one of these recruiting firms could truly do its best work under these conditions. It’s a common misconception that recruiters should only need to know the job description and salary levels in order to do the search. Well, as a former president and senior level executive, I don’t buy it. I have always hired based on the inherent skills that just can’t be taught. As simple as it may sound, I believe you can teach great employees the skills of the position, but I don’t believe you can teach them creativity, intuition and passion, the skills I value the most. A good recruiter can take me inside an organization and find me the people I want to reach most.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to watch many recruiters in action. One thing that has always impressed me is their tremendous ability to make connections. Just this week, I attended two different, unrelated events and met six different recruiters who were out seeking new talent. It’s a job that never ends. Recruiters also meet with eight to 12 candidates a day, and each one of these encounters can give them an opportunity to uncover another 16 to 24 candidates just by asking the right questions during the interview.
This month, why not take a look at your strategy for recruiters. Ask yourself, are you helping or hindering the process? I often hear stories where a recruiter has great candidates lined up and the company can’t find time to interview them, or the company never spent enough time coaching the recruiter on what the company was truly looking for. Successful recruiting is a partnership that requires both parties to play their part. Do yourself a favour and take a look at your current list of recruiters. Pick the top three, then give as much to those relationships as you would want and expect from them.
Curt Skene is a professional business speaker and creative thinking consultant who specializes in helping companies look at their business, their relationship with their customers and their future opportunities and challenges in a powerful and positive light. Curt offers a unique message based on over 20 years of award-winning business experience (Microsoft, ExecuTrain and BrainBuzz) and combines his experience with the many insights he has gained as a certified hypnosis/NLP practitioner.
