HR practitioners will have to start going out and actively searching for employees who fit the bill
The good old days for recruiting are coming to an end. HR still relishes putting the unfriendly disclaimer in employment ads that “only those selected for an interview will be contacted.” Many employers are still enjoying the luxury of walk-ins and endless numbers of resumes.
For many HR professionals, attention has strayed away from the importance of effective recruiting and selection. It was easy to find the nugget in the sand when there were lots of nuggets and lots of sand. But with the economy working at a new pace and the prime working-age population of the 1980s and 1990s reaching the dreaded retirement bulge, there will likely less sand and even fewer nuggets.
HR practitioners will have to start going out and actively searching for employees who fit the bill. Employers need to get ready for the big race. A frugal, purposeful, achievement-oriented recruiting and selection process will be crucial to the success of organizations.
Recruiting is not just a competition for numbers. It is, first and foremost, a competition for quality, for people with commitment, discernment and character.
Labour is already the primary asset in growth in many key industries. The selection process presents the first impression to the prospective employee. Good impressions establish long-term relationships. Poor impressions become barriers to effective recruiting and appropriate selection. Only losers will run the gauntlet of a poor selection process.
Making a poor impression on a candidate can cost HR more than just that hire. Employees, applicants, students — anyone looking for work — talk to each other. They tell each other whose recruiting and selection process is more than a minor adjunct to corporate bureaucracy. They develop an instinctive definition of what a good employer does to attract and select the most suitable employees. They tell stories which grow in the telling and view the recruiting process as a bellwether for the rest of the organization.
Recruiting and selection has a strong kinship to mutual seduction. The employer wants to seduce the best potential employees and the candidates in turn will present the most seductive side of themselves.
Until recently, the employee was the suitor, sometimes desperate, sometimes lucky enough to be in a position to be choosy. But the roles are starting to reverse. There are now thousands of unfilled jobs in construction, transportation, health care, social services, retail, justice administration and education. That means employers are starting to become the suitors, albeit reluctant ones, but always in need.
What can employers do to present an honest picture and succeed in the seduction?
•Honesty and openness: In all job ads, posters and Web sites, clearly let the potential applicant know who the employer is, what it does, what the job is and what the future is all about. Only an open and honest invitation will attract worthy partners. Everything else will have the high-risk levels of a blind date. People will show up, tax the system, play the game, but ultimately the relationship will be soured by compromise, subterfuge and misunderstandings. In a tight labour market, only good matches should engage in the process. Anything else is a waste of time, resources and goodwill.
•Completeness: The applicant should be assessed on all relevant levels, not just on technical, operational or administrative expertise. Personal suitability, appropriate social and ethical values and organizational fit should be evaluated. Employers lack the power and the persuasion to coerce technically competent organizational misfits into the organization — it’s much better if the match is a sure thing from the start. Selection tools have to be valid and reliable, the selection criteria has to be complete, standards adhered to and choices have to be voluntary and based on complete information. Seducing desirable applicants into the organization while withholding crucial information will simply lead to long-term dissatisfaction and early separation.
•Currency: The constant updating of information has to be built into the system. But if the employer starts updating false, incomplete or misleading information, tomorrow will be no better. Every job needs to be analyzed, relevant competencies have to be established and performance standards and rewards have to be current. Once currency has been established, recruitment materials can be designed. But it may be necessary to start from scratch — the traditional habit of incomplete and misleading job information has to be broken.
•Appropriateness: Recruitment has to be focused and use the right tools. It may be difficult and time consuming to have selection tools, tests, structured interviews and reference checks specific to a particular class of jobs, but isn’t that the purpose? Otherwise a lottery would be just as effective in selecting a candidate. The entire recruitment process should send a clear message about the job, company, culture and performance expectations. It should help the applicant make honest and realistic decisions which lead to a viable match.
•Speed and timeliness: Recruiting and selection is still a very slow process. This will come to an end as competition forces employers to act faster than competitors. Technology has put job information, media contacts, recruiting methodologies, selection tools and communications in the hands of the manager. The manager must become the driving force behind every recruiting action, with the recruiting establishment acting as guides and professional advisors.
•Continuity and consistency: There should be a continuing logic to the process. The whole enterprise has to be planned and established with consistency in mind so the applicant going through the process is impressed by a sense of competence and professionalism. Things happen when and as promised and the appropriate technical, recruiting, professional and organizational advice is present at the table.
•Decisiveness: Suspense is the last and least thing applicants deserve. At every stage of the process, they must be informed swiftly and concisely about their status. Rejections and denials must be friendly, firm and conclusive. Invitations for further meetings, interviews, tests and checks must be clear and instructive. Applicants need to know someone is in charge of the process. At the end, there should be a clear and unequivocal job offer that meets the needs of all concerned. It must be seen for what it is: the formal beginning of a contractual employment relationship. No conditions, no delays, no ifs, ands or buts.
Dieter Schachhuber is an academic advisor at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa. He can be reached at (613) 998-0848.
For many HR professionals, attention has strayed away from the importance of effective recruiting and selection. It was easy to find the nugget in the sand when there were lots of nuggets and lots of sand. But with the economy working at a new pace and the prime working-age population of the 1980s and 1990s reaching the dreaded retirement bulge, there will likely less sand and even fewer nuggets.
HR practitioners will have to start going out and actively searching for employees who fit the bill. Employers need to get ready for the big race. A frugal, purposeful, achievement-oriented recruiting and selection process will be crucial to the success of organizations.
Recruiting is not just a competition for numbers. It is, first and foremost, a competition for quality, for people with commitment, discernment and character.
Labour is already the primary asset in growth in many key industries. The selection process presents the first impression to the prospective employee. Good impressions establish long-term relationships. Poor impressions become barriers to effective recruiting and appropriate selection. Only losers will run the gauntlet of a poor selection process.
Making a poor impression on a candidate can cost HR more than just that hire. Employees, applicants, students — anyone looking for work — talk to each other. They tell each other whose recruiting and selection process is more than a minor adjunct to corporate bureaucracy. They develop an instinctive definition of what a good employer does to attract and select the most suitable employees. They tell stories which grow in the telling and view the recruiting process as a bellwether for the rest of the organization.
Recruiting and selection has a strong kinship to mutual seduction. The employer wants to seduce the best potential employees and the candidates in turn will present the most seductive side of themselves.
Until recently, the employee was the suitor, sometimes desperate, sometimes lucky enough to be in a position to be choosy. But the roles are starting to reverse. There are now thousands of unfilled jobs in construction, transportation, health care, social services, retail, justice administration and education. That means employers are starting to become the suitors, albeit reluctant ones, but always in need.
What can employers do to present an honest picture and succeed in the seduction?
•Honesty and openness: In all job ads, posters and Web sites, clearly let the potential applicant know who the employer is, what it does, what the job is and what the future is all about. Only an open and honest invitation will attract worthy partners. Everything else will have the high-risk levels of a blind date. People will show up, tax the system, play the game, but ultimately the relationship will be soured by compromise, subterfuge and misunderstandings. In a tight labour market, only good matches should engage in the process. Anything else is a waste of time, resources and goodwill.
•Completeness: The applicant should be assessed on all relevant levels, not just on technical, operational or administrative expertise. Personal suitability, appropriate social and ethical values and organizational fit should be evaluated. Employers lack the power and the persuasion to coerce technically competent organizational misfits into the organization — it’s much better if the match is a sure thing from the start. Selection tools have to be valid and reliable, the selection criteria has to be complete, standards adhered to and choices have to be voluntary and based on complete information. Seducing desirable applicants into the organization while withholding crucial information will simply lead to long-term dissatisfaction and early separation.
•Currency: The constant updating of information has to be built into the system. But if the employer starts updating false, incomplete or misleading information, tomorrow will be no better. Every job needs to be analyzed, relevant competencies have to be established and performance standards and rewards have to be current. Once currency has been established, recruitment materials can be designed. But it may be necessary to start from scratch — the traditional habit of incomplete and misleading job information has to be broken.
•Appropriateness: Recruitment has to be focused and use the right tools. It may be difficult and time consuming to have selection tools, tests, structured interviews and reference checks specific to a particular class of jobs, but isn’t that the purpose? Otherwise a lottery would be just as effective in selecting a candidate. The entire recruitment process should send a clear message about the job, company, culture and performance expectations. It should help the applicant make honest and realistic decisions which lead to a viable match.
•Speed and timeliness: Recruiting and selection is still a very slow process. This will come to an end as competition forces employers to act faster than competitors. Technology has put job information, media contacts, recruiting methodologies, selection tools and communications in the hands of the manager. The manager must become the driving force behind every recruiting action, with the recruiting establishment acting as guides and professional advisors.
•Continuity and consistency: There should be a continuing logic to the process. The whole enterprise has to be planned and established with consistency in mind so the applicant going through the process is impressed by a sense of competence and professionalism. Things happen when and as promised and the appropriate technical, recruiting, professional and organizational advice is present at the table.
•Decisiveness: Suspense is the last and least thing applicants deserve. At every stage of the process, they must be informed swiftly and concisely about their status. Rejections and denials must be friendly, firm and conclusive. Invitations for further meetings, interviews, tests and checks must be clear and instructive. Applicants need to know someone is in charge of the process. At the end, there should be a clear and unequivocal job offer that meets the needs of all concerned. It must be seen for what it is: the formal beginning of a contractual employment relationship. No conditions, no delays, no ifs, ands or buts.
Dieter Schachhuber is an academic advisor at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa. He can be reached at (613) 998-0848.
