cost effective recruiting

Designs on Talent, LLC Copyright 2011 1

Leading Talent Acquisi1on in 2012 Doing More With Less

May, 2011

Linda Brenner • Managing Director, Designs on Talent • [email protected]


Talent Acquisi1on isn’t rocket science . . .


But it IS a lot of moving pieces:


Why Running a TA Func1on is One of the Toughest Jobs Around:

1.  Lots of moving parts

2.  Lots of stakeholders

3.  O9en unpredictable volume, type of work

4.  Constantly changing ways of finding talent

5.  PercepEon that metrics are easy to get

6.  PercepEon that filling jobs is easy


2012 is right around the corner.

And you’ll need to do even more with, possibly, even less resources.


Three Keys to Doing More With Less:

1.  Assess your current recruiEng pracEces

2.  Leverage best pracEces for efficiency

3.  Build a business plan for more resources


Assess Your Current Recrui1ng Prac1ces You know what’s supposed to be happening, but is it really happening the way you think? Assess your own prac:ces – or ask someone on the team to assess them for you:

EXAMPLES OF WHAT TO ASSESS:

New Searches   Are there too many req

approvals required?

  Is there a common Intake MeeEng Guide for recruiters to use with hiring managers?

  Are they using it?

  Are they gePng the informaEon they need up front?

  Are jobs posted with the right informaEon to get the best candidates?

Recrui1ng   Are acEve candidates asked

to complete a job‐specific quesEonnaire when applying to jobs that aRract many applicants?

  Are candidates accurately ranked in the ATS from most‐qualified to least‐qualified to simplify the work for recruiters?

  Are recruiters screening effecEvely? Are they storing their notes in the ATS?

  How are recruiters using the ATS? What are they doing outside of the system?

Selec1on   How quickly do in‐person

interviews take place?

  How hard are they to schedule?

  How many people do candidates have to interview with?

  How many Emes do they have to return for interviews?

  How prepared are hiring managers/interviewers?

  How are interviews debriefed? How construcEve is the feedback from interviewers?


Summarize the results of your assessment:

•  What’s working well?

•  What could be improved?

•  What’s broken/inefficient/not working?

Priori1ze the fixes:

1.  Within our control, costs no money, can fix with the current resources on our team

2.  Within our control, costs no money, but can’t fix with current resources on team

3.  Outside our control, may cost money, may need outside resources to fix


Leverage best prac1ces for efficiency:

1.  Role clarificaEon

2.  Job‐specific automated assessments

3.  Cold‐calling

4.  Scheduling

5.  ReporEng

6.  Hiring manager networks


Role ClarificaEon

Common Problems

•  Outdated job descripEons

•  Using only a job descripEon to source/fill a role

•  Failing to turn a formal job descripEon into a compelling job posEng

•  Allowing a hiring manager to skip an upfront spec meeEng

Best Prac1ces

•  StarEng a spec meeEng with a job descripEon – but asking the hiring manager pointed, structured quesEons to build on it

•  Using a structured guide for each spec meeEng to ensure consistency and thoroughness

•  Asking other stakeholders about the job, challenges, benefits, etc.


Job‐Specific Automated Assessments

Common Problems

•  Not having a consistent process to screen candidates for the same job in the same way

•  Not leveraging the assessment engine already built into many ATSs

•  Not updaEng old job‐specific assessments

Best Prac1ces

•  Building a set of solid quesEonnaires linked to the most o9en‐hired, or most mission criEcal, jobs

•  Involving hiring managers in the building of job‐specific assessments

•  Ranking candidates from most to least qualified based on job requirements


Cold‐Calling Common Problems

•  Recruiters who say:

–  I don’t need to cold‐call

–  I’ve never had to cold‐call

–  I don’t know how to cold‐call

–  I might be asked quesEons I can’t answer

–  I don’t want to cold‐call

•  TA leaders who don’t cold‐call themselves or require their team to cold‐call

Best Prac1ces

•  A staffing process that makes cold‐calling a necessity and everyday responsibility

•  A TA leader who demonstrates what a good cold‐call looks like

•  CreaEng an elevator speech that can be shared by everyone

•  Recruiters having the opportunity to pracEce cold calling in a safe environment


Scheduling Common Problems

•  Not looking ahead with a hiring manager to plan for interviews

•  Allowing a mulEtude of “required” interviewers

•  Not leveraging technology for interview scheduling

Best Prac1ces

•  Using past experience to predict when hiring managers should be prepared for interviews

•  LimiEng interviews to a small, core group

•  Using technology‐enabled scheduling soluEons


ReporEng Common Problems

•  Not being clear on which metrics/results are the most important to track

•  ReporEng any result that anyone asks for

•  Not understanding what standard reports are available in the ATS

•  Manual tracking and reporEng taking place outside the ATS

Best Prac1ces

•  Tracking the results that are most closely linked to the essenEal talent goals of the company

•  Explaining to senior leaders why we need to track these metrics

•  Refusing to allow recruiters to use manual spreadsheets


Leveraging Hiring Manager Networks Common Problems

•  Not asking hiring managers about their own networks

•  Not linking to hiring managers in Linkedin

•  Thinking that using a hiring manager’s network makes the recruiter obsolete

Best Prac1ces

•  Teaching hiring managers the importance of building their own Linkedin profile and network

•  Explaining the value of the hiring manager’s network and how a recruiter can leverage it

•  Using cold‐calling, influencing and candidate management skills to maximize the value of these networks


Summarize the Business Case for Addi1onal Resources Examples of possible data points:

The Link to the Business   What is the business

strategy over the next 2‐4 years?

  What is the supporEng talent strategy?

  What are the mission‐criEcal jobs that will bring ongoing revenue into the company?

  What is the strategy for finding and recruiEng those candidates

Current State Overview   How many reqs filled by

current team?

  How long does it take to fill easy jobs? Medium‐difficulty jobs? Hard‐to‐fill jobs?

  What efficiency tools exist and how are you using them?

  What could your team, in all fairness, do to drive speed, cost and quality?

  What else would help drive speed and quality of hire?

Future State Commitments   How will the speed of filling

jobs change?

  How will the quality of new hires improve?

  How will costs be managed?

  What will your team need to start doing differently – and how will you lead and measure this effort?

  How will other stakeholders in the process be managed? How will their feedback and results be captured and evaluated?


Summarize your posi1ons and the relevant facts:

•  Key points

•  Good flow

•  Clear “ask”

Review your pitch with trusted advisors:

•  E.g., your boss, HR or OD peer, key business leader

•  Ask for feedback, suggesEons, push‐back

•  Be prepared for quesEons and disagreement

Get in front of the right decision makers:

•  E.g., HR, OD or Business Leaders

•  Ask for feedback, suggesEons, push‐back

Presen1ng a Business Case for Addi1onal Resources


Whatever you decide to do, do something!

•  Acknowledge that it can always be done beRer.

•  Let others know what you’re doing to improve.

•  Clearly idenEfy what you own – and what’s outside your circle of influence.

•  Don’t be complacent; don’t simply complain. Take acEon!

•  Don’t be afraid to ask: you’ll never get it if you don’t ask for it.

Driving Improvement in Talent Acquisi1on


Designs on Talent, LLC

•  We help organizaEons improve processes for aRracEng, selecEng and developing talent

•  Our team is made up of former TA or TM leaders from Fortune 500 companies

•  We are known for gePng high quality work done quickly and cost‐effecEvely


Our clients have included:


Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this informa1on!

Linda Brenner,

Managing Director

[email protected]

404.313.3590

Designs on Talent, LLC

www.designsontalent.com

Atlanta, GA

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