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Recruitment Spin

Communication and Marketing…it's not just products. It's people.

Before we tear apart that branding campaign... follow this blog post

posted by on June 28, 2005
In the business of recruitment, the goal is simple. Find the best talent available, as quickly and cost effectively as possible.
 
Simple concept, right? Find talent, sell company, sell jobs, hire talent. My question is this:
 
**How did such a simple concept become such a complicated practice?**
 
Welcome to Recruitment Spin, a blog dedicated to the communication and branding related activities in our world of recruiting. In this blog, I'll be ranting  blogging about topics like the candidate experience, effectively branding in the recruitment marketplace and navigating company culture to drive recruiting results.
 
One issue that can potentially wreak havoc on any of these initiatives is the overcomplication of our recruitment process. In our world, we have two customers we must satisfy. 
 
1) Human Resources 
2) Hiring Managers.
 
Hiring Managers are concerned about speed;  our HR professionals are focused to process. In trying to appease both customers, we can sometimes come up with processes, initiatives and functions that turn the quick and easy recruiting goal into a maze of misery.
 
To recruit successfully, our first customer must be the candidate. As they own the ultimate veto, ("No thanks," "Found a better offer,") our practice and recruitment methodology should be quick, informative and honest - because that's what our candidates seem to appreciate most. 
 
In the future, I'll be offering thoughts on branding, marketing and communication - items that *hopefully* offer food for thought on appealing to potential candidates. For now, I'll preface with this:
 
The first place to look for opportunity to improve is your existing process. All the branding, spin and campaigning won't make a difference if your recruitment and hiring process is:
 
a) too long
b) too complicated
c) unengaging
d) all of the above.
 
Thanks for reading!
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5 comments

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  • 1 point 18 months ago

    I agree, you must take into account those other parties you mention...however I think in trying to adopt a strategy that exceeds all of their expectations recruitment sometimes potentially goes from being a streamlined process to one that is bogged down with extensive processes that sometimes wind up disillusioning the potential hire.

    Yes there are far more than two customers, I am not implying that those are the only two in our business. I stated those are two customers we MUST satisfy. They are the two that we sometimes disappoint in our efforts to ensure all parties with a vested interest in recruitment and retention are satisfied.

  • 1 point 18 months ago

    I agree with Keeping it simple from a process point of view. However, only Two Customers? Your article states that there are only 2 customers. I think you are missing plenty.

    Stakeholders, Employees, Candidates, Shareholders, Corporate Hiring Managers, Reference Givers, HR, Management are all customers of a recruiter. Our influence and connectivity is huge. We change the world or have the potential to change the world one hire at a time.

    Sue

  • 1 point 4 years ago

    Cheryl,

    I am experiencing a similar challenge in my role as a Recruiter within the utility industry. Over the next 5 years we are going to experience our workforce having 40% retirement eligibility and the challenge we face as an organization, can we replace those employees retiring as quickly(& economically) as possible.

    As we discuss branding another question that comes up is culture. I am always surprised at how many hiring managers are unfamiliar with company culture or how it impacts a candidates decision to take a job or refuse. What has been your history with this?

    Regards,

    David Turner Recruiter FirstEnergy Corp.

  • 1 point 4 years ago

    Thanks so much for the feedback. :)

    What you wrote was exactly what I believe to be true.

    However, in day to day practice, recruiting departments can sometimes (by the nature of our fast-paced and aggressive business) be bullied into looking at the needs of HR and Hiring Managers before even considering what all that process "mumbo jumbo" means to the candidate. We need to call our candidates the customer in order to step away from the "candidate as cattle" mentality we can sometimes innocently fall into.

    Cheers!

  • 1 point 4 years ago

    Great blog idea Cheryl! I propose you outline above as:

    "In our world, we have three customers we must satisfy. 1) Human Resources 2) Hiring Managers 3) Candidates"

    As you pointed out, the candidate is every bit (more?) important as the rest. And let's not forget the candidate's wife, mother, significant other...

    Just to neaten and tighten it up a little bit!