How to Diagnose Your Firm’s Recruiting Issues
“A diagnosis is burden enough without being burdened by secrecy and shame.”
Jane Pauley, Journalist & Author
We can offer you recruitment processes that we know are effective in accelerating your critical hires. We can share with you our years of experience identifying the root cause of recruiting issues we’ve detected, in the course of working with many clients. What we won’t provide you immediately is an off-the-shelf prescription for your recruiting issues you’ve confided with us, at a superficial level. Were we to prescribe such actions, without first diagnosing the root cause–through more thorough discussions and company visit, we would be charlatans, performing recruiting malpractice.
If your current recruiting issues are painful, imagine it for a moment as a tooth abscess. Now, ask yourself: which of the three actions are you most inclined to take?
- Find a dentist who can get you in and out of their office immediately & give you some antibiotics, no questions asked;
- Find among three dentists who can provide immediately antibiotics and quote the cheapest root canal; or
- Find & select one of several reputable dentists who have treated abscesses and can immediately see you. All will examine your mouth, take X-rays, diagnose the root cause of the abscess during your visit, and prescribe treatment in that office visit. They also will demonstrate to you their track record of successfully correcting abscesses & performing root canals. They will also quote a reasonable fee for their work and provides both an antibiotic and pain medication prescription, while scheduling a date for the treatment.
If you selected the last answer listed, you’ve come to the right place–here to receive:
- a proper diagnosis of your position needs and prevailing recruitment process;
- recruiting treatment that is informative, with high value placed in close, collaborative communication and decision making;
- a source to hire process that puts you at ease and presents you with one or more qualified candidates who you will hire; and
- a partner, who you can continue to advise you on recruiting matters, long after we have have filled your critical hire position.
Prior to, during and following our search launch, we will be providing tools to measure the volume and quality of your recruiting funnel. We will also be carrying on discussions with you and all stakeholders in the source to hire process for your open position, to ferret out recruiting issues, identify their root cause and present recommended changes to your processes. We’ll be requesting prior hiring metrics, if available to help you recognize the value of an accelerated recruitment process you will be experiencing, working with us.
Recruiting Issues: Possible Root Causes
Lackluster Candidate Hunting
Is the passion to track and hunt for candidates lacking? Tell-tale signs of this recruiting issue includes a dependence on candidates applying to job postings and a lack of weekly direct invitations and followup with passive, targeted candidates. Have your recruiters actively contacted possible candidates currently employed at your competitors, or candidates in related fields to be served?
Missing Hiring Skills
Do your recruiter know how to construct a search plan that will identify the shape of the candidate funnel through to hire? Can they execute a search, meeting a targeted hire targeted on-board date? Are they weak in any areas, such as conducting position intake session with the hiring manager, identifying where targeted candidates can be found, creating high-yield passive candidate solicitations, leading interviewer assignment sessions, or constructing a set of common candidate assessment criteria? Can they determine an offer package that will be accepted by both management and the candidate? Can they resolve satisfactorily any candidate concerns?
Impaired Search Process
Are your recruiters preoccupied, only going after the easy openings to fill? This approach can leave critical, complex hires left unattended, or with nominal attention, leaving a recruiting funnel that is dry, or repeatedly filled with unsuitable candidates. Are searches started and then stopped, with the expectation that all previous candidates in contention will still be interested in your firm? This leaves strong candidates thinking your firm has serious financial risks. If the initial plan is unsuccessful in generating viable candidates, is there a backup plan?
Anemic Funded Hiring Mandates
Does a hiring freeze trump critical milestones being delivered? Has the executive team been invited to re-rank an/or re-clarify any existing staff mandates that are beyond its existing bandwidth? Does your executive team know the financial and risk consequences of a critical staff opening remaining unfilled? Is the absence of meeting critical deliverables jeopardizing the very existence of your firm?
Where Do You Go From Here?
So your diagnosis revealed your firm’s recruiting shortcomings: nuisance warts; flabby, over-weight offer approval processes; or possibly cancers in your team interviewing process that can–if left untreated threaten your firm’s very existence. There’s no reason for embarrassment, having discovered the source of your recruiting issues. You now are ready to address the next big question: Do you really want your recruiting to remain as it is, or do you seriously want something better–much better?