The Recruiting Blog | People First Recruiting

Recruiting great staff is a very difficult process and there are big steps you must take along the way.  Sometimes you get it right (hopefully most times) and sometimes you get it wrong.  After completing that long walk, and finding that perfect person, you want to take a big sigh of relief and hope that you made the right decision.  Years later they are still with your organization and the right hire was made - you retained them, they are so very successful and they love their job.

It’s a great day at People First Recruitment and Executive Search.  We have added a new member to our growing team and we are celebrating a milestone for another.

Today marks the 5 year anniversary for Marny Barnes our IT Recruitment Practice Leader.  Congratulations Marny and thank you for all of your hard work and dedication.  You are a gem, a true team player and a fabulous contributor to People First HR.

We are also celebrating our new team member Linda Chammartin, who now leads our Accounting & Finance Recruitment Practice. 

A great start to 2013!

               

Marny Barnes                              Linda Chammartin

IT Recruitment                            Accounting & Finance Recruitment

A colleague of mine tweeted this article yesterday: “Recruiters: Your Days are Numbered” and when I read it my first inclination was to re-tweet it.  The only problem was that I was limited by the number of characters and I wouldn’t be able to clearly express how I felt about this article concerning the “future of Recruiters.”

I know why she tweeted it.  She was equally disturbed by the fact that a blog could be written about a career she so passionately and firmly believes in and that the success of an entire profession which is built around people (and the relationships you develop with these people) can be thought to be replaced by technology.

So often you read, regardless of the position or industry, that eventually a company or a function will no longer be relevant because technology will replace it.  Don’t get me wrong; we here at People First Recruiting completely support and embrace technology – in fact I love it and would like to have more of it.  What was shocking to me about this article is how recruiting can be boiled down to “3 critical ingredients” - sourcing, screening and verifying.

Boy, if only it were that simple. 

Any recruiter, one paid by a company like us here at People First Recruiting or one who works internally for a company, knows that recruiting is just not that simple – an industry focused on people never is. 

What’s interesting about this article is that it refers to technologies that only cover a small piece of the world of recruiting.  Recruiting isn’t just about finding 'key words' that match a job profile – it is about finding the right person for the role.  Sure, technology can run 24/7 - sweeping LinkedIn and/or the online world to hone in on the right keywords – but can technology then call that person up? Talk to them? Get a sense of whether or not they are truly happy doing what they are doing?   Analyze the actual fit between employer and employee, culture and personality?  Needs versus desires?

While we do embrace technology and look at technology as a partner in our business to help round out our skills, we still ensure we invest in our people.  An example is adding and training people to join our Talent Discovery Group; individuals who everyday utilize research techniques, social channels, and networks.  They turn to their existing relationships to reach out and engage with potential candidates to inform them of some of the incredible opportunities we have with Canadian businesses. 

When our clients come to us they need 3 things:

• find me the best candidate
• within a reasonable amount of time
• for a fair fee

Never do they ask what specific technological tools we used to find that person.  Instead they ask us how we will go about our search.  Where will we focus?  Have we filled a position like this before?  Do we understand the role we are filling on their behalf?  Once they are satisfied we then use a proven methodology and approach to finding them candidates.  The next questions our clients ask us are: What is our screening process?  Do we know how to interview for these roles?  How do we assess candidates?  And so on.

The point I am trying to make is that leaders of companies are not looking for a person to just fill a role, they want the whole package.  They want to partner with experts who use the best processes to find the right candidates; experts with the strongest experience and knowledge to assess the fit and qualifications of candidates.  Companies want to be assured that the person we find for them will be that right fit so that they can retain that individual and remain free to focus on their business.

If you are a Recruiter right now and you believe your job is to simply source, screen and verify then you are missing out on what is the most fulfilling and rewarding part of your job as a Recruiter.  We have the privilege of meeting new people who are making important career decisions every day.  We get to learn about great companies and meet great leaders and then we get to bring the two of them together in what is hopefully a perfect match.  That cohesion is what gets us excited around here.

In an industry that is all about people, technology can never be, and will never be an aspect that will replace the human touch.

...

If you haven't figured it out, I am pretty passionate about recruiting, as is the team that I work with.  Because we love what we do and because we are growing - we are looking for more Recruiters to join our team here in Winnipeg.  Never considered recruiting before?  Take a look at our 10 Reasons You May be a Recruiter...and not even know it.  If you identify with these 10 reasons...drop us a line.

~Karin Pooley

 

I am still very surprised to come across people tasked with hiring and recruiting who have not caught on to how beneficial the social media world is to recruit talent from and to promote a company brand through.  We have been using LinkedIn for the last 6 years and have been more active in other social media platforms for about a year and a half now and I can comfortably say we are realizing our return on investment.

This next comment will come as no surprise to many of the companies that I have had the opportunity to work with – traditional recruitment methods no longer work.  On their own. 

Yes, paper advertising still has its place, as do online job boards, but if you are not using tools liked LinkedIn then you are missing out on a very affordable and highly effective method of social recruitment.

How do I define social recruitment?  It is many things.  It’s candidate attraction, it’s brand awareness and it’s listening.  Social recruiting isn’t just about reaching out to candidates and recruiting them.  It’s where you can literally spend about an hour a day promoting why your organization is a great place to work or to promote the new job opportunities you have.  The reality is social recruiting takes patience and effort and is not an immediate result type investment.  It takes time to build awareness in the online social world but eventually you will start to see more people visiting your web or career site, or reaching out to you and asking questions.

Another fabulous tool in our social recruiting arsenal, (of which there really is an art to) is the position job profiles – the ones you write up and publish to the world.  When we create a job profile for our clients, we tell them that this is our attraction tool.  It is the marketing piece we use to excite candidates about that amazing career opportunity. It’s not enough to get them to stop for just a second to click open that document and read it.  They need to understand what’s in it for them, they need to get excited about the role and so if you can get as clear and creative as possible in your job profiles, then you will have a better chance at attracting the right type of candidates. 

The job profile serves another purpose though. Think of how you may go about purchasing a new appliance or finding that four star hotel for your next vacation.  Many of us will go right to the internet and enter a string of words, perhaps like this:  ’I want a four star hotel in Barbados’.  What comes up?  A set of fine tuned results.  Now translate that to a candidate searching for a new job.  They will do the same thing when it comes to job hunting online. ’HR Manager jobs in Winnipeg’ might be the words they use.  The more relevant keywords you have in your job profile and the more places online that you have it posted, the more likely that profile will show up in their search results.  A well written job profile is absolutely essential to a well executed recruitment.  Again, it isn’t enough to post a job to a job board with a paragraph that simply says, ‘Looking for a new HR Manager’ and then follow it up with terminology that is only specific to your business.  If someone isn’t familiar with your business, they certainly won’t be familiar with your terminology.  Think about the candidate and put yourself in their shoes.

Social Recruiting is more than just using social media to find candidates, it is about showing why a candidate should work for you in the first place.  Why you are different.  I am not claiming for a second that social media in itself is the end all and be all of recruiting nor have we, ourselves mastered the techniques of recruiting or the art of job profiles.  It is a learning process every moment.  But a couple years ago, after much consideration and discussion, we took the leap into putting our time into social media and thought it was either going to be successful or not.  The results are paying off. 

Now I will finish with some shameless self promotion. On October 23rd and 24th we will be at Connect 2012, The Degree of Difference conference held by the Human Resource Management Association of Manitoba (HRMAM).  It is a two day conference where we have been invited to discuss and share with the members and guests our experience with social recruiting; the ups, the downs and the how to’s.  If you are going to be attending, we would love to share more with you so stop by The Social Recruiting Lounge (booth 36) in the exhibit hall and let’s talk!

And if you can’t be there then talk to us through Twitter with the hashtag #HRConnect2012.

 

I previously wrote a blog on The Pros and Cons of Contingency Recruitment and even though we are an exclusivity recruitment firm, I know many companies do prefer to work with multiple recruitment firms. The purpose of that post was to show the benefits and potential challenges of contingency recruitment from my perspective.

I am going to conclude, for now, my posts on fees by shedding some light on exclusive, retained and retingent fees or as some call it, container fees.  Personally I don't care for the words container or retingent.  Here at People First we just call them engagement fees.

Why a recruiter promotes one fee contract over another is normally based on the complexity of the search and risk management.  We ask ourselves the following questions: 

Complexity of the recruitment:

• Is the role executive or a hard to find, scarce skill set?
• Is it a local, national or international search?
• Is the role in a specialized industry?
• Will the search process need to be changed or expanded due to the nature of the role? 

Risk Management:

• Has this position been vacant for a long time?
• Could there be challenges identifying candidates because of the total compensation?
• Is the scope of the role so narrow that it may take much longer to bring the search to a successful conclusion?
• What is the perception of the company in the marketplace?

As I attempt to provide definitions behind the exclusive and engagement fee options please keep in mind that every recruitment firm will structure them differently.

Exclusive Contingent:

• Typically this contract is promoted when the search is more junior in nature and the role can be filled locally.
• The company agrees to work with the recruiter exclusively and will not hire others.
• The company can continue to search for a candidate on their own and hire their candidate if preferred.
• Fees are charged only if the company hires the recruiter’s candidate.

Engagement and Retained Fees:

• These fees are almost always for executive level, professional and complex recruitments.  Essentially, recruitments that are potentially longer in duration due to the complexity.
• The fees are structured in installments with an installment being billed immediately upon starting the recruitment.
• The installments continue in stages either a) at the end of the recruitment or b) two additional installments during the recruitment.

There are of course many points to be considered when it comes to recruitment fees, these are only a few examples. In the end the recruiter must be completely confident they can fill the position and the company must trust that the recruiter has the experience and capabilities to find the best candidate.  It's always in your best interest to ask questions surrounding recruiting fees.

Last week I was having lunch with a long term client and the topic of recruiter ethics came up.  More specifically it was the "rules" surrounding placement of a candidate and headhunting.  (Headhunting is a recruiting term and is generally defined as proactively contacting candidates who are employed in another company.) 

Not surprisingly this is a subject that comes up frequently.

A few weeks ago I was interviewed by Sheryl Smolkin who had come across our whitepaper on Maximizing Your Recruiter Relationship.  She was writing an article for The Toronto Star about working with recruiters. She asked me a question about soliciting placed employees for future recruitments and was citing examples of how this may occur.  It was her article on working with recruiters which prompted me to write more about this subject.

This is a difficult and sensitive issue so I am going to do my best to provide some clarity to this topic with the following considerations:

• Most Recruitment and Executive Search firms should have a "no solicit” or “hands off" policy. It generally means once a candidate is placed in ABC Company by the recruiter, there will be no further direct solicitation of employees from ABC Company, including the placed candidate. 
• The criteria, so to speak, for becoming a no solicit client will vary greatly from one recruiting firm to the next.  What generally ensures you are on their no solicit list is that you are a company who has paid for their recruitment services.
• The length of time you are a 'no solicit' client is where it starts to get a little grey depending on the recruitment firm.  For example, one year ago you may have hired a full time candidate through a recruiting firm but their no solicit policy may only be for six months in length.  If you haven't used their recruiting services since that placement one year ago, then you may no longer be on their no solicit list.
• If you work with a recruiting firm who does temporary placements on your behalf, their policy may apply to permanent placements only.

What is most important is to understand what a recruiter's no solicit policy actually is. For us it means we will not intentionally pursue employees of our clients for the purpose of engaging them in other employment opportunities.  In terms of placed candidates, same ethical rules and principles apply.  This however does not preclude recruiters from working with potential candidates of their clients completely.  An example is if a candidate that happens to be an employee of Client A solicits a recruiter or applies for a job ad directly. 

This sensitive issue is not only about company policy or industry protocol it is primarily about personal and business ethics to both the company and the candidate. In the end the recruiter knows if they have crossed a line and that the results will be costly; personally or professionally.

My best advice is to get clarity at the beginning of any recruiting partnership.  Ask your recruiter about their no solicit policy and their personal view on solicitation of candidates.

Truth to be told, we are not a contingency recruiting firm so this will be one of the more difficult blogs for me to write.  However prior to joining People First I spent over 15 years as Branch Manager of a few national contingency recruiting firms and I was once a big believer of the model.

With contingency recruitment you are not required to pay a recruiter a placement fee until you have selected your ideal candidate – “payment is contingent upon hire of candidate”.  The other key differentiator with contingency verses retained (which I will discuss in a later blog) is that you are not working with the recruitment firm exclusively.  You can continue to search on your own and work with multiple firms if you so choose.

Here are my views of the pros and cons:

Pros

• You don't pay fees unless the recruiter refers you a hireable candidate
• You can still recruit for the position on your own
• The recruitment can be cancelled at anytime with no fees charged
• You can work with as many recruiting firms as you choose
• You could receive a lot of resumes - fast
• You should have a lot of candidates to interview
• You may be able to negotiate fees

Cons

• You will generally hire a candidate that is available to you quickly but they may not necessarily be the right 'fit', resulting in turnover
• The chance for disputes is higher since the placement will be awarded to the recruiting firm that presents the resume first – determining “who got there first” can be very awkward
• Because of the "who got there first" point, a thorough and targeted search specific to your company and the role is rarely, if ever, performed
• You could face some potentially embarrassing candidate situations if the candidates are working with multiple recruiting firms
• Managing the communication and referral processes of one, two or even more recruiting firms can be challenging
• It takes much longer to bring the recruitment to a successful conclusion

Earlier I wrote that I was a big believer in the contingency fee model. Why?  Because once upon a time I felt that a Recruiter does not add value until the right candidate is found.  I don’t believe that any longer.  My belief now is that finding the right candidate is the end result of a strong, mutually rewarding partnership and, the value we provide the client and candidate leading up to the hire. 

A couple months ago I wrote a whitepaper called “Maximizing Your Recruiter Relationship”.  It gives companies simple tips for hiring and working with a Recruiter to ensure a successful partnership.  From a company perspective, the big question always is “what's this recruitment going to cost me?” 

Over the next few weeks I will be blogging about recruiting fees.  First up though is a summary of what you, the company, should get from the recruiting fees you are charged. 

The job posting

• A job posting is a tool to advertise the job.  There is an art to writing an effective job profile especially once you consider search optimization and key words.  A Recruiter that understands online search techniques knows how to write job profiles so your ad can be found online.  Finally a well networked Recruiter has the contacts to send the job profile to, as well as a library list of free job boards, associations and industry networks. 

Finding candidates

• Print and online advertising alone does not guarantee you results.  That is the “let’s wait and see what we get” mentality.  Sometimes timing works out perfectly though and you hire a candidate from an ad, but did you get the best candidate?  Unless you conduct a search you really don’t have the answer to that.  Recruiters go to the market and search.  They will identify companies or like companies in your industry where candidates are performing similar jobs.  They will identify competitors.  They will look for industry thought leaders. 

Interviewing

• If the Recruiter isn’t certified in Behavioural Based Interviewing at the very least most will have training.  Behavioural Interviewing is based on the theory that the best predictor of future success is past performance.  This method of interviewing allows for a more structured and fair assessment process and it takes away the “gut feeling”.  Fit is also assessed.  Recruiters interview every single day so they are quite skilled at it. 

Reference checking

• A good reference checker knows how to listen for cues, they don’t accept just any answer.  They know to probe, to ask the individual for more information to get an honest reference.  It’s amazing how many companies don’t do references before hiring an employee.  This step in itself is worth the money.

Simply put you are paying a Recruiter to find a candidate, qualify a candidate and present a short list of candidates.  Stay tuned for more blog posts on exclusive, retained, contingency searches, guarantees, refunds, credits and so on.

Blogging, tweeting, Facebook, and LinkedIn are really quite new to me and People First Recruiting.   Yet more often now, we are getting questions and requests for advice about how individuals or firms can begin their own social journey.   I can’t tell you how surprising this is to us given how new we are at this.  Yet maybe, just maybe the hard work and energy we have been putting into this is starting to pay off - because people are noticing.  Besides it’s great that we can help and when it comes to social media, that’s really what it is all about.
In fact, that was one of the first lessons we learned about social media – be helpful to others.  Share and help others with tips, knowledge and at times advice in the business you consider yourself to be good at.  In our case it’s recruiting.  Helping others by sharing information online (for free) is the essence of this fabulous new way of recruiting candidates and growing our recruiting business.

So for this blog I want to give a shout out to a few of the organizations and individuals who have helped us along the way:

• Matthew Shepherd, a Social Media consultant.  He was our first  “live instructor”.  He showed us the way and set us on the path by teaching us about the various social channels and the ones that are the most appropriate for our business; @MatShepSEO
• Colleen Holloway and Colin Whitney at ThinkShift, our creative, energetic partners who helped us bring life and identify to our brand as well as our beloved Purple Squirrel; @twistntoad and @ColinWhitney
• Content Marketing Institute and the Content Marketing World conference in 2011 – this is where Annette Kohut (our Social and Content Leader) and I had our AHA moment.  This place was where the reason for us taking this social journey in the first place all came together;
• Marcus Sheridan, The Sales Lion.  A passionate business owner that embraced blogging a few years ago.  He was a speaker at a conference I attended and gave me the inspiration I needed to begin blogging myself; @TheSalesLion
• Sociable! A book authored by Shane Gibson and Stephen Jagger.  First book I read which put social media and content into perspective for me.

The reality is we are beginners still in training, we’re taking risks and learning through trial and error.   We receive great, and at times not so great feedback and comments yet we remain fiercely committed to this because we believe it is essential to our clients, candidates and our overall business success.  Plus, it’s fun – we wouldn’t be doing it otherwise.
One of the most frequent questions asked is “how do you find the time” and honestly we are still working at this every day.  For me though I am lucky I have a fabulous Social and Content Manager who is also our Talent Sourcer, the amazing Annette Kohut.  Take some time to visit her post Newbies on the social recruiting block, about her experience and thoughts.

Karin

The season might be over but we are still just as in love with our Winnipeg Jets team as we were when it was first announced they were coming back.  A new team into our well established city had no problem finding a warm welcome.

So it got me thinking, we as recruiters know first-hand that organizations often face the challenge of introducing new employees in to a well established team which led me to thinking about the Winnipeg Jets jersey.  So how is this connected?  Well let me talk about my own team.  We’re connected by a strong culture, there is great camaraderie and support.  We celebrate the wins and we mourn the losses together.  With our jersey, you can’t touch it or see it, but you know it’s there – that’s our unifying factor.  It’s our uni-form.

What I have learned from working with so many clients over the years, is the best way of introducing a new employee to an existing culture is to be certain that during your recruitment process you are patient and thorough with your candidates. Ask yourself this question, “could this individual wear our team jersey”?  You can be assured that many candidates will be asking the same question of themselves.  The candidates need information, the good, the bad, the ugly and you have to be willing to give it.  Those candidates need to interview you as much as you need to interview them so if you can, be sure to offer that to them.  Our success has come from recognizing that the candidate fit is as important, if not more important, than the list of qualifications set out for the role.  This is mission critical to retention.

The word ‘fit’ is defined in many ways.  According to Webster’s dictionary, ‘fit’ means “adapting to the environment so as to be capable of surviving.”  Wow, that sounds harsh!  I certainly hope companies considering a new employee and individuals considering a new job don’t use this definition when assessing the “fit.”

I expect there are many individuals out there who feel this way – adapting to their work environment in order to survive.  Whether you are an employer or employee, if you take a moment to think about this you will see how detrimental it is as it harms your business, your team, and your confidence.  Unfortunately, it still remains an all too common occurrence in the work place.

In my experience there are two primary reasons for turnover in a company: 

1. The inability to drum up passion or enjoyment for the job.  Perhaps there is a lack of inspiration or just a lack of desire to achieve more than you thought you possibly could.  This isn’t something that should be shrugged off as unimportant.  How you feel in your work environment is just as important as the work itself. 
2. Not developing connections to your team or company you work for.  Perhaps you don’t feel part of the corporate culture. 

Organizations and individuals can reduce turnover by paying more attention to fit.  Unfortunately, it can be the hardest part of the screening process as it is often times based on a feeling or a sense of belonging.

Consider the following in your process to help you assess “fit”:

1. Four Generations of individuals are working side by side in today’s workplace – the Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X’s and Gen Y’s.  Having an appreciation for the different work styles, perspectives and expectations of these generations will help in your assessment.  Do the responsibilities of the role, team and culture hit on some of the elements that are an ideal work environment for the person from one of these Four Generations?
2. Motivational Fit.  If you are interviewing candidates you are most likely engaging this type of assessment whether you are aware of it or not.  This is an important element.  After all, the best predictor of future success is past performance.  Ensure you include Motivational Fit questions in your interview process.  Simple questions such as “What do you (the candidate) find most satisfying about your work,” or “What brings you the most frustration,” or “Why did you leave your last job” can reveal great insights regarding a person’s likes or dislikes.
3. Meet the team...and then meet the team again.  As an individual considering a new opportunity you need to do your due diligence.  If you don't think you can connect or like the people you work with how do you expect to be successful or even happy?  As an employer, ensure the candidate has an opportunity to meet the team in a formal business setting and then again over a lunch or dinner (a meeting which is more informal is a great way for people to get to know each other).
4. Homework assignments.  This is an excellent way to determine the candidate’s interest and desire for the role.  Depending on the role itself, have them complete an assignment.  For example, if you are hiring a graphic artist, get them to create an image for your business.  If you are hiring a Sales Manager, get them to put together a presentation.  Not only will this allow the candidate to determine if your organization is a good fit for them (due to the research that will be required) but it will also demonstrate to you their passion, desire and interest in the role.
5. Finally, have a solid on-boarding plan you can commit to which involves the organization and your team.  The transition into a new job isn’t easy for anyone so anything you can do to ease the process will contribute to the success of your new employee and of your team.

Want more information on the Four Generations?  Read “Four Generations in the Workplace” by Karen Rae Short from the Canadian Management Centre.