Building a Culture of Recruiting

When I ask accomplished recruiting executives to name the biggest factor in their success, the reply is often something to the effect of, “We just have a culture of recruiting here.” A simple answer with an obvious follow-up question: How?

That culture starts with strong relationships with hiring managers. When hiring managers find value from interacting with recruiters, they genuinely engage in recruiting activities, talk about their experiences with peers and superiors, and contribute to a healthier line-Recruiting relationship at the strategic level. This isn’t just warm-and-fuzzy—it drives real improvements in candidate quality (members only).

But again, how? Consider focusing your efforts in the following areas:

Note: RR’s Hiring Manager Partnerships Topic Center (members only) has resources to help you get these done, including customizable, ready-to-use training and tools for hiring managers and recruiters.

• Set Goals—Add some definition to relationships by defining what you’re trying to accomplish with them. Like any recruiting initiative, building better hiring manager partnerships requires setting clear, measurable goals for hiring manager partnerships. Then, use a tool like the Recruiting Effectiveness Dashboard (RED) to track hiring manager feedback on the recruiting process, a key indicator of the health of those partnerships.
• Provide Supportive Infrastructure—Recruiters have trouble building meaningful hiring manager relationships when faced with significant internal barriers. For instance, recruiters are often unfamiliar with initiatives going on in the businesses they serve, making their recruiting efforts ill-informed and plagued with unexplained delays. Give recruiters business-immersion onboarding and set up expanded SLAs to clarify roles and increase communication quality.
• Build Recruiters’ Consultative Skills—About two-thirds of hiring managers do not feel their recruiters understand the jobs they are trying to fill, and a similar proportion do not feel their recruiters set reasonable expectations. Provide recruiters with training and day-to-day resources to help them consult with hiring managers.
• Engage Hiring Managers—Hiring is not the full-time job of hiring managers (many hire only one person per year), and they can easily become disengaged in the recruiting process if it seems too complex or time-consuming. Make the case for great hiring using proven research and customize training and tools to integrate into hiring manager activities.

The Recruiting Roundtable Blog Goes Public

The Recruiting Roundtable is excited to announce the official public launch of Recruiting Roundup: News and Insights from the Recruiting Roundtable.

While we previously shared our insights, trends, and news updates with Recruiting Roundtable members only, we've opened up this blog to keep all professionals with an interest in recruiting better informed.

We welcome you to bookmark the Recruiting Roundup and subscribe to our RSS feeds to continue to stay "in-the-know" with the Recruiting Roundtable.

The Latest Ruling on the Firefighter Bias Case

In follow up to an article featured in April's Week in Review, the Supreme Court released its decision today in Ricci v. DeStefano stating that the 18 firefighters in New Haven (Conn., U.S.) that filed a lawsuit against the city suffered unfair discrimination because of their race when the results of their promotional exams were discarded. Read more about today's ruling in the New York Times, and access helpful resources below to help you learn more about today's ruling (and early views on its implications).

Full Opinions:

• Opinion of the Court (by Justice Kennedy)
• Dissenting Opinion (by Justice Ginsburg)

Early views from:

• Connecticut Employment Law Blog
• Washington DC: Employment Law Update
• The Employment Law Post

Also check out Diversity resources available through the Recruiting Roundtable (members only) and Corporate Leadership Council (members only).

Week in Review - June 26th

In this week's Week in Review: Unemployment rates have increased for some nations more than others; financial institutions are struggling to attract and retain CEOs and other top employees; employer confidence in Australia's IT sector shows signs of improvement; and the unemployed are willing to take jobs and move temporarily in search of employment.

1. Underworked: Where Unemployment Has Hit the Hardest (Economist)

The latest unemployment rates around the world show that Spain and Russia top the list at 18.1% and 10.2% unemployment, respectively. In Spain, the unemployment rate has jumped more than 8% in the last 12 months, while in Russia, it has increased by more than 4%. Germany, where it is costly to fire employees, has seen the smallest increase in unemployment in the past year.

2. Financials Post Sign of Times: CEO Wanted (Wall Street Journal)

According to a study completed by Booz & Co., 18% of the world's largest financial services firms lost their CEO in 2008. The credit crisis, cuts in executive compensation, and government scrutiny over the industry has made it more difficult for these financial firms to find and attract experienced CEO-level candidates. Many are also leery of hiring CEOs that have previously been responsible for a troubled financial institution, which not only complicates the executive search process but also makes it difficult for these experienced CEOs to secure a job.

3. Brain Drain Takes a Toll at Citi and BofA (CNN Money)

Financial institutions are not only struggling to find C-suite executives (as mentioned in the article above), but large, troubled U.S. firms are also finding it difficult to attract and retain top employees. Institutions that have received aid from the U.S. government are experiencing a "brain-drain"-top traders and bankers are leaving these firms to join competitor firms as compensation restrictions are instituted, and the opportunities and cultures of companies change. Boutique firms and major European banks, however, are benefiting from this environment as they poach top talent from these struggling institutions.

4. Growing Employer Confidence Visible in IT Sector (Computer World Australia)

According to a report from Hudson (a recruitment firm), employer confidence in Australia's IT sector has increased for the first time since March 2008. Twelve percent of employers also expect to increase permanent employee levels in the next quarter. However, these trends imply a stabilization of employer confidence, rather than the upward trend of hiring. Overall, recruitment firms remark that although not a substantial amount of hiring is taking place, "key hires are being made based on some growth in the market."

5. Unemployed Hit the Road to Find Jobs (The Wall Street Journal)

In the U.S., a trend called "partial mobility"-when the unemployed are willing to move away from their families, even temporarily, to wherever they can find a job-is becoming increasingly popular as unemployment hits 9.4%. Whereas this trend often benefits recruiting by having workers go where the work is, families across the country are shouldering the stress of these arrangements.

Another Site for Recruiting to Monitor: Vault.com Unveils a New Look and Direction

Vault.com, a Web site formerly dedicated to helping job seekers gather information about employment at professional services organizations, unveiled a new look and direction this past Tuesday. The new Vault.com will now provide resources to help people manage their careers (and not just for their job search). The site will also expand beyond the professional services industry to more than 150 industries, including healthcare, energy, and government. Within the new site, users will be able to customize their MyVault profiles to deliver content to them that specifically relates to their career interests. Read more about these changes to Vault.com in Crain's New York article.

Many of you in the professional services industry may already monitor Vault.com to gauge your employment brand--how Vault.com rates your organization, what your employees are saying, and how your candidates may perceive your organization. For those of you in other industries, you may want to start monitoring your brand on this site as well.

(Note: The newly launched Vault.com beta Web site has been a bit "buggy" recently. If you get a page load error, you may want to try back again later.)

Written by: Xi Chen

Critical Talent Still in High Demand Despite Downturn

As featured in recent headlines, such as in today's New York Times, despite the uncertainty in today's economy, there is still high demand for critical talent. This ongoing quest for critical skill sets by many organizations underscores the challenges and solutions of attracting critical talent (members only) featured in the Roundtable's recent research.

Please click on the phrase above or visit our Web site to learn how your organization can attract critical talent in this environment more effectively by sourcing smarter, employing proactive identification strategies to dislodge talent, and maintaining talent pipelines in a scalable manner.

* "Uchitelle, Louis. "Skilled Labor in Demand, Despite Slump." The NewYork Times. 24 Jun, 2009.

Written by: John Davenport

Week in Review - June 19th

In this week's Week in Review: Hiring in the financial services industry is rising in the U.S. and the UK; Canada turns to foreign talent to fill the dearth of experienced chartered accountants; work-share programs in the U.S. may help employers cut costs while keeping workers employed; and European "flexicurity" may face possible threats.

1. In Finance, Recent Signs of Hiring (The Wall Street Journal)
Improving financial markets and increasing investor confidence may be the catalyst to a recent rise in hiring within the financial services sector, which has eliminated 600,000 jobs since December 2006 according to the Labor Department. This upswing in financial services hiring is particularly strong in the credit, wealth management, restructuring, and refinancing fields.

2. Rise in Recruitment Shows Thaw in Financial Hiring Freeze (Daily Mail)
Similar to the U.S., the UK has seen a hiring increase in the financial services sector. Although unemployment figures are at a 13-year high, increased confidence in the financial services industry has translated into a slight uptick in overall hiring last month, and a 2% rise in the average salary of financial employees.

3. Canada's Need for Foreign Talent Remains Strong (The Globe and Mail)
Although a number of sectors are cutting workers in Canada, chartered accountants are still in high demand. Canadians have turned their attention abroad in search of experienced accountants. However, the slow turnaround time required to apply for permanent residency and the difficulty in obtaining short-term work permits in Canada have made meeting this demand a challenge.

4. Work-Sharing May Help Companies Avoid Layoffs (The New York Times)
Seventeen states in the U.S. have implemented a program known as "work-sharing". Under this program, employers can reduce their workers' weekly hours and pay, and the state makes up a portion of the lost wages from unemployment funds. Most states also require the employer to provide full-time benefits, such as health care coverage, to employees that participate in work-share. Executives and economists have hailed this program as a good way to keep workers employed and companies staffed with skilled labor.

5. The Danger of Unemployment (The Economist)
In an effort to cushion the negative impacts of the recession, European governments have implemented a number of short term programs to promote "flexicurity"-the European idea of tolerating more flexible labor markets in return for knowing that "generous social assistance" would be available. However, if the European economy does not begin recovering this year, the idea of "flexicurity" may face a number of threats, including drastic cuts in welfare, inequality in sharing the social burden, and programs that ease workers out of the labor market to alleviate unemployment.

Great Meeting in Chicago - Attracting Critical Talent in an Uncertain Economy

We hosted our first meeting (members only) of our latest research content, Attracting Critical Talent in an Uncertain Economy, and it was extremely well received by the participants. We'll be sharing more of our key findings and data from this research across the summer, including in a series of teleconferences (members only) and on our website subsequently but below is a brief overview of our findings:

Despite widely-held recruiting "myths" prompted by today's economy, the labor market is increasingly operating at the extremes-the active are more "active", the passive are more passive-meaning that standard attraction and sourcing approaches won't dislodge the "right" passive candidates and dissuade the "wrong" active candidates from applying for, or considering, critical roles.

More than ever, new labor market realities necessitate a shift from traditional sourcing strategies toward more refined pipeline strategies that position the organization well for the short- and long-term.

The good news is that the most effective strategies for attracting critical talent are scalable and simple modifications of existing strategies that will save organizations time and money and enhance the quality of hires now and into the future.

Stay tuned for more highlights from this work.

Written by: Donna Weiss

Week in Review - June 12th

In this week's Week in Review: Jobless figures in the U.S., Germany, and Australia continue to increase; some companies turn to decreasing base salaries rather than losing jobs; and India struggles to find middle managers in certain rapidly expanding industries.

1. Job Losses Offer Clues to Recovery (WSJ)
Last week's jobless figures showed that the U.S. economy shed 345,000 jobs in May, but certain industries fared better than other ones. After sharp job cuts at the onset of the recession, hiring in the services sector may pick up sooner than it had in past recessions. On the other hand, manufacturing continues to make up nearly half of the job cuts, partially fueled by U.S. auto giants filing bankruptcies and closing plants and dealerships.

2. German Economy to Shrink 6.2% in 2009 (BusinessWeek)
After a poor first quarter, the German central bank expects to see less pressure on the German economy in the latter part of 2009. The bank forecasts the economy will shrink 6.2% in 2009, but expects unemployment to continue rising in the next year to about 10.5%. Some economists believe that Germany's reliance on exports may shift because of reduced global demand, which could potentially impact the high-profit margins previously associated with its high-quality exports.

3. Australian Unemployment Rate Up (BBC)
While Australia avoided a technical recession this past quarter, the unemployment jumped in May to 5.7%, a seven-year high. Total unemployment in Australia has fallen by 9,400 jobs this year.

4. Cutting Salaries Instead of Jobs (Business Week)
While some organizations are proponents of hiring freezes, deferred pay increases, unpaid leaves, and (if necessary) layoffs, a recent Hewitt survey indicates that 16% of organizations are turning to base salary cuts instead in order to protect jobs. Supporters of this latter approach favor this "shared sacrifice in the interest of common good" because it will not only protect jobs, but will put organizations in a better position to fund bonuses in 2009 and even boost morale by avoiding layoffs among highly engaged employees. Opponents argue that cuts to base salary may negatively impact morale and productivity.

5. Shortage of Middle Managers (WSJ)
In India, many new and rapidly growing industries (such as business process outsourcing) are putting a higher premium on finding middle managers. These roles are normally developed over time within existing industries, and new industries often hire middle managers from these existing pools of talent. However, as more businesses spring up in India, the shortage of middle managers has become more acute, particularly in smaller towns in India where companies are building their offices but the talent pool of middle managers are smaller.

Hiring While Firing

Organizations are moving away from redeployment strategies and are hiring and firing simultaneously to respond to the economy but what affect does this have on the remaining employees?

Across the globe, organizations are looking for ways to keep their companies afloat in the downturn economy. Two popular strategies are eliminating unprofitable segments and developing new business units that might thrive. In May, the Wall Street Journal published a story about companies that are implementing these strategies concurrently. The result is an organization that is both hiring and firing at the same time.

When the economy began to slow-down and companies were faced with reducing their work-force, the popular buzzword was "redeployment." Companies felt compelled to find places for as many employees as they could and more often than not, that meant retraining the employee. We saw many of our recruiter friends switch to a generalist position to maintain job security. This article suggests a big shift away from retraining employees and mentions that it's more cost-effective to lay-off employees and hire employees skilled in that particular area. While this makes sense from a business perspective, I can't help but wonder how the remaining employees feel while their colleagues are being laid off and their company is actively hiring. What kind of message does this send to the remaining workforce? Should we be worried about employee loyalty and engagement?

Written by: Elise Ludwig

Week in Review – June 5th

The most recent jobless and economic figures are in, showing mixed results in different regions. In this first week of June: the latest unemployment and GDP results from around the world and a good reminder to treat job candidates like customers.

1. Unemployment Rate Jumped in May but Pace of Job Losses Slows (Wall Street Journal)

Jobless figures released today for May indicate that the U.S. job market isn't falling as much as it had been previously--a loss of 345,000 nonfarm payrolls this month is the lowest figure since September 2008. However, overall unemployment climbed to 9.4%, the highest level since August 1983. There are some positive signs in these record numbers: construction employment saw its smallest decline in months; education and healthcare added jobs; and temporary employment, which economists take as a positive signal for future employment prospects, fell by only 6,500, the lowest in many months.

2. Jobless Rate in Europe Rises Further (The New York Times)

Unemployment in the European Union, which includes the 27 members of the EU, increased 0.2% since March to 8.6% in April. The Euro-zone unemployment rate (for the 16 countries that use the euro) rose to 9.2% in April, the highest in 10 years. Economists fear the worst is yet to come, citing the labor market typically lags behind many economic indicators and unemployment may continue to rise after a downturn. The highest EU unemployment rates were seen in Spain (18.1%) and Latvia (17.4%), while the lowest unemployment rates were seen in Netherlands (3%) and Austria (4.2%).

3. Canadian Economy Shrinks Less Than Feared in First Quarter (Financial Post)

GDP figures released by Statistics Canada on Monday confirm that Canada is, by definition of two consecutive quarters of negative growth, in a recession. Wages and other income declined by 2.7%, the first fall since 1982. While job loss has been substantial, it doesn't appear to be widespread, but concentrated in certain regions and industries, such as construction and manufacturing. Overall, the economy did not shrink as much as anticipated by analysts.

4. Australia's Economy Returns to Growth (The Wall Street Journal)

Contrary to last week's feature article stating fears of a recession in Australia, figures released this week show that Australia's economy grew in the first quarter of 2009. Australia avoided a technical recession (by definition) because a boost in trade offset declines in business investment and profits. Prime Minister Rudd and economists are weary to declare that Australia is safe from the global recession, pointing to the possibility of higher unemployment and the unlikely scenario of seeing rapid growth in the near future.

5. Be Nice to Job Candidates (They're Shoppers, Too) (New York Times)

This week's article in the New York Times reaffirms Todd's blog post several weeks ago: companies that treat their candidates well during the hiring process, especially during these tough economic times, are rewarded with better talent and better perceptions about the company overall. Some companies, including Southwest Airlines and Nabisco, recognize that candidates are also consumers and continue to "roll out the red carpet" (so to speak) to ensure no applicant feels inferior or rejected even when an oversupply of applicants exists.

U.S. Stimulus Limits Hiring from Abroad

In case you didn't catch this New York Times article from March, the recently enacted U.S. economic stimulus package aims to preserve U.S. jobs by limiting the hiring of foreign workers (i.e., people who need to obtain H-1B visas) by financial companies receiving government bailout money. While some have rescinded job offers in response, other organizations are sending these hires to countries outside of the U.S. to keep talent within the organization.

This new rule is fueling heated debates--should the U.S. protect domestic jobs but risk non-U.S. competitors hiring these skilled workers, or reduce barriers to hiring foreign workers in order to get the best talent for the job?

Written by: Xi Chen

Pending Investigation of Hiring Practices

The New York Times reported yesterday that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating into whether some technology organizations have agreed to cease actively recruiting employees from each other.

Written by: Emily Woods