Why recruiting is NOT an Art form…
Kurt Ronn is the president and founder of HRworks, one of my “Go To” guys in the recruiting industry. Easily said, Kurt’s business is high volume talent acquisition on a national level and after reading his BusinessWeek article in the Career section, yesterday, I thought I’d share some of Kurt’s knowledge revolving around “Process versus Art”, complete with my comments of course.
Kurt says:
“Talent acquisition is not an art form; it, too, works best as a defined process. Poor recruiting impairs the ability to attract top talent and has been proven to destroy some companies while costing others millions in fines and lost revenue.”
No question, many recruiters believe recruiting is an art form, unfortunately…
“Governance has come to recruitment. The new systemic employment discrimination approach of the Office of the Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), soon to be adopted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as documented in the EEOC’s Systemic Task Force Report of March, 2006, completely changes recruiting.”
Let me repeat “completely changes recruiting”…
“In 2006, the OFCCP recovered more than $51 million dollars from federal contractors (companies that supply goods or services to the government) because they discriminated against employees during the recruitment process.”
That $51 million figure represents an increase of 78% since 2001, more here.
“In the eyes of the law, unintentional systemic employment discrimination is just as bad as intentional systemic discrimination. The OFCCP is effectively saying to employers: Your company comprises good people with good intentions, but statistical analysis of the hiring process shows adverse impact. Unbeknownst to you, something in your talent-acquisition process is having an adverse impact on your hiring decisions.”
This is where you get ready to negotiate your fine…
“It is the responsibility of the company to keep the records necessary for the OFCCP to review the hiring process. Failure to produce proper records will force the OFCCP to reconstruct your hiring process and the related data. The record-keeping requirements extend to all of the activities by all of the parties involved, including hiring managers and recruiters, both internal and external. “
So if you’re a federal contractor I see two choices available 1) set-up solid recruiting processes and reporting 2) start practicing your Art of negotiating fines.
NVJobSearch.com provides Las Vegas jobs online for workers hoping to relocate to Nevada.
Only the government could walk into a white-hot job market and tell people they aren’t doing a good job hiring.
This is one of the best examples of why government should be starved of resources. If you give them money, they come up with ways to take more.
Recruitment is an art. That some people who lack real world experience liken it to a process so they can tax and regulate it doesn’t make it so.
Yet another reason to never take money from the federal government and never work for a company that does.
I’m inclined to say that it’s an art of sensing what the people you speak to need to hear and taking an approach that they can feel comfortable with. But the good recruiters I know seem to make it a process in which they simply knock out a lot of calls and do the same thing over and over again.
I believe “rethinking” or “reengineering” Talent Acquisition is always necessary, especially in a tight labor market. I also believe in this case the problem stems from nobody wanting “Big Brother” telling them they can do a better job. The “I’m a voter!” auto-response system kicks and says and I quote “Only the government could walk into a white-hot job market and tell people they aren’t doing a good job hiring.” So, better analyzing systemic discrimination is now a bad thing? I don’t believe so, and I wouldn’t believe many think that better identification of talent acquisition process flaws as it pertains to systemic discrimination is a bad thing. If your boss says “we can do a better job” you focus on the problem at hand and work on a solution, the only difference in this case is Uncle Sam is your boss. And yes, no question, you can ALWAYS turn down the multi-million dollar contracts and choose NOT to provide your wares, and/or services to the U.S. Government. I’m sure one of your competitors will do a fine job.
Jim,
ART, by definition, are \”the products of human creativity\”. Recruiting is not an artform. It is not art. Recruiting is a function…a process…an action…something that has a beginning and an end–Job order to Placement. I think that you mean that Recruitment is done differently and accomplished through a variety of methods. Maybe a form of artistry? Artistry, by definition, is a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation.
Ready to move on, Jim? ok walk with me…
It\’s incredible that you deduce that companies who do business with the federal governemnt are \”off\” in some way. I find this quite interesting as just about every company I come into contact with (hell even Subway Sandwiches has a store in the Pentagon) does some sort of business with the state or federal governments.
Now I understand your fears of governement…I too have flashbacks from my days in Red China…long winters with Canadian Women…and not paying taxes since 1999. The government sucks…its the MAN that holds me down…
BUT I digress, I also know that my government needs people—talent. I know that my government provides jobs…us humans can either work FOR the government, or like most, SERVICE or SUPPLY the government…or neither and bilk resources from the MAN..RIGHT ON!! (hippy)
The good ol U S of Freakin\’A keeps food on the table for many families, helps the private sector. But I understand your fears and your perspective…If I was seemingly a communist I would be wary of those pesky dudes in suits too.
I know the whole OFCCP get you down, they come in, call you a bigot, and take your money….the whole Government telling us what we are doing wrong as we hire talent…thing
But the OFCCP is furthering our ARTESTRY of recruitment…shedding some light on Discrimination, diverse thought processes and how we can do a BETTER job.
Ok, Jim?
I Love you,
WorkFarce
It takes a lot of koolaid to believe that the purpose of the OFCCP rule is to build a better recruiter.
The purpose of the OFCCP rule is to prevent discrimination, both intentional and unintentional, which is a value quite different than looking for the best people for the job.
If discrimination leads to the hiring of people not as suited for a position because of bias, then clearly thge hiring process can be improved.
If discrimination is defined as not employing the correct percentage of racial, gender, or any other kind of hiring goal based on some bureaucratic theory of equality, then you’re not really trying to improve the hiring process, but instead creating an alternate employment system that does not lead to the best company.
You’ve created a standard for fairness, and are trying to hit that standard. The only way that makes sense is if the company’s purpose is to be fair. Anyone see that in a business charter?
That companies do it for large amounts of money, is a sign that they make more money working with the government, even with the fines, then they do skipping the whole business.
If those fines become too large, they won’t do business with the government. But in any case, it’s not about better recruiting.
It takes alot of denial and lying in the fetal position to believe this scenario will only apply to contractors for OFCCP. Heard of the EEOC, or read their Systemic Task Force Report?
Companies have been layering in better process, which was triggered by OFCCP rules and systemic discrimination, and have created better overall recruiting processes. Now companies are becoming much better equipped to identify more than just systemic discrimination and are truly on the road to process excellence, which is better recruiting.
Personally I’ve been trained to make it work, whatever the (it) may be, and thank God there are still people in our industry with the same mind set. Unfortunately most want to crawl into the fetal position and rock until everything goes away. Don’t worry we’ll figure it out just relax help is on the way.
Thomas Paine said it best “lead, follow, or get the Hell out of the way”.
It should be taken into consideration that the EECO and affirmative action concept only further discriminiation for 2 reasons. Reason #1: Ultimately, those that are more talented, but who because of AA don’t get hired, are being discriminated against. Reason #2: Are we certain that groups that have been victims of lesser opportunity in the past really want to be given a job because of this?
The AA is only furthering the mindset that certain groups are uncapable of earning what they get in life rather, they are lesser individuals who must be given a handout.