Consultative Staffing & Recruiting Strategies for HR Generalists Taking it up a notch!! Presented by: Jeremy Eskenazi, SPHR, Managing Principal, Riviera Advisors, Inc. SHRM Annual Conference 2009, New Orleans, Louisiana (This document is a companion to the live presentation and includes all of the comprehensive speakers notes) The Seat at the Table In essence, some companies may have decided that the HR strategic-partner role is too important to leave to someone with an HR background The study s conclusion: Human resources must reinvent itself The old approaches and models simply are not good enough. Creating a Strategic Human Resources Organization (Stanford Business Books, 2003) Edward E. Lawler III and Susan Albers Mohrman. What are the challenges for recruiting professionals today? Demographic shifts (Baby Boomers starting to retire, people working longer into their careers, etc.) Outsourcing and Off-shoring. Very strong pressure on organizations to reduce the G&A line on their financials. Rapid changes in technologies. Credibility problems for Recruiting and HR with constituents. Lack of real development for Recruiting professionals. Page 1 of 11
Demographic Shifts Outsourcing and Off-shoring Financial Pressures Our profession is unprepared for the age demographic shifts (organizations often favor young talent over more mature talent). We must hone our skills and learn to understand what the different age groups need and want from work so we can reach them. We must learn that one size, fits all does not always work we may have different processes and tactics to work with the different age groups. Outsourcing and off-shoring deals are very real, and fast growing in the recruiting sector. They are real and fast growing because we have not, as a profession done well to explain our added value. Much of our work as a profession has been viewed as transactional (pulling resumes off databases, pushing resumes around, and handling lots of administrivia ). There are some growing perceptions that the internal recruiting function is not core to a business success, and that it can be done better, faster, and possibly cheaper using external resources. (some of this is perpetuated by RPO vendors). (*RPO= Recruitment Process Outsourcing) Outsourcing and off-shoring is actually one of the best trends that could happen to our profession by eliminating the heavy lifting (some sourcing, internet sourcing, resume processing, etc.), we can focus on the true valueadd of assessing, evaluating, and building a community of top talent for our organizations. In many organizations, the G&A or SG&A accounting lines are where the overhead and some costs for recruiting and staffing are placed. Page 2 of 11
Financial Pressures (continued) Rapid Changes in Technology Rapid Change for our Profession Because of the negative visibility on this accounting line, often the recruiting function (and HR for that matter), has trouble in adding resources that may be necessary, such as more recruiters, etc. We are constantly playing chess with limited resources (playing the headcount game with contractors, charging back costs to the line, etc.) There has been a sea-change in our profession that has been almost 100% due to technology. Recruiters alternately love and hate technology. We love the promise of technology to help us do better at our jobs, but we often hate the reality of it. Technology is constantly changing and morphing there are always new tools and toys out there to possibly help us in our roles, but at the end of the day no one can leverage technology to actually pick up the telephone and build a relationship with someone. Our profession, in general has credibility problems with hiring managers, candidates, vendors, and even our HR brethren There have been waves of change over the last 10 years in the recruiting profession that have both helped and harmed our credibility (technology has made it easier and harder to recruit; organizations have added recruiters during the bubble who were golden and indispensable, and then they were not; depending upon candidate supply and demand we treated candidates well or not-so-well, etc. We have had to do more with less, more often than not we have not managed expectations of our constituents well. Page 3 of 11
Lack of Development for Recruitment Professionals As a profession, we have not done a great job in providing real development for recruiting and staffing professionals. Recruiting professionals have had to drive their own development rather than access it through the organization that they work for. Generally, Recruiting has not enjoyed the same amount of respect (thus development opportunities) as other HR subprofessions. Recruiting, as a profession is more aligned to non-hr activities (such as project management, marketing, sales, business development, general management, etc.) Customer Service? If not Customer Service, then we are Consultants Recruiting Professionals should not consider themselves customer service professionals! Not a vendor Has skin in the game is part of the company Is a partner in the COMPANY S success Has the ability to say NO when appropriate Are not in charge of hiring talent Since we are not Customer Service, we are CONSULTANTS: o We must view ourselves and our peers as experts in our area of expertise. o We must convey that expertise through deeds and actions, not just saying so. o We must stay on top of our profession and trends. o We must be willing to take a stand and back it up. o We must be willing to back down if we have made our point and it is not accepted. Page 4 of 11
The Move to Consultant The Order Taker Believes everything the hiring manager tells them The Consultant Proceeds with attitude of friendly skepticism but asks the tough/intelligent questions Wants to be liked by the hiring manager Will get the Hiring Manager what he/she wants Thinks it s impossible/inappropriate to say no to the hiring manager (Adapted from source: Corporate Executive Board) Wants to get the Hiring Manager great talent Will get the Hiring Manager what he/she needs Understands that sometimes saying no is part of what makes a good consultant Confrontations Consultations Issues of not transforming into a more consultative professional If you believe in something: Take a stand, and do not avoid confrontation. Be willing to disagree, and do it in group situations. Constructive conflict is valuable in almost every situation. o Listen o Wait o Form your rationale o Think about what you will say o Respond o Offer backup and facts o Leave room for discussion If we do not take a stand and push back when necessary: We may become seen as less than strategic. We risk being viewed as only transactional. We may be pigeonholed as administrative and not part of the management overall. We may not be seen as credible. Page 5 of 11
Contracting Contracting shares burden, with most of our burden as FACILITATION: o HR does not typically have control over all elements of our work. o If we are consultants not customer service, we must focus on not taking an order, but contracting with people within the organization. o Contracting involves defining roles, responsibilities, and outcomes in advance. Contracting involves simple questions. Service Level Agreements (SLA) What needs to be accomplished? Who will be responsible for what? How will we measure our success or accomplishment? When will we know we have completed the task? Some firms use formalized Service Level Agreements. SLAs provide a written understanding of the contracted relationship. Use an intake checklist. Helps ensure complete understanding for all parties involved. Can be a great process if your culture is open to such formality. Example SLA s and an intake checklist can be acquired by simply sending an email to neworleans@rivieraadvisors.com Managing Expectations When people ask for something or request support, always: o Clarify: Clarify your understanding of what needs to be done o Calibrate: Calibrate when and how you will accomplish the task Be 100% realistic: under promise and over deliver is not always the best way. Page 6 of 11
Candidate Relationships Because there are more candidates on the market, most companies are seeing a surge in candidates available. Companies are getting sloppier, and less able to handle closure of candidates well. Search firms are often worse than their client companies in this area. There is a failure to understand that recruiting is about relationships and nothing more. Personal and employer brands are being made or lost in the recruiting world. o Always tell candidates what to expect & when o Always follow through o Don t stress about the legal issues HR Monkeys Blog http://hr-monkeys.blogspot.com/ Saying no : Triangulate Saying no, and not using the word You. Most HR pros are not wired to say NO effectively often there is a fear of confrontation. We must practice it, and ensure that we are able to maintain personal and professional dignity and the dignity of those we say no to. In most cases we really don t use the word NO, but we can express ourselves professionally using different words Triangulate your conversations by talking about the issue or problem and not making the conversation about the other party. Remove the word you from your conversation take out the personalization When you push back, be prepared to back up your statements with facts from your knowledge or research If you are very passionate about an issue, take time to formulate your push back and then go back. Page 7 of 11
Saying no as consultants to the business What organizations really value today in recruiting professionals With senior management, be prepared to ensure an out if your push back is not finally accepted. Most senior leaders appreciate constructive conflict if it is well thought out and presented in a positive way. As consultants to the business, we must be prepared to make our fact-based recommendations and be willing to accept that they may not be accepted. Recruiters that get it that understand and clearly and credibly can communicate how the business operates (what it takes to be successful inside the organization. Recruiters that contract well, and live up to their side of the bargain. Performance on metrics that matter. Usually only two do: speed and quality. Recruiters that have built and constantly refresh and maintain solid outside networks of talent that may benefit the organization in the future. Recruiters that understand how to connect the process of recruiting to the rest of the HR organization (such as linking recruiting with talent development, etc.) Focus on being a consultant not a customer-service person. Drive your own development (and not just HR oriented development). Focus building strong relationship skills both internally AND externally (and not just with other recruiters). Try out and measure all tools and resources that may be available to you. Don t use technology as a crutch nothing will replace the power of a phone call with a real live person! Don t always strive to become the manager of your department. Many of the best recruiters will continue to improve and grow in their role by getting additional Page 8 of 11
What organizations really value today in recruiting professionals (continued) responsibilities. Some of the best recruiters make the worst managers! Just because your recruiting department does not have lots of snazzy metrics does not mean you should not measure your work. Quality and speed are usually the most critical elements that the business is interested in if your group does not measure quality and speed YOU should measure them. Get CONSISTENT data from hiring managers not anecdotal data from them. Ask your candidates about the hiring process most of your competitors don t bother asking candidates who were not offered a job. Have solid data on TALENT competitors (not just industry competitors) and their employment propositions is key. Recruiter Best Practices o Set and Manage Expectations really well Goals, Roles, Process, Timelines, Consequences Contract with Hiring Managers o Communicate regularly, with credibility Talk more about what you HAVE DONE and what HAS worked, less about what you WILL TRY TO DO and what MIGHT work Confidence and credibility comes from a track record of delivering on commitments No news = bad news. Communicate frequently. Don t make broad generalizations. Always send follow-up CYA email when key decisions are made or changes are agreed upon o Make sure you have the data you need to push back on bad ideas, measure ROI, and highlight consequences when commitments are missed Page 9 of 11
Recruiter Best Practices (Continued) o Build strong relationships with Hiring Managers Face time (not just email) o Highlight successes and complete post-mortems on failures Reward good hiring managers, and make sure your team highlights its successes Learn from mistakes and bring visibility to cause-effect (When we fail to do X, we get Y result) o Deal with problem areas head on Don t wait for things to get really bad (struggling hiring managers or upset agencies may escalate and play the blame-game) o Teach Hiring Managers how to be successful as a Hiring Manager (at Nike, with you as their recruiter, in today s candidate-marketplace) This may require Hiring Managers to adapt to YOUR process o Prioritize Not all reqs are created equally and not all activities have the same ROI (Return on Investment) o Ask questions, listen and learn Know your business, your candidate pools, recruiting ROI and best practices o Come to the table with solutions and consultative suggestions Don t come off as the policy police You re an expert, so don t ask them questions that you should know make recommendations and get their feedback (i.e. Don t ask Where do you think we should post this job? ) Page 10 of 11
Our future success depends Our future success as a profession will require us to be viewed as expert consultants, not customer service professionals. Our credibility will continue to be enhanced when we are seen as a consultant who has expert viewpoints that may not always be what people expect or even want to hear. Keep life in perspective Keep life in perspective. It is just a job. And it is just a job for your team... Fear of losing a job holds people back in all professions. Don t let fear manage your ability to step up. About Jeremy Eskenazi, SPHR Jeremy Eskenazi founded Riviera Advisors in 2001 and draws on nearly 20 years of experience and expertise in helping companies assess and enhance their talent management systems and processes. Prior to Riviera, Jeremy served as Vice President, Talent Acquisition for idealab!, the world's premier technology business incubator. Jeremy led a global team in the development and delivery of recruiting and staffing, college relations, and executive search services to idealab's network of more than 30 companies. Prior to idealab!, Jeremy served as Director, Talent Acquisition for Amazon.com Holdings in Seattle. He led all talent acquisition and recruiting activities for this high-growth global organization. Jeremy also assumed worldwide human resources responsibilities while acting as Vice President, Strategic Growth. Earlier in his career, Jeremy led the global staffing function for all of Universal Studios and the Universal Music Group businesses as Corporate Director, Workforce Planning & Strategic Staffing. He and his staff provided leadership for worldwide staffing, workforce planning, internal sourcing, college and community organization relations and recruitment, and executive recruitment activities. He also served as Director, Professional Staffing within the Universal Studios Recreation Group, where he developed and led Professional Staffing during a period of exponential growth. This included executive and creative staffing for the Group's Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida theme parks, Universal Creative unit, as well as the Universal Orlando Resort in Florida and Universal Studios Japan expansion project teams. Jeremy was also an original founder of one of the nation's premier boutique retained executive search firms. His early experience comes from Heublein, Inc., The Knott's Organization, and Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Jeremy earned a Bachelor of Science from California State Polytechnic University, and holds certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the Human Resource Certification Institute. Jeremy currently serves as Co-President, At-Large for the International Association of Corporate and Professional Recruitment (IACPR). He is an active member of the Society for Human Resources Management and recently served for last three years on the national Staffing Management special expertise panel. Jeremy is a professional member of the prestigious National Speakers Association (NSA), and the Institute of Management Consultants USA (IMC-USA). A native of Southern California, Jeremy is a member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. Jeremy may be contacted at Jeremy@RivieraAdvisors.com or via telephone at (800) 635-9063. Riviera Advisors is based in Long Beach, California, USA To get a copy of the resources discussed, send an email to: neworleans@rivieraadvisors.com (an automated reply will be sent immediately with the ability to download all referenced resources. Page 11 of 11