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Do recruitment services have an advantage?
Hints in Human Resources Ramona Pulce
Do Recruitment Services Have an Advantage? Not surprisingly, organizations spend considerable amounts of money recruiting staff each year. What is surprising is that they spend even more money training recruits who, from the beginning, are not a good match for employment within the company. In fact, statistics show that approximately one-third of those selected for open positions eventually are regarded as wrong choices by the employer. However, when companies use recruitment services, studies indicate they are not as likely to employ unqualified persons because they were required by the recruitment service to specify and clearly define the skills and competencies needed in a successful candidate for the position. Obviously then, employers make some common mistakes when managing their own recruitment process and selecting candidates for a job. These generally fall into the following categories:
Inadequate specification of needs Often a company has a vacancy because someone has resigned his position, or perhaps a new position has been created. In either scenario it is not uncommon for the employer to be unsure about specific hiring needs. Often, the reason is 2-fold: employees rarely perform responsibilities specifically as described by their job descriptions, and operational managers (who are not recruitment specialists) frequently lack the ability to communicate their real needs. They know what tasks they want accomplished, yet they are unable to verbalize and describe the skills and competencies that represent the best skill mix for the job. Sometimes they even may have a limited view of who would best fit the job and what job skills they need.
Belief that professional recruiters are unnecessary Professional recruitment companies often provide services that might not be considered by the client/employer. The best recruitment companies attract the best candidates because they know the markets and the 8 Nurse Leader
options. They can help throughout the entire process.
Desire for the impossible Another common pitfall is the employer who is not familiar with the candidate pool. Employers in that situation tend to want a particular skill/experience mix or unusual qualifications. It may be that the last person who held the position was the 1 in a million whose skills profile had been taken for granted. The key objective is to find people who can rapidly grow into roles and niches they may not have fit before. They bring something new and innovative that had not been thought of before.
Failure to stay focused on need Time and again, people become easily distracted in the selection process. This inattention occurs in a variety of ways. One candidate has skills that are not particularly important to the job but could be useful in a different role. Another scenario might be that a candidate comes from a competitor and may have useful information. Unless there are very persuasive reasons not to, the employer should adhere to the prescribed agenda. Even at that, he or she should bear in mind that a different job specification would have yielded a different group of candidates.
Poor selection from among the possible candidates There are a number of possible reasons why companies go awry in choosing the most appropriate candidate put before them. They range from unstructured or unprofessional interviewing methods to allowing prejudices to obscure their judgment. In some cases the employer could not be persuaded even to interview the best candidates.
Hiring decision based on what is familiar as opposed to what is best Not surprisingly, people like the predictability of choosing candidates who are like them. People prefer having a job perFebruary 2004
formed with a certain style, in a particular manner, or perhaps for no other reason than it is the way they are accustomed to seeing it done. Obviously this is not efficient. Certainly this comfort zone is a hazardous place for performance, responsiveness, and innovation in business.
Recruiter Advantages Many advantages can be gained by hiring a recruiter:
Qualified and unbiased viewpoint No one is more qualified to find and place candidates than a recruiter. Recruiters have connections to uncharted candidate pools that cannot be reached through traditional approaches like the newspaper and Internet. They know the marketplace and view it with an unbiased eye. A good recruiter is not subject to internal pressures and politics like a human resources representative within an organization.
Savings in cost and time Many employers think the cost of a recruiter is extremely high compared with the cost of running an ad and ushering a candidate through their internal hiring process. This scenario is not the case. Careful consideration of the costs proves that the expense is surprisingly parallel, and in some cases, hiring a recruiter who can place an indispensable employee is much more cost effective compared with a an inappropriate match who later is fired, commencing the entire hiring cycle all over again.
A professional interest Recruiting specialists are motivated to find the absolute best match in a candidate for your organization. Their integrity and success is at stake. Their main motivation is to place the correct candidate, not just fill the position with a warm body. They want to answer the organization’s needs and ensure they will be February 2004
entrusted with future placements at the organization.
Efficiency The time spent without someone in a position will be minimal, staving off the need to assign projects to other employees who may not be qualified. A professional recruiter generally places a candidate much more quickly. In addition, the candidate will possess the skill sets that will minimize training or ramp-up time.
Confidentiality Employing a professional recruiter can keep the hiring process under wraps, which protects employee morale. Employees will not have the opportunity to wonder why they are not being considered for the position. Confidentiality also wards off competitors’ knowledge of the opening, thus protecting the company from rumors of weakness.
Negotiation Skills Negotiation truly is an art that professional recruiters practice constantly. They do not think they have succeeded unless a win-win situation is attained. As a result of the satisfaction of all parties involved, the probability is higher that the placement will be a success. Although organizations frequently appear to have a life of their own, they nonetheless are a collection of acquired talent. It is essential to approach your hiring practice with reverence. Taking inventory of your organization’s financial resources and allocating them to accommodate the addition of a professional recruiter’s services is a prudent business decision that can benefit your organization for years to come. Ramona Pulce is the human resources director of Nashville General Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. She can be reached at [email protected]. Copyright 2004 by Mosby, Inc. 1067-991X/2004/$30.00 + 0 10.1016/j.mnl.2003.11.006
Nurse Leader 9
Do Recruitment Services Have an Advantage? Not surprisingly, organizations spend considerable amounts of money recruiting staff each year. What is surprising is that they spend even more money training recruits who, from the beginning, are not a good match for employment within the company. In fact, statistics show that approximately one-third of those selected for open positions eventually are regarded as wrong choices by the employer. However, when companies use recruitment services, studies indicate they are not as likely to employ unqualified persons because they were required by the recruitment service to specify and clearly define the skills and competencies needed in a successful candidate for the position. Obviously then, employers make some common mistakes when managing their own recruitment process and selecting candidates for a job. These generally fall into the following categories:
Inadequate specification of needs Often a company has a vacancy because someone has resigned his position, or perhaps a new position has been created. In either scenario it is not uncommon for the employer to be unsure about specific hiring needs. Often, the reason is 2-fold: employees rarely perform responsibilities specifically as described by their job descriptions, and operational managers (who are not recruitment specialists) frequently lack the ability to communicate their real needs. They know what tasks they want accomplished, yet they are unable to verbalize and describe the skills and competencies that represent the best skill mix for the job. Sometimes they even may have a limited view of who would best fit the job and what job skills they need.
Belief that professional recruiters are unnecessary Professional recruitment companies often provide services that might not be considered by the client/employer. The best recruitment companies attract the best candidates because they know the markets and the 8 Nurse Leader
options. They can help throughout the entire process.
Desire for the impossible Another common pitfall is the employer who is not familiar with the candidate pool. Employers in that situation tend to want a particular skill/experience mix or unusual qualifications. It may be that the last person who held the position was the 1 in a million whose skills profile had been taken for granted. The key objective is to find people who can rapidly grow into roles and niches they may not have fit before. They bring something new and innovative that had not been thought of before.
Failure to stay focused on need Time and again, people become easily distracted in the selection process. This inattention occurs in a variety of ways. One candidate has skills that are not particularly important to the job but could be useful in a different role. Another scenario might be that a candidate comes from a competitor and may have useful information. Unless there are very persuasive reasons not to, the employer should adhere to the prescribed agenda. Even at that, he or she should bear in mind that a different job specification would have yielded a different group of candidates.
Poor selection from among the possible candidates There are a number of possible reasons why companies go awry in choosing the most appropriate candidate put before them. They range from unstructured or unprofessional interviewing methods to allowing prejudices to obscure their judgment. In some cases the employer could not be persuaded even to interview the best candidates.
Hiring decision based on what is familiar as opposed to what is best Not surprisingly, people like the predictability of choosing candidates who are like them. People prefer having a job perFebruary 2004
formed with a certain style, in a particular manner, or perhaps for no other reason than it is the way they are accustomed to seeing it done. Obviously this is not efficient. Certainly this comfort zone is a hazardous place for performance, responsiveness, and innovation in business.
Recruiter Advantages Many advantages can be gained by hiring a recruiter:
Qualified and unbiased viewpoint No one is more qualified to find and place candidates than a recruiter. Recruiters have connections to uncharted candidate pools that cannot be reached through traditional approaches like the newspaper and Internet. They know the marketplace and view it with an unbiased eye. A good recruiter is not subject to internal pressures and politics like a human resources representative within an organization.
Savings in cost and time Many employers think the cost of a recruiter is extremely high compared with the cost of running an ad and ushering a candidate through their internal hiring process. This scenario is not the case. Careful consideration of the costs proves that the expense is surprisingly parallel, and in some cases, hiring a recruiter who can place an indispensable employee is much more cost effective compared with a an inappropriate match who later is fired, commencing the entire hiring cycle all over again.
A professional interest Recruiting specialists are motivated to find the absolute best match in a candidate for your organization. Their integrity and success is at stake. Their main motivation is to place the correct candidate, not just fill the position with a warm body. They want to answer the organization’s needs and ensure they will be February 2004
entrusted with future placements at the organization.
Efficiency The time spent without someone in a position will be minimal, staving off the need to assign projects to other employees who may not be qualified. A professional recruiter generally places a candidate much more quickly. In addition, the candidate will possess the skill sets that will minimize training or ramp-up time.
Confidentiality Employing a professional recruiter can keep the hiring process under wraps, which protects employee morale. Employees will not have the opportunity to wonder why they are not being considered for the position. Confidentiality also wards off competitors’ knowledge of the opening, thus protecting the company from rumors of weakness.
Negotiation Skills Negotiation truly is an art that professional recruiters practice constantly. They do not think they have succeeded unless a win-win situation is attained. As a result of the satisfaction of all parties involved, the probability is higher that the placement will be a success. Although organizations frequently appear to have a life of their own, they nonetheless are a collection of acquired talent. It is essential to approach your hiring practice with reverence. Taking inventory of your organization’s financial resources and allocating them to accommodate the addition of a professional recruiter’s services is a prudent business decision that can benefit your organization for years to come. Ramona Pulce is the human resources director of Nashville General Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. She can be reached at [email protected]. Copyright 2004 by Mosby, Inc. 1067-991X/2004/$30.00 + 0 10.1016/j.mnl.2003.11.006
Nurse Leader 9