The following article is part of a recent submission to an Industry Blog, the basic premise also applies to every aspect of the business irrespective of the niche or vertical you are in. Please enjoy and if you have any thoughts, comments or just plainly disagree, contact me and we can discuss things over a friendly cup of Java or Tea...
If our customers are confused about who does what, how, why and who for! Can we blame them? – No! then who is to blame? Answer - Every single person involved directly or indirectly in the talent management process…
Whether you are a business and your role is in; Administration, Finance, HR, IT, Logistics, Materials, Operations, Planning, etc, etc…if your role influences or is the talent/hiring decision maker – you must ensure that confusion is removed [ideally] or minimized from the talent process. Or, If you are the person seeking an opportunity...YOU are the ONE person who must remove confusion from the process by clearly knowing what, where, when, how [much] and why.
And where does the 3rd party HR service fit in this? Pretty obvious even for me [a gamekeeper turned poacher or engineer turned people person], EVERYWHERE and at EVERY level. Whether you are a researcher, name sourcer, staffer, career councilor, recruiter, headhunter, coach, etc…[to many different titles for me to list here – but you get the picture] YOU must ensure that lines of communications are open and clear, expectations are outlined and agreed upon, deliverables are realistic and achievable, and finally YOU execute and bring real value to what you offer and provide. Adopt a ‘Facilitator’ mentality and all will win.
So with this in mind: Who are the Customers? This falls into two main categories:
- Businesses looking for people to add ROI
- People looking for businesses to join to add ROI
The role of ‘Recruitment’ in the process of satisfying both categories is the same, just different questions need answering. Think about it:
þ “Client – What is the one attribute the ideal candidate would bring to the table to make you say – ‘Wow! This person is great’?”
Now, lets look at the other side:
þ “Candidate – In one sentence, describe the greatest value you would bring to the opportunity and company?”
Looking at the questions, both appear fair, of equal value and both parties have the pre-information to answer!...or do they? Aren’t we guilty of non-disclosure of all information to the candidate, whilst conveying all and everything possible to the business, to push to close the presentation phase of the search and move to the interview phase, what is the expression I hear from the volume staffing industry – ‘Work closes to the Dollar!’ Anyone else think this sounds familiar…
With the plethora of practitioners’ in the ‘Recruitment’ industry, businesses need to be made aware and educated on the VALUE and ROI of services provided, and how to differentiate between them. Maybe those of us that actually deal with the people ‘face-to face’ should be given the title of ‘TALENT FACILITATOR’! Whilst those [3rd parties or internal resources] who data mine, name generate, job-board browse, post-n-pray, etc…should be called something else…I am open to any suggestions or ideas! – One of my colleagues suggested ‘Fast Serve Facilitator’ because they take a fixed menu approach to every customer.
So WHAT IS A FACILITATOR?
A facilitator is someone who uses knowledge and market intelligence, plus the related processes to formulate and deliver the needed structure and deliverables for maximum meeting interactions to be effective and beneficial. The facilitator focuses on effective process dynamics to allow ensure ALL participants focus on the deliverables.
The Facilitator’s role is unique, although no more or less important than any of the other participants, since their primary focus is on the processes. Facilitation can involve many different levels of knowledge and skill, can include work on all kinds of problems and challenges, can assist the group in fulfilling its desire, or can include pushing all participants to new levels of understanding, communication and decision making. Most importantly, however, facilitation includes both an ability to recognize what effective processes are needed and an ability to provide those [recruitment] processes.
To be recognized as a Facilitator, you not only need to understand the role [of], but also the basic processes involved for each and every event, no two are alike, just as no two people are alike – even with identical twins.
Those who are in a leadership role and who have ‘facilitators’ under their guidance must never assume that basic practices and principles are retained and applied, reminders to refresh continuously, irrespective of how long you have been in the industry/profession is key.
The process - Recruitment Process Mapping or RPM has nothing to do with speed [this is the engineer in me coming out and I apologise for the referenceJ] unless you are in the volume market place then you are not a Talent Facilitator – think fast food!
Outline of Recruitment Process Mapping (RPM)
This is a tool used to accomplish a holistic view and consider the complete result. Results which meet the whole requirement, not just a silo-mentality view of the requirement. By applying structured [recruitment] process mapping analysis, there is a greatly enhanced opportunity for all parties, with vested interest in a successful outcome, will ‘by in’ and support the ‘facilitator’ and agreed upon actions.
The 4 Main Steps of RPM
þ Process identification - attaining a full understanding of all the steps of a process.
þ Information gathering - identifying objectives, risks, and control points in a process.
þ Interviewing and mapping - understanding the point of view of individuals in the process and designing actual maps
þ Analysis - utilizing tools and approaches to make the process run more effectively and efficiently
For all who find themselves involved in the process of ‘recruitment’ please focus on why we are doing it, and remove the mentality of ‘What is in it for ME!’. This is all about ‘Topgrading’ and ‘Best Practices’ for all customers.
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