Recruitment Research: A New Way to Find Top Talent
Many HR leaders and hiring managers want what is best for their organization. Prior to the year 2020 starting, a main and common goal was to attract and retain the top talent in their industries. Read this blog post to learn more.
Attracting and retaining top talent was the prevailing crisis for company leaders and HR heading into 2020. That was before a deadly virus wreaked havoc on the nation's economy and the unemployment rate went from a historic low to the highest since the Great Depression. COVID-19 has left millions of Americans out of work, yet some companies are still in a hiring mode. The challenge for hiring managers now is that they must wade through mounds of resumes to find the perfect candidate, and they must do it with a much smaller recruitment budget.
"For many companies, revenues are down, but there are still critical positions to fill," said Kathleen Duffy, president and CEO of Duffy Group, Inc., a global sourcing and recruitment firm based in Phoenix. What may come as a surprise is that some jobs are still tough to fill, she said.
Before the health crisis, companies addressed the talent shortfall by stockpiling high-demand workers with specific skill sets, even if there were no jobs available for them. This included a large percentage of hiring managers—about 77 percent—who hired for positions that did not exist a year earlier, according to research by Korn Ferry.
"Whether in traditional industries such as home health care or technology, or emerging fields like baby tech, CBD products or selfie services, there still don't seem to be enough qualified candidates to go around," Duffy said.
One way to combat the problem is for hiring managers to re-evaluate how they recruit candidates. That means considering approaches beyond adding more in-house recruiters, as well as contracting for retained and contingency searches. One often-overlooked alternative that has emerged in the last decade is recruitment research.
Recruitment Research Defined
An offshoot of the executive search industry, recruitment research is a multistep methodology that targets desired candidates and connects them with employers using a flexible pricing model.
"The process is equal parts detective and skilled salesperson," Duffy said. "It begins with taking a deep dive into the company and its business, and ends with a list of interested, qualified candidates."
At the core of the process is strategy, according to Marcia Mintz, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix. When Mintz was hired to lead the organization four years ago, she had two key positions to fill immediately. "I needed to see a diverse pool of candidates with fundraising and staff coaching experience," she said.
Because the internal environment of Boys & Girls Clubs was changing, it was imperative to find leaders who not only had the skills to do the job, but whose personalities would fit into the new culture. The recruitment team leveraged its network to identify passive candidates at top local competitors and nonprofits in other parts of the nation, Mintz said.
"Ultimately, the process helped us increase the scope and quality of candidates while providing a highly cost-efficient alternative to traditional recruitment," she said.
The Building Blocks
Part art and part science, recruitment research entails some key steps. The foundation is a sourcing strategy, which includes an in-depth situation assessment to understand the culture and personality of the hiring company, along with the job's requirements, responsibilities and specific skill set needed. Using a comprehensive intake form, the recruitment team collects data about the company's recruiting targets, geographic preferences, salary and compensation levels, communication expectations, and industry-specific vernacular.
Next comes name generation. Armed with information from the hiring manager and others, the recruiter can identify candidates whose backgrounds, education and experiences dovetail with their company's needs. This is accomplished using a variety of methods, from cold-calling and Internet tools to probing professional organizations, trade shows and chambers of commerce. The goal is to find not only people who are looking for new careers but also those passive candidates who may not be looking at all.
"It's important to think outside of the box," said Victoria McCoy, former executive vice president of organizational strategy at the global information technology company Cyberscout in Cranston, R.I. "That means knowing where the best talent is working today, whether it is at one of your competitors or in another role at your company."
List in hand, the recruitment team is then ready to contact and prequalify candidates as part of the recruitment candidate vetting. Duffy said it is important to create sizzle around why potential hires should consider the opportunity. "In addition to courting the candidate, this is also the time to ask some all-important questions, including their interest in relocating to a particular area, if they have the right education and experience, and if they have a genuine interest in the job the client is trying to fill," she said.
Duffy's firm may search as many as 100 candidates for one position and then present the top three to five most qualified and fully screened candidates for interviews. These candidates are typically seen within 15 days of the start of the search. That's important, given that recruitment research takes a different approach to finding top talent, using a model based on billable hours, much like a CPA or an attorney.
The final step—presentation and reporting—gives hiring leaders a recap of the results and a database of all candidates for the open position that they can keep on hand for future searches.
Recruitment research isn't limited to outside recruitment firms. Internal company hiring managers have the institutional knowledge to use recruitment research effectively as well.
"They should apply the same elements of the process, starting by learning all they can about the company or the business unit for which they are hiring," Duffy said. "And they should put themselves in the candidate's shoes to create a story that will pique interest in the position and differentiate their company from competitors."
Whether internally, externally or as a collaboration, recruitment research can be a cost-effective, efficient approach to helping companies find their next new hire.
SOURCE: Magruder, J. (01 July 2020) "Recruitment Research: A New Way to Find Top Talent" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/recruitment-research-a-new-way-to-find-top-talent.aspx
Common interview answers can say a lot about potential employees
Interviews can be stressful, long and overwhelming but the process can represent the first impression of a potential employee and can illustrate how they might communicate with colleagues and clients. The interview process can allow recruiters to get an understanding of who the candidate is. Continue reading this blog post to learn more about how common interview questions can show a lot about potential candidates.
The interview process is stressful for everyone involved. Employers are eager to get candidates through the door and candidates are overwhelmed about giving the perfect interview. Hiring managers should always consider a candidate’s past experience and expertise when looking to fill a position. However, looking closer at the way candidates approach basic interview questions can also provide valuable insight.
Sometimes, answers to the most common interview questions provide recruiters with the knowledge needed to get a clear understanding of who a candidate is. Although simple on the surface, when asking questions like, “tell me about yourself” and “why do you want to work here,” you are gaining important knowledge on how well a candidate will communicate with other employees and clients. It can also reveal their ability to take feedback and apply it, and how prepared they are for the interview.
“Tell me about yourself.”
Although this request is commonly used as an icebreaker, it is crucial to the interview and screening process. This is the candidate’s chance to give you a quick, comprehensive look into who they are as a person and a professional. Since this is such a popular, and expected, question in interviews, candidates should be prepared to provide a memorable, concise answer without feeling the need to ramble.
Look for a healthy blend of information on a candidate’s personal life, professional journey and some background information. Depending on the position and person, a good answer can include whether or not a candidate moved a lot growing up, classes they took in college that are relevant to the job they are applying for, or a little about their work history and personal life. When done correctly, a candidate will leave you with something to remember them by. At the same time, an effective answer also includes a candidate’s motivations and where they see their career long term.
“What is your biggest weakness?”
This question is notorious for prompting insincere and generic responses such as, “I’m always working late,” instead of giving an actual answer. Rather than accepting watered-down responses like these, challenge candidates to elaborate by pushing them out of their comfort zone.
Take the “working late” example – this response could indicate a time management issue, and it gives you an opportunity to question why they were unable to complete tasks during their allotted time. Use this to gauge whether or not the candidate is qualified for a particular position, and allow them to expand on how they plan to keep improving.
When discussing the biggest weakness, look for answers that reveal if they recognize their professional flaws, if they are working to improve and if they can take feedback from managers. It is key to seek out candidates who are willing to improve and achieve continuous growth.
“What would your previous manager say about you?”
An effective answer to this question should always go beyond “they loved me” – it should include a combination of honesty, vulnerability and directness.
If a candidate is having a hard time answering this question, ask them to simply summarize the feedback of their previous manager, which should include both positive and realistic points. For instance, an ideal response explores the areas where the candidate needed additional coaching, where they had the biggest opportunity to learn and what would have made their manager most proud.
“Do you have any questions for me?”
This is a classic interview-closer, but it is also yet another opportunity to see how prepared the candidate is for the interview and how interested they are in the job. Candidates who come prepared with a list of questions show that they have done their homework and have a genuine interest in learning more.
At the same time, you also want someone who has been engaged during the interview and is able to adapt. If they have questions on their list that have been answered during the interview, they should still go through them and refer to the previously discussed answer. Questions referencing specific aspects of the company, such as something they found in their research, also show that a candidate isn’t taking the same questions to every interview.
Although a normal process for most interviews, simple and common questions can tell a lot about a person and how they carry themselves in unique situations. In addition to other attributes (experience, professionalism, etc.), looking at how candidates respond to these go-to questions can give hiring managers great insight into what they can offer to the company.
SOURCE: Blanco, M. (25 February 2020) "Common interview answers can say a lot about potential employees" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/opinion/common-interview-answers-can-say-a-lot-about-potential-employees
Gen Z likes social media, but they don't want to hear from recruiters there
While Generation Z believes social media presence is important to their professional brand, it doesn't mean that they want recruiters reaching out to them through those channels. Read this blog post from HR Dive for more on recruiting via social media channels.
Dive Brief:
- Members of Generation Z believe a personal social media presence is important to their professional brand — but they still don't want to hear from recruiters through those channels, respondents to a Tallo survey said.
- The results, released Dec. 10, revealed that Gen Z (defined as individuals born after 1996) favors traditional platforms like email (87%) or professional social platforms, such as LinkedIn (63%).
- "Generation Z places significant emphasis on how they portray themselves to the world, as their self-expression is now a form of social currency, and that includes the way they think about future career opportunities," Casey Welch, CEO of Tallo, said in a press release. "By better understanding how and where Generation Z is building — and distinguishing — their personal and professional brands, companies and colleges can more easily connect with them to fuel the future of work."
Dive Insight:
While experts caution talent professionals against age-based stereotyping, it's worth noting that candidates' perceptions of recruiting processes matter.
A good candidate experience — one that involves strong communication, clear expectations and honest feedback — is worth the effort, research shows. Employers and job seekers don't always see eye-to-eye on other factors, but sourcing efforts appear to be a good starting place. Similar to Tallo's findings, a recent Randstad Sourceright study found that while talent leaders said they go to Facebook before LinkedIn to connect with job seekers, candidates tend to prefer to connect elsewhere, including LinkedIn.
And a failure to recognize candidate preferences can have a damaging effect. Nearly half of job seekers in a recent PwC survey said they have turned down an offer because of a bad candidate experience — and even more, said they'd discourage others from applying for a job with a company with which they had a poor experience.
SOURCE: Bolden-Barrett, V. (13 December 2019) "Gen Z likes social media, but they don't want to hear from recruiters there" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.hrdive.com/news/gen-z-likes-social-media-but-they-dont-want-to-hear-from-recruiters-there/568942/
