Why is recruitment always the sitting target?

You’d think I’d be used to it after so many years, yet it still makes me flinch when I hear those three little words, “recruitment is broken”.  What’s the alternative?  Well, for starters those of us who have devoted our time to getting it right need a little more consideration.  And I say consideration rather than praise or acknowledgement.  In this context, for me consideration is all about careful or critical evaluation.  You’d think I’d know better although I’m still at a loss to understand exactly why so many people jump on the “it’s broken” bandwagon.  Especially when so much of what is wrong isn’t recruitment.  It’s often reward strategy, organisation or job design and “time” (or lack of it).

Drawing on my own experiences I’m happy to be known as the recruiter, although my passion and skillset are so much broader.  I opted for a resourcing HR specialism “early doors”.  I was attracted by the variety of not only attracting and evaluating talented people to join an organisation but also how those talents were deployed or transformed.  So, for me, resourcing is also about understanding organisation culture and design.  Or at least, helping colleagues to better understand the type of organisation they aspire to create or sustain.  And to do this there needs to be tacit understanding of individual and organisational values as well as goals.

Having read the above paragraph, you may be wondering why I’ve gone off-piste already and veered away from recruitment.  Let me explain and see what you think.  I wanted to set the context for recruitment and introduce the notion that it’s not just about filling gaps any which way!  It’s filling the right vacancies with the right people.  Vacancies which are carefully designed and practical.  People who are clear on the expectations and candidates who are treated respectfully.

So, what’s so difficult and why does recruitment endure colleagues’ anguish and criticism?  And why does everyone appear to wade in?  I often find myself launching into forensic questioning.  Asking questions about what exactly is the problem?  Looking to better understand which aspect of recruitment seems to be failing.  And how much of that is about recruitment, rather than potential rewards or job sustainability?  What is the level of potential investment available?  What are the skill levels and strengths of those colleagues trying to get it right?

All too often recruiting managers seek to delegate their accountabilities to the closest “sitting target” and that’s often a centralised recruitment function or a third party (recruitment service provider).  Why am I being so brutal?  It’s because I’ve been on the receiving end of unrealistic criticism.  The reality is that to make improvements, we need to define the challenge with accuracy.  All too often, I’m invited to “put recruitment back together” or to “get recruitment working again”.  And then there are the colleagues whose CVs boast at least one recruitment review.  Yet seldom do I come across brilliantly defined roles, processes that work or colleagues who understand the recruitment landscape.  Easy to review or criticise, so much harder to describe the root cause.

My harshness is borne out of frequent “buck-passing” and flawed knowledge about how long it takes to do it properly.  Oh, and don’t forget to add a distinct lack of regard for recruitment service providers.  Ill-defined roles and expectations, inappropriate rewards and shabby processes are just a half dozen of the myriad of recruitment trap doors.  There are so many more – systems which don’t converse, unrealistic timelines, fear and terror (the CEO, the COO or the Board has spoken), ridiculous assessment processes, incompetent interviewers or ill-conceived (rubbish) and repetitive interview questions.

I could go on, but I don’t want to bore!  Recruitment needs to happen when resources are most needed.  It’s an emotional time – someone left (it doesn’t matter whether they needed to, or not) and increased service provision (and increased workload) need more resources.  And recruiters simply need easy access to good, correct and timely information, right?  So, in the words of Cruella de Vil, “Is that so difficult?” and I guess that’s the million pound question!

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to write in a little more detail about some familiar recruitment trap doors and how to avoid them … or at least climb out once you’ve fallen into the hole.  I’d be pleased to hear about your trap doors.  Why not grab a cuppa and Let’s talk