Bureaucrats are preventing companies from hiring top people. They establish rules that are ill-conceived and detrimental. Recruiters owe it to their companies to challenges this mis-guided thinking.

Recruiters have the obligation to present and get hired the best people possible. If silly, poorly-conceived, and bad rules prevent this from happening they should take a leadership role in geting the bad rules changed.

In my opinion, living with bureaucratic rules allows bureacracy to perpetuate itself.

But that’s just my opinion.

I read this article and I am speachless. Whether you are in sales, engineering, recruiting, there are rules within an organization that define the playing field for which a game is to be played.

While I agree the items you listed can and in some cases do impact the hiring process – pointing fingers does not help our profession.

First, as a recruiting professional, use this list to better understand the organization for which you are entering. Then ask yourself, do the parameters in place allow me to do my best work? Furthermore, does the recruiting leadership in place understand the parameters in place? Have they solutioned their efforts to work with not against those parameters?

Secondly, unless the impact can be identified and measured – it cannot be solved. Technology is getting more sophisticated. Companies such as Cognos, have toolsets that can allow a company to measure what trends are actually going on inside their entire organization. As recruiting professionals we need to begin and embrace skills from other professions (i.e. product development, technology development, project management). We need to be able to identify and document our requirements and communicate a solid business case to drive change.

Our profession is not unique to business challenges and rules that impact productivity. This exists everywhere and for everyone. Instead, we need to learn, teach and problem solve – because the items you listed in your article are real, and they will never fully go away.

Tracey

Once in a While one does have to push the envelope and to make it successful it is in the knowing the who, when and how.

Strong Research, knowing facts and details does not have to make one paranoid, not does it Prevent Creativity in Recruiting. And the Handcuffs can be golden with a lot of flexibility, rather than disabling.

Knowledge does allow one the chance NOT to completely have to disregard protocol when pushing the envelope..

Totally alienating yourself from others or the powers that be Can be dangerous, especially if you love your job.
Sometimes it also helps to remember that it is a small industry and word does get around.

Being Unprepared can get really lonely when you are out there standing on your own and the stuff starts flowing downhill onto Your shoulders.

Information however DOES allow one the ability to have a stronger leg to stand on; Allow one to be aware of the hesitations and negativity that will come from wanting changes in advance and give you the opportunity to present a more persuasive argument.

Knowing your industry provides more answers and yes EVEN flexibility when trying to become creative when recruiting.

Lou is right – be careful who you listen to -some individuals are selling products, some are really uninformed of the Changes in Today’s recruiting society and aren’t aware of new issues that face us each day. Some may just have Ulterior Motives.

Find Mentors – Ask others who are currently and SUCCESSFULY implementing these tools in their work in Today’s Society. And MORE Importantly have been doing it for a LONG time with Positive Results.

If you know someone who lost their job due to these issues (and we all do) – find out what they did wrong, and learn how they could have done it better to avoid it from happening to You!

Some times finding the answer to that question in interviewing candidates becomes more important than what is right in front of you.

Unfortunately many hiring authorities end up not being able to see the forest for the trees.

Does the person have demonstrated success and un-rivaled abilities in the position you look to hire?

Should I hire former Dallas Cowboy’s wide receiver Michael Irvin to handle NFL game analysis or the brodcast journalism major that has a couple fantasy football teams? Michael Irvin has some past baggage and the brodcast major was a straight 4.0 student and has a great track record at a major network.

Your answer to that question determines if you are safe or smart. Many qualified and exceptional candidates deserve a second chance even if the red-tape and background screening is a little less than favorable.

Of course serial killers need not apply, but sometimes the best hires ‘seem’ to be riskiest.

jeremylanghans.com

‘In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled.’ ~ Paul Eldridge