“None of us are perfect – as for myself, I can hear a candidate recount a recent experience and some of thing sting more than others.”

I meant “and some things sting more than others.”

That’s what I get for typing entirely too fast and editing on the fly :)

I’m not saying this from a “pie in the sky” perspective, meaning I understand that true 1-to-1 communications (ala the too oft-failed CRM promise) and true 1-to-1 recruiting relationships aren’t always possible. Recruiting organizations don’t have the capacity or manpower to “keep every customer 100% satisfied” . . . and frankly, they shouldn’t. That’s why the notion of true Six-Sigma customer satisfaction, not to mention quality, is not only impossible, but not economically feasible. And Six-Sigma recruiting? If anyone tells you they’ve achieved this (or a vendor promises they can help you achieve this), your b.s. radar ought to be going off in a big way :P

Yet the responses I see in regards to this challenge are often tied to ‘improving the process’. Sure, there may be room for process improvement (there almost always is, in fact), but how about an improvement in the operators of the process? I can count multiple instances where companies have become slaves to their own process, thereby losing the ability to throw the entire process away and draw a better one up from scratch on a whiteboard.

For example, have you ever seen a job ad for a Recruiter that notes anything along the lines of a “healthy passion to work with, consult, and guide people, both internal and external to our company?” Nope, we see other requirements like, “must have experience in a high-volume hiring environment.” My question is, can’t both exist? Personally, I think so . . . but it comes down to hiring the right operators and owners of the process itself.

Ok, back to hitting the phones and speaking with people (no, not candidates or ‘process inputs’ . . . ‘people’ just works better for me!) :)

“Undercurrent of disrespect pervading the job seeking experience”

A writer on the Monster Blog has been tracking her own six-month job search through various frustrations, including a recent interview that featured a put down followed by a question of when she could start. So the writer was astonished when:

The very next day, I received a call from the recruiter who told me the firm decided not to proceed with my candidacy because I didn’t have the necessary marketing skills. What a rollercoaster ride that was, to say the least.

The experience that Jane Allerton wrote about for Monster seem all too common in this job market. If this has happened to you find what little comfort comes from not being alone.

Posted By: Tom Abate (Email) | October 22 2009 at 08:30 AM

Listed Under: Jobs

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Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/gettowork/detail?entry_id=49984&o=2&gta=commentslistpos#commentslistpos#ixzz0V4FkabQw

……………..

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Your comments….

-kh

I think there are great companies out there that “get it”; in fact, I am inclined to believe that they are a head of curve. Perhaps the problem is these companies are few, far and in between or maybe not.

We live in an instant society where everything is focused upon mass production and quick results. There’s a notion that the “magical button” will fix our problems. All of a sudden we can bypass hard work, quality and great service to meet the needs of our customers by simply clicking “buy now”.

The problem with this approach is that we’ve lost touch with importance of listening, building relationships, customization, word of mouth and providing reliable service. Somewhere we sacrificed quality for quantity and look at where it’s gotten us… Sadly, we are not willing to listen to the customer because we know best…

Fortunately, one way or another the voice of the customer will be heard.

I recently sent an invite/s (with a thoughtful note/commenting on a recent post) to one of the big 4 social networking sites, to several SR LEVEL Staffing folks (From F100), and within an hour received an acceptance/s and note back..

I always remember the “golden rule” when I engage with people.. “treat others as I want to be treated”

Like attracts Like…. And if the results and cirmcumstances in your personal and professional life are not congruent with your desires, it is time to look in the mirror, and/or stop vomitting on people….

Best,
Brian-

I’d like to believe that (I have a LONG hiring memory), but as Raghav Singh said (http://www.ere.net/2009/10/07/wanted-cash-for-hires/), we may not have to worry about things turning around significantly any time soon. Also, how many ordinary folks have the luxury of deciding between a company that treats them nicely and a company that doesn’t? Finally, when is the last time senior-level staffing people (particularly at prestige employers) were “called on the carpet” for allowing any number of ordinary applicants to have dysfunctional hiring experiences? We may “tsk, tsk” all we like here, but as long as someone has the power, they can treat people almost any way they like.

Keith

Your absolutely right. A company may not have any openings now in this economy, but when things turn around, the people who were slighted, ignored, not responded to, will be hesitant or deaf to out reach from those companies showed them no interest previously.

My article may have been a rant, but I fail to see how disrespecting candidates is putting the business first. No business can be ultimately successfuly if candidates are receiving poor service or are speaking ill of it. My comments are directed only at those who are not serving candidates well. If you are treating them with respect, then you should, of course, not be ashamed.

First I’d like to commend you on being transparent on the challenges you face with managing your recruiting function and secondly I think that you bring valid points to the table that should be discuss.

As you know, by definition recruiters seek out or go after their intended target whereas by contrast a recruiter administrator manages tasks. In regards to this discussion, one of the inherent issues in my mind is how the recruiting process is executed and how it must add value to the candidate experience so that it positions the company positively in the minds of job seekers. Ultimately it must achieve its intended purpose: hire the right person.

While the obstacles you face are not unique to recruitment they represent real challenges for you and many alike. As I read your post three things came to my mind which was: flow management, communication strategies, and the referral process. Based upon your post parts of your process are managing you rather than you managing it.

I believe that in order to effectively recruit you must get ahead of the game. In others words the recruiter must be in the driver seat proactively seeking out talent rather than responding in a reactionary mode.

The question is how do you get to that point? It is through your process. I’ve learned that if something is not working you must step back, look at the steps in your process and determine where the inefficiencies or pain points rest. For example, if you are reduplicating work that’s inefficient. As I noted above perhaps your inefficiencies are: flow management, communication strategies, and the referral process. I would recommend that you and your team look at each of these areas, analyze the procedure, figure out what’s causing the problem with each procedure and develop solutions that require you to think outside of the box.

I could go on and on about how to address these issues but Kevin did a great job of laying out the frame work above and ERE has great articles already written. I would be happy to continue this discussion on a Blog or other communication mediums as this is a fascinating topic.