Presentation to National Association of Executive Recruiters by Murray Parker
History | Change | Relationships | Planning | Contribution
History
For decades, experienced recruitment has been largely an "after the fact" or tactical function that engages the recruiting process only after a position is open (vacated by the incumbent or created by new growth) and a requisition is approved.
Even when there is forewarning such as a pre-announced retirement, recruitment is still typically conducted on a reactive or ASAP basis.
Ask yourself what other business function could survive on an "after the fact" basis.
- What manufacturing operation could remain viable if it waited until raw materials had run out before sourcing potential suppliers and ordering new stock?
- What capital project manager would wait until the facility was built before specifying and ordering the manufacturing machinery?
Yet even today, in spite of the Internet and widespread application of business software systems, requisitions are still approved and position descriptions are finalized after the role is vacant!
In the words of David Lefkow, Interactive Solutions Consultant, TMP :
The reactionary recruiting model is still alive and well in corporate America! The old ways of doing business - ‘Get a job, post it in the newspaper, watch the resumes pour in’- has merely been changed to, ‘Get a job, post it online, watch the resumes pour in.’
Job posting results speak for themselves. As reported by The Wall Street Journal in 2002, Monster had the best hire-per-posting ratio, and that was a whopping 1.4%.
Strategic behavior has been largely absent from the recruiting scene with one notable exception, entry-level college recruiting. Some employers have been willing to fill their pipeline with new hires even though there is no demand from their organizations. They anticipate that, like the marathon runner who fails to preload his diet and drops out at mile 20, a shortage of talent at some future time could impair their ability to meet business plan. So they hire in anticipation of need . . . strategically.
Let's examine why a growing number of organizations are beginning to think more strategically for their experienced professionals and top executive hiring as well.
next . . . Change