Common Problems in Making the Transition
Moving from aiming at the bottom of the organization chart to focusing on the top and the bottom simultaneously is not without its problems. Some of them include:
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Wanting to be strategic is "all hat and no cattle" talk, with no follow-through 9 j# b* p6 m1 F) Y4 I% p
Many managers fail to realize, as Jim Collins states that "Good is the enemy of great" and combined teams can only be good * X- J" ^0 a* ^6 f [* t) N6 @
( a! @: N) W! M$ ]Managers in recruiting won't have the cajonies to divide their current "all-equal" team ! R' l+ e4 g' y5 L
Managers in recruiting won't have the courage to pay more by bonusing the strategic team " H) e' d! V+ E- b% a/ U
Managers in recruiting lack the skill to calculate and then brag about the increased ROI and business impact, as a result of the separation and increased focus
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The VP of HR will have "social work" leanings and will veto any attempt to divide any team within HR - D+ \. M4 q) b |: ^# F+ Z- T& Q6 ?
Recruiting management will not allocate the budget and the number of recruiters to lower the req load of the strategic team to the point where high-touch recruiting can actually take place+ }- Y- ]& |' f* }" a- v R" t
* ^7 E5 V N; w* J5 O$ q: W; F0 V. |Final Thoughts! m5 k: z3 g$ d2 ], S" U. \
In my past I have been a manager, a CEO, and a Chief Talent Officer. In those capacities I found that differentiation was a critical success factor in every aspect of business. I quickly learned that if you treated all customers, suppliers, jobs, or products the same, you will fail. It's just a fact that some products have higher margins, some customers produce more profit and some jobs are critical while most are just important.
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Prioritizing might not seem like a major business initiative to some but not to CEOs. Airline CEOs know that flight attendants are important, but pilots are critical. Oil refinery managers know that truck loaders are important but welders and safety managers are critical. Football coaches know that kickers are important but coaches still focus 75% of their recruiting effort on the skilled mission-critical positions of quarterback, running back, top receiver, and dominant pass rusher. Coaches also realize that recruiting demanding receivers like T.O. and high in demand QB's like Peyton Manning requires special recruiting approaches and focused recruiters. Putting a recruiter that specializes in punters on the same recruiting team with quarterback recruiters would cause both to lose focus and effectiveness.
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; F6 a+ F) q: S D/ e% r/ YDo you want to build your career in recruiting using your advance skills based primarily on hiring "clerks" or instead on hiring high-impact players in key positions, where the visibility and payback are several times higher? The fact is that when the job and the candidate are totally different, nothing but a separate recruiting team can or has ever produced results worthy of appearing in any firm's annual report. By the way… on what page is your recruiting function mentioned in your annual report?
