Though an easy way to recruit, employing outside and in-house recruiters is generally a poor way for companies to attract top industry talent.  Furthermore, studies indicate that within 12 months of the hire, 60% of all new hires are considered unsatisfactory (all hires, not just those who were introduced by recruiters)Peter Drucker believes it to be

slightly higher at two out of every three new hires.  This doesnt mean these underperforming employees leave the companyit simply means that position is now filled by an unsatisfactory employee.

     Recruiters have an extremely tough job that actually may hinders their ability to recruit the best of the best.  A typical recruiter must:  spend hours locating a vacancy to fill; negotiating the compensation for filling the position; working with the hiring company to understand the stated and implied qualifications for the position; possibly posting the position on various job boards; possibly creating and placing advertising in various media; spending countless hours on the phone searching for someone, anyone with at least the minimum qualifications to meet the positions requirements who would seriously consider moving companies; talking to numerous unqualified, overqualified, under-qualified, or not-interested people he/she has called or who have called them; presenting the candidate or candidates to the company; after finding one or more candidates the company may have an interest in, coordinating interviews, follow-ups, offers, negotiations, preparing the new employee for their first day on the job; following up with the company and candidate to make sure both parties are happy; and it goes on.  And usually not a dime of compensation until the job is filled, with the ever present risk of no compensation at all if they cannot find a suitable candidate.   The in-house recruiters tasks, though slightly less time consuming (they dont have to solicit business), are very similar to an outside recruiters. 

     Based on the above, is it any wonder that the recruiters primary emphasis is to get someone with at least the minimum qualifications to fill that seat as quickly as possible?  Their livelihood depends on their ability to quickly locate a warm, at least minimally qualified person to meet the hiring companys needs.  Simply put, top

talent isnt a priorityonly a bonus.

     Since most recruiters are recruiting for positions they have never personally performed or managed, they must rely on the hiring managers or HRs stated minimum

qualifications exclusively, even though all positions have unspoken or implied qualifications also.  Many, many recruiters are unfamiliar with the major players in the industry, who the top talent for the position is, what expectations a top person in the industry would have of a new position, etc.even if they claim to specialize in that industry.  Many in-house recruiters suffer from the same limitations.  Of course there are recruiters who are the exception and they are worth their weight in gold.

Companies dont need a recruiter, they need a recruiting program

     Recruiting top talent doesnt happen overnight and doesnt come easilyeven for the top companies.  Unless the company is willing to offer a phenomenal package, recruiting the top R&D, marketing, engineering, managerial and executive talent requires building relationships that lead to bringing the individual into the company.  Sometimes, when the employment gods are particularly kind, this process can be almost immediate.  More often, the process requires time and effort.  That is generally where the recruiteroutside and in-house--fail.  Because of the tremendous pressure on their time, they dont have the luxury of developing long-term relationships with top candidates.  Most everyone has received the phone calls from outside and in-house recruiters recruiting for a position.  They inquire as to whether the individual is interested.  No.  Do they know anyone who might be?  No.  The individual never hears from that particular recruiter again, or if they do its months or years later when the recruiter has another opening and they run across the individuals name again.

     Though the common practice, this method of recruiting is terribly inefficient.  The candidates the recruiter generates are the people who are ready to move today, and the

likelihood that top prospects are looking to move today is extremely small.  Companies need a recruiting program in place to capture those top prospects when they are

ready to make the moveand who knows when that will be?  And when they are ready to move will they call?  Without a consistent, effective recruiting program the answer to the last question isprobably not.  And many companies erroneously believe that their reputation, visibility, or size will be sufficient to attract the top talent they need.  Not true. 

What a recruiting program will do

     With the implementation of a consistent, well defined and executed recruitment program, a company will be in a position to attract top talent when that talent is ripe. 

A recruiting program will place the company at the top of the candidates mind when they finally determine the time is right to make a move.  If done properly, a recruiting program will help the candidate make a positive move toward the company before he/she may otherwise have decided to change companies.

     A well constructed recruiting program is a positioning and branding program for prospective employees.  Just as with a companys or a products positioning and branding, a recruiting program creates in the target an awareness of the company, an awareness of the companys interest in them, a positive image in the candidate regarding the company as a potential employer, and the program moves the candidate to thinking about the possibility of putting themselves in a better position by moving to the company (however the candidate would define better position).

     Over a period of time the company can populate its most important positions with the top talent that every company seeks and few can capture.  It requires time, patience, commitment and a well designed program.

Elements of a recruiting program

     A well constructed recruiting program contains 6 elements.  There is, of course, considerable detail to each element that must be customized to each company, but all programs must contain:

     1.  Hiring Manager buy-in

          A recruiting program depends on each hiring manager playing their part.  The success of the program for each team is centered on that teams hiring manager. 

That manager knows exactly what they are looking for in the person to handle a particular position.  Consequently, there isnt anyone more capable to recruit the position.  In any recruiting program the most difficult part is obtaining buy-in to the program from all hiring managers.  Typically, since managers will immediately recognize the initial time element required to establish the program, there will be managers whose participation is less than ideal until they begin to see the results of the program in other areas.

      2.   Identification of top talent

         Identifying the positions where top talent is required and then identifying that talent requires serious thought and research.  Does the company want to hire only the best for every position in the company, from receptionist to CEO?  If so, that should be a goal known throughout the company.  Otherwise, what positions are critical and

require the best in the industry must be identified.  Common areas are engineering, R&D, sales, marketing, financial, executive level positions, and any other specialty positions within the company.  Once those positions have been identified everyone, especially the hiring managers for those positions, of course, should be fully aware of the importance of the position and the positions important and reason for its importance should be in written formatthat which is written becomes more real that that which is only verbalized.  Upon identification of the positions, the

identification of the talent becomes the focus.  Both currently known and unknown talent must be identified. Known talenteasy, the company already knows who

they are.  Unknown talent requires considerable research and some of the best, most cost effective talent is often not the most obvious.

      3.  Initial contact

A crucial step in the process is the initial approach to the prospective employee.  Whether a previously known or unknown prospect, there are a number of considerations that must be taken into account prior to the initial contact.  Gathering as much information about the individual as possible and their current position will aid greatly in making initial contact.  Contact can be made through any number of channelse-mail, the postal service, phone, meeting at an industry function, etc.  However, the initial contact will set the tone for further developing the relationship and for those prospects unfamiliar with the company and often will establish their lasting impression of the companygood or bad.

    4.  Developing the relationship

The program must have a consistent, reliable, and positive follow-up system to stay in contact with and deepen the relationship with the prospect.  Making an initial positive impression with a prospect that makes a move 18 months from now wont help if he or she doesnt remember the company because there wasnt a follow-up program.  It is not uncommon for managers to run across prospects they had contacted only once or twice in the past only to find that the prospect has changed companies and had forgotten about the company after a few months without being contacted again after the initial introduction.  To be effective and workable, the follow-up program must be customized for each hiring managers style, personality, and work habits.  A single, rigid, dictated follow-up system that is not flexible from manager to manager guarantees failure since every manager functions differently and what may work well for one manager may not work well for another.  That manager who is forced to work a system he/she is not comfortable with or that cannot be modified to fit their personality will ultimately refuse to participate.  If done correctly, once the initial talent identification and contact has been made, the time commitment to manage that individuals follow-up program is generally minimal.

     5.  Discover and feed the prospects wants and current dissatisfactions. 

Once initial positive contact has been made, the goal is to discover the prospects wants and what the prospect is dissatisfied with in their current position.  By discovering the prospects area of dissatisfaction and prying on that areaassuming the recruiting company can rectify the issuewhile, at the same time, discovering and feeding the prospects needs, which in most instances will not be money, but rather working conditions, recognition, status, a few inexpensive perks, and other easily met needs, the hiring manager can gently prod a prospect into moving

companies much sooner than the prospect would have moved on their own.

     6.  When the prospect is ready to move

One never knows when their top prospects might be ready to make a change.  At times the prospect will have little warning themselves.  Everyone knows top people who were squeezed out in a merger, who finally got fed up with whatever situation was at their old employer and decided to finally leave on the spur of the moment, or who made a quick change for any number of other reasons.  More than likely a hiring manager would not have known the change was coming until after the candidate had made the decision, but with a properly working recruiting program, the hiring manager will often know even before the prospect realizes it that the prospect is about to make a change.  At times, a prospect the company has developed a relationship with will move specifically because of courting.  Usually, however, other reasons trigger the movethe company just happens to be in the right place at the right time because they made it their goal to do so.  More often than not, once a prospect the company has been building a relationship with decides to move, the hiring and negotiation process moves quickly.  Unlike other hiring arrangements, both parties know one another and have a reasonable idea of what to expect.  This, however, will not eliminate the need for both parties to further evaluate one another.  It simply makes the process go much quicker.  Having developed a broad outline of an offer letter for each position that can be quickly customized for any particular candidate will also expedite the process.  Though the details may be slightly different from one candidate to another, the offers will generally be similar. 

What happens if the company is not ready to hire when the prospect is ready to

move?

          The company still wins.  One typical objection from companies considering developing a recruiting program is that they might not be ready or in a position to hire

when a prospect is ready to move.  The simple answer is that they have had the opportunity to decide IF they want to pursue the prospect.  It puts them in control of the situation rather than relying on the slim possibility that a top talent will be available when they are ready.  Many companies will make internal changes by creating positions,

expanding departments, expanding services, and even creating new businesses and products to accommodate a top talent who became available at a time when they didnt necessarily need that person.  But whether they created a position, replaced an underperforming employee, or passed on the potential hire, they were controlling the situation.

     Developing a recruiting program can, over time, re-create the entire company.  Of course, despite the title of this article, companies wont be able to replace their recruiter overnightcreating a recruiting program and generating the highest quality candidates who are interested in making the move takes time and commitment.  But in time, not only will the company have eliminated the tremendous recruiting costs to attract average or slightly above average talent, but all of their most important positions can be filled with the top talent in the industry.  What would an executive, management, R&D, marketing, and sales team of the best people in the industry mean to a company?  Increased productivity, increased sales, reduced operating and personnel costs, and increased corporate options.  Equally important, the company will have saved thousands, possibly millions, of dollars in recruiting costs (and many times after having developed a strong relationship with a great prospect they will move for fewer dollars than they could demand on the open market)dollars that find their way to the companys bottom-line