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"When
I need a heart by-pass, rest assured I won't select my surgeon
based on what he charges." That's what an ailing executive recently
opined when his doctor informed him of his arterial blockage problems.
Why
then are corporate executives so tightfisted when dealing with
what is so commonly considered the "lifeblood" of their companies…top-talent?
Companies think very little about paying the high fees charged
by outside accounting and legal firms…or even the gaggle of consultants
who promise cost-cutting and streamlining miracles in other areas.
Yet, when faced with brain drains, talent deficiencies, or the
need to replace one employee with another, thoughts all too often
turn to parsimony.
This
K-mart mentality belies and contradicts the corporation's stated
objective of "hire the best" -- especially at pecking order levels
below the "big picture" executive suite. So
why are recruiters worth what they charge? Just a few of the often
unspoken reasons follow below:
Expertise
- Nobody knows the employment marketplace better than a professional
recruiter…nobody! In-house human resources, no matter how effective
(or Internet-savvy), views the marketplace through an imperfect
prism, and tunnel vision is a frequent occupational hazard. In-house
professionals are vulnerable to the pressures of internal politics
and cultural dimensions -- factors which do not hinder the outsider.
Cast
a wider net - A professional fisherman will always
have a greater selection than a weekend angler. Recruiters are
in the marketplace day-in and day-out. They know the unfished
coves, reefs, and inlets, including the unlisted addresses inaccessible
to company insiders. Professional recruiters have a detailed roadmap
to the hidden talent sources that can not be accessed through
newspaper ads, alumni associations, applicant databases, or the
Internet. An occasional pearl can surface through these sources,
(and someone inevitably wins the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes
too), but you have to shuck an awful lot of smelly oysters to
find them. Recruiters provide you oysters proven to contain pearls.
Your only job is to determine which pearl is the finest. Want
to catch what you're fishing for? Hire a guide!
Cost
- There is a misconception among employers that the cost of a
hire equals the cost of the ad or posting run to attract the person
hired. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just add up the
following and you'll soon see just how cost effective an outside
recruiter can be:
- Salaries
and benefits of the in-house hiring staff, plus those of the
line managers involved in the hiring activity -- people not
productive in their normal job pursuits because they're out
recruiting.
- Travel,
lodging, and entertainment expenses of in-house personnel.
- Source
development costs.
- Overhead
expenses including, but not limited to, telephone, office space,
postage, PR literature, applicant database maintenance, website
costs, reference checking, and clerical costs to correspond
with the hundreds of unqualified respondents and more.
Reality
- Contrary
to what some believe, recruiters do not try to fit square pegs
into round holes. A recruiter's stock-in-trade is his or her integrity
and reputation for finding someone better than a company could
find on its own. The
candidate selection process is not, as some believe, a matter
of romping through the file cabinets or vetting an opening among
others in the recruiter's network. For a mid- to senior-level
executive, the average recruiter may develop a "long list" of
a hundred or more possibilities. Each candidate must be called
and evaluated against the position's specifications, including
screening for personality "fit" with the company and the people
with whom the candidate will ultimately work. Once the list is
winnowed down to the "short list," an even more intensive interviewing
process is commenced to narrow the search to a panel of finalists
for review by the client.
It is highly unlikely that a professional recruiter will plow
new ground to fill your opening. Recruiters deal within spheres
of influence relevant to your needs. Because they want to do business
with you again and again, outside recruiters are looking for the
"truly exceptional" rather than someone who is "just satisfactory."
Confidentiality
- Working with an outside recruiter can help keep your search
confidential. Advertising or otherwise publicly proclaiming an
opening, (aside from its high cost and demonstrated ineffectiveness
for sensitive senior level openings), often creates anxiety and
apprehension among the company's current employees. People often
wonder why they aren't being considered for the position, or worry
about transition challenges. Furthermore, advertising can alert
competitors to a current weakness or void in an organization.
Speed
- Using a search professional who is continually tapped into the
talent market is faster than one having to start the process from
scratch. For every day that a key opening goes unfilled, a company's
other employees must grudgingly do double duty. Productivity and
efficiency are reduced. This is not to mention the profit opportunities
or competitive advantages lost because a position remains unfilled
or is performed on a part-time basis by others less qualified.
Post-Hire
Downtime - Not only is speed an essential part of the
professional recruiter's job, the ability to locate a person who
can immediately "hit the ground running" with a minimum of "ramp-up
time" is also desirable. The learning curve is greater for hires
selected through less effective resources; potentially requiring
several months of expensive training and orientation to bring
up to par.
Unbiased
Third-Party Input - A professional recruiter's primary
function is not to fill a slot, but to provide the right candidate
to solve a problem. Professional recruiters are often fast to
recognize misconceptions about salary requirements, job qualifications,
or the possibility that the hiring solution might lie in areas
outside the target industry…factors an internal recruiter might
either be unaware of or politically disinclined to reveal.
Negotiation
- Master negotiator Herb Cohen once said, "Negotiation is the
analysis of information, time, and power to affect behavior…the
meeting of needs (yours and others') to make things happen the
way you want them to." As a buffer and informed intermediary,
the professional recruiter is better able to blend the needs and
wants of both parties. Professional recruiters help companies
arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement without the polarizing
roadblocks which all too frequently materialize in face-to-face
dealings, especially in today's "show me the money" economy.
Prioritizing
Company Resources - It is often perplexing to see how
a company squanders revenue on non-productive perks while penny-pinching
on what its lifeblood…talent acquisition. Club memberships and
the like may be fine, but no one really believes that these expenditures
contribute to a company's profit margin. On the other hand, one
well-placed employee can send a company's profits skyrocketing.
The fee for hiring talented individuals pales in significance
when compared to the contributions he or she can make to the bottom
line.
The
next time you think a recruiter's fees are too high, put them
in the proper perspective before seeking out that blue light special
or spinning your wheels trying to fill vital openings with less
effective (but not necessarily less expensive) pedestrian methods.
Enlightened executives learned long ago that the fee paid to a
recruiter is a shrewd strategic investment, not an extraneous
expense.
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