Whether
you’re a recruiter for a large or a small organization, it’s critical to keep
up with the latest best practices, approaches and strategies. Through the ER
Excellence Awards, ER Expos, and other niche events, ERE staffers and
columnists help identify and share the leading-edge best practices in
recruiting. Last week, more than 700 recruiting professionals descended upon
sunny San Diego for ERE’s West Coast expo, an event that has become the
pinnacle meeting point for the best and brightest of the profession. The event
kicked off with several pre-conference workshops and the ERE awards dinner and
ceremony, which showcased a number of organizations breaking new
ground and radically redefining what strategic staffing means. As the
conference chairman and a judge in the awards review process, I am privileged
to be able to share with you some of the very best practices worthy of
emulating. In keeping with the structure of the awards, the best practices are
presented below, categorized by the award which recognizes them.
Recruiting
Leader of the Year, Best Use of Metrics, and Best Recruiting Process: Dan
Hilbert, Valero Energy
What
Dan Hilbert and his team at Valero Energy have accomplished will forever change
the strategic options that recruiting directors must consider. They have
developed what may be the world’s most strategic staffing approach, one that
emphasizes using metrics to refine “talent pipelines” to produce a talent
supply chain. Leveraging technology, advanced analytics, and process
design/integration, Valero has built a talent supply chain that is virtually
automated and proactive. It is clearly the most business-like recruiting
approach anywhere and Hilbert is a courageous leader to even attempt it. Best
practices include:
·
Predictive
labor needs system. Algorithms analyze historical data that is combined with
data on planned capital projects to predict future talent needs as far as three
years’ out.
·
Automated
sourcing. Labor needs are automatically communicated to defined sources (both
internal and external) based on each individual source’s efficiency (cost,
time) and effectiveness (quality of hire, reliability).
·
Candidate
mining. Rather than have recruiters crawling through job boards and posting job
advertisements, web spiders are programmed to crawl, retrieve, and upload
candidates into the applicant tracking system based on both current and
projected needs. Advertisements are automatically broadcast as part of the
automated sourcing approach.
·
Multi-dimensional
performance monitoring. The system relies on metrics at four defined levels to
monitor system health and performance, as well as to diagnose problems or issues
that arise. Levels include forecasts, macro-level (sourcing channel
effectiveness, costs, etc.), micro-level (efficiency, cost, speed, quality,
retention, customer service, and dependability per transaction), and human
capital metrics (impacts of staffing best practices on the bottom line).
·
Integrated
processes to create a talent supply chain.
·
Predictive
modeling functionality enables the effective use of both short/long term
sources.
·
University
recruiting that leverages teaching assistants as talent scouts on targeted
campuses, allowing Valero to secure interns and new grads prior to on-campus
career events.
Most
Innovative Employee Referral Program: Quicken Loans
Quicken
Loans might just have the best and most aggressive recruiting team in the world
(honest). Michael Homula, clearly the most sales- and marketing-focused
recruiter on the planet, has helped Quicken Loans to create an employee
referral program that turns every employee into a “talent scout.” If recruiting
has a Tiger Woods, he would be it! The referral program relies on frequent
refreshing, creative approaches, and extensive promotion to drive high-volume
participation. The program is so effective that 61 percent of hires come from
the ERP each month. Best practices:
·
All
referrals are contacted by a live program coordinator within 48 hours of
submission.
·
Referring
team members are kept in the loop through a web portal that allows them to
track the status of referrals online and by emails that update them when:
·
The
referral has been initially contacted.
·
An
interview is scheduled.
·
A
post-interview decision has been reached. To move forward, the system advises
recruiters and managers of the next steps.
·
A hire
is actually completed.
·
Utilizes
highly branded contests (example ó a contest for finding the best salesperson
in the Detroit area), in addition to bonuses to drive participation. Such
contests offer unique and highly valued prizes.
·
Surveys
are periodically conducted internally to measure:
·
Employee
satisfaction with the program.
·
Ease
of process.
·
Referral
“experience.”
·
Employee
motivation and their willingness to refer.
·
Focus
groups are held periodically to generate new ideas for contests and promotions
and to gather feedback on the current process.
·
They
provide training to employees on how to better make referrals.
·
In
addition to process metrics, Quicken Loans tracks retention by source, quality
of hire, and cost per hire.
·
Bonuses
are grossed up to cover taxes.
·
A
proactive referral process approaches key individuals directly for high-quality
referrals.
·
Extensive
e-mail marketing is delivered to the target employee population to:
·
Educate
them on current hiring needs.
·
Drive
referral for specific types of jobs.
Best
Corporate Careers Website: Deloitte
Deloitte
has long been a leader in both recruiting and retention, and now it has broken
new ground by building a global careers website designed from the ground up to
focus on the candidate experience. Unlike most corporate sites, which are dull
and serve as nothing more than “front-ends” to applicant tracking systems, the
Deloitte solution uses cutting-edge marketing approaches and the latest
technology to serve candidates consistently around the world. Quick facts:
·
The
site is a living example of “a global strategy executed locally.”
·
It
leverages both localization and personalization engines to dynamically deliver
content relevant to the site visitor.
·
It is
a single site supporting more than 80 country-specific recruiting strategies.
·
Deloitte
delivers a consistent brand message around the world in 10 languages.
Best
practices:
·
Target
audience research. Deloitte conducted extensive usability research with two
external candidate groups — students and experienced professionals ó to help
create the original design specifications. Ongoing surveys and focus groups
with candidates sourced both inside and outside the organization help to guide
refinements and changes. (This research led Deloitte not to follow a trend of
using extensive flash and graphic-heavy page design, as their target candidates
found such elements a barrier to usability.)
·
Use
of localization and customization. The use of these two technologies ensures
that candidates are presented with information unique to their specific needs.
College students in France, for example, are presented with different
information than college students in Australia and both are presented with
different information than professional hires. Extensive research is conducted
to help determine what type of content each target demographic needs/wants.
·
Employment
brand measurement. The messaging of the site is adapted continuously based on
input from candidate surveys and third-party market research which details how
Deloitte is perceived in the talent market.
·
Localized
content management. Deloitte custom-built a content management tool to allow
local HR professionals — who are not technical experts ó to manage local
content.
·
Robust
analytics. Because the global site is truly one site versus a portal that
forwards users on to local sites, all movement throughout the more than 7,000
web pages can be monitored and analyzed.
·
Multiple
presentation formats. Because the site is powered by a robust content
management tool, the same type of content can be delivered in multiple ways.
For instance, a day “in the life” story maybe be presented as text, short video
clip, or in-depth dynamic video.
·
Web-based
screening. Candidates who move from the site into the recruitment management
application are screened using questionnaires tailored to each position.
·
Introduces
an online network for interns.
·
The
employee referral program offers a $30 reward just for the first referral, even
if the person is not hired. Deloitte includes corporate alumni in the referral
program.
Best
Employer Brand: PacifiCare
PacifiCare
realizes the tremendous impact that a great brand can have on recruiting in a
healthcare industry that has all but ignored employment branding. As a result,
it has developed a formally managed employer brand that is fully integrated
with the core business strategy and brand. The core business tagline is “Caring
is good, doing something is better.” This is supported by an employment brand
tagline of “Envision, Innovate, and Accomplish.” Quick facts:
·
More
than 85 percent of the candidates who received an in-person interview responded
positively to the statement that PacifiCare was a “good place to work.” This
score is 26 percentage points higher than the norm.
·
When
employees were ask to rate PacifiCare, as compared to other companies, 81
percent responded either “one of the best” or above average.
Best
practices:
·
Full-time
HR representatives work in the branding department and they drive internal
branding and employment brand integration.
·
Full-time
HR representatives in the talent acquisition department help to oversee all
programs and messaging that affects the employment brand.
·
They
negotiated a partnership between the brand team, the advertising team and the talent
acquisition team.
·
They
use external market research to gauge target candidates’ perceptions in the
marketplace in order to drive adjustments in program design and messaging.
·
Executives
do not rely on the hard sell; they communicate honestly, disclosing that
PacifiCare is sometimes “not an easy place to work.”
·
The
branding team participates in programs that demonstrate the brand by
demonstrating results. A prime example of this approach is PacifiCare’s
development of the first-ever Quality Index of Hospitals.
Best
College Recruiting Program: Whirlpool
Whirlpool
has redesigned its university recruiting program to ensure a consistent
pipeline of mid-level management talent through the Whirlpool Leadership
Development Program. Quick facts:
·
Global
rotation programs are developed along functional lines to ensure skill
development according to the functions’ pre-defined performance criteria. More
than seven separate programs exist, covering everything from brand portfolio
leadership to global supply chain management.
·
Each
leadership-program participant receives frequent feedback, a senior-level
mentor, a tiered compensation package and a defined career path.
Best
practices:
·
Identified
employment brand obstacles that would prevent them from hiring the volume and
quality of top graduates that they needed. They then developed a strategy to
“call out” negative perceptions, such as those of the appliance industry
itself.
·
Leveraged
the brand identity of Ben Stein, a known and trusted celebrity, to reach out
directly to the target audience by including him in all recruitment
communications.
·
Designed
highly visible recruiting events at target schools that leverage partnerships
with local organizations, entertainment venues and elsewhere.
·
Developed
a web-based portal specific to campus recruitment that focuses on the candidate
experience versus administrative functionality.
·
Highly
selective leadership development mentor program. Managers selected to
participate as mentors must go through a rigorous selection process and are
then monitored closely to ensure that only managers who consistently produce
results remain in the program.
Most
Strategic Use of Recruiting Technology: Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
has been a pioneer in the adoption of a truly global HR strategy and in using
technology in order to transform HR for more than 20 years. In its latest move,
HP has integrated all recruitment technologies via the @HP portal to support a
global HR self-service model. The recruitment elements are just one component
of the Global Human Resource Management System, which supports 147,000
employees in 178 countries. It provides content in 11 languages and provides
self-service for 36 manager and employee transactions and nine additional
standard HR transactions. Quick facts:
·
Global
staffing practices and technologies were streamlined to support a global
strategy and consistent staffing methodology worldwide.
·
The
approach does provide some degree of flexibility to support variations in
staffing approaches and perspectives across geographic regions (Americas, Asia
Pacific and Japan, and EMEA).
Best
practices:
·
Staffing
methodology across all four regions is supported by a global workforce planning
and staffing leadership team.
·
Specific
technology plans exist to drive the use of technology in:
·
Experienced
candidate recruitment
·
University
recruitment
·
Intern
recruitment
·
Diversity
recruitment
Conclusion It’s obvious from both the
tone and the attendance of the conference that the “war for talent” is back
with a vengeance. Target even set up a vendor booth among the vendors just to
recruit recruiters. The Godfather of recruiting, Michael McNeal (who created
the recruiting machine of the 1990s at Cisco), also made a rare appearance with
the goal of recruiting world-class recruiters for his emerging Intuit team.
Because there were attendees from Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia, it is
clear that the need for continuous improvement in recruiting is a worldwide
phenomenon. Increased turnover, the aging workforce, the acceptance of “remote
work” and global competition for talent means that pressure will increase on
the recruiting function to find new ways to provide their firms with a
competitive advantage. Don’t be left behind, because the War for Talent II has
already begun in earnest and “the smell of napalm in the morning” can’t be far
away.
by
Dr. John Sullivan
article by Dr. John
Sullivan and Master Burnett
