Creating Innovative Efficiencies in the Recruiting Function

                    

A Pig and a Chicken[1] are walking down the road.

The Chicken says: "Hey Pig, I was thinking we should open a restaurant!"

Pig replies: "Hm, maybe, what would we call it?"

The Chicken responds: "How about 'ham-n-eggs'?"

The Pig thinks for a moment and says: "No thanks. I'd be committed, but you'd only be involved!"

The fable above echoes the yawning gap Recruiting as a function & Industry must navigate from its commonly perceived role as a tactical support function to one of a genuine business partner. The increasingly VUCA environment we find ourselves in & the trends driving today’s recruiting marketplace are creating special challenges for organizations in the way they attract & engage with Talent. The shift we are seeing here is one of moving away from the model of attracting & selecting the best talent to one of attracting, engaging & selecting the best talent. Another challenge is that talent acquisition has become far more resource intensive than the recruiting function of the past. Resources are needed to develop the employment brand, create referral programs, manage candidate audiences, campus programs and similar such strategic initiatives. Making a strategic impact in the face of pressures to reduce recruitment costs resembles a Sisyphean task.

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[1] Old Fable, Chicken and Pig Cartoon- Implementing scrum.com

 

The changing scenario & trends necessitate that the recruiting function create innovative efficiencies to make a visible impact on the organization performance and work as true, committed value- adding partners with key stakeholders.

So how does the recruiting function go about creating innovative efficiencies that drives strong corporate performance?  

The answer probably lies in leveraging some of the innovations we are seeing around us, specifically the advent of Big Data and the ramifications it has for recruitment going forward. Imagine functions such as marketing, finance, production proposing solutions to their key constituents unsupported by data points, but the logic of the recruiting function has always been centric around trust  and building relationship capital -the antithesis of analytical, evidence based decision making. While relationships have been and must continue to be the epicentre for the recruiting function it must take its data- savviness to new heights

At its core the real value of Big Data is its ability to give us quantitative insights, throw up patterns from the end user perspective about where do we currently stand and where are we falling behind in our services. Interpretation of this data can provide us the answer to what to do for our end users – hiring managers, business leaders, candidate- in terms of innovation.  A word of caution though – As producers and consumers of data analysis it is important that we as recruitment professional are able to differentiate between an unbiased interpretation of data and one that uses data to tell a story.

One could draw a lesson here from Nate Silver- the political predictor and the baseball sabermetric man – who didn’t just understand data to predict the US Presidential election results with certainty, but understood storytelling & that data must be baked into a broader and better story within a context. Recruiting professionals must regularly evaluate the data and information as it guides and leads the businesses it operates in attracting, engaging & selecting the best talent.

Ability to complement the numerate insights – the science with the relationship building – the art can help solidify the reputation of the recruiting function as a committed strategic partner. But this would require the function and the profession to stop being a chicken

Motivation for Success

George Bernard Shaw once quipped: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” Applied to individual growth and spirituality this capacity to be tenacious and assertive differentiates the “achievers” form the “also-rans”.

Stimulating the interest of an individual in a activity towards accomplishment of an aim , The  English  Oxford Dictionary very aptly summarizes the “ Motivation for Success” relationship. Success, assumes different connotations, for all of us Individuals & a clear  articulation  of the same , is important towards creating the right stimulus , in achieving our defined goals.

I have in the following note  attempted to put down my thoughts on the ‘ right motivation mix for achieving success; the   meaning success has for me as a Individual & a  Professional ; the prime movers at work in my daily tryst to cultivate a successful career & life .

One of the deepest needs of human existence is to know that our lives count for something. Our significance largely depends upon the fact that we were created by God.

However most of us want to know, whether the gifts and talents bestowed on us is used to make a difference as we live our lives in a work - a - day world.

Since work is so much a part of our lives, we want it to be meaningful. To know that our work counts for something important is to know that we count. That’s why mundane work sucks the life out of a set of people & leaves them feeling anonymous and alienated. There is however, a set of people who maybe, perform the same “mundane jobs”  but with a difference. Their ability to engage the emotional dimension in their work is what makes the difference; They are emotionally charged because their work allows them to pursue something they deeply believe in.  The result is .. passion.  Tom Peters once quoted Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, “You must be able to see the beauty in a hamburger bun.”  Most so called “sophisticated” professionals laugh when they hear this, but just a few moments of reflection would make it cleat that Mr Kroc was right. You cannot become the world leader in a business as a basic as hamburger  (or any other) without truly caring, passionately, about what you do.

The demands placed on every business in the dynamic times we live in will require that people bring all of what they are to the game. Actively engaged hearts and minds, unwavering commitment, laser focus & relentless determination are all motivated by passion: the key to success in any form and endeavor. Motivation and determination are crucial to success and passion is the force which fosters this motivation & determination.

Success for me  is about professionalism, it is about less attention to career and career optimization than to whether I am developing as a professional and making a contribution in my chosen vocation. My motivation for success has been fueled by an underlying need for continual self -improvement, because I believe professionalism is about pursuit of excellence, not just competence. It is about caring… caring for a cause and not merely one’s own benefits. Believing passionately in what one does; being uncompromising on ones standards & values, aiming for excellence, are but the building blocks on which rests  any successful  endeavor,  accomplishment.     

To quote, Stephen Birmingham “What is known as success assumes nearly as many aliases as there are those who seek it. Like Love, it can come to commoners as well as courtiers. Like virtue, it is its own reward. Like the Holy Grail, it seldom appears to those who don’t pursue it.”

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