Developing your Skills | April 17, 2012
Terry Thompson, Surrey, BC, CYBF Mentor, tesh@shaw.ca
Managing Corporate Culture article series
Without a doubt, the most poorly performed function by managers as a whole (including CEOs) is the recruiting and screening of candidates for employment within their companies, particularly for management positions.
The vast majority of managers view this function as a major inconvenience – many to the point that they will keep poor to mediocre employees rather than go through the “pain” of having to find someone to replace them. It does not have to be as “painful” as one thinks. In fact, for those who choose to do it properly, their most common reaction after is one of relief and “why didn’t I do it sooner?” because the new employee often makes their life so much better.
As mentioned in my last article (Avoid the common mistake in a three-year plan), I chose to use recruiting firms to source candidates and perform the initial screening of candidates. In my experience, the right recruiting firm was worth every penny they charged in the time and effort it saved our company. The key was to find the right recruiting firm for the position being filled.
The common mistakes that most people make when choosing a recruiting firm are:
I will discuss 1 and 2 above in more detail in this article. The next article will discuss 3.
Contingency vs retained firms
If you complete the proper due diligence (details below) it should not matter whether the firm is contingency or retained – you expect both types of firms to succeed and so unless there is a material cost difference charged for the same quality of service, it is foolish to choose a contingency firm that does not check out or a retained firm simply because of the method of payment. It has been my experience that, particularly for important management positions, the retained firms offer a more thorough and disciplined process.
Due Diligence
You should be as diligent in choosing your recruiting firm as you would a new employee. Key items to consider include:
The next article will discuss what your involvement should be in the hiring process.
Should have any questions or feedback regarding the content of this article please email me (Terry Thompson) at tesh@shaw.ca. ©
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