Perception VS. RealityDo You Really Know What You Are Looking For?

OnRec Recruiting Conference September 15, 2010

Presented by:Stephen Lowisz, Author & Educator

• Hiring Managers are from Mars, Recruiters are from Venus.

• Lead! Don’t Follow!

• Job descriptions – Roadmap or crutch?

• Its not just about asking questions, its about asking the RIGHT questions.

• From minimum requirements to crystal clear competencies.

• What we see depends mainly on what we look for.

• You will never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Discussion Points

Hiring Managers Are From Mars, Recruiters Are From Venus

A View From a Different Lens

• Expense Center vs. Profit Center

• Administrative/Transactional

• Generalists

• “A Necessary Evil”

• Lack of business understanding

• 36% of CEO’s do not have confidence in

their own recruiting department

(Management Action Program CEO

Survey)

How Recruiters Are Often Viewed

•Lack of internal brand

•Perceived lack of industry/position knowledge

•Lack of consistent

communication

•Allow the manager to lead

•Setting unrealistic expectations

•Setting no expectations

Why Recruiters Are Viewed This Way

• They feel they are the experts in recruiting and interviewing

•Uncertain of exactly what they are looking for

•Make hiring decisions based on factors inconsequential to the job

•Fail to convey the core necessities of the position

•Separate themselves from the hiring process

•Decisions often made on resume only

How Managers Are Often Viewed

Step 1:Lead Don’t Follow

• Become subject matter savvy

• Communicate Often (good or bad)

• Develop the reputation as a problem-solver

• Know the job

• Teach and promote objective candidate assessments

• Lead Your Manager

•When taking the job

•When developing the search strategy

•When presenting the candidate

Build Confidence In The Hiring Manager

Job Description – Roadmap Or Crutch?

1. Help people hate each other

2. Stand on a field and get yelled at for hours

3. Talk in other people’s sleep

4. Spend most of the day looking out the window

5. Repeatedly fix what you repeatedly break

Do Job Descriptions Really Describe the Job?

Divorce Lawyer

Umpire

College Professor

Pilot

IT Director

• Compliance with labor laws

• Compensation

development/management

• Define position purpose

• Define job duties/responsibilities

• Define position requirements

Define what we want done, how we want it done, and sets the manager’s expectations for who we think can do it.

What’s in a Job Description?

•Job descriptions often serve as a crutch - giving managers the right to stop thinking.

•Job descriptions can inadvertently exclude high potential, top performing candidates.

•Job descriptions cannot predict candidate performance.

•Job descriptions often lack objectivity – Internal/External

Hires.

•Job descriptions often create a “I’m looking for what it says here” mindset with many hiring managers.

Job Description Cautions

Step 2:Taking the Job Order. Asking the RIGHT Questions

Common Questions

• Job Duties – Hard Skills

• Daily responsibilities

• Position objectives/measurements

• Job Structure

• Chain of command (Reporting Structure)

• Size of team (If applicable)

• Peers they will interface with

• Compensation

• Base Range (Check for Tolerance)

• Incentive Comp/Bonus/etc

• Requirements

•Minimum years of

experience

•Minimum education levels

•Preferred experience

• Position History

•Why is the position open

•Challenges of the position

Common Questions

•Position History

•Where did the last 3 people in the role go?

•What was the best person in the role like?

•Requirements

•Does years of experience mean effectiveness?

•What are the specific competencies needed to effectively perform the function?

•Objectives

•Have the specific goals ever been met? Why not?

•Are the objectives of the role realistic?

Additional Questions

Competencies – What are they?

•Two types of Competencies

•Technical – skills and knowledge

•Behavioral – behaviors expected

in order to perform the function successfully (ie. Flexibility)

Definition: An ability, skill, knowledge or attribute that

is needed for successful performance of a job. Often

defined in terms of behaviors.

Metrics

Common Manager Responses

• Describe position in terms of “Gotta Haves”

• “I need someone with at least 10 years of

experience.”

• “I need someone with an MBA from XYZ University.”

• “I need someone who has produced at least $XXXX

in revenue.”

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Step 3:From Minimum Requirements to Clear Competencies

Your Job as “The Expert” is to:

•Question, Question, Question

•Be realistic and communicate reality – the perfect candidate DOES NOT EXIST.

•Step 1 – Have your manager rank the specific functional competencies in order of preference for the role.

•Eliminate “Years of Experience” from the list

•No more than 4-6 Must Haves

•No more than 4 Like to Haves

Functional Competencies

Your Job as “The Expert” is to:

•Step 2 – Have your manager rank the specific behavioral competencies in order of preference for the role.

•Select only 10

•Prioritize in order of

preference

Functional Competencies

Your Job as “The Expert” is to:

• Step 3 – Follow up in writing

•Define and gain agreement of the manager’s new expectations.

•Present the candidate to the criteria identified as most important by the hiring manager.

•Reduce opportunity for “I think I can do better with an additional candidate ” syndrome.

•Most Managers cannot define the “why.”

Step 4:You Will Never Get a Chance to Make a First Impression

As “The Expert”, The Correct Way to Present the Candidate is to:

• Communicate Verbally – Lead the Manager!

• Do not present candidates just via email

• Do not present just by sending the candidate’s resume

• Remember, presenting the candidate is filling the need

• Describe the candidate (What AND how)

• Reiterate agreed upon skills/competencies

• Describe how candidate meets each required skill

• Describe how candidate meets any desired skill

Conclusion

•Understand that hiring managers and recruiters begin with different perspectives

•The recruiter must focus on building their internal brand in order to lead the manager through the search process.

•Job descriptions can easily be used as a crutch when creating a candidate profile against which to compare candidates.

•Teach the hiring manager to own their minimum skill and competency requirements.

•Present candidates based specifically on how they meet the core competencies, not on the attractiveness of the resume.

•REMEMBER – The best candidate for the job may be the least when matched up to a typical job description!

Perception VS. RealityDo You Really Know What You Are Looking For?

stevelowisz

.com