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Archive for August, 2008

Recruiting Spirit & Performance Improvement!

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

In recent discussions with recruitment leaders, they have conveyed their frustration around motivating/encouraging their team members to implement new recruitment tools and techniques learned from reading articles, blog posts, recent training events, webinars, etc.

While I’m sure we all aspire to have the discipline to implement new things that will ultimately make us better recruiters . . . it is easier said than done.

To help with this dilemma, I think a lot can be learned from our friends at Seattle’s Pike Place Fish market. For those of you that have studied the Fish! Philosophy, you learned that the employees at Pike Place Fish Market created a super satisfying work environment by implementing four key ideas (aka – The Four steps of the Fish! Philosophy):

  • Play
  • Make their Day
  • Be there
  • Choose your attitude

While all are very important and excellent “steps,” incorporating “play” within your work day can dramatically improve implementation of new ideas/tools/techniques and, most importantly, overall improvement.

Let’s face it – ‘playing’ and contests are more fun than WORK!

In spirit of Recruiting Performance Improvement, I thought I would provide an example of a contest you could implement with your recruitment team to help improve their sourcing and time management skills.

Warning! While the playful contest outlined below might be a little wordy and a tad cheesy, it could be a lot of fun and drive a huge ROI for the time invested by you and your team.

If you have any questions on implementation, please don’t hesitate emailing me!

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Recruitment Decathlon

The Recruitment Decathlon is a contest combining ten recruiting events. Events will be held over the next 90 days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all events. Performance is judged on a points system outlined below.

Traditionally, the title of “World’s Greatest Recruiter” has been given to the person who wins the decathlon.

  • Employee Referrals – Each recruiter picks 25 top performers within the Line of Business they support. They have two weeks to engage these employees for specific referrals for openings within the organization.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for most qualified referrals. .
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for regions with most referrals per recruiter.
  • Hires from Referrals – (maybe break up exempt/non-exempt) – Person that hires the most people from referrals gathered during the Employee Referral contest (see above) by a certain date (say December 15, 2008).
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze to the individuals with most hires.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for regions with most hires per recruiter.
  • Association Membership Lists – Person that harvests the most qualified association membership lists from/utilizing your Centers of Influence (hiring managers, peers, employees, etc.).
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for individual winners.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for regions with most lists per recruiter.
  • College Alumni Directories/Passwords – Harvest the most qualified college alumni directories and/or passwords to get online access to the directories from your Centers of Influence.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for individual winners.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for regions with most directories/passwords per recruiter.
  • Hires from References – Most hires from qualified references from applicants/candidates/new hires.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for individual winners.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for regions with most hires per recruiter.
  • Most Innovative Sourcing Tactic/Story that leads to a hire – By a certain date (say Nov. 15th), we will accept nominations for most innovative sourcing tactic that leads to a hire. Typically, this tactic will come from a Mindstorm you did.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for individual winners.
    • Region picks up points for having a gold, silver, bronze winner.
  • Best ‘Attention Grabber’ email – Winners for best attention grabber email voted/judged by leadership/management team.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for individual winners.
    • Region picks up points for having a gold, silver, bronze winner.
  • Best ‘Attention Grabber’ Voice mail – Winner for best attention grabber voice mail voted/judged by leadership/management team.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for individual winners.
    • Region picks up points for having a gold, silver, bronze winner.
  • Best Perfect Week/Perfect Day Routine - Winners will be awarded for demonstrating their weekly/daily planning process and how it makes them a productive/efficient recruiter.
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for individual winners.
    • Region picks up points for having a gold, silver, bronze winner.
  • Best overall success story from participating in this Recruitment Decathlon – Winners will be awarded for sharing their success story (how this Decathlon improved performance, customer service, etc.).
    • Gold, Silver, Bronze for individual winners.
    • Region picks up points for having a gold, silver, bronze winner.

Point System:

* Gold = 3 points

* Silver = 2 points

* Bronze = 1 point

  • Individuals will be awarded a Gold, Silver, Bronze metal for each of the 10 contests.
  • The individual with the most points will be crowned the winner of the decathlon!
  • Each region will receive points for individuals who are awarded gold, silver, and bronze in each event.
  • In addition, region will be awarded points for each event as outlined above.
  • The region with the most points will be crowned the top Region!

Posted in David Szary, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Boot Camp, Recruiter Sales, Recruiter Top Gun, Recruiter Training, Sourcing, Talent Aquisition | No Comments »

“I’m sure you get calls from recruiters all the time . . . “

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

If you have never used this line before, it can be a great opening statement when recruiting passive candidates. I was on a webinar yesterday and some great points were made regarding the two “types” of passive candidates.

  • Those that get a ton of calls from recruiters (professions like engineers, commercial lenders, SAP consultants, etc.).
  • Those that don’t.

For both candidate types, you can use this phrase in your opening statement to your advantage.

Heavily recruited professionals:

By using this line, you can break the ice and let them know that you know they get called all the time. This is a respectful, tactful way to let them know you appreciate their situation (heavily recruited) and that you DON’T want to bug them, but . . . you DO want to talk to them about an opportunity and/or to network!

Hi John:

My name is David Szary. I am sure you get calls from recruiters all the time but I have an excellent opportunity . . . . (continue with some type of Attention Grabber . . . )

Not so heavily recruited professionals:

This line is GREAT with these folks. Since they don’t get calls from recruiters, this really gets them thinking . . .

“I don’t get called all the time, I feel left out, I want to be wanted . . . so I am going to talk to you and see what opportunities I am missing out on.”

While there are many ways you can open a call (contrary to what some “experts” will tell you) and get passive candidates to engage and listen to what you have to offer, I have talked to many recruiters that use the above line successfully when recruiting passive candidates!

Give it a try!

Posted in Candidate types, David Szary, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Boot Camp, Recruiter Sales, Recruiter Top Gun, Recruiter Training, Sourcing, Talent Aquisition | No Comments »

Your funniest recruiting moment…

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

Anyone that has been recruiting for any length of time has a “funniest recruiting moment.” You know those things that make you think you’re re-living an episode of “The Office,” or things that make you go, “hmmm…” or even things that others accuse you of making up.

Dale Dwyer (Professor of Management, University of Toledo) and Sheri Caldwell (VP of HR, Hickory Farms) are taking the opportunity to collect the funniest HR/Recruitment moments.

Selfishly, since we want to hear all of these ‘stories,’ we wanted to spread the word to our network with hopes that you will participate! If you can take the time to share your story, Dale/Sheri will make sure you receive the compilation of stories!

Remember; even if it’s something you think is “normal,” it might not be that normal for others, so please share.

Click on this link: http://www.homepages.utoledo.edu/ddwyer, then go to “HR Funny Story.”

Maybe this is something fun you can do with your team (over lunch; at your team meeting…?), to “blow off a little steam!”

I hope you are having a good week!

Posted in Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Boot Camp, Recruiter Sales, Recruiter Top Gun, Recruiter Training | No Comments »

What’s the most important Service Level Agreement?

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Having talked to countless hiring managers, one of their biggest frustrations is not knowing what is going on with a particular search. They post a position, talk to their recruiter, then . . . wait for candidates to come their way.

While many recruitment organizations have created Service Level Agreements that define the recruitment/hiring process and each parties’ (hiring manager and recruiter) responsibilities, many do not define and establish a “time to first submittal” SLA. This SLA is (what I believe to be the most important) the one we can control the most.

We call this SLA: Requisition Received to “First Submittal”

Defined: This is the time between receiving/qualifying the requisition from the hiring manager to the time you send over your first pre-screened, qualified candidate for consideration/interview. Now I know that your manager will ask for/want more than “one” candidate (although it truly takes just one qualified candidate to successfully fill a position!), but we all know that a managers most anxious time is the time that lapses between giving a requisition to a recruiter and receiving the first applicant.


Why does this time period (between req. received and first submittal) cause them the most anxiety/pain? For the most part, it is simply the “fear of the unknown.” Their thought process might be something like; “…I don’t know what is going on, I don’t know when I will see candidates, I don’t know when I will be able to get this position filled, etc.” When applicant flow starts to come in, regardless of whether or not the candidates are the perfect fit, they rest easier knowing that “the ball is now rolling”.


You can avoid all this pain, anguish and anxiety and most importantly – define expectations and improve customer service by setting a realistic SLA. The process includes (but is not limited to) the following:


  • Meet with the hiring manager and qualify the open position/requisition.
  • Identify whether or not you feel there are internal candidates qualified to fill the position. If you believe an internal candidate exists, start the internal recruitment process/posting and set the appropriate Service Level that defines when you expect internal applicant flow.
  • If you have to search externally, define (with the hiring manager) the position’s level of difficulty to fill:
    • Standard, business as usual
    • Difficult to fill
    • Extremely difficult to fill
  • Once you determine the level of difficulty (and get sign off/buy in from the hiring manager), define (with the hiring manager if possible) your search strategy for filling the position. Educate them on how you will find (your action items/steps) qualified candidates for this position. While they might not care about what you need to do to fill the position, educating them on your search strategy will give them a better idea of how long it actually takes to identify, make contact and pre-screen qualified, passive candidates (especially during the summer with folks on vacations, etc.).
  • Now time to set your SLA:
    • “Joe, based on the fact that this is a difficult to fill position, as we discussed, and that we don’t have any internal candidates and, honestly – - since it is a new position – - no external candidates in my pipeline, I want to set a realistic SLA. You should expect to see applicant flow by Friday 8/19. Of course, as soon as I identify candidates that I think are qualified, I will send over ASAP. But I want to set a realistic expectation given the search, my search strategy, etc.”
  • If for some reason you are unsure that you can not meet that service level, give yourself a “safety net.”
    • “Joe, if for some reason I don’t think I will meet that deadline, I will let you know by COB Monday the 14th.

If the only SLA you have ever established with your manager is; “…I will get working on it…” When they say, “I need it filled ASAP/yesterday…” Don’t expect your managers to roll over and be happy with some of the SLA’s you set (especially for difficult – to – fill and extremely difficult-to – fill positions).


Anyone that has set this SLA will attest to the fact that many managers will still want candidates “yesterday.” With that said, over time, you can start to educate them on why it takes time to generate a slate of qualified candidates. Just as important, if you meet/exceed the SLA’s you set, your hiring managers will start to appreciate your honesty regarding the situation. And most importantly, your hiring managers will trust and respect you more for setting them!


Posted in David Szary, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Boot Camp, Recruiter Sales, Recruiter Top Gun, Recruiter Training, Talent Aquisition | No Comments »