“I am just not getting quality candidates from the referral agency,” complained Marcy. We were talking about two positions she needed to fill. “I call them and explain what kind of person we need, but they take two weeks to get back to me. And the people they send are just not qualified.”
“Marcy, how do you source other candidates besides the referral agency?” I asked.
“Well, we really don’t have time. We’re just so busy around here. It’s really hard to get good people these days.”
“Marcy, here is my observation. You are not seeing quality candidates because you are not focusing your efforts. If your referral agency is not doing the job, then your company has to take responsibility and source your own candidates. You need to be actively recruiting and networking all the time. You are in the business. You should have a better rolodex than the referral agency. You don’t, because you see recruiting as a distraction. Your expense last year for head hunters was $45,000. And what do you have to show for it. Three positions filled, but two didn’t work out, so you are waiting for the replacement guarantee.”
Marcy didn’t like what she heard, but she was still listening. Is your company having difficulty sourcing candidates? What are you doing about it? What ideas have you used to get more and better people into the interview room? -TF
We use about three or four agencies and as Marcy’s concern we are not able to find the qualified candidates thru the agencies either. We run our own ads on Sun Sentinel and Monster to look for our employee’s and try to do most of our own recruiting as well. We feel that as much as the agencies do help us by bringing in some people, we are the ones who truly know the qualifications of the people we are looking for.
We offer a referral program to our current employees. It is a tiered program whereas we offer an incentive to the current employee. If a referral fills out an application, the current employee receives a small bonus; if the applicant is hired, a larger bonus is awarded; and if the applicant stays on for more than 90 days, they receive the third tiered incentive. These are people that come recommended to us and it has worked well for us. It definitely is a cheaper form of advertising for qualified help and we find the quality of help is comparable to using a Monster or a Sun-Sentinel ad.
Katherine’s comment is important. This is the first step, to take responsibility for the recruiting effort. It’s fine to source candidate’s from every source available, but ultimately, the organization has to take responsibility for its recruiting efforts.
Rita’s idea uses the leverage of WOM (Word of Mouth) by adding an incentive. WOM done well can be very powerful.
All of these suggestions are good ideas. For me, headhunting companies are just a waste of money, only good for really big companies with money to burn. Our management decided to hold our own jobfair in a college and some highschools as a pta affair. And we did get quality candidates!