Today there are many options when it comes to recruiting and there is not a one size fits all approach. Depending on the size of the particular HR department and the number and types of hires needed each year, you may not need a dedicated, experienced, recruiter in your organization.
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In both of my prior companies, dedicated internal recruiters were the primary source for securing new employees. We would hire primarily two types of recruiters, from recruiting agencies. One type typically searches and hires from their network of contacts, or from those actively searching for another job on various job boards. The second type are the “miners”. They enjoy seeking out those who are not actively looking for a new job and then convincing them to make a change. Please note that either of these two types of recruiters are not typically very excited about doing the other type of recruiting. Therefore, it is important to retain the kind of recruiter you are wanting, or the appropriate mix.
Analyze the costs of a recruiter, or the recruiting department, before making the commitment to invest in an internal recruiter. For example, a salary of $60,000, plus 30% additional costs for benefits would be $78,000. Posting ads on job boards for a year could easily cost $20,000. So even having one recruiter could cost an organization $100,000 per year. If the cost for outsourcing recruiting would be less, then an organization probably wouldn’t want to hire a dedicated recruiter. Remember, organizations will not have a lot of confidence in their HR function if it cannot advance an economic benefit to what it is proposing.
Arguably, there are benefits to an internal recruiting team (IRT) that are not easily monetized. For example:
- IRTs understand their organization and its hiring managers and can more easily determine which candidates will be a better fit for the organization.
- IRTs know what is not written on the position description, or what is written that is not important.
- IRTs have a vested interest in the company and the quality of the workforce, and are not just trying to fill the job as quickly as possible to earn a recruiting fee.
Before, my friends in recruiting firms get angry with me for writing the above, let me say there is a time and place for external recruiting resources and we will be addressing that in a future podcast and blog post.
One additional point that everyone needs to remember, is that because we are in perhaps the most competitive job market in US history, we all have to be more open to non-traditional labor pools. Specifically, the disabled, the formerly incarcerated and those from generational poverty. There are many states, and the federal government, that offer certain tax incentives for hiring the formerly incarcerated. I personally, have had good success with this group. I also, have had much success with the disabled. Both of these groups have performed as well or better than employees from traditional labor pools. Generational poverty is an area we will explore in the coming months, but I am excited about the breakthroughs that we may have in the near future with this generally overlooked labor source. Thanks for being a Survive HR listener. Until next week.
