19 October 2015

Bogan's Rant - With Michael McShane - October 2015

Left Hand Doesn't Know What the Right Hand is Doing!

Fellow Bogans, we seem to be following similar topics for rants in recent times and I want some feedback! Who out there in the internal HR/Recruitment world wants to write a retort to recent Bogan Rants - remain anonymous or step out from the shadow - doesn't bother me.

Let's get a different perspective.

What's twisted my jocks lately is the severe lack of communication between HR and Line Managers when it comes to recruitment expectations. I'm bang on track here and could enter into a tirade citing 7 specific examples over the past 6 weeks, but I'll restrict it to a few.

We all see those "position descriptions" (PD) that are about as useful as an inflatable dartboard! They tell you next to nothing about the role or responsibilities, or most importantly exactly what the Line Manager wants to see in a candidate - the stuff not in the PD! HR then pass on that PD to us external recruiters along with a raft of bullet pointed expectations that we must adhere to when sourcing & presenting candidates - a list of "ideals". Fast forward 6 weeks and we hear that they've hired "Joe Muppet" who barely ticks half of the "ideals" criteria. What?! How?! Why?! It's someone we would not have even considered putting forward to the role based on the criteria and if we did, I guarantee HR would have screened them out.

It's all because the left hand doesn't know what the right hand really wants! Because the left hand is telling the right hand porky pies!! If "excellent verbal & communication skills" are required in the PD, shouldn't the folks doing the screening and asking the questions also have them? Just a thought.

 

LOOK OUT if we effectively circumvent "the process" and go direct to the Line Manager! - We're told in no uncertain terms (usually by an impersonal email) that "we'll strike you off the list of suppliers" if we hear of you communicating with Line Managers and not through HR! Why? Because they feel threatened and about as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs - more concerned about protecting their own role, being in control, hiring (often average) candidates themselves and not in the best interest of the organisation that employs them.

Unfortunately "common sense" isn't a flower that grows in everyone's garden!   

Let's go with one "hypothetical" example of where HR are not communicating (effectively) with Line Managers - HR instruction is knife edge clear with us - must have certain X commodity experience and X software experience or they will not be considered. They end up hiring a great person, but doesn't have the software or commodity exposure requested! The Line Manager didn't believe them to be important (nor did I and I did "try" to debate that with HR), but HR were screening out all of our candidates (who ticked every box) and providing the Line Managers with resumes they were sourcing themselves - ours weren't even reaching the Line Manager! Why ask for help?  

Another example is where a client comes to us for assistance. They are having trouble sourcing for the roles themselves (through Seek - refer to previous rants about this version of sourcing insanity!) and need help. Great, thanks, appreciate it! We bust our guts to impress, put the VB tinny down and pull out all stops to flush out a handful of candidates perfect for them. We wait for feedback………wait some more……………. oh look! Tumbleweed! ...........wait some more……. take a sip on the VB..…. the candidates call us seeking feedback……… nothing. Finally, some news! Sorry, we've hired someone else (who is not remotely as good as the candidates submitted) because we didn't want to pay an agency fee.

The whole process was a waste of time and about as effective as trying to staple water to a tree!

Don't just hire for skills! Hire for passion, personailty and reputation! Skills are cheap - passion is hard to come by and cannot be interpreted by "words" within a resume. That's where we come in!  

Not all internal HR are like this and you'll know who you are! They encourage us to speak with Line Managers regarding their exact expectations and ideals.

We all get that times are tighter than a dog in a cat flap.

We all know that companies are making more cuts than a surgeon on Red Bull.

The more things change, the more they stay the same! Going forward, things need to change. There are always opposing magnetic forces between internal HR and external agencies and I can see why! There are tools everywhere - I get that - be wary, they walk amongst us!  

Very keen on your thoughts and having a guest Bogan Retort to this and previous rants relating to this similar topic! Write in………..

 

Bogan's Pet Hate:  The recruitment industry at present! You'd love there to be a "must read" manual for all of the relative "newbies" to the industry (<5yrs), showing them what hasn't worked in the past so they can stop coming in and making changes (the same old assumptions) that many of us have seen not work over several previous cycles.

P.S Still hate coat hangers - they always tangle.