Recruiting Strategy

NASA artist – black hole There is probably no more misleading statement in corporate recruiting than “we will keep your application on file for six months.” While such a statement may be factually true, the reality is that at most corporations, hell will likely freeze over before anyone will review that application again.

During the newly reinvigorated and exciting ERE conference, two attendees posed related but powerful questions to me. The first was “What advanced topics should be on the agenda of recruiting leaders at elite firms?” Or as another put it “What should Google be planning to do next in recruiting?” At least to me, future agenda items are an important topic. …

Nearly every firm that I have worked with that captures data on the quality of their hires learns that employee referrals produce both the highest volume and the highest quality of hire from any source. However, the results of referral programs can almost always be dramatically improved when referral program managers become fully aware that a significant percentage of the …

Let me go on record as stating that the concept of “corporate coworking” is among the boldest corporate people management concepts of the decade. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it varies from traditional coworking, which is a well-established concept where a group of startups and entrepreneurs share a facility that supports their getting launched. There is a new …

Google has the only HR function on the planet that is managed based on “people analytics.” If you haven’t seen it in the news, after their stock price broke the $800 barrier, Google moved into the #3 position among the most valuable firms in the world. Google is clearly the youngest firm among the leaders because it has surprisingly been less …

The Top 18 Metrics for Recruiting Leaders It’s hard to find anything in recruiting that has failed to live up to its potential more than recruiting metrics. For nearly two decades recruiting leaders have poured resources into measuring recruiting success, and in most cases, the best that they have to show for it is being able to say “yes, we …

There’s no better way to start out a new year than to take one or more strategic actions. On the surface, selecting a new strategic area may seem to be difficult because at established firms, it would seem as though all of the important talent management areas would have already been addressed (i.e. with a full-time leader, a written plan, …

The very best strategic Recruiting and Talent Management leaders are continually looking for ways to improve their results, their credibility and their business impacts. I have found that one of the most powerful tools for reaching those goals and for developing an excellent function is to apply for and win functional awards. Some mistakenly think that applying for awards is …

The war for technical talent is so intense that a handful of firms like Google, Facebook, Cisco, Apple, Twitter and Zynga have shifted to a powerful but rare recruiting sub-strategy known as acqui-hiring. It involves established firms acquiring startup firms not for their products (only Facebook admits it) but instead primarily to capture an entire team of talented engineers and …

If you work in an office, you realize that many times the Christmas season can be a less hectic and even a slack period. In most cases everyone, including recruiters, gear down and change their work patterns for the holidays.  But if you’re a corporate recruiting leader, December should be viewed instead as a golden opportunity. It is a prime …