I have found over the years that the reasons the recruiting function fails to become more disciplined, repeatable, and data driven include: Salespeople thrive in non-data based environments. Salespeople selling things that barely work can be successful because they claim that 1) most aspects of recruiting can’t be measured or …

Recruiting Department Structure: Best Practices The recruiting team at Valero applied the management science principles of agility, “mass customization,” and customer relationship management when it designed the organizational structure of its recruiting department. Unlike most recruiting departments, which typically have a single strategy and a consistent approach that is applied …

Valero’s Metrics and Measurement Systems Valero’s business of recruiting approach is revolutionary because it is almost 100% metrics driven. Valero utilizes the widest variety of recruiting-related metrics of any corporation I have encountered. The importance of metrics to Valero’s recruiting approach can be seen in the following quotation from its …

Dan Hilbert, Manager of Recruiting When you meet Dan Hilbert, manager of recruiting at Valero, you see right away that he is someone who thinks differently from the typical recruiting professional. Among the many things that prepared him for his current role were four years of Jesuit training, an all-male …

From Minneapolis-St. Paul to Wall Street On October 3, 2005, The Wall Street Journal profiled Ms. Knoepke Campbell in its Theory and Practice column, which appears in the Managing section of the paper (click here to read the column). The column is dedicated to looking at the people and ideas …

The Problem Is Here Today Although many experts are talking about a shortage of talent that will hit in 2006, in many regions and industries the shortage is already occurring. Job posting sites that target recruiters, like ERE's job board, have seen a marked increase in the number of job …

Poaching From Other Firms The very best recruiters are employed at other firms where they keep their skills up-to-date. Those most relevant to your needs are most likely sitting behind a desk at one of your talent competitors. If you want great recruiters you need to become comfortable with hiring …

Other Miscellaneous Ways to Attract Recruiters Some other individual approaches that can be effective in attracting recruiters include: Write a white paper or case study about your firm's recruiting practices. Set up a move during a major recruiting conference. Hold an invited open house on your site and encourage your …

U.S. Perceptions Exist in a Vacuum Two weeks ago, I spoke at ERE's first European conference, to a crowd of recruiters representing some of Europe's most recognized companies and a handful of U.S. companies with a strong global footprint. I opted to speak on what I consider the most aggressive …

Some of the reasons to gear up recruiting during December include: Thinking globally requires you to recruit globally. Although many people talk about the importance of global recruiting, only a handful of U.S.-based companies actually practice global recruiting. When you begin to think globally, you realize almost immediately that not …