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The Year of the Race!--Recruiting, Restructuring, and Rebuilding

By Bryan Johanson, January 16, 2008

2008 is the year of races, including the all-important race for the Presidency of the United States. As the presidential hopefuls gear up for their longest job interview ever, we shouldn't forget that the race for top quality talent in our own organizations has already begun, and candidates are bolting out of the gate at a tremendous clip. Unlike the presidential race, where now nine hopeful candidates are vying for one top job, the talent race is upside down with hundreds of thousands of candidates and even more open positions. As one pundit put it last year, "The talent wars are definitely over and the candidates have won!" Just like the bloated real estate market, we've got a glut of jobs and a shortage of talent (except perhaps in Michigan), and more recruiters than ever pitching their opportunities to an ever shrinking talent pool. Even if the economy dips into the dreaded recession, we'll still have jobs for talented people. It's a buyers market even for average talent, and recruiters are going to have to step up their game if they expect to attract top people. And just for the record... it's always a buyers market for top talent regardless of the position, industry, or economic circumstances.

Read more articles by this author.

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Recruiting departments are definitely gearing up for one of the most competitive talent seasons in recent history and they are searching for answers. It appears from our survey that they are also making investments in 2008 to increase recruiting capabilities and win the recruiting race. Some are hunkering down and trying to get more done in less time. Others are reorganizing and focusing some of their resources exclusively on new sourcing groups designed to bolster their ability to fill tough positions. Sourcing departments are springing up like dandelions. So this week we'll highlight some of the pressures on corporate recruiting departments and give some guidelines for how and where to wisely focus your efforts.

Ever heard your boss say, "This year we're expecting to do more, but you're getting fewer resources to do it"? This seems to be the U.S. approach to productivity and progress. While the U.S. continues to be among the most productive nations on the planet, executives continue to raise expectations setting the bar ever higher. Alan Greenspan commented in his recent book that it used to take a staff of 28 to do the economic analysis that they now do in the Chairman's office with only four people. Recruiting departments are no different and expectations keep rising. However, there are some limits to what is reasonable and we'll attempt to help executives understand the economics of recruiting with the following statistics:

Survey Results

619 individuals responded to our recruiting survey--142 recruiting agencies and 477 corporate entities. We wanted to know what the requisition loads were for these respective groups. The average number of recruiters on staff within the agencies participating in the survey was six. The average number of recruiters on staff with the corporations was nine. On average, third-party recruiters reported handling 9.2 open requisitions at any one time. Corporate recruiters handle over double that amount at nearly 21 per recruiter. That number doesn't sound so bad until you realize that some are handling requisition loads upwards of 200 open positions while others are handling only 5-8. Here's the point: the harder it is to find top talent, the more recruiters you will need and the more time it will take.

What is the right requisition load for your recruiters?

We get this question all the time, and Recruiting Managers are anxious to know the magic number. Unfortunately, there isn't one single number. The "right" number of requisitions is very much dependent on the type of recruiting the recruiter is doing. While 40-50 open requisitions may seem outrageous to some, it might be perfectly fine if they are all for the same position and the recruiter's role is primarily administrative in nature. So let me describe briefly three models for recruiting and their associated requirements, and some guidelines for requisition volumes.

High-Volume Recruiting (typically 35-50 open requisitions)

In this model recruiters provide primarily administrative support to a well oiled process. In order to produce good hires, high-volume recruiting must be systematic and must leverage technology. The primary sourcing mechanisms are advertising and internal referrals. Recruiters in this model don't have time to network, recruit, do in-depth sourcing, or in many cases in-depth screening. Creative advertising, streamlined technology, a killer career website with compelling messaging, and an application process that doesn't get in the way are critical to this type of recruiting. Recruiters can manage a higher requisition load in this type of environment. But don't ask them to also pick up a few executive level or more challenging searches on the side. It will become a complete distraction and the tools and skills they use to be successful are a complete mismatch.

Category Recruiting--Vertical Specialties (17-22 open requisitions max)

In this model, recruiters specialize in a particular category of positions like IT or marketing or sales. Even if the positions are not exactly the same as in high-volume recruiting, there are still economies of scale and recruiters can leverage their work on one position to fill other positions in their portfolio. This allows them to handle slightly higher work loads. Over time they will build a network of candidates they can tap when new positions become available. Technology also plays an important role in this type of recruiting, but the most important part of this recruiting process is a robust database and a process for nurturing candidates that aren't quite ready to move. Advertising helps fill the funnel initially, but networking and nurturing are the main sourcing channels for this recruiting model.

Executive Recruiting and Specialty Searches

In this model recruiters focus on a smaller number of unique and specialized searches. Every search is different and there is little leverage in this model for corporate recruiters. Our survey data reveals that these types of recruiters may handle anywhere from 5 to 15 requisitions at any one time. This matches very closely the average number of requisitions for third-party recruiters. This type of full-cycle recruiting requires a great deal of time and effort and will require dedicated resources. One question corporate recruiting managers need to ask is, "Do I have the right recruiters to do this type of recruiting?" The HR generalist who transferred into recruiting two years ago and is a little reluctant to pick up the phone is probably not your best resource.

Straight Talk for Executives

Executives need to understand the economics of recruiting in 2008-that at all levels it's going to cost more time and energy to attract the same level of talent that your recruiting department successfully recruited last year. This will involve an investment in either third-party recruiters or increased internal staff. There are efficiencies to be had, but those companies that fail to invest now may lose their window of opportunity. If the economy does slide into a recession, top talent gets sticky. They entertain fewer new opportunities and they tend to safely wait out the storm in their current job. After all, they are highly talented, fully capable, and they don't have to move. The race for talent in 2008 will go to those companies that make wise investments, move quickly, and don't take their eye off of that finish line.

Don't forget to join Lou and me next Tuesday, January 22, for our review of the other survey results.

Happy recruiting.