BLENDING ART & SCIENCE TO PERFECT YOUR
RECRUITING PROCESS
One of the world’s most recognizable works of art is Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic drawing,
the Vitruvian Man. The significance of this piece is da Vinci’s skill in blending art
and science to illustrate how two traditionally separate disciplines can actually work
together in producing a profoundly harmonic effect.
Similarly, when it comes to developing an effective recruiting model for your
organization, it is critical to find the right balance between the objective and the
subjective success factors. An organization exists within the context of a market;
thus, the science of understanding local labor markets is a key recruiting success factor.
Moreover, recruiters are not dealing with
commodities or standardized sterile products;
they are managing the skills, goals, interests
When it comes to developing an
and expectations of people. Consequently,
effective recruiting model for
successful recruiting necessitates a high degree
your organization, it is critical to
of artful humanity.
find the right balance between
the objective and the subjective
success factors.
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BLENDING ART & SCIENCE TO PERFECT YOUR
RECRUITING PROCESS
ART AND SCIENCE IN RECRUITING
Too often organizations fall into the trap of an “either
or” approach to recruiting. In these scenarios, hiring
managers base their recruiting efforts exclusively on
either one of the following considerations:
Objective Factors:
The Scientific Approach
The scientific approach, or use of objective methods
to gather and process information, provides a factual
context for decision making. Through a recruiting
lens, some objective considerations for hiring
managers include:
ƒƒ Analysis of marketplace demographics:
What technology trends are growing? What is
the supply of different skill sets? What skill sets
are “hot” or in high demand? Who are the top
employers of various skill sets?
ƒƒ Identification of compensation levels: What is
the fair market rate for different skill sets in this
market relative to others? Who pays closer to the
high range? Who pays closer to the low range?
What are other compensation variables that should
be considered (401(k) plans, sign on or merit
bonuses, healthcare coverage, other perks)?
ƒƒ Establishment of formal recruiting performance
metrics: What sources are the most effective to find
various skill sets? What is the length of the hiring
process for different skill sets and levels? What is
the interview-to-hire ratio? What is the time to
productivity and retention ratios for different roles?
Subjective Factors:
The Artistic Approach
In some cases, the logical reasoning of science only
goes so far. Within recruiting, the artistic approach
allows for subjective interpretation of the gaps in
information that are undetected or unexplained by
facts alone. As reality is often subject to perspective,
recruiters must be able to tactfully navigate the
gray areas.
Some subjective considerations for hiring
managers
ƒƒ Understanding what is most important: Employers
often provide job descriptions that are closer to
wish lists than requirements. Moreover, candidates
evaluate their employment opportunities against
a variety of personal and professional factors.
Recruiters must help both parties determine the
“non-negotiatables” to make the perfect match of
talent and opportunity.
ƒƒ Communicating the job details: Many recruiters
call prospective candidates and focus their
conversation on the requirement they are
attempting to fill. A far more effective approach
to attract top talent is to start seeking to
understand candidates first, and then discuss
the job description if and when relevant.
ƒƒ Assessing a candidate’s overall “fit:” While there
are tests that can partially measure a candidate’s
technical skills, how well a candidate truly connects
with a company, manager, and role is subjective.
Best practices introduce behavioral interviewing,
allowing more than one person to interview the
candidate and check references for information
about the environment in which the person thrives.
The artistic approach allows for
subjective interpretation of the gaps
in information that are undetected
or unexplained by facts alone.
Steps to a Balanced Recruiting
Model
Achieving a healthy blend of art and science is not an
easy task. However, by making strides to implement
the steps below, clients can build a high-performing
recruiting process encompassing the tangible and
intangible requirements for success.
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BLENDING ART & SCIENCE TO PERFECT YOUR
RECRUITING PROCESS
Analyze Your Local Market
When you begin the hiring process, it is essential to first
understand the local labor market dynamics that impact
recruiting efforts. Specifically, organizations should:
ƒƒ Analyze density levels of particular skill sets within
select locations. (If considering embarking on a
strategic workforce planning effort, this task should
reach beyond national borders to assess talent in
global markets.)
ƒƒ Gauge fair market rates for each skill set and skill
set level.
ƒƒ Proactively gather resumes and talk to people with
target skill sets to understand their current pay
rates and career aspirations.
ƒƒ Identify top employers of target skills in select
markets.
This type of data does not remain static, so I
recommend employers assess or refresh key data
points at least once a quarter. By leveraging market
intelligence, your organization can anticipate and
address important complexities involved in sourcing
talent before the process begins. Additionally, you can
proactively identify any current skill sets that may be
retention risks and act accordingly.
Evaluate how your open positions
will fit into your operations today
and how the job may evolve in
tandem with the strategy.
Know your Role
In defining your talent needs, be realistic about
compromises and clarify the “must haves” from the
“nice to haves” for each open position. To determine
the non-negotiables, talk to members of your current
team and other organizational stakeholders about what
technical and soft skills are critical for the success of a
new hire in this position. During this process, consider
the top and bottom performers in similar roles at your
organization; attempt to determine what specific skills
and characteristics distinguish these two groups.
As you gather various perspectives, be sure to consider
your future needs and initiatives. Evaluate how your
open positions will fit into your operations today and
how the job may evolve in tandem with the strategy.
When finally writing a job description, this analysis
will help you to articulate the skills needed by your
organization today, as well as those required to meet
your future business demands.
Consider the Candidate
Too often the perspectives of potential employees are
afterthoughts in the recruiting process. By considering
and prioritizing candidate needs and motivations
upfront, organizations can avoid wasting recruiting
efforts pursuing the wrong people on the wrong terms.
A best practice is to begin the recruiting process
by asking current employees what they love about
working at your organization, what they believe they
can accomplish long term by working there, and
what makes them stay versus leave to join another
company. This information can then be consolidated
into a succinct Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that
recruiters can use to differentiate your position and
attract top talent in the market.
Upon sharing the EVP during sourcing calls to establish
credibility and garner attention, recruiters should
then seek to understand what each candidate truly
brings to the table. Many recruiters immediately share
details around the job description. However, this allows
candidates to tailor their answers to fit the role. To
the contrary, best practice allows recruiters to engage
candidates in a series of probing questions that enable
them to assess the candidates’ skills, goals, and
interests, as well as what is most important to them
in a position and employer. As the cost of a poor
hire is too much to risk in most cases, I recommend
a comprehensive approach to screening, including
multiple interviews with multiple stakeholders, detailed,
supervisory reference checks, and when appropriate,
an evaluation of relevant work samples.
Build a Multi-Channel Sourcing Strategy
Since the job-board revolution, I have heard countless
hiring managers express their belief that all recruiters
fish from the same pond of talent. Unfortunately,
it is true that many recruiters rely heavily on job boards
and employ a “post and coast” strategy to sourcing
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BLENDING ART & SCIENCE TO PERFECT YOUR
RECRUITING PROCESS
candidates. Such an approach, however, is largely
ineffective at sourcing high-quality candidates. It does
nothing to access passive job seekers and limits the
candidate pool to strangers, rather than proven talent
recommended by referrals or a trusted network.
The most successful recruiters utilize a variety of
channels to build a strong candidate network. They
research competitors, focus on referrals, target specific
skill sets, maintain relationships with past placements,
utilize social media, and attend local trade organizations
and user groups. Executing this type of multi-faceted
recruiting strategy casts a wide net and therefore,
increases selectivity when identifying the right match
of talent for open positions. It is important to note,
however, that a wide net alone is not a competitive
advantage. Organizations need to have the recruiting
manpower required to vet a large candidate pool and
qualify who possesses the right technical skills, soft
skills, and work experience required of a new hire.
By considering and prioritizing
candidate needs and motivations
upfront, organizations can avoid
wasting recruiting efforts
pursuing the wrong people on
the wrong terms.
To evolve from “good to great”
or to remain on top, an organization
must source, screen, hire, develop,
and retain talent like no other.
upfront, organizations can streamline their approach
to the hiring process without sacrificing critical quality
standards.
The Balancing Act of Recruiting
Top performing organizations have the right people in
the right positions. Given the critical role human capital
plays in building a competitive advantage, companies
are wise to focus on optimizing their recruiting strategy.
To evolve from “good to great” or to remain on top,
organizations must source, screen, hire, develop, and
retain talent like no other.
As you work to improve your recruiting efforts, consider
da Vinci’s portrayal of the Vitruvian Man: there is beauty
in balancing artistic subjectivity with objective science.
By blending these seemingly opposite factors together
within the recruiting process, your organization will be
on its way to developing a comprehensive strategy that
effectively attracts quality candidates to support your
current and future initiatives.
ABOUT US
Define Success
A successful recruiting model is just as much about
process as the outcome—as one inforces the other.
For example, a long, convoluted process will frustrate
high-quality candidates (who are typically employed and
taking time off work to interview), meanwhile a skimpy
screening process can lead to an unproductive use
of your manager’s time reviewing the “resumemess”
or ultimately dealing with the cost of a poor hire.
Therefore, it is critical to predefine process and outcome
standards to measure recruiting success. Some sample
metrics include: percentage of candidate submissions
with detailed reference checks performed; source of
hire; length of time to submit and time-to-fill positions;
interview-to-hire rates; retention rates; and hiring
manager satisfaction. By establishing these metrics
People are at the heart of every successful business
initiative. At TEKsystems, we understand people. Every
year we deploy over 80,000 IT professionals at 6,000
client sites across North America, Europe and Asia.
Our deep insights into IT human capital management
enable us to help our clients achieve their business
goals—while optimizing their IT workforce strategies.
We provide IT staffing solutions, IT talent management
expertise and IT services to help our clients plan, build
and run their critical business initiatives. Through our
range of quality-focused delivery models, we meet our
clients where they are, and take them where they want
to go, the way they want to get there.
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BLENDING ART & SCIENCE TO PERFECT YOUR
RECRUITING PROCESS
Steve
Schumacher
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Steve Schumacher has
more than 14 years of
experience in human
capital consulting,
program management,
and talent acquisition.
As Executive Director,
Steve leads TEKsystems’
Direct Placement Search practice, RPO business model,
and Workforce Management Solution (WMS) delivery
strategy.
Steve guides the implementation of TEKsystems’
proven sourcing, screening, and selection methods for
enterprise and mid-market clients that seek top IT
talent. He and his team also help client organizations
quantify total recruiting program costs, reduce
productivity gaps, and develop customized direct hire
solutions with measurable ROI. He leads and educates
TEKsystems’ sales force to help ensure that they deliver
winning results and provide excellent service to
our customers.
As an active member in several industry organizations,
Steve frequently speaks at executive forums about
effective recruiting strategies in a dynamic marketplace.
He has also served on staffing industry panels,
published online newsletters, and contributed to various
industry publications.
Steve began his career in 1995 with Allegis Group,
TEKsystems’ parent company. Prior to his current role,
he was a Divisional Director for Mentor 4’s Call Center
staffing offering. Later he launched and oversaw
Mentor 4’s Accounting and Finance staffing practice.
He has also served as a Regional Director of Aerotek’s
Professional Services and as a Director of Business
Operations for TEKsystems’ office in Orlando, FL.
Steve graduated from Wake Forest University, and
currently resides in Charlotte, NC with his wife and two
daughters. In his free time, Steve enjoys playing golf and
spending time with his family.
TEKsystems® 7437 Race Road, Hanover, MD 21076 | 888.835.7978 | www.TEKsystems.com | TEKsystems, Inc. is an Allegis Group, Inc.
company. Certain names, products and services listed in the document are trademarks, register trademarks, or service marks of their
respective companies. Copyright © 2012 TEKsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Written by: Steve Schumacher, Rachel Russell, and Shara Hamlin
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