This week we interviewed Kevin Wheeler, an icon within the global HR, Recruitment and Careers industry. Kev
in is the author of hundreds of articles on talent management, career development, recruiting, human capital, leadership and on corporate universities and learning strategies. He will also be speaking at the third annual Australasian Talent Conference, being held on the 5th to 7th May at the Sydney Hilton. It is sure to be another terrific conference and a must attend for all HR and Recruitment professionals.
1. What are some of the trends you are seeing in the US around the attraction of Executives and Senior Professionals by both Employers directly and Recruitment Agencies? Do you see a difference in the approaches being used?
MORE USE OF AGENCIES THAT HAVE A TRACK RECORD. MORE FOCUS ON FINDING CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOOD AT WHATEVER IS NEEDED. YAHOO BRINGS IN A NOTED “TURN AROUND” CEO WHO GETS RID OF MANY NON-PERFORMING SENIOR LEVEL PEOPLE. REAL FOCUS ON PAST PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS, NOT ON PROMISE OR POTENTIAL. IT’S ALL ABOUT RESULTS. FOCUS IN SCREENING IS TO VALIDATE THE RESULTS AND ENSURE THAT THE PERSON REALLY DID DO WHAT THEY ARE REPUTED TO HAVE DONE.
2. Often we hear Boards, Executives and those at the top talking about how talent attraction and retention is one of their top strategic imperatives. In Australia GE’s CEO Steve Sargent is someone we can see that is actually acting rather than talking. Other than GE, what organizations have you seen that have moved beyond talk to action?
NOT MANY AT ALL. EVEN IN THE BEST OF ORGANIZATIONS, TALENT IS STILL TREATED AS A COMMODITY THAT IS NEITHERC SCARE OR VERY IMPORTANT. MUCH MORE ATTENTION IS PAID TO PRICING, INVENTORIES, SALES LEADS – THE THINGS THAT TALENTED PEOPLE DO, BUT NOT MUCH ON THOSE WHO DO IT. IBM, KPMG, DELIOTTE ARE A FEW OF THE BETTER ORGANIZATIONS, BUT NONE ARE WORLD CLASS.
3. New media, social networking and the plethora of fantastic technology available to us as Recruiters and HR professionals is wonderful and for some overwhelming. When looking at attract talent at the Executive and Senior Professional levels, what new technology do you advocate?
AT THE SENIOR LEVELS WE ARE MOSTLY DEALING WITH BABY BOOMERS WHO HAVE NOT WIDELY ADOPTED THESE TECHNOLOGIES. TRADITIONAL METHODS STILL WORK WELL – TELEPHONE, FACE-TO-FACE, REFERRAL. I DON’T THINK MANY SENIOR LEVEL FOLKS HAVE BEEN RECRUITED VIA SOCIAL NETWORKS. WHAT ATTRACTS THEM ARE OTHER SENIOR PEOPLE THEY RESPECT AND INSTITUTIONS THAT PROMISE EITHER ABOVE AVERAGE RENUMERATION OR SOME OTHER TACIT BENEFIT. THESE NEW TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES ARE MORE SUITED TO THE GEN Y CANDIDATES AND SOME OF THE YOUNGER GEN XERS.
4. Given talent attraction is largely done via online channels now, research seems to show in Australia we are largely a risk adverse group to new ways of doing things and embracing new technology (aside from mobile phones). What impact do you see this having on Australian businesses and HR and Recruitment professionals who lag behind?
ULTIMATELY TECHNOLOGY ALWAYS WINS. TELEPHONES, CARS, TV ALL REPLACED OR MINIMIZED OTHER WAYS OF DOING THE SAME THING. THIS WILL HAPPEN IN RECRUITING. WITH THE YOUNGER GENRATION IT HAS LAREADY HAPPENED AND IT WILL SLOWLY PERMEATE ALL LEVELS. RECRUITERS NEED TO START LEARNING THESE TOOLS, EXPERIMENTING AND USING THEM WHEN AND WHERE THEY ARE APPROPRIATE. TO NOT DO SO IS TO FALL BEHIND AND ULTIMATELY TO BE A FAILURE. IF YOU ARE AT THE LAST END OF YOUR CARER, YOU PROBABLY CAN SQUEEZE BY. IF YOU HAVE YEARS LEFT, BETTER GET GOING AND MASTER THESE TOOLS AND THOSE TO FOLLOW.
5. I am a great fan of Daniel Pink and his theory on human capital found in ‘A Whole New Mind – Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future’. With a lot of recruitment being set up and executed by left brained people in a left brained fashion ‘matching and box ticking’ do you see that the process will eventually evolve in line with the left brained talent that businesses need to hire to evolve and be competitive?
YES, OF COURSE IN THE END WE WILL BE SEEKING THOSE WHO MAKE UP RICHARD FLORIDA’S CREATIVE CLASS. THESE ARE WEALTH GENERATORS, CREATIVE PEOPLE WHO THRIVE ON NEW THINGS AND OPPORTUNITIES. RECRUTERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS EMERGING WORKFORCE AND ADAPT TO IT. I AGREE THAT THE USUAL TRANSACTIONAL APPROACH TO SCREENING, ASSESSMENT, AND HIRING ARE NOT VIABLE IN THE LONG TERM. WHAT WILL REPLACE THAT IS NOT YET VERY CLEAR. WE ARE IN A TRANSITION PHASE AND EVEN MANY BUSINESSES DO NOT KNOW WHAT TYPE OF PERSON THEY WANT OR NEED.
6. Six Figures, is a niche job site for Executives and Senior Professionals. In the current market we are seeing businesses cut back their advertising, potentially only using one or two sourcing channels such as a generalist job site and their own careers page. I understand in the US and UK niche job sites are very successful. Do you think if you are looking to source the best people (irrespective of the economic market) you need to be looking at multiple sourcing channels and need to keep a budget there in order to do so?
I THINK THE JURY IS OUT ON THIS. NICHE IS GOOD BUT SO IS BUILDING A NETWORK AND CONNECTING FACE TO FACE. IF I WERE SEEKING A FEW SENIOR PEOPLE, I WOULD FOCUS ON MY NETWORKS AND REFERRALS. IF I NEEDED MORE THAN A FEW, I MIGHT MOVE TO NICHE SITES, BUT MORE LIEKLY I WOULD HIRE A GOOD HEADHUNTER WHO HAD THAT NETWORK AND COULD HELP ME QUICKLY. IF THE NEED FOR SENIOR PEOPLE WAS BIG AND CONSTANT I WOULD USE A NICHE SITE OR INVEST IN BUILDING OUT MY OWN NETWORKS AND I WOULD HAVE PEOPLE FOCUSED ON THAT. SO IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT I NEED BUT THERE IS NO BLANKET RIGHT ANSWER. AT LEVELS BELOW EXECUTIVE OR SENIOR VP, NICHE CAN BE MORE USEFUL THAN FOR THE TOPMOST JOBS.
If you would like to share your views, experiences and general feedback about any of the items discussed, please comment.
