As already discussed in my articles “companies and recruiters need to learn how to ‘apply for candidates’” Part 1 and Part 2 the recruiting market is in a change process. Social technologies, mobile devices and diversification in job requirements and candidate expectations are transforming the working world. HR managers face multiple new and changing challenges when they are hiring. The time-to-hire is getting more and more critical, while many recruiting processes are still too complex and long-winded. They need to build a good understanding for new technologies and tools as this is the only way to answer requests for differentiated analytics of more complex profiles and candidate requirements. On the other hand it is a candidate market and top candidates have a clear expectation for the next job but also for the application process.
From company perspective HR managers are changing their role from an internal service provider into a business partner for all departments of the company. In a transforming environment they have not only to manage the effects of change inside a company, they have to be an active part of the whole change management process itself. HR managers need to act as agile change agents and to drive transformation. They have to shape the hiring process into a leaner, faster and more effective process, increase transparency and improve communication with candidates. It is very important to include also core future skills such as social intelligence, trans-disciplinarity, cross cultural competency or new media literacy (source: Institute for the Future) into search profiles to prepare the organization for the next challenges. Parallel the organization needs to be prepared for the next generations. In 2020 35% of the working force will be the Generation Y and already 12% the Generation Z (source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics). The next generations have a higher demand for liquid structures and working models, away from static hierarchies and old-school matrix organizations. This is another good reason for HR to become real agile.
The graphic shows a first conceptual Agile Recruiting Framework I developed based on my digital product transformation framework.
The framework includes:
• 4 influencing business and technology trends (social, mobile, analytics, cloud)
• 2 internal enablers (transparency, agility)
• 2 poles (profile & requirements of company, expectations & requirements of candidates)
• Attributes related to one of the poles
• 2 internal enablers (transparency, agility) with influence on both poles
• 4 influencing variables (tools, knowledge, time, process)
• 1 external frame (market), 1 internal frame (company culture)
In the center of the process are not the profile or company requirements – it is the candidate.