The Significance of Returning the Control of the Recruitment Process to the Organization

With the complete transfer of control over the recruiting process out of the organization, HR managers are losing valuable knowledge that can directly affect the company's business results

Because of the task load imposed on the organization's recruiters, HR managers often resort to outsourcing services such as placement companies to facilitate the process of recruitment. The obvious advantage of using outsourcing services is freeing the HR department from dealing with tactical tasks for the benefit of strategic ones. Managers and recruiters assume that use of outsourcing will relieve them from having to keep track of the search and screening process and eliminate the need to maintain an internal pool of candidates for future searches. However with outsourcing, organizations renounce, often without being aware of it, control of the recruitment process.

In practice, by transferring control over the hiring process outside the organization, human resources managers lose valuable knowledge that can directly affect the company's business results. This valuable knowledge, accumulated in the process of recruiting, includes information about changing market trends, data about the company's positioning as an employer, and more. For example, a comparative statistical analysis of the applicants who seek various positions over a period of time allows the company to assess whether it is regarded as an attractive workplace relative to competitors in the market. A positive or a negative answer allows the company to organize and actively work toward improving or maintaining its positioning. Another example is a search for a candidate for a particular job. If it turns out that the number of applications for the position is considerably lower than the number of candidates for other positions in the organization, it is reasonable to assume that there is a shortage in this particular type of professionals on the market, so that even when a suitable candidate is found, compensation is likely to be very high.

The knowledge accumulated in the process of recruitment can also pinpoint critical aspects such as weaknesses that can jeopardize the ability of the organization to meet its goals. For example, the identification of critical skill shortages in the organization, which are one of the main business risks that companies recognize today.

This type of information is valuable and companies should not neglect it. It can reduce the uncertainty under which the company operates, identify the problems that need to be dealt with, and assist in making decisions concerning the changes required for the company to remain competitive. The company that collects such information and quantifies it with reference to its future plans can prepare and act in additional ways to bring the missing talent into the organization and carry out its strategy.

It is important to note that returning control over the recruiting process to the organization will help the recruiting department reposition itself in the organization as a contributor to the business success of the company. It does not require the active involvement of HR managers in all processes. HR managers must only ensure that the process itself is under control, and return to recruiters the knowledge and the decision-making power about how to recruit, whom to recruit, when, and by what means. This can be accomplished with tools that allow measurement of various processes in accordance with key performance indicators (KPI), such as time to hire for the specific job, type of occupation, the cost per hire by various recruitment sources (placement agencies, social networks etc.) and more.

There are cases and circumstances when the organization should definitely use outsourcing services for recruitment. The HR department, however, should make an informed decision when and in which cases or for what positions this is to be done, and what is the right mix to ensure the return on investment.

To achieve the goals they set for themselves, organizations must use the tools for measurement and evaluation of the effectiveness and the costs of the recruitment process. In this way they can choose effective recruitment processes and means for each position or job in the organization, decide when and which outsourcing firms to involve in the process, and save direct and indirect costs.

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