Recruiting is Marketing

by Don Rottman

Purpose:

Any organization’s success can be directly correlated to the quality of individuals that make up that organization.  Therefore, the acquisition of the best possible human resource team is a paramount function of each organization.  This is a function that is part of every organization, very little formal training or education is ever done on the basics of recruiting.

We believe that the better people understand the recruitment process and available resources they have, the more effective recruiting they are capable of, therefore, the more effective team they can build.  This material has been created to give you a paradigm for recruitment that will help enhance your success in this critical endeavor.

What is effective recruitment?

The question to answer is:  What is the most effective utilization of my resources in order to get the highest quality result in a time efficient manner?   The answer is different for different types of individuals based on the dynamics of their specific roles and work environments.

In its rawest form, recruitment of any kind is marketing.   It is important to understand the fundamentals of marketing and how they apply to recruitment in order to have an effective recruitment program.

Marketing, in recruitment, is defined as:

An organization’s desire to attract a specific group of individuals (target market) to the qualities and attributes of that organization and the opportunity that it represents, in order to develop a mutually beneficial relationship (employment).

Marketing is a function of defining in series:

1.      Who your target market is  (different than just who you are marketing to).
2.      What your message to that market is.
3.     How, the medium by which, you are going to reach that market.

Mistakes are frequently made by not addressing these steps in their proper order.  Other shortcomings arise in how each is approached.   Many times people chose the medium first and  never reach their target market.  Other times people chose the message they want to send and don’t ask if it is the message their target market will be receptive to.

Target Market:

A target market, from a recruitment perspective, is defined as a group of individuals with a specific background of qualifications and experiences that would infer that said individuals would functionally be able to fulfill your recruitment need .

For most people, their ideal target market is a group of individuals currently successfully employed, who if presented with the right opportunity, would consider making a career change.

Target Market is different than “who you are marketing to”.  You may be marketing to many people that are not part of your target market.  If so, there are costs associated with that, both in the medium you choose and the time you invest in facilitating that unwanted response.

Message:

Once you decide and distinguish who you are trying to recruit, your target market, you must answer:

What do I want to tell them?

Your message should address these three main things:

1. A description of the opportunity
2. A description of the qualifications you seek
3. A description of the organization

The goal is to paint a picture that you perceive your target market will consider attractive and be prompted to respond to.  It goes without saying that this picture must represent reality, but not all messages are created equal.  There can be very different ways to paint the same picture.

In creating an effective message, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What is the nature of the individual you are trying to reach?
2. Is this role one that is dominated by male or females?
3. Different sexes typically have different issues and different perspectives and places they listen from.  If so, are there different dynamics to be sensitive to?
4. What are the personality characteristics of the norm of the people in this role?  For example, most typical Directors of Marketing have a very different personality than a typical Chief Financial Officer.
5. What is it that professionally  motivates and excites these individuals?
6. How can we paint the picture to attract people with not only the right experience, but also with congruent values to ours? The best functional person can fail in the wrong environment.
7. Does our message communicate intrinsic values that we offer?

If you can be sensitive to these questions and develop your message with these things in mind, you will be more successful in attracting better people than your competitors.  Realize though, the very best message is ineffective unless it is heard by those it is intended for.  So choose the right medium(s) for your message.

Medium:

The medium is how you chose to contact and convey your message to your target market.  Each medium has different factors that are going to have a direct effect on the three key issues of an effective recruitment program:  Quality, Time, and Cost.

Turnover is disruptive, recruitment is work; the last thing you want to do is to repeat this process.  Do it right the first time.  Choosing the right medium(s) is where a lot of people get off track and make mistakes.  There is a natural tendency to follow the most traditional path, the path of least resistance. The result can be positive or can result in a prolonged recruitment process, hiring the best of what you get vs. the best available talent (wrong person), or expense that delivers a poor return on investment.

When you address different mediums, remember that your message is going to have different limitations and dynamics with different mediums. It may be limited by how adaptable to the individual it is. You may be limited to the length of the message, the amount of information you are able to communicate, and the amount of interaction you have with potential candidates.  For instance, if you are able to talk to your target market directly you are able to customize your message to meet individual needs and paradigms. It can also be limitless in length and content.   If your message is in print there are obviously more limitations.

To avoid frustration and potential failure, understand the purpose and goals of each medium.  That means you must realize the capabilities and limitations of each.  Ask yourself:

• Who are all of the possible people that this medium will reach?
  • What is the total market?
• Am I able to convey my message  utilizing this medium?
• Will my message get to my target market using this medium?  Why?
  •  Always ask this question twice.  Put yourself in the shoes of your target market and make sure your message would find you through this medium.  It is useless to get the target market and message right if you are going to utilize a medium that is ineffective and won’t reach those people.
• How long will it take for the message to get to my target market?
• Is this a passive versus active methodology of recruitment?
• How much action does it require of my target market to respond and reach me?   People that are happy and successfully employed are going to take the least amount of time in proactively exploring career opportunities on their own.  If this is your target market, give careful consideration to your medium, dare they never see or hear your message.
• How long will it take to see an effect of the utilization of this medium?
• What is the cost to me not having someone in this key role?
• How long is this medium of value?
  •  Is the medium a one shot deal or does it have continual activity.  If a one shot deal, will it last a week, a month, a quarter?
• Of the candidates generated by this medium, how much of my time (or someone on my staff’s time) is it going to take to screen through and interview these  individuals in order to get a finalist batch?
• Likewise, who will do the references?
• What is the Return on the Investment of my resources?
• Productivity Cost:
  •  Another consideration that is a function of both time and cost is the aspect of the cost of the time you invest on weeding through large add responses and  interviewing many people to get a finalist grouping.  Different mediums will    produce this finalist grouping with very different amounts of your direct time  involvement. The perceived cheapest path is not always the most cost effective  path and does not always yield the best return on investment.
  •  If this medium is not successful, what has been my cost, what is the next step, and what will it cost?  Should I do that first instead?

  For more information:

  Don Rottman, President
  The Rottman Group, Inc.
  url:  http://www.rottmangroup.com/