Thursday April 22nd, 2010
HEAD2HEAD IN PERSON: IPM Conference, May 12 2010

Paul Dodd and Sarah Welstead are featured speakers at the Institute of Professional Management's annual full-day conference in Toronto on May 12, 2010.

Now that the economy is picking up and organizations are hiring again, employers are faced with two challenges: how to make their recruiting budget work harder - while still getting the best people. With many industries continuing to experience talent shortages, how can organizations attract and secure A-list candidates without breaking the bank? Discover new alternatives to traditional recruiting methods for small, mid-size and large organizations.

Gain new insights about building referral programs that work. Learn how to better leverage your organization and make everyone a recruiter. Review the best ways to use social media for recruiting. Discuss how to “insource” your recruiting function.

Participants will take away five vital strategies which they can implement immediately to help their organization win the war for top talent.

To learn more about the conference, and how to register, click here.

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Tuesday April 20th, 2010
In a recovering economy, RPO matters more than ever

At the best of times - i.e. 2 years ago, when we were all obsessed with 'the talent crisis' - RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) has been one of those topics that seems to engender more discussion than actual action: there are hundreds of articles, blog posts, white papers and god knows what else out there about RPO, but actual examples of fully outsourced recruiting solutions were rare.

Now that the economy is picking up, organizations are beginning to increase hiring volume again - but cautiously.

This is a great time to take another look at RPO.

SIDEBAR: Part of the reason that 'RPO' stayed more of a 'buzzword' than 'something everyone is doing' is that the early definition of RPO - outsourcing an organization's entire recruitment function to a third party - was just too darn big, especially for Canadian organizations. That kind of full-scale RPO really only makes sense for large organizations who are making hundreds or thousands of hires every year, and for whom the potential savings run into 6 or 7 figures. Only in those situations is it worth the huge enterprise-wide changes involved in full RPO.

However, in the past year or so, we've seen a real change in how people are talking about 'RPO'. According to Aberdeen Group, which has just released a comprehensive study, "...73% of organizations viewed RPO as a selective model...." in which they outsource parts of the recruitment lifecycle, not the whole thing.  

(At Head2Head, we call this RPO LITE:  All the benefits of RPO, but without the headache of a stem-to-stern enterprise transition or commitment.)

This 'RPO Lite' model is relevant now for 2 reasons:

1. It delivers against the bottom line.  In the Aberdeen Group study, respondents reported an average savings on cost-per-hire of 48%.  At Head2Head, we've seen a typical savings of about 35% when organizations outsource key parts of their recruitment function. 
2. When you're hiring fewer people, every one of them has to be a keeper.   In a good economy, an organization can carry some 'deadwood' employees; in a bad economy, there's no room for dud employees, and even the A-listers have to try a little harder.  So when an organization does make a hire, quality is even more important.  RPO solutions tend to involve better metrics around quality of hire, quality of sources, retention rate and other indicators of long-term recruitment success.  Which contributes to #1, above.

I know, I know - everyone blathers on about 'outsourcing' but doesn't actually get specific about how it could help you, and help your organization today.

Well, here's something:  yesterday I spoke with a client (a mid-sized financial services firm, which is feeling the pinch as much as anyone) who said that outsourcing their research/talent mapping portion of the recruitment lifecycle saved them $14,000 in January - which meant they didn't have to lay off one of their employees.

These small things can make a big difference.

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Saturday April 17th, 2010
5 Creative Sourcing Tactics for $500 or Less

Remember when having a job to fill meant spending $500 to post it on a job board somewhere? 

Well, these days, $500 (or less) can buy you a lot of sourcing - and without having to wade through the masses of unsuitable candidates that job boards can deliver.  Here are 5 you may not have thought of.

1.  Hire a student for a week's worth of talent pooling

We may roll our eyes at the internet savvy of today's youth, but let's face it:  Give an 18-year-old a set of parameters, and in a week they can probably assemble a list of 100 great candidates - including contact information - that meet your criteria. 

2.  Offer rewards for referrals from employees

Recruiters know that employee referrals are one of the top sources of A-list candidates.  So send an email to your co-workers offering Starbucks gift cards for referrals ("5 great names for $10" is a good way to generate higher volume; "$250 if we hire the person you referred this month" is a good way to get more specialized referrals).

3.  Do a 1-day status update blitz

If you're chronically short of candidates for a particular role, take advantage of your employees' LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter status updates to do a one-day blitz asking for candidates.  Send everyone an email with a pre-written status update and a link to (a really well-written) job post and ask them to post it on a specific day.  (You might want to try this in conjunction with #2.)

4.  Post an announcement to your company website's NEWS section

Tap into all the passive candidates visiting your corporate website - the ones who never actually click on the 'CAREERS' tab - by posting a news item about how you're looking for great candidates for specific positions.  You never know whose eye(s) it might catch - and who they may tell about it.

5.  Get your marketing department to rewrite one of your job postings - and make it funny!

Don't be afraid of offbeat/hilarious job ads - they'll increase your response rate by as much as 250%.   A line like "We're looking for a salesperson with the tenacity of Jason Bourne looking for his true identity..." will not only attract better candidates, but it'll get forwarded/retweeted/noticed - and that's good for your employment brand.

Also interesting:  Recruiters tell their own 'true tales' of creative sourcing.

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About the Authors

Paul Dodd
Co-founder and President
Head2Head Canada

Paul has one simple goal: To help companies hire great people - and get the most out of every recruiting dollar they spend. That's why he's recognized as one of the best recruitment-industry thinkers in Canada.

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