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Are HR and Recruitment heading for a break up?

Submitted by ShaneCreamer on Sun, 2008-04-13 17:51.

I know I promised to cover recruitment function organization structures and job descriptions this week, but I changed my mind. I had an interesting conversation with one of my colleagues this week that really got me thinking.....should Recruitment be a part of or report up to the HR function?

It’s probably one of the favourite debates of the Recruitment professional – why do we typically report up to HR? Why not sales/marketing, another functional division, or directly to the business with a dotted line to HR perhaps? No doubt that all of these models come into play in some orgainzations, but Recruitment as a part of the HR function is the most common organizational alignment out there by a long shot. Some food for thought:

- CEO’s frequently list the acquisition of top talent as being a key organization priority.....yet rarely do I hear of Recruitment as being on the top of HR’s priority list
- I have worked with many organizations that have several HR VP’s, yet for some reason rarely do I see a Recruitment or Talent Acquisition VP as a part of a larger HR team
- Almost every organization has an HR budget, but many of the companies I work with don’t have a recruitment budget for some reason

It’s no big secret that many HR professionals simply don’t want to touch Recruitment, and that many Recruitment professionals simply don’t want to touch HR. Does it make sense to amicably part ways? I think it just may under the right set of organizational circumstances. Next week – As promised, I will discuss recruitment function organization structures and job descriptions.

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The Status of Recruitment

Submitted by ShaneCreamer on Sun, 2008-08-10 18:34. *

Well said Shawn. I don't necessarily agree with all of your points (that would be just too easy!), but I think you have summed up the discussion nicely on a macro level. I agree that HR and Recruitment will most likely be forever linked; I am however advocating a status increase for Recruitment in the HR function. Simply put, I have seen just a few too many large corporate HR functions where recruitment takes a back seat in terms of HR and people priorities. The great news for us recruitment professionals......is that the importance and status of recruitment within HR and the organization as a whole is definitely trending upwards. I am also seeing a shift upwards in the overall capability and talent level of recruitment leaders and practitioners, which is fantastic for our profession.

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Recruitment belongs in HR...

Submitted by selliott on Wed, 2008-08-06 10:17. *

Shane; great post. Very thought provoking... my two cents...

Without a doubt, recruitment belongs in HR. See, it doesn't matter where we feel it should be, it matters where our clients think it should be. A hiring manager is never going to think to go to the sales + marketing folks to hire someone; just as a potential candidate is never going to try and contact facilities because they want to work in a particular building.

What needs to happen however, is more and more companies need to realize that talent needs to have a greater say in the overall HR strategy, and that it need not roll up into 'employee relations'. I have had an opportunity to work for, and certainly get to know (outside of an employment relationship) some pretty amazing and forward thinking organizations that have dedicated focus to Talent (acquisition through to management and development), some of these organizations even go beyond and look at Total Rewards (not necessarily compensation / dollars) as being an integral component of the talent team; good on them! This to me, is far more relevant/critical than the department within which the team is housed.

To Shane's earlier point, many companies don't have a VP of Recruitment, but they also do not have a VP of Comp, or a VP of Labour Relations; see, it is paramount to many organizations that they maintain a very lean/flat org structure wherever possible. If there is anyone out there that has gone through a spans and layers exercise; you'll know what I mean. For anyone that saw the Bell announcement recently; the technical (HR) headline could have read something like, "Bell engages in spans + layers review; 2500 people to leave org...". It really is time to move beyond titles, and look to responsibility and accountability; I would suggest that where there are orgs that have a VP, there would be almost a direct comparison to the Directors at those without.

So in a nutshell, should recruitment be housed outside of HR; nope. Should it have senior representation at the HR Leadership table; without a doubt. Does it have to be a VP? Nope. And, one might be surprised at how many companies have already realized this and have quietly made some changes to the way they operate.

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who's going to take charge?

Submitted by rmatthews on Thu, 2008-07-17 13:47. *

I believe that recruiting, as a corporate function, may be at a point where it should stand alone form HR, however, within “corporate Canada”, HR, Recruitment and the value they bring to an organization are still not understood and in some places, not respected. I’m not saying that organizations don’t see the importance of “Recruiting” but the internal recruiting process is hidden, lost or none existent.

Quick story, I was talking to a few folks in very senior roles, in different capacities at different organizations and here are some of their comments,….
- ”Our recruiter is in charge of Job boards and finding headhunters”. If this is you, ask for more training or find another job because you are not a recruiter.
- “we have a recruiter but I just use my own networks”. Dear recruiter,…. You do not have the respect of your hiring leaders, time to take your job seriously and earn it.
- “the recruiter told me that me timeline was,… I just went and did it myself”,…. This one could have been a better story, had I taken the time to ask what the recruiters timelines where and how long it took him to make the hire. Had I asked more questions, I might have more to say.

So although I can promote my thoughts from where I sit, who is going to lead the separatist movement and deliver the value proposition to Corporate leadership,… are you?,…. Doubt it.

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looking for recruiters

Submitted by karine.audet on Mon, 2008-06-30 09:09. *

Very interesting... until now, recruitment has always been perceived as an entry level position. With the recruitment challenges that we are facing right now, companies are looking for more experimented recruiters. I don't think it's in HR department that they will find most of the them.

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