I sent out a tweet late last week that resulted in 3 emails, a direct message and a public request for clarity. If you’ve been reading my ramblings for any amount of time you know that it usually doesn’t take that much to get me to respond with an article – so in the interest of clarifying let’s summarize:
Recruiting isn’t Staffing isn’t Sourcing. Period.
They’re not the same thing and they never have been. So while a Recruiter may spend part of their day sourcing for candidates this doesn’t muddy the difference at all. At least in my world.
When we source, we hunt
When we recruit, we attract
When we staff, we process
It’s not complicated. Can a Sourcer recruit? You bet. Can a Staffing Manger source? Of course. Can a Recruiter staff? Yes! Each of these actions are an area of expertise in and of themselves to be sure – but they aren’t exclusive to the roles that master each initiative. Sourcing, recruiting and staffing are each tied together when we talk about a successful recruitment and staffing model.
The conversations I had prior to my twitter message were around how employee or personal network referrals should be treated. A few felt that referrals were a “slam dunk” hire and therefore should simply be set up for an interview or pushed through immediately to an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) so that the application process could begin. Myself and a few others felt that many referrals don’t get the best picture of a company when this happens – they go from a warm hand-off to a cold process. Hence my remark that most employee referrals should still be recruited and not staffed.
Employee referrals are still external candidates. Sure, the company goes into the relationship with a bit of an edge because the referral probably has a better grasp than many applicants in regards to the job at hand and the corporate culture.
It’s for this reason above any other that a referral from an employee’s personal or professional network deserves a quick call to talk about the company and the job and provide the opportunity of dialogue to the potential hire. These are people that are interested in employment with your company because they like what they’ve seen or heard, they like what the person they’re connected with has told them. Why wouldn’t we want to maintain that social interaction and level of engagement as far along the process as possible.
You’re too busy? Not if you’re honestly looking for top notch talent you aren’t. Don’t forget that a quick conversation can screen someone out as well as lock them in.
Of course I guess if you’re just looking to fill numbers and move people through your staffing machine with no thought to the big picture of your company’s image, profitability, and long term reputation then yeah… Maybe you are too busy for that simple phone call.
Hey, it’s just a referral. <- sarcasm.
