Do the Math - Why Recruiters Are Worth What They Charge

Why are hiring managers so tightfisted when dealing with what is so commonly thought of as the “heartbeat” of their companies ... top-talent?

Companies think very little about paying the often excessive fees charged by their outside accounting and legal firms ... or even to the gaggle of consultants who promise cost-cutting and streamlining miracles in other areas of operations.

Yet, when faced with brain drains, talent deficiencies or the need to replace one employee with a better one, their thoughts too often turn to frugality. This belies and contradicts their stated objectives to "hire the best." Of course recruiting fees can vary from firm to firm but, when they do, you will almost always find that those on the low side are sure to exclude some very key ingredients of the process all of which are vital to providing the indispensable services necessary to satisfy the needs of the employer.

So why are recruiters worth what they charge? Just a few of the often unspoken reasons are:

Expertise
Nobody knows the employment marketplace better than a professional recruiter. . . nobody! In house human resources, no matter how effective (or Internet-savvy), view the marketplace through an imperfect or misrepresentative prism and tunnel vision is a frequent occupational hazard.

Just as physicians are cautioned against treating members of their own families, so too is it folly for an in-house H/R professional to believe that they have an undistorted and unbiased picture of the employment landscape. They are vulnerable to the pressures of internal politics and cultural dimensions which do not hinder the outsider.

Street-smart recruiters already know the neighborhood, including the unlisted addresses so often overlooked by the insiders.

Cast a wider net
A professional fisherman will always have more to show than a weekend angler. Recruiters are in the marketplace day in and day out. They know the unfished coves, reefs and inlets that are unknown to others. The job-hunter bookshelves are filled with lore about the “hidden job market.” The same holds true for professional recruiters who have a detailed roadmap to the hidden talent sources which will never be accessed by newspaper ads, alumni associations, applicant databases, the Internet or any of the other more familiar sources of people.

There are occasional pearls through these sources (and someone inevitably wins the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes too) but you have to shuck an awful lot of smelly oysters to find them. Recruiters only give you oysters proven to contain pearls. Your only job is to determine which pearl is the best. Want to catch what you’re fishing for? Hire a guide!

Cost
There is a misconception among employers that the cost of a hire equals the cost of the ads run or postings on the Internet designed to attract the person hired. Nothing could be further from reality.

Try adding these to the true cost and you’ll see just how cost effective an outside recruiter can be:

Salaries and benefits of the employment/recruiting staffs plus those of the line managers involved in the hiring activity (who are not productive in their normal job pursuits when they’re out recruiting); travel, lodging and entertainment expenses of in-house recruiters; source development costs; overhead expenses including (but not limited to) telephone, office space, postage, PR literature, applicant database maintenance, website costs, reference checking, clerical costs to correspond with the hundreds of unqualified respondents and more.

Unbiased third party input
Contrary to what some believe, recruiters don’t try to put square pegs into round holes. A recruiter’s stock-in-trade is their integrity and their reputation for finding someone better than a company could have found for themselves.

For a mid to senior-level executive, the average recruiter may develop a long list” of a hundred or more possibilities. Each must be called and evaluated against the position specifications as well as the personality “fit” with the company and the people with whom they will ultimately work.

Once this is winnowed down to the “short list” an even more intensive interviewing process begins to narrow the search to a panel of finalists for review by the client...

It is highly unlikely that a professional recruiter will be plowing new ground with your opening.

They deal within spheres of influence far more familiar with your needs than any internal recruiter and, more often than not, view the finalists as people who are competent to solve client problems rather than just fill an open slot in the organizational chart.

Because they want to do business with you again and again, they are looking for (and challenging you to excellence by hiring) the “truly exceptional” rather than the “just satisfactory” so often settled for by in-house hirers.

Confidentiality
Advertising or otherwise publicly proclaiming an opening, aside from its cost and demonstrated ineffectiveness for sensitive senior level openings, often creates anxiety and apprehension among the advertiser’s current employees who wonder why they aren’t being considered or worry about newcomer transition problems. Just as often it alerts competitors to a current weakness or void within the company.

Speed
The recruiting process is always faster through a search professional who is continually tapped into the talent marketplace than one having to start the process from scratch,. For every day that a key opening remains unfilled, a company’s other employees must grudgingly do double duty. And this doesn’t factor in the profit opportunities or competitive advantages lost to a company because a position remains unfilled or is done on a part-time basis by others less qualified.

Post-Hire Downtime - Not only is speed an essential part of the professional recruiter’s process, the ability to locate a person who can immediately “hit the ground running” with a minimum of “ramp-up time” saves time after the hire. All too often, a hire selected through less effective sources offering a smaller talent pool requires several months of expensive training and orientation.

Reality
Professional recruiters often recognize and have a duty to inform clients that they may be mistaken as to the type of person sought, the salary required to attract them or the possibilities that the solution might just lie in areas outside the traditional target industries.., something an internal recruiter is politically disinclined to do. Too many hirers fail to understand that a professional recruiter’s primary function is not necessary to fill a slot but to provide the right candidate to solve a problem.

Negotiation
As a buffer and informed intermediary, the professional recruiter is better able to blend the needs and wants of both parties to arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement without the polarizing roadblocks which too frequently materialize in face-to-face dealings, especially in this “show me the money” economy.

Prioritizing company resources
It is often amazing to see how much of a company’s revenues are squandered on non-productive perks while penny-pinching on what is every company’s lifeblood. . . talent acquisition. Enlightened executives learned long ago that the fee paid to a recruiter is a shrewd strategic investment, not an extraneous expense.

Do the Math
Here is a good example:If your company has A territory vacant for 2 months and this territory produces 1.2 Million dollars per year, your company has lost $200,000 during the time the position has been vacant

Ex. $1,200,000/12 months = $100,000 per month. If the territory is open for 2-months you have lost $200,000!

So, the investment that you would make to a recruiter for quickly finding top qualified individuals is far, far less compared to allowing the territory to remain open. It becomes even more apparent when you factor in the amount of time, energy and money spent on all the in house efforts.

Content thanks to Porter Group, Inc.

How to Build and Motivate a Sales Team

Hiring good sales people is only half the battle. Motivating sales people is the other half of the battle.

To succeed in business, your company needs a quality sales team. Developing a capable and effective sales force might be one of your most difficult jobs.

Here are five tips to help you get started:

Hire Quality, Not Quantity
The number of salespeople on your staff isn't nearly as important as their ability to set up and close a sale. A few skilled and proven sales reps will not only outsell a fleet of novices, but also form a solid core for future staff expansion. If geographic coverage is a concern, consider leveraging technology to help a smaller, more competent sales team cover a wider area.

Communicate Expectations
Many sales teams fail to meet their leader's expectations simply because they never knew what was expected of them in the first place. Don't make the same mistake! Your sales team should have a clear understanding about what you expect from them. They should also feel free to voice their concerns and seek assistance should problems or unexpected setbacks arise. Team meetings, group e-mails, and status reports are essential, but it never hurts to meet with team members individually, too, particularly if a team member is falling short of the goals you have established.

Offer Sales Incentives
It is common for sales reps to be compensated on commission. But commissions can't be the only incentives you offer your sales team. There are lots of other ways to motivate your sales team that are just as important. Remember: Your goal is to build a first-rate sales team. In addition to individual incentives like commissions, consider offering team-based motivators like group bonuses, event tickets, or special merchandise when the team reaches its goals.

Sales Training
It's easy to overlook training as a resource for building and motivating a sales team. However, training provides your sales team with the tools they need to reach their goals as well as much-needed confidence for the sales process. Consider scheduling regular training sessions with your entire staff, covering not only sales technique, but also team-building strategies and exercises.

Motivate by Example
One of the best ways to motivate your team is to lead by example. A positive, can-do attitude is contagious, but so is a negative one. Since your team will follow your lead, it's important to maintain an upbeat presence with your staff. If sales is your forte, you might even want to lead the charge by assigning yourself sales calls and mentoring new sales staff.

Source: http://www.gaebler.com/How-to-Build-and-Motivate-a-Sales-Team.htm

Want Your Boss to See Your MySpace Page?

by Melanie London, Vault.com

The era of the social networking website is clearly upon us. An entire generation of people doesn't seem to think twice about sharing personal information and photos with the plugged-in planet. When it comes to employment, though, your willingness to share may cost you.

According to Vault.com's Social Networking Websites Survey, 44% of employers use sites like MySpace and Facebook to check out job candidates, and 39% have looked up the profile of a current employee. Profiles that reveal questionable behavior or attitudes can be harmful to job seekers, as 82% of employers say that something they perceive as negative on a profile would affect their hiring decisions. Despite these revealing statistics, only 57% of people with profiles take security measures, such as using the website's privacy controls or editing their profiles while in the midst of a job search.

As long as it's more important to you to land that dream job than to provide the world with photographic evidence of your win in last year's beer pong championship, remember these words: "This profile is set to private." If you're actively searching for a job, or if your resume is posted on an employment web site, be sure to utilize the privacy controls of any social networking sites you use.

The First Impression
Do you really want your online profile to make an impression before you can? It's becoming more and more common for hiring managers to use social networking web sites as a tool to whittle down the resume pile. If an HR exec logs on only to find coarse language and salacious shots, well, there's a good bet your resume will end up in the reject pile. Yes, it's fun to share borderline-scandalous profile content with friends, but why a potential employer? If it's NSFW ("not safe for work"), then it's NSF your non-private profile.

Personal Preferences
Revealing your affiliations and likes/dislikes can leave you open to someone else's biases. From your political party to even seemingly harmless information like your favorite movies or the last book you've read, these stated preferences could mean the difference between you and someone else getting the job. Isn't it safer to just keep this information private? You may feel that you wouldn't want to work for a company where someone would judge you based on such things, but in a close race, it may be easier for a hiring manager to align with a fellow oboe enthusiast than a candidate with whom he or she has no common interests. Get the job first; then reveal your love of Celine Dion.

Postings from Friends
Social networking site profiles are all about "friends." How many do you have? Who knows who? And what is everyone doing at every possible moment? Ask yourself, "Is it safe to let potential employers see what my friends are posting to my profile?" In high school, people judged you by who you hung out with; sad as it is, the same goes for social networking web sites.

Picture and Screen Name
So you've taken this all to heart, and you're about to set your profile to private -- great job! But don't neglect your photo and screen name. Resist the urge to choose a too-cutesy name and/or an excessively silly or revealing picture to represent yourself to the world at large. No matter how tempting it may be to call yourself Divalicious08, it doesn't exactly give off an aura of professionalism.

Moving to a Small Company Can Lead to Big Rewards

Leaving behind a brand-name firm is a growing alternative for professionals.
By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN
The Wall Street Journal
March 3, 2008 9:14 p.m.

With the U.S. economy under duress, a growing number of experienced workers may find themselves moving away from large companies toward smaller professional firms. In recent weeks, several large employers announced plans to trim their work forces while small companies hungry for top-talent are happy to take in corporate exiles.

There is a significant upside for professionals moving from a big pond to a smaller one. Senior managers at small and midsize firms often find opportunities to take on more responsibility, earn greater recognition for successes, gain ample exposure to new practice areas and have a more direct impact on a company's bottom line.
To be sure, small firms seeking to attract big fish still have to prove they're a stable alternative that offers competitive pay, but for some, the tradeoff is worth it.

More Impact
Before joining Internet company LinkedIn Corp. in July, Patrick Crane was one of five marketing vice presidents at Yahoo!. He's now the sole vice president of marketing at LinkedIn, which has roughly 220 workers.

"At Yahoo I shook [CEO Jerry Yang's] hand twice and had maybe less than five conversations with him in four years," he says. "Now I meet with our CEO [at LinkedIn] several times a day."

That close proximity to upper management often leads to quicker action. Mr. Macdonald, the former Bristol-Myers worker, says he has the power to get things done more expeditiously at his new employer, Acorda Therapeutics Inc. in Hawthorne, N.Y. "There's less bureaucracy," he says. "Decisions are made without having to go through a number of layers of approval."

Being able to influence a company's bottom line is what led Scott Ruthfield to join WhitePages.com Inc. in April as vice president of engineering and technology. "Everybody plays a core role, so if you do a good job, you are directly contributing to way the business is going to succeed," says the former Amazon.com Inc. manager.

That can also mean more ready recognition. "Every success you have in a small business is magnified by a hundred," says Dean Medley, senior vice president of recruiting at Medical Methods Inc., a staffing firm in Jacksonville, Fla., with 50 employees. "When you land a new account, it's a huge deal."

Small-company converts also mention the room to gain experience in new practice areas—or to return to the heart of a business—as another plus. "You get divorced from the nuts and bolts of operating a business when you work for large companies," says Mike Barnes, a newly hired logistics executive at Halton Co., a provider of construction equipment in Portland, Ore. Mr.

Barnes says the depth of involvement he has at his new firm has another upside: A level of job satisfaction he says he hasn't felt in a long time. Mr. Barnes also says his peers at Halton are less competitive than his former colleagues at larger firms

"People aren't climbing over each other attempting to reach the next level," he says.

That doesn't mean there aren't drawbacks to going small. For one, blunders are magnified. "When you have a setback, it's extremely painful," says Mr. Medley, who joined Medical Methods in 2004 after being laid off from Bank of America Corp.

Small businesses often have fewer support systems than large firms. "You might not have a legal team looking at everything you do," notes Mr. Rich. "There may not be a [human-resources] department." Office perks like free coffee and catered meetings might also be absent, he adds.

Recruiting Challenges
Bringing in brand-name talent can be a challenge for small companies, though. Some senior-level job hunters eschew such firms because they're typically perceived to offer less stability.

Tighter budgets mean smaller companies sometimes can't afford to pay salaries equal to those of big firms. Case in point: This year, chief financial officers at companies with $500 million or more in sales are projected to earn between $257,500 and $370,500 in average annual base pay, CFOs at firms with up to $50 million in sales are expected to receive between $91,000 and $122,250.

Many small employers provide alluring trade-offs such as shorter workweeks, less travel and work-life balance incentives including telecommuting arrangements and flexible schedules.

Employees who trek long distances to get to work at Rising Medical Solutions Inc.'s offices in Chicago and Milwaukee, for example, are given laptop computers with wireless Internet access, says Jason Beans, chief executive officer of the 115-person management-consulting firm. "They can leave at 4 (p.m.) and do work on the train," he says, adding that he plans to recruit about a dozen senior professionals this year, along with 40 others.

To be sure, some small employers eager to take advantage of the wider big-company labor pool say they're willing to compensate new hires more competitively. "If we want super stars, we have to be able to pay appropriate salaries," says Robyn Marcotte, senior vice president of talent at ePrize LLC, an interactive-promotions company. The Detroit-based 35-person firm wants to add 30 senior-level employees and 20 others by the end of next month, she says.

And, niche firms that compete with brand-names are more likely to offer salaries that are similar to big companies—and, perhaps, other ownership incentives. Tom Ryan, founder and co-chief executive officer or ICR LLC, a small financial-communications consulting firm, says he offers consultants a base salary he calls "competitive, even by Wall Street standards." Consultants also earn a percentage of their billings, "so there's no income cap," he adds. A performance-based pay model is critical for enticing top talent, notes Mr. Ryan. "Historically it's been difficult to get the right people," he explains. "You've had an incredible bull market since the tail end of the Internet bubble and the commissions these people generated have been really good." The Westport, Conn.-based firm, which services more than 200 publicly traded businesses, employs roughly 100 people and plans to add 10 more consultants this year.

Mr. Ryan's plans to bulk up may be a sign of the times for small and midsize professional firms. A recent survey of 500 firms with annual revenue ranging from $100,000 to $25 million (with average revenue between $5 and $9 million) shows that 57% plan to add workers this year, reports The Alternative Board, a small-business advisory board based in Denver.

"This is definitely a great opportunity for us to recruit talent from big companies," says Kaity Benedicto, human-resources director at Travelzoo Inc., an online media company with roughly 150 employees. "We've noticed more individuals are willing to talk to us now than ever." The New York-based firm plans to grow its staff by 40% this year, mainly with senior-level technology hires