Today’s unique recruitment challenges

One can turn the current economic situation around to advantage; HR professionals should use these times as a recruitment bonanza opportunity, advises Ashwin Shirali

The experience of the recent recession clearly indicates that when times were good, organisations lived as though there were no tomorrow; employees were mindlessly hired en masse for compensation packages well above their true worth, and with reckless disregard for sustainable and long term alignment to business levels, organisation needs, culture, and values.

The only rationale was to meet the immediate requirements of humongous growth. When the economic crisis arrived, companies panicked and did what came easiest – savagely laid-off and retrenched staff, and froze hiring with the same short-term blinkered vision that characterised the boom phase.

The onset of a recession cannot possibly be stopped, however, its adverse effects may definitely be minimised by proactive HR practices such as hiring the right fit profiles in the right numbers and at the right costs, keeping short-term and long-term requirements and realistic business levels in mind. Even assuming this were not to be done, organisations can still treat recessions as recruitment bonanzas; smart companies use them to prepare for post recessionary growth.

Unfortunately, most organisations are ill equipped to take advantage of this golden opportunity despite being inundated with highly qualified profiles at every level. This is because hiring during a recession has its own set of three unique challenges, and organisations need to factor this in whilst planning their recruitment and staffing needs.

Firstly, fundamental beliefs require to be revisited to cater to the new challenges with a fine balance required between efficiency, cost effectiveness, value-for-money, long-term approach, and a short-term ‘quick fix solution’. Secondly, employers are able to do only ‘focussed hiring’ for essential positions with fewer people doing the same or even more work, as before.

At the same time, the recession has forced companies to be more competitive than ever, and so employers have to be extremely customer-oriented. In other words, all new hires have to be star players who have to be able to hit the ground running, and get up to speed immediately, and who will also be long term players and not out to make just a quick buck or find a parking slot.

And lastly, the right hire during the recession is not just the candidate who is the most qualified, but the one who is also most likely to be engaged and committed.

With the above background, the steps to hire well during recession should keep in mind the following:

Anticipate the need: Conduct an ongoing proactive analysis of future needs. The smarter organisations stock up on employees not only for the period of downturn but also keep a ‘buffer stock’ to help tide them over when the good times are back.

Determine relevant skills and experience: What employers need to seek out is not pure domain knowledge, but the ability to lead from the front, make the most of little, hunger for knowledge, enthusiasm, and desire to learn. The top leadership needs to be impeccable and strong, as they are the ones who have to deliver all the more in these rough times.

Develop the talent pool: Now is the time to network aggressively and develop a large unconventional pool including ex employees, internal references, involve the right external partners, consider employees in remote offices, consultants, suppliers, customers, and so on.

Encourage multi-skilling: Having a narrow and segmented approach to job fitment can result in under employment and hence lay-offs in bad times. A multi-tasking and multi-skilling approach that develops employees to cater to diverse requirements at the work place can not only add hugely to efficiencies, but also make an organisation lean and mean with no knee jerk reactions required in recessionary times.

Find the perfect fit: Since a lot of companies make the mistake of firing during a recession, there is a larger amount of good talent looking for jobs. Have your best practices in place in terms of quality reference checks and well trained interviewers, as this is a great time to find top performers who will help bring your company to the next level, rather than trying to fill holes that were left from downsizing. You have to learn not to hire candidates who are not aligned with the values and culture of the company, and who merely consider your company as a stop gap.

Integrate the new recruit: Describe the job realistically and employ a total rewards approach as you cannot afford to be bullish on the compensation. Use veteran top performers as mentors to guide the new entrant and have him/her giving results as soon as possible.

Recruitment and performance audit: Flush out below-average performers as soon as possible post hire, and identify and reward the interviewers who have brought in talent that has proved itself.

With such a proactive hiring process, companies can not only acquire the best talent but retain their outstanding talent and not lose them to competition. In short, hiring in a recession is all about getting the hires of your choice who fit the company business and organisational needs, and treating them with respect regardless of the environmental factors prevailing.

Ashwin Shiral is the regional director, human resources, Accor Hotels, India