Interactive Search Group – my new IT Professional Search practice

I am pleased to announce the formation of my own Professional Search practice which I have called “Interactive Search Group”.

Interactive: “acting with each other”

Interactive Search Group is the Professional and Executive Technology Search firm for those innovative organizations that understand the value of engaging with a specialist search partner to deliver the high-value professional talent that creates immediate and measurable ROI.

•  We leverage the sophisticated use of technology, social media, and digital recruiting processes with  high powered Professional Search methodologies and skilled human interaction
• Our Professional Search practice specializes in Data Management, Analytics, Intelligence, Security, Mobile and Interactive Design, across both enterprise and web-centric environments
• Our 20 years of experience and expertise in the delivery of high performance talent has enabled us to build a vast and well-connected network of technology professionals and Search partners, across North America
• “Engagement” Search process ensures client needs are taken seriously and both parties are invested in the successful completion of the search

Robb Norris, Managing Director

Becoming a Recruiting Mentor

I have recently had the chance to become a mentor to a fellow who has started his own recruiting firm. Our initial interaction started with me interviewing him as a possible hire. That did not work out but his desire to work in the recruiting business caused him to push forward with his own firm.  Now, truth be told, he was an experienced search professional from India (where he had his own company) and supported several well-known, international firms, the recruiting business was not new to him. What was new, however, was moving to Canada and trying to penetrate the Canadian market.

He has quickly learned that what worked for him in India will not work for him in Canada. He is a very well presented and articulate individual and I have no doubt that he will build strong relationships as he progresses his business, but the Canadian market moves more cautiously and building deep relationships has become the primary mover in selling the recruiting service.  

I have been happy to advise him on some of his challenges, such as the need to build strong relationships with his clients, the need to narrow the focus of his search projects and the need to become a subject matter expert in his chosen discipline. I have found it immensely gratifying to see him take these conversations to heart and move forward in a direction that will enable him to succeed. 

Personally it has been a great experience as it has forced me to flex my knowledge and experience muscles and articulate in a clear and concise manner, how to move a fledgling business forward. It has given me valuable insight into the current market conditions and re-invigorated the need to be very focused in your recruiting practice, build relationships, provide valuable content and become the expert resource in your niche.  All lessons every recruiter needs to learn.

I encourage all senior recruiters to take on this kind of role. Becoming a mentor has been one of the most satisfying things I have ever done.

The Iron Triangle in Recruiting

In software development there is a concept called “The Iron Triangle” which is basically a way to conceptualize the use of Scope, Schedule and Resources. At its core you can maximize only two sides of this triangle – something has to give.

In Recruiting this same idea exists and we call it “Good, Fast or Cheap”. The same concept rules. When a company engages with a search/recruiting firm to find a new addition to their company they can also expect to achieve two of the three axis’ of the triangle. If you need someone really good and you need them really fast then the cost will not be cheap! If you need someone inexpensive to join your team, you can get them fast (but not cheap) or you can get someone who is not a really strong performer.

The problem with the recruiting business now is that most companies have been sold a bill of goods and are not properly advised by their recruiting suppliers (I won’t use the term partner here because if you do not advise your clients properly how can you be considered a partner?). Promises are made to find someone really good, really fast and with a low fee. “Surprise” the recruiting company cannot deliver on their promise or you as a client buyer end up accepting less than stellar candidates for your role – hurting your companies performance and development.

Don’t accept those types of promises from your recruiting suppliers. Top-notch professionals are like any resource – harder to find (they take time to engage), knowledgeable of their worth (demanding of solid compensation) and aware of their skills (strong contributors). Don’t get sold a “bill of goods” by recruiters who are driven to get as many job orders as possible in their pipeline (in hopes that some actually get filled). Seek out and work with a firm/recruiter/search professional who you trust, who gives you solid advice and who can deliver on your needs.

How to Succeed as a Recruiter in the Future

Nice to be back! Have not posted anything in about 18 months but after a lot of turmoil and changes I am back with a re-brand of my blog and a new emphasis on where recruiting is going in the future. I thought it might be a good idea to re-hash some points from my previous posts, some going back 2 years, in order to illustrate that we have seen a sea-change in our industry and we must adapt to it or be left behind.
Specialization was an early theme and this has only become more urgent. Clients will pay a fee for someone that they cannot get to. However, with stronger corporate recruiting groups, LinkedIn (and LI Recruiter) etc., Recruiting professionals must become experts in a very narrow focus of specialization where they attract people because of their knowledge and know-how. The transition in Canada to big staffing/RPO/VMS contract vendors and small, boutique shops is basically complete. For a small boutique shop to prosper it must develop a laser like focus (where industry, technology, or role specific) and become known as the “Go-To” firm when a certain type of professional is needed.
So how do we move forward? Clients will always pay a fee for that individual that they cannot source through their own resources – no matter how extensive. As a Recruiting Professional your value statement must be that you are a demonstrated expert in a narrow field, have a talent network (beyond LinkedIn) that is not available to anyone else and that you can bring those candidates through to the hiring phase. There is your value (not database, not interviewing or reference checking – everyone does that, or they should be). Once your client’s see that this what you as a Recruiter brings to the table then it will be far easier to work with less competition, more exclusives or retained business and you will be able to add immense value to your client’s organizations.

Getting Back to Basics to Achieve Success (for a Big Biller or anyone else)

The IT staffing market in Canada is undergoing a major paradigm shift as we speak. In the last year we have seen the strong growth of multi-national staffing organizations into the Canadian IT space, all of which are driving down prices, quality and response time. Quality seems to be a secondary consideration for the large IT staffing buyers (banks, telcos etc). So how does a medium to small sized IT search firm compete with this? The answer is you don’t.

 When the herd is moving in one direction, we need to go in another and be the outlier in the market. Now is the time to get back to recruiting basics and start doing the job the way it is meant to be done, not just flinging resumes against a wall, expecting them to stick.  It really boils down to two topics that I will discuss in turn – Focus and Metrics.

 If you are in a small-to-medium sized recruiting practice you need to focus your niche and specialize your offerings. If you try to be all things to all people you will get swamped. You need to master your specific market, become known as the “Market Expert” in this area, develop your relationship and become a trusted advisor to both candidates and clients. Not only do you need to be calling enough quality candidates you also need to work on the right roles with the right clients. This means taking better searches, with more engaged clients, more exclusives or retained searches. If you don’t know how to sell an “Engaged Search” then seek-out the industry trainers who can help you. The other area that we need to get back to is making candidate presentations to clients. Do you call your client and present your candidate’s background, strengths, ambitions and suitability or are you just emailing out a resume with a short paragraph of notes, hoping that your client takes the time to actually read it?

 The other thing you need to intimately understand is your personal metrics and how your activities DIRECTLY affect your income and the profitability of your company.  How many placements do you need to make to actually bill $250,000? What about billing $1,000,000 – what does that look like? What is your average fee, right now? How many send-outs did you have last week? How many send-outs or new candidate contacts do you need to make on a daily or weekly basis in order to achieve your goals? Some of the more relevant metrics include your send-out to placement ratio (3 or 4:1 is quite good), your interview to submission ratio (2 or 3:1 is strong) or your search assignment to placement ratio (2:1 is outstanding, 10:1 not so good). By knowing these and other metrics and being able to monitor and adjust your quality and quantity you can have a significant impact on your billings and your income.

 There is much more to cover on both these subjects and I will endeavor to do so in the coming weeks. By getting you start thinking about how you can get back to basics and be successful so can start to build your plan for 2012.

As a Recruiter, I Hate the Word Staffing

As a Recruiter, I hate the word ‘Staffing’. Recruiters, to me, offer a valuable and valued-added service by searching for, sourcing, qualifying and placing superior level candidates in career positions or contract consulting engagements. The term “Staffing” however harkens up the bulk placement of temporary or casual labour; filling short-term, high volume roles that are neither unique nor of high value.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a place for Staffing Agencies which can accommodate those situations where getting a large number of people deployed is a necessity (think of trade shows, or light industrial labour etc).  The two terms, Recruiting and Staffing, however, are not and should never be inter-changeable. Doing so merely confuses your clients and sets an unreasonable expectation for them. As a Recruiter, you must set the expectation that what you offer is a high touch, high value, professional consulting service that follows a process, takes time to accomplish and results in a contribution to your client’s ROI. You will move with a sense of urgency, but ultimately it is the delivery of that top talent that is the goal of the whole exercise, not just who can email 10 resumes the fastest.

If you are a Recruiter (or Recruitment Consultant or Placement Consultant or even Headhunter), say so and be proud of it. If you offer the service of searching, sourcing, qualifying and placing high value talent then make sure you reinforce that with every conversation. Use your words to effect – that’s why we have them.

“Green” and Safe Nuclear Technology

This post is a major departure from my normal content. With the tragic news of the nuclear disaster in Japan however, I thought it appropriate that I bring to everyone’s attention the current travesty in nuclear power.

Did you know that we have an almost unlimited, safe and easy to access source of nuclear fuel which would eliminate the need for uranium production? This mineral is called Thorium and by switching to Thorium we can eliminate the chance of nuclear melt-down, reduce the cost of production, increase the amount of power generated and eliminate the toxic by-products of current nuclear power generation (i.e. plutonium, which is the core of nuclear weapons). Thorium occurs naturally in nature, does not require open pit or strip mining to source and is much more efficient power source than uranium. Current nuclear plants can switch to Thorium without major modification and, in fact, the idea of using Thorium for nuclear power generation has been around for over 50 years.  Why has Thorium not been used before? The fact is that Thorium cannot be weaponized, whereas current technology creates plutonium that, once further refined, is used in nuclear weapons.  (Another aside – did you know that Canada is the only country to willingly give up it’s nuclear weapons, which we did in the 1960’s).

 For more information on Thorium use please see this article.

 http://www.ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=187:thorium-as-a-secure-nuclear-fuel-alternative&catid=94:0409content&Itemid=342 

 I encourage everyone to speak to their elected representatives to push for the use of Thorium in our nuclear power plants. It is easily accessible, safe and secure and would go a long way in reducing our need for oil products.

Architecting the Placement – Our Value Add

Apologies again for not being an active poster. What I said in my previous post has come true, the recruitment marketplace has been picking up speed and our practice has responded by continuing to specialize even more in a couple of high value areas. The truth of the matter is that it is quickly becoming a candidate short marketplace. While this may not yet be true in your particular niche or market, it is becoming more so every day. I know times are still tough across the U.S. and even in some parts of Canada but that is why is it even more important to continue to narrow down your specialty. You must capture the market that you do have!

So how do we as professional recruiters respond to this candidate driven market? How do we address the shortage of qualified candidates and plow through the piles and piles of non-qualified job hoppers?  The answer is we must tighten down our process, own every step of it, broker the process through to fruition – in short we add value by “Crafting” or “Architecting” a placement.  At this point I want to give credit to Greg Savage and his recent post on “The Savage Truth” about this exact topic.  Stop flogging resumes, we are not in the introduction business, we are in the placement business. To be successful you will need to do all steps in the placement process at a very high level. Understand your client and their needs and then offer a solution that demonstrates how you are their partner. The same applies to the candidate – you must understand their needs and wants and then be their solution as well. This is where the “Architecting” comes into play.  Understand that you need to add a human touch throughout the process, take the time needed to understand everyone involved, listen and question better and deeper and you will get the result you want – a satisfied customer and a happy candidate.

Welcome to 2011 – It Should be Interesting

I apologize for being quiet for the last month and a half. I have been letting some things stew in my mind and then took the Christmas break off to re-charge a bit. Back now. I wanted this post to really address what I see happening, going into 2011 and beyond, in the recruiting industry. I think it is going to get pretty interesting over the next couple of years.  I see a couple of trends that will continue to grow more prevalent in the marketplace.

Firstly, I think we are going to see more and more of the larger contract consulting buyers trying to rein in costs by implementing Vendor Management Systems or RPOs (Banks, Insurance companies, Telco’s, large consulting and systems integrators etc). While this may appear to make sense to the Purchasing and Financial groups, a VMS by its very nature does not necessarily take into account the Laws of Supply and Demand (lower supply – higher demand – higher cost).  Most VMS’ seek to set bill rates, margins (or mark-ups) and then contractually obligate their vendors to adhere to those rates. This commoditization of the contract consulting market can work well for larger staffing firms, particularly those firms less interested in quality and more willing to body-shop resources without actually building any equity into the process.

Secondly, in some ways as a reaction to the above, I see the smaller and medium sized recruiting firms becoming more and more specialized in their approach to the business (both contract and perm). Not only do I mean fewer multi-line firms (firms that do IT, Finance, Sales etc) but I also mean more and more specialization within single line firms. The best way to react to any commoditization of your market (if you choose not to compete on price) is to develop a more specialized and exclusive line of service that caters to a clientele that wants more quality, service and depth of relationship.  My sense is that many SME recruiting firms will become specialized in one or two keys areas of their market – they may concentrate on one or two market verticals or perhaps a couple of technology stacks (e.g. the IT recruiting firm that concentrates only in the Telco space or only in .NET technologies).

Overall, I see the bigger firms getting bigger, based mainly on a commoditized approach to capturing market share and I see the small and medium firms becoming more specialized (and hence more profitable). Bigger firms have and will continue to change their structure to support a commodity fulfillment approach (with resultant commission levels declining and more of a sales and fulfillment split in their structure). Smaller firms will demand a higher level of skill, drive and professionalism in their consultants. Fill ratios will have to be much better than in the past and the expectation will be become the expert in your space. This high level of skill and efficiency should result in increasing fee levels but that will be a tough sell to companies who have become used to lower fees and a lower level of service. True skill will win out with these types of buyers.

All in all 2011 should see continued change and churn in the recruiting market. Can you ride this wave or are you going to get swamped by it? Have a good year.

Leadership – Inspiration & Execution

I have been reading a lot lately about leadership; leadership in corporations, military leaders and leadership in our day-to-day life. Leadership has always been an important topic for me, maybe because of my military background and also because I have held several leadership positions in the recruiting industry over the past 15 years. Leadership and management are two terms that often get lumped together, confused and used inter-changeably. They are however, very, very different but also, equally, very important to the running of a recruiting business.  I am not going to bore you with the dictionary definitions – you can look those up yourself. To me, Leadership is the ability to INSPIRE the people around you with your vision and passion. Management, on the other hand, is the execution, monitoring, measuring and validation of the metrics you need to create and grow a successful business. While management is important I am not going to talk too much about that today but will concentrate o leadership.

In the recruiting business I see three different levels or types of leaders and leadership.  I will explain each in turn.

The first is the Visionary. In an owner run company this will undoubtedly be the owner/founder. In a corporation this person should also reside at the top of the structure.  This is the person whose passion and inspiration sets the direction and ethos for the organization. They must see the big picture (with an eye on details) and look to the horizon for future growth and business opportunities. The Visionary must see what the organization can become and create the strategy, structure and conditions that will allow for that success. They must be flexible and able adjust their path as conditions warrant, without taking their eye off the prize. Their gift is being able to recognize and challenge the potential of their people to do greater things. In a word they must INSPIRE.

The second role is the Implementer. This is typically the Branch, Group, Practice or Team Leader/Manager and requires someone who can both Lead and Manage effectively, at the tactical level. Their purpose is to implement the vision of the organization by harnessing the strengths of their team in executing the recruiting process. This individual must be willing to get involved one-on-one with their team to ensure they are doing the job effectively, measuring and validating the activities. Leadership is a key here as the Implementer must lead by example through demonstrating competence in the business and inspiring their team in the pursuit of their duties. They must be available to do regular training, coaching, ride-alongs to clients and resolve inter-personal, client and candidate issues. The Implementer must understand their business and their particular market niche so they act quickly on opportunities hire effectively and generally try to maximize the performance of their team.

The third and final role is what I call the Operator. The Operator is the Recruiter/Account Manager who actually drives the business through the recruiting process. Operators understand their market niche, know what they need to do to be successful and have a personal drive and sense of urgency to exceed their personal goals and targets. Successful Operators understand their activities, metrics and ratios and use those as the day-to-day drivers of their success.   Successful Operators, with the right personality and ethics, can lead other team members towards success, strictly by example. They are often willing to mentor and coach team members because they understand that a stronger team helps them in the long run. While everyone cannot be a Superstar biller, the whole team can be successful Operators if they buy into the vision, the overall direction and are willing to play their part in the organization’s success.

Put these three types of leaders together effectively and your organization will scale new heights of success.