Hiring Process Re-engineering:
A primer
An expert gives us a cheat sheet on this important HR practice
Dan Oakes, director of Hiring Process Re-Engineering at Bernard Hodes Group, has been in human resources for 15 years. He is a true believer that core metrics and solid staffing processes are the foundation to a world-class organization. Throughout his tenure with Hodes, Dan has been instrumental in delivering on the agency's overall commitment to Integrated Talent Solutions by developing and implementing optimal client solutions for the acquisition and retention of human capital. He breaks this all down for us in the interview below.
Q. Many companies could benefit greatly from hiring process re-engineering but they aren't familiar with it. Would you give us an overview of what it is?
Hiring process re-engineering is about achieving recruiting excellence and transforming companies into top-tier organizations, where attracting, developing, and retaining top talent is a major initiative. To truly be a top-tier organization, a company needs to optimize five elements--what we call the R5--Positioning, People, Process, Tools and Technology. The R5 elements represent your basic DNA of recruiting.
HPR projects will help a company optimize these elements using process improvement methodologies like the Hodes 360 and Six Sigma Methodology. We utilize recruiting process assessments; quality-of-hire surveys; recruiting metrics program development; candidate-assessment tools, and exit- and post-hire surveys, among other services.
Q. What are the specific benefits of HPR?
The benefits of HPR are numerous and depend on the goal of the client. But the major benefit of HPR is to help clients improve the quality of their hires and reduce the time it takes them to fill positions, thereby reducing their overall staffing costs. HPR gives clients a blue print for how to optimize the people and processes they employ in their human resources and staffing functions.
Q. Describe a successful case study where a client benefited from the process?
We recently had a client in the semiconductor industry that was expanding and anticipated they would need to hire close to 300 people. They contracted with the Bernard Hodes Group Hiring Process Re-engineering team to conduct an assessment of their current recruiting process. They wanted to make changes to their process, and more importantly, to obtain a metrics program that would evaluate success towards their goal of meeting the hiring needs for their expansion.
The HODES HPR team made an assessment, analyzing turnover, demographics, sourcing and staffing data. From this analysis, we were able to tell them what positions were critical to them in hiring, what locations people were being hired from, and what age groups terminations fell into. We then recommended a new organizational structure, process changes, workforce planning and detailed sourcing strategies integrated into the new process.
This program is now used to measure monthly their progress toward hiring goals, and allows for any corrective action to be taken much earlier in the process. Hodes is part of those monthly review meetings.
Q. What are some of the new advances in HR and specifically recruiting that you find interesting?
Quantifying the impact recruiting has on the bottom line is extremely important, so any technology that supports that initiative is interesting. For example, candidate assessment technology is becoming an important technology step to ensure clients are making the right hire and these partners are becoming adept at building a business case for their tools. Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) also has provided advancements in technology that are extremely interesting. Some of these providers are able to leverage various technology components, i.e. - assessment tools, ATS, and surveys--into a best-in-class process that helps companies hire the right person for the right job at the right time.
Candidate relationship marketing tools are also critical to reaching out to your talent pool and building relationships with potential hires. Making this easy on your recruiting staff is key and providing good information to your talent pool is also critical. Recruiting is beginning to take a page out of the “sales” cycle, using tools to periodically reach out to candidates and sell them on why they should join a company.
Q. What about outside of Hodes? Have you applied a successful “process” to your own life?
I enjoy spending time with my family. I have 2 girls, 11 and 9, and we play golf, bike, run, hike, and swim together. We spend a lot of time on our boat skiing, tubing, and just being with friends. Traveling is important to us as a family, so we try to go to as many different places as possible to experience different cultures and parts of the country.
If you have any questions on Hodes HPR, Dan will be happy to answer them. You can reach him at doakes@hodes.com
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