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The Employment Report False Progress Sloppy thinking and failure to shift the paradigm have slowed recruitment's evolution. By Michael Beygelman In recruitment, it is rare to have a conversation and not discuss finding a job to social media, according to a survey by Jobvite. Most "how much recruiting has changed in the past 15 years." While employers are not using social media to attract and engage; it's just there certainly has been a great deal of change, data also suggests another place to advertise jobs—like job boards but on a website. that talent is just as hard to find, if not harder; that requisitions are And we need to be careful not to repeat history, because job vacant for just as long, if not longer; and that cost for recruitment boards also brought quick success, then became less effective. has stayed relatively flat and even increased in some verticals. We should pause to address a widespread false sense of progress, and Real progress in talent acquisition can only come from shifting a as HR practitioners, we must develop a renewed sense of focus on paradigm and leveraging technology and social media to crowd making meaningful progress by the year 2020. source skills and ideas. But this concept is hard to internalize for companies that are still operating within parameters established HRO Today held two of its forums in the month of May 2013— one during the industrial revolution. HR practitioners talk about addressing the North America market, held in Philadelphia, and one multimedia and branding and employee engagement, but then ask addressing the Asia Pacific market, held in Singapore. There was a for CVs, which say little about true ability. In fact, all your social good deal of similarity between them. For example, at both events media interactions and acquired knowledge are more indicative of attendees referred to Asia—citing China or India or even Russia, possible success, but companies have yet to embrace the very things in Eastern Europe—as emerging markets, where a lack maturity they say they want. augurs slow progress. Most positied that as those markets gain maturity we should expect more progress. But such rhetoric has Our false sense of progress derives from a fundamental problem become an excuse for lack of success, which probably has little to do of "good enough." Most organizations do not have enduring with market maturity. commitments to see evolving strategies through to completion, but rather looking for quick fixes. And plenty of terrific quick fixes are In the year 1800, China was the world's largest economy followed on the market—from staffing agencies to branding firms and social by India, which was second. In the Year 1900, the United States media websites. But these things will not improve your quality of was the world's largest economy, followed by China second, and hire in the long run, nor will they reduce either your time to hire the United Kingdom, Germany, and India rounding out the top nor your cost per hire in any sustainable way. In order to make five. In the year 1950, the U.S. topped the list of the world's largest sustainable progress, organizations and HR departments need to economies, followed by U.S.S.R in second, which ironically is also adopt a sense of honesty and transparency and long-term vision. referred to as an emerging market today, followed by the U.K., China, and Germany and France and India once again rounding out Companies come and go, but great organizations endure because the top markets. So why is it that in the year 2013 we still refer to of their vision towards the future. Like Wayne Gretzky said, China and India and Russia as emerging markets? One possibility they "skate to where the puck is going be, not to where it was." could be that the Western world has made no meaningful progress Companies that adopt concepts like the social CV, Klout scores, in penetrating the Eastern markets, and instead addressing that, we the notion of crowdsourcing skills not people, and breakdown call those countries emerging and stop thinking. the traditional job interviewing paradigm, will benefit from their transformations. Yet others, which are relying on their false sense Social media and the mobile workforce have also become a catchall of progress, will continue to complain—and will continue to call for all things great or evil. These are enigmatic mechanisms countries like China and India emerging markets. for recruitment that dominate each conversation about talent. Significant time and money have been spent in these areas, deemed as panaceas. But only some 15 percent of job seekers attribute [58] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | MAY 2013 Michael Beygelman is RPO president at Pontoon. He can be reached at michael.beygelman@pontoonsolutions.com