Making HR the belle of the ball

At the January 2011 HR conference on Recruitment and succession planning, Alessandro Paparelli, Regional Human Resources Director, APAC, Ferragamo Hong Kong Ltd. presented his views on recruitment dynamics between companies and recruits.

To illustrate his view on these dynamics, he used the metaphor of a teenage beauty queen going to the graduation ball. Through his great metaphor, he was able to showcase that companies, like beauty queens, have much in common. The main similarities include:

• They are desired by many
• They are still in competition with the multitude
• They have to master gossip and rumours
• Intermediaries can be key
• The ‘chosen-one’ can be very different

During his presentation he provided powerful insight and relations to each point that all HR managers should take into account when they are looking at their recruitment processes.

Desired by many/managing applications
This first aspect of the metaphor is to explain a bit more about the many applications HR managers receive, and what steps they should take to ensure the best matches are passed on. Paparelli used a diagram of a funnel to explain the filtering of resumes during this step. He noted that the first thing to be looked at is, “How are your filters working and how do you deal with the quantity at the top of the funnel, while retaining quality at the narrow end of the funnel?” The first point he made was that at the top of the funnel there was a significant amount of pollution in the candidate pool. Citing the cover story from HR Magazine’s winter 2010 article “Pulling the wool over HR’s eyes” regarding the large amount of CVs reporting incorrect information.

The second point he highlighted was, “You have to avoid the famous ‘garbage-in, garbage-out’ effect. You need to be sure there is a decent level of quality in your processes.” To do this he suggested:
Decide what to accept and not to accept in terms of layout i.e. cover letter or not, format etc, work history, experience etc.

Decide how you will accept your CVs. Will you only accept digital copies, or will you accept hard copies? Paparelli quipped, “I don’t file paper applications because it’s too complicated.”
Decide how the process will work, who will accept and reply to the e-mails, how will the information be kept, and who will ultimately offer the positions.

He suggested, “Leave space for diversity, set your standards for 95% of CVs, but leave 5% for the unexpected.” Using an example of a recent applicant who mailed a CV and cover letter, with an extra ‘booklet’ featuring a picture of Uncle Sam on the front cover saying, “You want me!” and extolling the virtues of this applicant. He warned, “I think that if we don’t allow space for diversity and the unexpected in our jobs as HR professionals, we should maybe think twice about our profession.”
When it comes to interviews, he suggested, “You have to be meticulous in a series of ways and make the most of the information before you. I have my own way of taking notes, I set a standard amount of time that I give to interviews, and respect it, and set a process of how follow ups will be done. All information is then filed and stored in a familiar format, which lets me know that whoever I’ve interviewed in the past can be easily found again.”

Reference checks were the forth point highlighted and happened at the narrow end  of the funnel. He stressed, “Reference checks are critical, and to me the most important part of the process.” He suggested a number of places where HR managers could get reference checks, including:

• Recruiters, if you are using them
• Specialised agencies in Hong Kong
• Personal networks
• Competition/communicating your brand

The second part of his metaphor was about creating “magnetism” and communicating your brand to the market. He suggested the first place to look for resumes and an interest in a company was through online job boards and social platforms including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. The online networks have changed the way HR managers work and hire. Paparelli noted that, “All these networks dilute your image in the market, so you have to counterbalance that.”   This can be done by:

1. Interviews: What you say about the company, the job, and how you sell it will serve to create a personalised branding to the interviewee. If done right, this will increase the desire they have to join the company.
2. Interaction with people you don’t meet: With applicants not interviewed, have some words with them; send them e-mails to keep them updated about what’s going on with the company.
3. Using recruiters: Paparelli notes, “Talk with them regularly and keep them informed with changes and developments in the company. This is a very powerful way to communicate your image in the market. They will know what to tell candidates. He added, “You can’t imagine how many potential candidates they deal with.”
4. PR: HR managers should be out in the market, attending events and other related functions. This is a powerful way to communicate the company brand.
5. Nurturing employees as a brand: some of the staff members in companies are a brand themselves. Be sure to align the ‘employee brand’ with the interests of the company. Paparelli suggests a “support, don’t spoil approach” for these employees.

Masters of gossip/market intelligence
Just as the Queen of the ball must be totally informed of all that is going on around her, so must HR managers. This means trying to find a way to navigate through the information maze. Sources of information can include:

• External sources: Use studies, surveys and benchmarks.
• General sources: Read newspapers, magazines, websites and daily e-mails.
• Internal sources: Review the turnover ratio of sales staff.
• Recruiters: It is recruiters’ job to know about the market, they can be excellent sources of information.
• Peer networks: Do you know the HR managers/departments of your competitors and stakeholders? There is always information that can be shared amongst different companies.
• Top management: Talk to top management about market and company information. Often times it is top management that will know exactly what is going on and what will happen in the future.

Intermediaries are key/using recruiters
Paparelli advises, “Recruiters are the ones that allow people to make the jump to the next levels of their careers, they also should allow companies to make a jump to the next level in terms of the quality of their teams. Recruiters are the ones that can help you tap into the hidden part of the employment market, including the active and passive candidates.” He then highlighted that recruiters are no longer like ‘Uncle Sam’, they are more ambassadors; it is always important to keep them up to date. When using the many different types of recruiters out there Paparelli suggested to ask a number of questions:

• Do you know their business model?
• Are they general or specific?
• Are they relying on databases or personal contacts?
• Are they organised into different branches or are they integrated?

If HR managers know the answers to these questions, then they will be able to find the best support for their needs and recruiting activities.

The chosen one can be different/managing diversity
Looking at the final piece to the metaphor, Paparelli suggests that HR managers should always be thinking about the culture of the company and how diversity can positively change, influence and add to the culture. Suggesting, “We have to remember that we have to deal with cultural diversity. The provider you are looking for may be different. There are differences in the way people from different countries deal with their work.” Citing the way cultures deal with stress, and stressing that HR managers should be aware of how the different cultures deal and approach stress, and adopt ways to help a diverse workforce deal with it.

Finally he suggested that HR managers should be aware of office politics and the many situations that can arise because of it. They should be aware of how different cultures deal with and confront office politics.

To sum up, Paparelli pointed out that being the queen of the ball is not an easy job; there is a balancing act of all different aspects. He said, “With some good recruiting strategies and some luck, every company can find a perfect match for both parties involved.”