Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Time to stop Employee Farming!

 #Twitter handle in Nov 2022 tweeted: "bye literally everyone"!

Elon's tweet confirmed that this action was needed as #twitter was loosing $4million/day.
Twitter laid off 180 of 230 staff in India in round one and many of the remaining in quick second fiat!
In fact, twitter fired in successive rounds in early April 2023, clocking 83% of total staff it had at it's peak, before Elon bought it!
Industry experts blamed big tech players of indulging in, something called "EMPOYEE FARMING"!
Despite massive winter cleaning, twitter aka X is doing fantastic, in fact faster and better than earlier as some tech analysts confirmed recently.
This reform and fine tuning sent shock waves to peer group players like Meta, Google and in general to MAANG companies.
No wonder, Josh Bersin in his brilliant report claims, the clear focus is NOT hire, hire, hire but tune, tune, tune!
Xpheno in it' statement today mentioned that all top Indian IT services companies have shrunk staff sizes back to early 2022 levels...
What does your "Employee Farm" look like? Don't be in denial, tune, tune, tune...:)
Meta (Facebook) had 86,482 employees at year-end 2022. The company announced in January that over the last 18 months they reduced staff by 22%, while Q4 revenues went up 25% in Q4 (total revenue is now $140 billion). This translates to $1.9 million per employee, one of the highest financial productivity measures in the software industry. To give you an example, Workday’s revenue per employee is around $230K, Oracle’s is $378K, and Microsoft’s is $863K, and Google is around $1.6M.
https://lnkd.in/eegvPE3D

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Everyone at her company knows her salary. What big deal...they are woke! Many Claudine Gays around..

This analytics firm's CHRO says, "What people get paid should not be shrouded in secrecy! The more you hide it, the more it reveals! She says, and her company's LinkedIn handle shares her thoughts, which goes on to say that it takes a new staff just a week to know what others around her are paid! It's an open secret!


HR had been organizing Secret Santa recently! But with this claim, she took it too far!

It can be a cultural thing! Or no-culture thing! That's the debate that Arnab shall run for primetime, but here, I have a few cases to make based on my experiences with compensation, aka salary, and how dumb analytics and tech MNC CoEs can get!

I was HRBP for an American $3 billion power electronics company in their R&D CoE in Bangalore. I had three tech teams to look after, and they sat in different offices in the city! 2 of these R&D teams had their payroll run from the factory operations in Bangalore Suburb, and the third R&D team (Siebel Services, CAD designs, etc.) ran from the sales office in the city! It's interesting, isn't it?

One day, I visited this third team's office and met a guy I had onboarded a month ago. It was also a check-in meeting with him. He told me that his salary has some mismatches as against the offer letter's salary breakdown. I was curious (damn curious!). I checked his pay slip (which was for a full month) and checked his offer letter breakdown. The offer letter was issued by me and signed by the Head of HR for India. To my shock, the Basic and HRA were different, and there was a component in the payslip that was not even mentioned in the offer letter. I met the finance and accounts team that sent data to the payroll vendor for pay-out. He showed me his excel file, which he used to create a breakdown of payouts from the offer letter, which he sent to the payroll vendor. There were differences, as I had observed. In fact, the team of 45 staff, for 5 or more years, paid less than and even different Basic and HRA than their offer letter, but maybe one asked anything as the difference was less (maybe ~Rs. 900 every month for someone who got Rs. 56K take-home!). This was shocking because no one corrected it for all these years. Even the Big 4 audited this firm every year.

Shameful, but it happens.

Case #2: A Chicago-based management consulting firm. 3500 people across 18 global offices. Hires from the Ivy League. I was even ranked no. 5 in the vault rating during that time, not any more.

My first salary was credited...I was in shock! It was nearly three times my monthly salary. I was paid assuming my start date was May 7, not July 5, which was my real start date!

(American Day/Month ka chakkar Babu Bhaiya!), but happens! I signed a check in company's name and paid back, wrote a side note : Keep the change! :)

The same analytics and management consulting firm gives annual salary raises and promotions to campus newcomers from the previous few years.

Juniors got a salary raise and the same designation as their seniors, with a higher designation! Yes, kids share their new compensation, as they want to know what others in their cohort got.

Seniors protested, and soon corrections were made! You don't need to go to Ivy League College to act dumb!

Please take these stories for humor.

These are real stories, and I have written them with full responsibility and intent, not to demean anyone but to highlight what my mentor said:

We believe in people, but verify!

My dad told me what he learned in his civil service training. "Trust the process, not the people!

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

What we can learn from employee feedback on Glassdoor! Case of Roche! One Review at a time!

When you treat Employer branding like compliance matter and auditor's observations!

Roche owns its Glassdoor page -https://www.glassdoor.co.in/Reviews/Roche-Reviews-E3480.htm

Rating of 4 and 100% approval for the CEO are two commendable achievements for Roche! Must be applauded! 

And what a lovely and responsible gesture it shows by responding to the reviews there! There is much feedback from India based staff and largely they are in their GCCs here.

Roche India GCCs drew my attention, which has set up its Global Analytics and Technology Center of Excellence (GATE) in Chennai and Hyderabad, besides they have other pharma products they offer in Indian markets.

While reading some of the responses that has been written by Roche, I was taken a back, when I found lots of weirdness.

To list a few:

1. Response has been written by Roche (See picture for Roche Response). This is as anonymous as the reviews are. At least employees are better than you Roche as they say, their title, location, stint and relationship status with Roche. Ideally response shall be coming the same way (at least) with title, location, etc. Why not CEO or CHRO or Chief of Staff responding to it? Or the Head of Employer Branding or now a days, The Chief Diversity Office for better grab?

2. This ex-Employee worked for 3 years and was a manager and the response is telling him/her what development and growth opportunities Roche provides. Either you are too late or writing response for readers an not the reviewer.

3. Reviewer has given a 5-star rating and has given all green lights to referring a friend, CEO's approval and positive belief on Roche's business outlook, but reviewer seems blinkered and ignored acknowledging any of these positives. Even his Pros appreciates Culture and Products...but robotic respondent ignores all that..

Remember, this otherwise Promotor of your NPS would turn Passive or Detractor after reading your response dear respondent (Oh, Dear Roche)

4. Now, let's see Cons: "Limited opportunity to get promoted"!

This is what prompted the respondent to in fact-educate the 3 years tenured manager and ex-employee, how Roche helps staff grow and managers have a role, teamwork matters, et al.

Well, dear respondent, why did you take this feedback as a complaint and tried defending it. It maybe not about him but as general feedback on promotion policies. Now, even if you understood that he may be unhappy with the lack of promotion opportunities, why did you mix it with the professional development. They are two very different things!

Think again, without feeling and writing word "sorry", could you respond to the review?

I am not doing any finger pointing on Roche or the team and leaders responsible for their Glassdoor page activity but feel bad when I see that many sensitive and sensible feedback have been not responded at all. Some have been responded very well and many as robotic and defensive and deflective as it could be.


Love you Roche, you can be much better here at your Glassdoor page too!

Monday, December 18, 2023

DEI must DIE---the Woke virus! Why Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy alerting US and Europe about this virus?

In his run for the President of the USA, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy (US citizen of Asian origin and a Billionaire Businessman) has been talking at a lot of corrections that US needs to do to save its principal identity as a nation of free speech, equal rights, merit and civic commitments-based immigration, military protecting its borders, where illegal immigrants are coming from, against crony capitalism, et al. 

What he is equally vocal about is the Woke politics and the deeper roots this virus has taken in American capitalism/ corporate.

Vivek has written a book on this Woke virus. Woke, Inc.: A Sunday Times Business Book of the Year eBook : Ramaswamy, Vivek: Amazon.in: Kindle Store


A few days back Elon Musk in an interview in Italy said what is quoted in the tweet below- 


"In my view, it (DEI) amplifies racism, sexism, and all the other isms. And while claiming to do the opposite, it actually divides people and makes them sort of hate each other, and it makes people hate themselves.” Elon Musk.
Why are Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy alerting the US and Europe about this virus?
We have already seen runs on the CDO positions at Nike, Tesla, Warner Bros., Netflix, Zoom, Pinterest, etc. in the past two years. Many of these CDOs had fun for as little as 5 months or less!
So, when Elon and Vivek warn countries of the DEI (aka Woke culture) and its sinister agenda to fragment people based on hardcoded woke principles, which rather than rendering hope and liberation from discrimination, creates fear, hatred for others, and even self-hatred, as Musk said!
In India too, we have seen this DEI rush for almost a decade. It all began as More Women for Men in corporate positions, including equity in boards too!
Xpheno's report some years ago cited that, in 18 months of time, it observed that more than 50% of CHRO positions in India that were vacated by men went to women candidates (not employees).
I believe it is a fair time after a decade to examine and take stock of what DEI has delivered against its promise (now called Woke Virus and Agenda by people like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, which, however, you can ignore at your own risk!).
Let's fact-check:
How many of Indian companies or Indian subsidiary of MNCs have:
Mention specifically the non-binary genders in their employee policies and hiring programs from campus or the market.
How many have mentioned insurance and child adoption benefits for same-sex couples?
How many have gender-neutral (they/them?) washrooms at the office?
-How many have paid benefits for Gender Affirmation surgery to staff? (Accenture India has it; name the companies that you know of.)
How many companies here have OPEN-Gay staff for giving them the freedom to be themselves to others around them in the workplace?
How many of you heard in your company's annual hiring or promotion announcements about diversity-specific hiring or promotion decisions on specific "identities" of the diversity group?
Most importantly, how many of you went through the company's "mandatory" training on DEI this year?
I am not against DEI; I am against Woke culture and identity politics that are done in the name of DEI!
If a virus-free DEI has to emerge, this DEI that we see around must DIE!
Thanks, Musk and Vivek for calling out the agenda!

The number of Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) is declining after a hiring surge post-Black Lives Matter movement, raising concerns about the commitment of organizations to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Reasons for the decline include lack of support, resources, and commitment, and the disconnect between DEI efforts and profitability. Retaining CDOs requires reframing their role, providing long-term budgets and resources, and ensuring executive support.

The ‘Great DEI Resignation’ – why are so many diversity heads calling it quits? | TLNT

 - Hiring boom for CDOs post-Black Lives Matter movement.

  - Decline in CDO numbers, with a 4.5% decrease in 2022 according to a LinkedIn report.

-Who Are Chief Diversity Officers?

  - Upper-level management responsible for a company's inclusion and equity initiatives.

  - Tasks include recruiting diverse employees, identifying diversity gaps, organizing training, and addressing discrimination concerns.

  - Typically hold advanced degrees and have 5-10 years of relevant experience.

- Reasons for CDO Departures:

  - Lack of support, resources, and companywide commitment to DEI efforts.

  - CDOs often undertake the work of multiple roles, leading to burnout.

  - Superficial hires without empowerment to address systemic inequities.

  - Financial concerns leading to elimination of DEI-related positions.

- Challenges Faced by CDOs:

  - Discrimination within organizations against CDOs.

  - Frustration and burnout due to obstacles in creating change.


- More Resources Are Needed:

  - Reframing DEI as a profitable strategy.

  - Peer support for CDOs and long-term budgets.

  - Real change champions and visible executive support.

  - Treating CDO positions with the same respect as other upper-management roles.


- Diversity Without a CDO:

  - Companies risk losing momentum in DEI efforts and miss out on diverse talent.

  - CDOs address unconscious bias and microaggressions, requiring long-term commitment.

  - CDO presence affects a company's culture, bottom line, and appeal to diverse talent.

- Conclusion:

  - Companies must view DEI efforts as ongoing and demonstrate a commitment beyond having a CDO in place.

  - The risk of losing CDOs not only affects DEI progress but also impacts the company's culture and financial performance.

This comprehensive analysis highlights the challenges faced by CDOs, the reasons for their declining numbers, and the necessary steps organizations should take to retain them and ensure the success of their DEI efforts.

Were Chief Diversity Officers Set Up to Fail? Recent Exits Indicate This Could Be the Case | Visier

Key Takeaway

Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) are facing burnout and a lack of executive support, leading to a significant number of them quitting their roles. The departure of CDOs, especially within S&P 500 companies, suggests challenges and inadequacies in supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Summary

- Exodus of CDOs:

  - A significant number of Chief Diversity Officers at S&P 500 companies left their positions between 2018 and 2021, with an average tenure decrease from 3.1 to 1.8 years in 2021.

  - Notable instances include leaders leaving companies like Tesla and Nike due to burnout and lack of support.

- Root Causes of Departure:

  - DEI programs were often implemented without proper consideration of how to run and measure a successful initiative.

  - Unrealistic expectations, insufficient resources, and a lack of executive support contributed to the failure of DEI programs.

- Impact of George Floyd's Murder:

  - The murder of George Floyd in 2020 prompted a surge in DEI-related job postings, with companies appointing diversity leaders for the first time.

  - However, two years later, some programs are being discontinued, and CDOs are resigning.

- Reasons for DEI Program Failures:

  - Lack of resources, executive support, and funding.

  - Treating DEI programs as one-and-done processes instead of ongoing commitments.

  - Pressure to meet numerical targets rather than focusing on the human aspect of equity and inclusion.

- Components of Successful DEI Initiatives:

  1. Proper Funding:

     - Adequate budgeting crucial for a successful DEI program.

     - Costs can range from $25,000 to $450,000 for comprehensive DEI initiatives.

  2. Clear Objectives:

     - Establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring success.

     - Aligning DEI programs with overall strategic plans.

  3. Executive Buy-In:

     - Executive support and resources are essential for DEI leaders.

     - Promised support must be provided for successful DEI programs.

  4. Diversity Planning Tools:

     - Utilizing analytics for transparency in hiring practices, compensation, and other critical areas.

- Importance of Supporting DEI Leaders:

  - Building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization is a business imperative.

  - Organizations need to focus resources, including funding, on DEI programs and leaders for genuine success.

  - People analytics and diversity planning tools can aid in tracking and communicating progress.

This report highlights the challenges faced by CDOs, the failure of some DEI programs, and emphasizes the need for proper support, resources, and strategic planning for successful diversity initiatives.


Thursday, December 7, 2023

From Poultry farming to the Employer Branding Strategist Recruiter! Columbus required!

Imagine, you are a 50 people company//team/GCC unit, etc. and growing 30% YoY on people and attrition rate is conservatively kept at 10%! In 3rd year, you will be ~85 people- 12 people= ~73 people! This means nearly 50% of the company is new people (less than 1.5 year of experience). 

In absence of an entrenched employee listening system, we lose out on lots of crucial conversations, that could have easily fed action-items, that would have averted crisis and improved employee engagement!

Talking about Perceptyx--

Perceptyx - Employee Surveys, Consultation & People Analytics <-This is what Perceptyx does. 

Why they do this is here->They do this because they found this in their survey-

One Third of All Employees Are ‘Working Dead’ — Unhappy, Unmotivated, and Staying Put! 👀

Having said all that above, I am here to talk about Recruitment Marketing or Talent Marketing? Or Employer Branding and how does this help a firm hire the identified talent defeating other competing firms! I wrote an article on Branding yesterday after listening to some Branding Gurus from the best of branding, marketing firms! Check that article here- Reflections--the stoic way!: Does our brand affiliation, influence our personality or behavior? Yes, that's the whole purpose, right? Huh! (krantmrinal.blogspot.com)

Check pictures below- They are the platforms and services that Perceptyx offers. Qualtrics, Universum, Walker Information, Gallup Surveys, etc. do things similar to it! 

So, let's talk some obvious facts! 
Recruiters at best are tele sellers today. Yes, even at best of the fortune 500 firms! IT firms, especially the services one's are the worst! There, what they do in the name of recruiting is at par with poultry farming! Feed-fatten-harvest! This is poultry, not talent way! 
A tad better step would have been a marketer role, but they in the name of marketing, go to LinkedIn and share the job with a rabid post. No wonder, they get the same treatment! 99% junk and 1% you will not be able to start with, they are too good! 
You are paying your recruiter and recruitment managers too much in the name of a low input-low output chore! Even if you wish to hold on to mediocrity and keep breeding it, at least do RPO or automate the process! By being cast in the past, you may only be making the Working Dead community grow larger and harrowing! 
They are worth every single penny if they did the following: 
Check platform below called ASK/DIALOGUE, ETC- Yes, they are about the employees. 
Imagine, if recruiters were having a platform where they had opportunity to capture candidate ASK about career, i.e. meat/juice in the role, brand, flexibility-aka diversity, opportunities to learn, fail, grow, mobility, change track, do sponsored sabbatical for education or hobby, that she is looking at the work? If platform captured a dialogue with them when they are identified for interviewing, and then at each stage of their hiring and at stage where they take a decision to accept offer then join or not and same for company's decision to offer or not or offer a repurposed role, etc. Company's flexibility! 
Asking for 5-point feedback on their sense of feelings during the interview.
Similarly, when recruiters are building their farms! How are they growing their networks, both widening, elevating catchment? 
The last very important point is the candidate feedback that recruiter's capture and using them to improve interviewing process, that may include all aspects of assessments, interviewing, candidate experience, etc. 



If your recruiters are not doing the above steps, you can outsource recruiting remorseless for God's sake! Save your company! 

If your recruiters are not talking about DNA, EVPs and creating a genuine impact for the employer brand while scouting for talent in social space, they are mere low-end coordinators or admin assistants! 

Let's change the end-to-end recruitment definition! These processes can be automated with built-in feedback involving a collaborative hiring platform, where all hiring folks can collaborate on an open platform and pushing, asking, questioning, challenging, expediting or repurposing any decision! Let's democratize hiring and make it more transparent, fair and agile with high level of accountability by an ombudsman and a regulator, keeping hiring ethics and employer branding promises intact! 

So, tele callers, poultry farmers, admin assistants, recruiting is not that close to what you thought it was!

Recruiting is a strategy as closer to business success as any other key metric! 

Recruitment is done by the dumbest in most places, doesn't mean, it cannot be unshackled! 

Let's make hiring strategic! 

Hiring is for the smartest but in HR's social hierarchy, it is at the bottom, left for the marginalized! Want to do a reality check? Ask your HRBPs (method actors?), L&D folks (the sorcerers or high priestess?) and C&B (sorry, Total Rewards,, better still that Excel guy who knew V look up and macros) folks to move to recruiting and they will instantly feel 3-talaaqed! I hope you can bear with the humor! 

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Does our brand affiliation, influence our personality or behavior? Yes, that's the whole purpose, right? Huh!

Our perceptions of brand, influences our decisions! Neuroscience?  

Do we relate to brands the same way we relate to people? Reasearch says yes! 

Does our brand affiliation, influence our personality or behavior? Behaviour Yes, that's the whole purpose, right? Huh! 

Take a step back and think about the Brand and the Business Strategy? Does Apple, Tesla, etc. have brand at the center of their strategy? How does brand influence business strategy? 

Or, 

Will business strategy influence or impact brand? 

Similarly, for Recruitment Marketing, what way will Recruitment Strategy build or impact the Employer Brand?  

So, when we talk about Employer Branding, will not the Recruitment Strategy directly impact the Employer Branding? 

Employer branding- Branding that promises consistent future experiences, right?

Your people are your brand, but people are their own brands too...

...so, when it aligns it creates the power of the brand and distracts when they misalign (conflict or deflect)

Does Employer branding need a strategy, which means a plan to the journey with a map and a compass? More than map, compass is more important as it helps the course to the North Star, while plugged into its DNA!

Compass addresses needs to realign in dynamic market, new marketplaces, company's new avatars and rebranding, 2.0, 3.0 etc... diversified or divested, etc....all part of strategy you know. 

How does this alignment work? -Through Discovery and definition -Direction and Delivery -4D process-Used to arrive at DNA messaging! Creating fine men, one boy at a time! DNA at the center of everything that client does or says! \

Brand DNA components and their significance

Explanation of the five components of Brand DNA: role, raison d'être, commitment, benefit, and culture.

The analogy of a blue velvet bag with a gold string representing the cemented Brand DNA.

Brand strategy is like a map, but directions and markets change over time. So, how does brand catch up with change of the consumer? 

Interestingly brand DNA serves as a compass, providing a constant guide even when the map is unclear.

Companies who believe in the living and breathing brand DNA, find clarity in the brand strategy, making collaboration with brand watchers, smoother.

Irrespective disruptuons, the 4D process remains hinged to, Discovery, Definition, Direction, and Delivery. This is like a giant wheel that keeps rolling.

Discovery involves qualitative interviews to understand emotional connections and perceptions.

Definition includes articulating the brand DNA in workshops, ensuring client ownership.

Direction is set as content and intent are set for consumers to experience.

Delivery is a sand box to user group testing of the piece of new brand collateral!  

Articulating the brand DNA with key beliefs, promises, and spirit is a powerful tool.

The brand DNA becomes a beacon guiding strategic frameworks and decisions.

Simplifying and focusing on three key pillars enhances understanding for both internal and external stakeholders.

As is often said, if people are not engaged, they maybe disengaged! Being disengaged is not against engagement with the org purpose, or one's role, job etc . Or being oblivious or ignorant of one's tasks. There is still the feeling of belonging and making a difference, but it is self driven not org driven. 

This disengagement is due to missing links, that culture builds! Leaders create and promote core values in thoughts, speech and action! 

Branding is not marketing! If branding was marketing, it was a department's task. Branding is done by all and every employee by creating consistent, coherent, longitudinal, omni-channel experience for anyone who interacts with the brand!  So, people are at the core of creating and sustaining brand! Employer branding is the same! Talent/Recruitment Marketing is a way to mobilize communication (aka messaging) to the marketplace, with values that brand resonates with! Communication as marketing is full of, gets noticed (visuals/noise, etc.) while messaging is a narrowed approach to communicate to a select/identified audience with the communication that matters to them and needs their attention and helps them associate with the brand and connect to do business! 

Smart employer branding teams are very conscious of building their brand and not fall prey to the vanity metrics! A company may have 100 or more brands/products/services and maybe just 10 of them are power brands, marketing will still be showing same ROIs, through sales growth but in Recruitment Marketing, only number of hires is not the Real metric. The real metric is quality of hire, sustained attraction and engagement, employee referral, etc. Penguins hire penguins! 

Is Recruitment Marketing same as Talent Marketing? Is there anything called Talent Marketing? What's your thought? 

Imagine if it was. Perceptions drive brand recognition. Perceptions overtime become reality! 

A new hire becomes Talent, when he proves his worth! Not every art of Leonardo Da Vinci or Mozart or Shakespeare created brand Vinci or Mozart or Shakespeare! Similarly, companies showcase their talent to attract clients and other talent.

Talent produces enviable work, not just work. Enviable works are marketed as identity builders, differentiators and uniqueness creators. Someone said in a conversation, McKinsey is a brand because, it has use cases, models (aka capabilities, as is) and people (aka capabilities, as unfolds) and all of them are on the top deck of being looked up to! 

When we talk of brand Airforce, we picture mighty fighter jets and battle hardy fighter pilots! When we picture top management consulting firm, we picture power-dressed, super confident Consultants on swanky workspaces with clients listening to them! So, Air Force or Management Consulting firms, they are all leveraging and showcasing power of Talent marketing/talent branding! Every aspiring firm needs talent marketing.

No wonder Peyush Bansal, founder of Lenskart categorically says, that branding is not done by marketing department! Branding is done by all employees! How true! 

Executing Employer Branding plan would need below steps that I captured from this video- https://youtube.com/shorts/UEup1NZq8Bk?si=OgN0ppxKDMVsNf7Q

A presentation by Brand Master Academy- Check them on YouTube- and their webpage - Brand Master Academy | The Brand Strategy Training Ground




Friday, December 1, 2023

Decoding the Wisdom: "Once a Recruiter, always a Recruiter"


Published on LinkedIn: 
Decoding the Wisdom: "Once a Recruiter, always a Recruiter" | LinkedIn

If ever there was rocket science in HR, it would be recruiting!
Having said that, on a serious note, sourcing within recruiting is certainly a rocket science.
No wonder your job search looks like space travel!
On a serious note, again, search firms charge you a bomb for this art called "sourcing"! This task is critical to the success of recruiting as a function!
In this post, I wrote about the sourcing done by Olam International, Walmart, or a fast fashion brand that you love!
This otherwise orphaned function of talent sourcing needs some serious thinking, especially in the fast-tech hiring world! If fashion and food can be fast, why not fast tech hiring? I worked for the fast-fashion industry (similar to the one's you love, Zara, H&M, etc.), and they have Winter-Spring, Autumn-Summer, and then Mid-Seasons too! Apply it to IT/engineering hiring, and we too have seasons of hiring! Mid-Season hiring in Eng/IT is for laggards and those who face infant mortality (the SooniGones, on lines of Soonicorns)!
Disclaimer: This article was structured and designed using HARPA AI!
The results, as you can see, are "beautiful and elegant, looking like a Wow! Seriously. Happy Friday folks!
WiseWaters is a search firm that does talent search as a service. WW also does workshops to make your sourcing team smarter using proven models and search strategies!

In the fast-paced corporate landscape, phrases often encapsulate profound insights that echo through time. "Once a Recruiter, always a Recruiter" – a statement that reverberated in the corridors of a company back in 2014, leaving an indelible mark on how the CEO perceived opportunities and adversity. This article attempts to draw some inspiration from the sourcing done as integral, key part of product development in fast fashion, retail and manufacturing industries. Can Engineering/Tech talent sourcing gain inspiration from these industries?

The Contextual Revelation

The scene is set in 2014, a critical juncture where a new competitor had emerged in Delhi NCR, triggering discussions among the leadership. The HR department, in an eager pursuit of talent, proposed hiring the struggling competitor's team. It was in this moment that the CEO, with a seasoned perspective, uttered the now-famous phrase: "Once a Recruiter, always a Recruiter."

Beyond Immediate Impulses: A Strategic Vision

In retrospect, the CEO's statement wasn't just a dismissal of the HR lady's excitement but a glimpse into his strategic vision. The firm in question not only survived but thrived, growing to encompass 600 staff across India and the US, specializing in life sciences technology integration platform services.

Unveiling the Essence of Recruiting

The HR Conundrum

  1. In the Eye of the Storm, HR professionals, particularly recruiters, operate in a dynamic environment where meeting hiring targets is akin to the challenges faced by sales teams. The pressure to deliver tangible results often leads to an intense focus on recruiting services.
  2. Celebrating HR's Role in Hiring- HR's role extends beyond mere recruitment; it involves strategic hiring, segmentation, and navigating challenges like attrition and competition.

The Recruiter's World

Sourcing as the Bedrock

  1. Sourcing Dynamics-Conventional hiring methods, such as posting jobs and searching databases, are just the tip of the iceberg. The real crux lies in effective sourcing – a process comparable to the meticulous sourcing strategies of retail giants like Walmart and Olam International.
  2. The Fashion Industry Analogy-Drawing parallels with the fashion industry, where sourcing involves engaging directly with manufacturers and craftsmen, non-descript vendors, emphasizes the importance of sourcing in recruiting.
  3. The Impact of Sourcing on Quality-Quality in recruiting, much like in fashion, hinges on the materials sourced. A good resume is just the beginning; the real challenge lies in finding the right talent.

Elevating the Role of Sourcing in Tech

  1. Learning from Industry Leaders-Drawing inspiration from companies like Tata Motors and Bajaj, who not only source but also invest in sourcing hotbeds, by consciously and strategically building and supporting technical education institutions, can revolutionize talent sourcing in engineering and tech.

Navigating Attrition in the Unicorn Era

Attrition Insights-A recent report by TOI revealed a significant churn of 3.6 lakh staff in 110 Unicorns during 2022-23. The continuous hiring spree amidst attrition underscores the need for strategic sourcing and talent retention. Here, your target talent may appear floating and can be an easy catch with easy swing of the net, but that hits in our face as a mirage! They are chasing too many companies, and too many recruiters chasing them. This is a mad world. Remember, this happens despite, over 17000 IT folks got the boot in the first half of calendar year 2023 in India in 70 start-ups.

Ask any recruiter, with serious technical hiring mandates and they will tell you, that despite the seemingly deluge of laid off talent, they were not able to fill their positions. A steady active sourcing strategy can help build a predictable hiring success! Discount windfalls!

Average cost of hiring a mid-level tech resource is ~3 lacs! Imagine the cost and then we have Unicorns losing 3.6 L staff and then hiring 3.7L, while Zoho , Zerodha and Hike had below 1% attrition during the same time as this report cites.

In conclusion, the CEO's words, "Once a Recruiter, always a Recruiter," transcend the immediate context, offering a profound reflection on the strategic vision required in the ever-evolving realm of HR and talent acquisition.

Meta Description:

Explore the strategic insights behind the phrase "Once a Recruiter, always a Recruiter." This blog post delves into the CEO's visionary perspective, the role of sourcing in recruiting, and lessons from other industry sourcing strategies, providing a comprehensive understanding of talent sourcing as a center in excellence (CoE) within recruiting function.

In the next article, let's talk about, employer branding, recruitment marketing and the EVP exercise and activation, employee experience, which build the smooth runway for the Sourcing CoE and also keeps attrition in check!

We can applaud Zoho , Zerodha and Hike or envy them but they certainly have mastered the art of Employer branding (EB) and Employee Experience (Ex).

Did you know that Zoho Recruit celebrates day.? Check this out!

Happy National Recruiter Day is celebrated on May 30th each year. This day recognizes and appreciates the contributions of recruiters in the workforce.

Time to stop Employee Farming!

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