The Status Quo Has To Go

Like many of you, I was glued to my television set yesterday watching the inauguration of President Obama.  It doesn’t matter if you are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or just don’t care – yesterday was a moment in history we will all remember.

So I asked myself, why?  What is it about THIS inauguration that brings over 1.5 million people to D.C. (whereas Regan had a small percentage of that for his first one) and causes a nation to come to a halt to watch?  Many will state the obvious, first African American President.  However, I think it is more than that.  I think this administration has given all of America and much of the world hope that the Status Quo in Washington is finally going to be broken and we are excited to see what changes are possible once this happens

So what has this got to do with Recruiting you ask?  Everything.  There are few departments in a corporation more tied to the status quo than the Recruiting Department.

Recruiters cling to the status quo long after the quo has lost its status.

If you doubt this, simply ask anyone responsible for change in a Recruiting department.  They will tell you that the change management is the hardest part of any operational adjustment.  New ATS, implementing a CRM for the first time, changing the candidate experience process etc are all great business decisions, backed up by sound financial and operational supporting measures and most FAIL because Recruiters fight change like an addict fights recovery.  I know of a brilliant Recruiting Operations Manager who just went through this; implemented a CRM, tied it to the ATS, brought the project in under budget and ahead of schedule and the metrics of savings etc proved true.  The CRM is failing due to Recruiter Resistance and he’s now at another company.

What causes Recruiter Resistance?  Why does changing, improving, modifying their business cause chills in Recruiters’ spines?  Here are a few observations of why Recruiters resist change: 

Change Overload.  Many recruiting departments change for change sake.  One way to protect mediocre performance is to give the illusion of continuous improvement to those who control the budgets. 

Fear.  Implementing new technology, new strategy and new process can expose people who have learned to game the system and float along, just above the performance issue line.

Work Overload.  Just-in-time (JIT) recruiting requires a fine balance of time management and Recruiters become the ultimate juggling multitaskers.  Picture the performer with a hundred plates spinning at the end of poles at one time.  Now picture tossing a medicine ball at that performers mid-section.  That’s how “change” can feel to JIT Recruiters.

Poor Communication.  Decisions made at the top and trickled down can become simply orders to change.  When people are involved in decision making (whether they ultimately support the change or not) they are more likely to embrace the change simply because they have a fundamental understanding of it.

Regardless of which of these situations your recruiting department is mired in, now is the time to break your status quo.  Seize the momentum of change permeating the country and make changes long overdue in your department.  You have the time, you have the reasons and now you have momentum on your side.  Turning your Recruiting Department into a strategic weapon for the company is the right thing to do.  Use the down economy like a change in administration and begin to create the energy and hope that breaking the status quo can bring to your organization.