The SHRM India’s Annual Conference 2019 is just about to begin today. And the theme this year is #Better Workplaces, for a better world.And
while we have a bevy of professionals sharing and learning the best practices
across the gamut of Human Resources as a domain, over the next two days, I have
always felt very passionate that the key to any great organization is
hiring/recruitment. I am of the belief, that if one
were to hire right, each time, every time, then an organization has to
spendless time focusing on engaging, managing or motivating them. Also,
one is automatically enabling/leveraging the Business with the right Culture
& People- the intersection of which is the #Better Workplace.
From
time immemorial, there have been several debates on the best way to hire top
talent, be it "make or buy"(using
internal recruiting teams or utilising third party specialist firms), or the costs/ownership involved in hiring ( ranging from
Executive Search vs. Retained /Exclusive vs. Contingent search vs. Recruitment
Process Outsourcing). To be fair, they have been a lot of pros and cons, both
ways, and depending on the life cycle of growth of organizations, one is
tempted to take one route or the other, if not a multi pronged approach.
However, all of them hinged on the "speed
vs. quality"! Not to mention, amidst all the claims that recruitment
agency business model is grotesquely dysfunctional.
And
so, it is indeed appropriate that the Welcome address is by David Windley, SHRM Board Chair, who is the CEO of IQTalent
Partners -which is revolutionizing Talent Acquisition, by providing innovative solutions and offering on -demand services
-working as an extension of the
in-house Recruiting team -(or a virtual team if one doesn’t exist) by
tweaking the traditional models of Executive Search, and Contingency recruiting
- to provide it as a service that is
on-demand and bill by the hour without minimums or restrictive contracts
-be it research, sourcing, or full
life cycle recruiting you
need and only when you need them. (Psst- they have impressed clients like
Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, Intuit, Splunk, Pie Insurance, among others!)
The
shift is essentially a mindset change -from a Transactional
Reactive business model to one that focusses on Proactive Partnership with clients! By treating
each offering as a professional service where both parties are on the same
team, running toward the same end zone and reading from the same playbook!
The IQTP consultants are
salaried professionals who work with their clients’ internal teams and the
client is billed for the hours spent on a job. The primary belief in this
business model is that an executive recruiter who is salaried and not
commissioned will not push a lesser qualified candidate through only in order
to fill a role quickly and receive a paycheck. By billing by the hour, the
essential conflict of interest is eliminated.
I am looking forward to sharing
some of David’s insights in leading the company, that within 4 years of his
leadership, finds itself among the top 35
Executive Search firms in a highly competitive scenario.
And
the mantra? "When you create an inclusive
and engaging workplace, employees flourish, and businesses succeed",
quips David! For example,
-
Open to hiring recruiters working from remote locations.
-Allow them to go where they want to go.
-Hire boomerangs (would you believe for the size of
the company it is -it has perhaps the highest ratio of 'people returning to
work' in IQ TP-after exploring greener pastures, and then choosing to head
back!?)
Of
course, the pricing model is also innovative as clients end up
saving significant costs, as compared to a success based hiring
mandates prevalent at most locations.
On
the supply side, I can also imagine that being such a predictable business
model, it also helps recruiting firms be able to attract more high quality
recruiters -and retain them, thereby raising the bar for the professional
recruiters. It has been my pet peeve that
not many come into the
recruitment profession, by design, and a lot more those who learn the ropes,
use it as a stepping stone, as there really aren’t too many role models for
aspiring Talent attraction pros!
Looking
forward to interact with him, and get to know the more about what the future of
work looks like? Am sure David will be available for discussions during the
networking sessions. Or else tweet using #SHRMIAC19, and some of us from the #BlogSquad,
would be happy to relay the questions/concerns -and have them addressed in due
time.
On
your marks, get set. The countdown is just a few more hours. Learn. Unlearn.
Relearn. Share. And yes, don't forget to make new connections, have fun, and
give it forward!
