Bringing recruitment to a higher level has been one of Kevin Wheeler’s main ambitions for years. But has he succeeded? Not really, he acknowledges in a podcast recorded during the most recent edition of Werf& Live, where he was also one of the speakers. ‘Most Talent Acquisition Leaders I know are still quite transactional. They do more or less the same as those who work for them. People who truly think strategically: what is happening in the labour market? What skills will we need tomorrow? And how do we apply technology to that? I dare say there are only 5 or 6 worldwide.’
International recruitment guru Wheeler (Future of Talent Institute) spoke in the podcast with Bas van de Haterd (Digitaal-Werven), with whom he co-authored a book last year, Talent Acquisition Excellence, on how to improve recruitment. It started as a joint ‘pandemic project,’ Van de Haterd explained, ‘because we were both bored and couldn’t attend events.’ However, the result was released long after COVID-19 had faded from the headlines. But that does not make it any less relevant, emphasizes the author.
‘We discovered that we fundamentally disagree on a few things.’
‘What I enjoyed about our collaboration: we had Zoom sessions every week about the book, and we discovered that we fundamentally disagreed on a few things. But because we respect each other, it was not: I am right, and you are not, but we explored: under what circumstances could you be right and I not? As a result, the book does not prescribe this is how you should approach Talent Acquisition, but under these circumstances, this approach works better, and under these circumstances, this approach. There is not just one way to be excellent; it depends on the circumstances.’
Not Just Another Book
You might expect this to be another book from someone as seasoned as Kevin Wheeler. But that turns out not to be the case. He had previously written about corporate learning and once co-authored a book on screening and assessment with Charles Handler. However, this is the first book in which he (with Van de Haterd) sets out his vision of making recruitment more effective. For those who know him a bit, technology and Recruitment Process Automation naturally play a significant role in this. ‘I strongly believe that RPOs can hire more qualified recruiters than most organizations.’
It was one of the points where they often disagreed during the writing, adds Van de Haterd. Although, ultimately, the differences in insight were not that great. ‘I gradually learned that an RPO here in Europe is very different than in America. In the United States, as an RPO party, you also bring your technology; here, you often have to work with the ATS that the company has already purchased. However, you will lose 40% of your candidates because they have to create an application via Taleo or Workday before they can apply. Is that still an RPO then?’
‘If your cake is not fully baked, you can get sick from it.’
He says he recently was at a company where the RPO party was not even allowed to make any changes to the organization’s careers site. Then it becomes challenging to take full responsibility for the recruitment process, he states. ‘I often compare it to baking. Raw cookie dough is delicious, and a well-baked cake is delightful. But if it is not fully baked, you can get sick. We often still approach our recruitment process half-baked at the moment.’
No Pioneers
Where in the world are the pioneers in Talent Acquisition to be found? ‘No region is leading,’ says Wheeler. ‘Most TA is rather mediocre. Australia is a country that is quite professional because many people make a career out of it and do not just see it as a stepping stone to a more serious career, as is often the case in the US. I think the Netherlands is also more professional in recruitment.’
He says it is also one of the reasons he is such a fan of RPO. ‘Only then can you allocate enough of a budget for technology because RPO parties see technology as an investment, not a cost. That can help them reduce the cost-per-hire and be more effective.’ He emphasises that many organizations also underestimate the costs of their internal recruitment department. ‘They only look at the costs to hire someone but forget the fixed salaries of the people doing it, the overhead, and the costs of good technology.’
‘As recruiters, we often think we understand people. But we are not trained psychologists.’
Because that is something they both agree on: technology can eventually take over up to 90% of the work in recruitment. ‘Technology is one of the most important things to help people perform better,’ says Van de Haterd. ‘As recruiters, we often think we understand people. But we are not trained psychologists. And so we understand very little about people outside of our own experience. We don’t know people.’ Technology is also far from perfect in this regard, he admits. ‘But – exceptions aside – much better than most recruiters.’
Want to know more?
Listen to the entire podcast here:
More podcasts
This was one of nearly ten podcasts recorded live during Werf& Live. Listen to them all here.
