What role is the recruiter playing within the organization? I would argue that the recruiter is a headhunter and a prescreener. The hiring decision is the accountabiilty of the manager with the approval of the manager once removed. The manager knows the job and is ultimately the decision maker. Mis-hires are a managerial mistake.

Michelle

With this in mind it’s safe to assume that compensating recruiters based on the performance of those they help to hire – as I suggested in my post (http://www.maximizepossibility.com/employee_retention/2008/06/improving-hr-pe.html) – would certainly ruffle some feathers if not cause downright protest.

However, I’ve seen it time and time again that careful candidate selection – ensuring that the candidate is a good fit for the job – has an incredible impact on the performance of new-hire.

Quite simply (and I think you’ll agree with me) someone who is not fit for the job – be it based on their behaviors, values, cognitive ability etc. – will consistently underperform an individual who is well fit for the job.

What I’m seeing a lot lately is a tendency for recruiters to overlook shortcomings in job fit in order to fill a position as quickly as possible. It’s not surprising really… that after all is the recruiter’s job and responsibility.

However, in a rush to fill X number of training seats before a given date I’m seeing a lot of recruiters take short cuts in the hiring process just to meet their training enrollment numbers.

This is done with little regard for the ultimate performance of the organization and is costing many companies thousands of dollars in wasted training only to have an employee terminated for poor performance or leave on their own accord when they realize they aren’t right for the job.

I strongly feel that employee performance accountability needs to be extended to the hiring process in some way or form.

It’s a tricky situation, I’ll be the first to admit it, but something needs to be done…

Any thoughts?

-Chris Young

Yes, I’d like to see a little more on the enabling side! Thanks for the comment.

Regards,

Michelle

I wish I had said this as succinctly.