Job Posting Boards – Company perspective

During an economic downturn, companies are constantly seeking new and improved ways to cut costs. However, one must always be careful that you get what you pay for. So, if you are looking for the best possible talent, it will absolutely NOT be found on a
Job board.

Job boards are for entry level positions, and job-hoppers.

Human Resource departments are always seeking out ways to grow their empires and show the executives how valuable they are, and by presumably doing all the recruiting themselves, they can cut out executive recruiters. Which, of course, is a total fallacy.

All of a sudden, human knowledge and experience has been reduced to a few key words. So, according to this, someone with 4 years of experience who never did any part time work,  is of the same value as someone who worked constantly in other endeavors.  Someone with 20 years of extraordinary knowledge and experience is passed over as he does not fit in the category, and may be missing a couple of key words. Semantics.

The other problem with this particular approach, is that what often happens is hat other skill sets are far more important than what was originally described. So unless a resume is written which totally fulfills the exact criteria of the ‘key word’ search, it is not considered at all. The most important issue, is the ability to think clearly and solve problems, and absolutely no computer search program can determine whether or not someone actually knows correct grammar, to speak well, think clearly or make decisions.

We recently ceased doing business with a local software R & D company. The company writes very complex code and develops a product sold internationally. Slightly over  a year ago, they hired a new VP Human Resources, a woman, who, interestingly enough, has no experience in HR, software or business. She was a translator. Very articulate, bright, and self centered, she temporarily occupied an HR position while the incumbent  was on maternity leave. With a new resume stating “Acting VP HR” she applied for new positions and landed this job. She charmed the President of the company who employed her, and Immediately set forth to re-organize the department and fire those who didn’t have the image she wished to present. One of the people had been with the company for years, and was highly competent, however, she is dowdy.
Her next plan was to eliminate all external firms. 

First she insisted that all current vendors reply to a lengthy “Request for Proposal” regardless of their previous successes with the company. This was her way of saying that she would only do business with those she liked, as no one else was aware of her selection criteria. Only a scant 2 months later, she announced that only one firm would be doing business with the company and all others should cease and desist calling any of the executives of the corporation.


One must mention at this point, that the company was growing and looking for over 30 highly technical people with security clearance. Her next step was to post all the positions on job boards on the internet. She fulfilled her goal of receiving many resumes, so many so, that she had to hire 3 more clerks in HR to read and process them. As this took place during a recession, the internet was flooded with people seeking employment. As the clerks were not seasoned IT professionals, they had the hiring managers review and interview dozens of potential candidates as opposed to actually doing their work, which resulted in them working nights and weekends to keep up. They did hire successfully, from her point of view, and due to the economic situation, they offered low salaries which people snapped up. She looked like a genius. All those new hires, no fees to outsiders.

Now, you are probably wondering why I am continuing to discuss this highly successful woman. One year later, over 40% of her new hires had left. After one and one half years, over 50% had left. At the end of year 2, the company was obliged to cancel a $20 million project as it was impossible to complete on time. The company paid severance packages, outplacement, and was put up for sale. Their credibility in the market ruined.

It is not the cost that is important but the quality. The majority of the people hired had only accepted the positions as they needed to pay the rent. They were offended at the low salaries and felt absolutely no loyalty to the company. As soon as something better came along, they resigned and moved on.

The company went from 5% turnover to 50%  staff turnover.

You make the judgment call. 

 

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One thought on “Job Posting Boards – Company perspective”

  1. Seems to me we have had this conversation many a time. I’d add just my 2cents worth. In my experience, smaller companies do the same thing in the unending pursuit of saving money. While they may not experience the same attrition rates, they also do not have employees who feel any particular loyalty to the organization. You see the same missed deadlines much to the disbelieving eyes of upper management(not to mention a level of mediocrity that a small organization can ill-afford).

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