HR Professional - October/November 2008 - (Page 50)

I N T ERV I EW to the consultant who drives and directs the search depending on where they can take it. If the client doesn’t know to push on this topic, they will get candidates that are only the best of the pool the recruiter can draw from. There will always be people the recruiter can’t touch because they work for a client. HRP: How does using an outside recruiter affect your employment brand? JMC: Executive recruiters are working with a few assets at the start of the search: the marketability of your company, its recent performance, the future strategy and who’s on the management team. But recruiters also bring their own biases and sensibilities in determining who is going to ﬁt with the role and the culture. Because they have relationships with key executives, a lot of external recruiters take liberties in describing a company, its performance and its business projects. And frankly, I don’t think a lot of these unscripted informal dialogues would pass muster with the marketing department. In fact, the marketing department has no clue whatsoever how their brands are being described and in what terms by these recruiting agents. There is a huge disconnect between marketing and human resources and it really needs to be addressed and aligned. I’ve come to believe that HR and marketing need to be closely associated in order to get results, not only on marketing campaigns and employment branding but also on recruiting leadership talent. HRP: How do recruiters perpetuate the glass ceiling? JMC: First off, they continue to source their talent from a very insular, incestuous circle. Most search ﬁrms aren’t anywhere near as diverse as the clients they are serving. They are not bringing enough women and minorities into their own ﬁrms, nor are they effectively connecting and building bridges with pools of talent beyond their alumni club or their immediate business connections. The lack of diversity continues to fuel and support the glass ceiling. I will add, by the way, that I think executive recruitment is a great career choice for anybody. Frankly, if women and minority leaders want to do something about the glass ceiling, they should be encouraging their constituents into careers within HR P R OF E S S I ON A L Next Generation HR Lead change Mold culture Build strategy Cultivate partnerships Redesign departments Discover leaders Discover yourself Are you ready to move from transactions to transformations? To learn more about Canada’s only comprehensive suite of programs designed to build organizational effectiveness, go to: irc.queensu.ca Ot 392768_Queens.indd c 1 o b e r / N o v e m b e r 50 2008 7/21/08 8:05:49 AM http://www.irc.queensu.ca

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Professional - October/November 2008

HR Professional - October/November 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Contributors Leadership Matters Upfront Legal Compensation Human Capital Talent Management Murphy’s Law Wise Counsel On Message HR 101 Interview with Joseph McCool Off the Shelf The Last Word

HR Professional - October/November 2008

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