Most organizations are experiencing recruitment challenges

of some sort in this competitive market for talent. While

limited candidate pools and tight time constraints are what

we hear about most from our clients, there are other factors

impacting their ability to hire the right professionals. The

good news is that proper planning and implementing

simple changes can help to mitigate some of the challenges

and improve the recruitment process.

Before we dig in to easy

adjustments that can be

made, let’s first cover the

common recruitment

challenges we hear from our

clients so you can be sure

you’re not alone in what’s

keeping you up at night. This

insight was gleaned from

Managing Director Jim Lord

and Managing Consultant

Wendy Zang. Each consultant works in all of Helbling’s core

sectors of architecture/engineering/construction, facilities

management, and real estate development. While these

sectors are inter-related, they are surely different from one

another. Furthermore, each individual entity has its own

cultural dynamics and internal environment. Despite these

variances, they do share common recruitment challenges.

Common recruitment challenges we hear about from clients Job postings aren’t attracting the right candidates.

Zang: “Most organizations rely upon job boards and

association websites, which only result in identifying

candidates who are actively

looking. It’s not to say that

these candidates aren’t

talented high-performers. It’s

the fact that there are many

more candidates out there who

are passive to new

opportunities. Sometimes, the

best candidates are not looking

for opportunities, but rather

they have their heads down,

buried in their current work.”

Talent is extremely limited, and they don’t know how to expand their candidate source pool.

Zang: “While all clients are aware of the tight talent pool,

they don’t necessarily know how to expand it and where to

look for candidates who may be considered non-traditional

or ‘out of the box’. They are often unaware of the types of

ExecutiveSearchViewpoint:

TopRecruitmentChallenges&6LessPracticedTipstoImproveHiring

Sami L. Barry

Jim Lord Managing Director, Northeast

Wendy Zang Managing Consultant

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TopRecruitmentChallenges&6LessPracticedTipstoImproveHiring

professionals who may be able to help them solve their

short- and long-term problems.”

Lord: “To elaborate on Wendy’s point, employers are

familiar with recruiting active candidates. However, they

seldom have the bandwidth or skills to approach and attract

passive candidates. It’s a different type of recruitment, and it

demands patience, knowledge, and understanding of a role;

the right hiring manager/recruiter leading the effort; and

persuasion techniques.

Furthermore, employers fail to realize the issue of

confidentiality. To reiterate, job boards attract those

professionals who are actively looking. Those job-seekers

typically don’t have the same confidentiality concerns as

passive candidates, who tend to be deeply concerned

about confidentiality, making them apprehensive to explore

an opportunity.”

Position descriptions don’t tell the whole story, which affects the talent pool and the ability to accurately assess candidates.

Zang: “When it comes to finding and securing new talent,

there can be many stumbling blocks along with way. Issues

can start with a poorly worded job description that doesn’t

accurately convey a position’s responsibilities, or be worded

in a way that isn’t appealing to prospective talent. A

description that simply lists a ‘menu of requirements' can

discourage capable candidates from applying. When a

poorly coded online algorithm is used or a human resources

professional doesn’t understand a role, qualified candidates

can easily slip through the cracks.

A position description should include the role’s objectives

and how it impacts the organization. It should include the

‘must have’ qualifications, as well as ‘would like to haves’.”

Lord: “On the construction and real estate development

side, when creating new positions, firms often have so many

items on their wish lists that the odds of one candidate

meeting all of the requirements are very low. This is what is

sometimes referred to as the ‘purple unicorn'. Managing

those expectations, separating the ‘must haves’ from ‘nice

to haves’, and developing descriptions that are more

applicable to the actual talent pool are things that recruiters

and hiring managers have to do.”

Time constraints affect the initiation, quality, and results of the process.

Zang: “Finding and interviewing people for a new position

can be a full-time responsibility in and of itself. Our clients

have many demands they are juggling, and if they are

looking to fill an open position, they are short-staffed,

making it even harder to find the time necessary to vet

candidates. Most of the HR departments we work with are

equally taxed. Many times, they are searching for candidates

for dozens of positions and having time to really dig in to a

candidate’s strengths and motivations is a challenge. But,

hearing from a prospective employer and then radio silence

for weeks does not leave the best impression.”

Lord: “Appropriate vetting of candidates definitely suffers

when a need is critical. It’s important to realize that time is

actually saved when thorough evaluation is performed.

Once an organization does initiate a process, it’s important

to maintain the momentum. You can’t have a slow-moving

recruitment process because the more motivated

candidates may be entertaining other offers, and they may

end up removing themselves from the search process.”

Not all interviewers have the skills, ability, or knowledge to “sell” their organization and an opportunity appropriately.

Zang: “It’s challenging to keep candidates engaged

throughout the process and get them excited about the

prospect of a new position. Some employers forget that an

interview is a two-way street. The candidate is evaluating

the position and organization as much as they are being

evaluated themselves. They are asking themselves if the

entity is truly a place they want to work. Unorganized

interviews, meetings with grumpy or disgruntled potential

co-workers, not giving candidates your full attention, and/or

expecting candidates to jump through hoops on extremely

short notice just to have an interview do not provide a

positive experience.”

Helbling & Associates is a retained executive search firm specializing exclusively in facilities management, construction, engineering, and real estate development.

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6 less practiced tips to improve hiring Create compelling position descriptions.

The first step to a successful recruitment process is a solid

position description that includes intangible aspects of the

role, positive attributes of the organization, and finally,

“must have” and “would like to have” qualifications. (Men

tend to focus less on meeting all of the qualifications and

more on their abilities, while women will only apply if they

have all of the qualifications listed.)

Expand the talent pool by networking.

Sharing open roles on all of an organization’s social sites is a

must. There’s also no harm in current employees posting

open roles to their own social platforms. Developing an

employee referral program can only support recruitment

efforts.

Understand a candidate’s need for confidentiality.

Add a statement about confidentiality to the position

description and assure candidates that you are committed

to retaining their privacy. Emphasize the importance of

confidentiality with the hiring manager, recruiter, and other

interviewers and ensure you have their commitment to

providing it to candidates.

Show respect to candidates.

While this may seem like common sense, this is an

extremely common complaint of job candidates. Merely

providing clarity on the timeframe and steps of the

recruitment process can put you ahead of other employers.

Even if you don’t have any real update, just touch base to

demonstrate respect.

Make interviews conversational and with the right people.

Keep interviews well organized and give candidates your full

attention. Have questions prepared, and make them

different for multiple interviewers. Make sure candidates are

meeting with the right individuals. Most importantly, make

sure all of those individuals are on the same page regarding

the opportunities and challenges of the role. Finally, get to

know the final candidates. Go beyond the rote questions

and answers and strive to have meaningful conversations.

Have at least two finalist candidates.

Selecting a final candidate can be a challenge, especially in

this candidate-driven market. If possible, having two finalists

is ideal. In other words, plan B. As search consultants, we

always have at least two finalists because candidates and

clients can change their minds at the last minute. People

can be surprising, even when you’ve been thorough which is

why having the second finalist can help you pivot quickly

after a rejection and get your hire made.

Are you having other recruitment challenges that aren’t

mentioned? To identify where your recruitment process is

lagging, work backwards through your recruitment process

to see where the issues begin.

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