Some of the specific technology and process-based tasks they should perform are:
- Marketing lead generations
- Name gathering for search activity
- Initial candidate contact and qualification
- Secondary reference checks
- Interview travel arrangements and confirmations
- Gathering and distributing closing information
- Spousal and other interface to determine key decision points and obstacles
- Placement invoicing and follow-up
- Quality Assurance input gathering
- Candidate and referral follow-up
- Managing quality assurance actions and programs*
- Building specialization files and libraries
- Creating in[sic] maintaining hiring managers company information files
- Conducting scheduled candidate e-mail distribution*
- Classified advertisements intelligence gathering (of printed media and the “Net”)*
- Managing office interruptions and distractions*
- Administrative correspondence and marketing campaigns*
- Sweep and document additional and alternative markets niches*
- Idle hiring managers tracking and maintenance efforts*
- Web site maintenance and upgrading administration*
- Internet and Web surfing information source manager*
- Gatekeeper of all databases*
- Idle candidate maintenance*”
HOLD IT right there!!! This is where I sat up straight and said aloud, “Excuse me???” Sorry, but this reeks of Gary’s misconceptions. How many times have I written…MY job as a researcher is to generate the leads, and YOUR job as a recruiter is to qualify them. Check out the THIRD thing on this list….and it just gets worse and you go down the list! Travel arrangements, referral follow-ups, spousal interface, managing office interruptions and distractions? What is that? Sounds like the equivalent of a hall monitor in elementary school. Read on…
“While a researcher is managing the tasks listed above, the search recruiter is free to do far more of what really produces fees: marketing, recruiting and closing.”
Yes yes, because the recruiter is the only one doing anything that will produce fees – at least that is what a lot of them seem to think! Let’s completely ignore the fact that the researcher, who is apparently busy standing over them and monitoring their distractions, has not contributed to the fee producing process. Read on…
“The role of the researcher may appear to be somewhat administrative in the classic sense. But, I would advise that a fully trained and dedicated researcher must be supported by an office assistant handling word processing, answering a telephone, and other administrative chores.”
Doug mentions later on that part of the researcher’s administrative tasks is ‘handling telephone traffic’. I thought this was the responsibility of their office assistant mentioned above?
“Maintaining currency of the database and hiring managers’ contacts is a recommended procedure for all placement services companies. The time spent chasing lost causes and dead-ends is very costly. Researchers can insure that the candidates we call our[sic] both pre-qualified, currently available and worth our critical time.”
Maintaining currency of the database IS important. I agree with this. However, I think this is a responsibility of all who use the database. If you are a recruiter and you call up a contact whose information is outdated, ask them for their current info and then put it in your database. This is not the sole responsibility of the researcher. Read on…
“The biggest billers will be those who can work the most searches and deliver the goods. Having a fully qualified and effective researcher utilizing an intelligent investment in technology tools has become a non-negotiable reality of the competitive recruiting firm.”
Intelligent investment in technology tools – I like that! A glimmer of hope in the middle of a sea of despair…but then…
“Researchers can be most productive when given the lion’s share of the administrative tasks….thus freeing up invaluable creative time for the recruiter to generate results.”
Crash and burn! Administrative tasks….when are you people going to learn that by having your researcher doing administrative tasks such as invoicing, answering phones, arranging interview travel, and other such things that should be in the description of your office manager or admin assistant, that you are wasting your researcher’s talent. Everyone needs to pitch in and answer the phone if no one is picking it up, but for Heaven’s sake, let your researcher RESEARCH!
Doug also lists out some qualities to look for when seeking a researcher. While his list is okay (at best) I think he should have a chat with Maureen Sharib who offered up to me some excellent ideas of skills to be watchful for when searching for a researcher. Some of the things included on his must-have’s for a good researcher included sense of humor, resiliency, and check references. I guess working with Doug and his ideas of what research is, you’ll need a sense of humor. While these are good characteristics of anyone desiring to be an employee with a company, I think there are more important skills needed for research.
Doug continues on by dividing the “desk” into two categories which he calls “creative” a
nd “administrative”. I think perhaps he means ‘creative’ as ‘Recruiter/Self-Proclaimed God’s Gift to the World’. Here are the divisions in job functions that he lists:
“Creative:
- Initiating, developing and closing placements
- Initiating, improving and maintaining hiring managers relationships
- Managing multiple searches
- Office and staff development
Administrative:
- Handling details and tasks
- Technology tools maintenance
- Vendor interface
- Information mining
- Handling telephone traffic”
All important things to produce the final outcome of a placement. But why isn’t Information mining in the ‘creative’ section? Unless you as a researcher are doing little more than harvesting resumes off of Monster, you’ve had to be pretty darned creative with your method of conducting search. Look at Mike Notaro’s blog and tell me that’s not creative stuff right there.
Doug should have read what he wrote in his own summary of this article – “Researchers can and should become a profit-center in your business” – and gone back and made some adjustments to some of the things he wrote.
What I’m trying to say here is this: please PLEASE do not continue to undervalue your researchers by making them do some of these things! Research is so important for YOU as a recruiter to do your job right. Research is the backbone of any successful recruiting practice, and the most successful ones understand the responsibilities of research and – surprise! – allow their researchers to do just that! Bogging them down with things that can, and should, be done by an administrative assistant, wastes their talent as well as YOUR TIME. Take the time to find out where your researcher’s time is going to be best used, and then put them to work doing those activities.
Doug, if you are reading this, don’t think that I do not respect you or your experience. But I think that there are some things about research that haven’t quite sunk in yet.
If you’re anything like me, you’re getting real sick of the