Global Recruiting

I don’t know about you, but my free time is currently consumed with watching the 2012 Olympic Games. I follow the updates on the internet and (even though I usually already know who won) rush home to tune into the coverage. You can guarantee, until the last medal is awarded, I will be watching  athletes from countries around world, with different backgrounds and economic conditions, compete on the same stage in hopes of achieving greatness. The Games give me an opportunity to inspire recruiters to work a little harder to achieve success by keeping some of the tips below top of mind.

1. Training pays off – Like the 2012 Olympic athletes, you’ve been “training” your entire life for a successful career. From the lessons you learned in high school and college to your first day on the job, your training has shaped the recruiter you are today. So, if you want to be good at what you do, invest in yourself. Attend conferences, training sessions and webinars, hire coaches, increase your opportunities through recruiter networks and take the time to increase your knowledge through professional development. Michael Phelps didn’t become the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time over night, and it probably won’t happen overnight for you either. But with each investment, you increase your chances for success.
2. Be aware of your competition – Each of the 205 countries participating in the 2012 Olympics are very aware of what the other countries bring to the table as it relates to athletes. It affects the way they prepare and the strategy that goes into each competition. You, too, should make yourself aware of your direct competition and do everything you can to gain a competitive advantage. Create a value statement that separates your firm from your competitors and make sure it is continuously evolving. International recruiting is a great way to set yourself apart from your competitors and the ability to serve your clients throughout the world will definitely give you an advantage.
3. Be diverse in skill set – For most of the Olympic athletes, they are competing in the same sport but in more than one competition. For example, there are several different swimming styles and distances and for the most part, the best athletes are competing in more than one event. This allows them optimal odds for success. As recruiters, you want to allow yourself the best chance for success (and money). Being able to place different types of candidates in different niches will allow you a broader opportunity to make money. If you are an expert in one particular niche, join a global recruiting network and utilize your network partners for help with positions or candidates that are not in your specialized niche.

What are some of the comparisons you can make between the 2012 Olympic Games and international recruiting? I know the Olympics inspire me to work a little harder and go the extra mile to achieve success. What about you?

As Director of Membership of a global split placement network, I’m fascinated and inspired with the details involved in international recruiting. One can easily conclude after learning the details of these types of split placements that the world is definitely smaller than in the past. Technology has played a major role in this situation.

As an example, I’d like to share with you the five elements of a recent split placement in our network. This split placement highlights how a network of independently-owned recruitment firms with a web-based sharing tool can better serve its clients and candidates; regardless of location in the world.

The 5 elements are as follows:

1. Recruiter with the position was located in Australia.
2. Recruiter with the candidate was located in Russia.
3. Client was a geology company headquartered in Australia.
4. Position Location was in Guyana in South America; just north of Brazil.
5. Candidate was a German geologist working for a Russian geology company and doing fly-in/fly-out work in Guyana.

The recruiter with the position searched in NPA’s web-based sharing tool hoping to find a geologist. He found much more than just a geologist. He found a geologist currently doing fly-in/fly-out work in the very country where his position was located – Guyana! Needless to say he was thrilled and contacted the recruiter who had posted the candidate. All worked out during the placement process and the geologist started his new position this past April.

In NPA, this scenario works because we have technology in place to facilitate split placements among our members. In addition, all recruiters in NPA operate under the same Bylaws resulting in relationships built on trust.

How do you achieve success in international recruiting? How do you find candidates when your clients have operations located around the world? Are you a member of an informal or formal recruiter networking group?  How do you build trust with trading partners from different cultures?

Image:  www.freedigitalphotos.net

We’ve all heard a talent shortage exists. However, do the shortages vary around the world? A 2011 Survey by Manpower answers that question. In January 2011, 39,641 employer interviews were conducted either by telephone or collected online in three areas of the world – the Americas, in Asia Pacific, and in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). My post today will provide an overview of the findings. I encourage you to review the survey results in more detail. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s installment was submitted by Jeff McGraw of The Callos Companies in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jeff serves as the secretary/treasurer of NPA’s Board of Directors, and has been a member of the network since 1994. The Callos Companies provides a broad range of human resource services including recruiting & search, outplacement, temporary staffing, executive coaching, employee leasing, and travel medical professionals.

The six Jivaro Indian tribes are spread out across the Oriente of Ecuador. These native South Americans are notorious for three things: headhunting, beer drinking, and resisting the encroachment of the outside world.

Obviously, beer was an important part of the Jivaro life. So this one fact prodded me to learn more about this tribe and even further ponder “what is the correlation between drinking beer and headhunting.”

There are more similarities than one would think.

The Jivaros are the only tribe known to have successfully revolted against the Spanish Empire and to have been able to thwart all subsequent attempts by the Spaniards to conquer them. They have withstood armies of gold-seeking Incas and defied the bravery of the early conquistadors. The Jivaro Indians are known to be an intensely warlike group, tremendously protective of their freedom and unwilling to subordinate themselves to other authorities.

As independent recruiter headhunters, we too, in some way, have revolted from the mainstream and have been able to prevent attempts from competitive threats to conquer us and put us out of business. We have withstood threats from armies of job boards, managed service providers and in-house recruiters. And as recruiter – headhunters we protect our freedom to work independently and to limit our subordination to authority.

Protecting our independent recruiting business from outside threats while maintaining our business and at the same time meeting our client’s staffing needs in a timely fashion with the highest quality candidates can be an awesome task. However my firm and I have found a weapon of choice to stave off these threats. Being a part of a split placement network has given us the edge to remain independent and to compete at a higher level.

A recruiting split-placement network is typically a group of independent recruiters who share candidates and job orders in order to meet their client’s needs. These recruiter networks also enables its members to better serve their clients with an expanded geographic reach, greater access to industry specialization and access to more candidates (and job orders). Some networks provide a worldwide association of recruiters which can provide a global reach for smaller firms.

Looking back at the Jivaro tribe it was estimated that an adult Jivaro male consumed three to four gallons of beer in one day. I certainly would not advocate drinking four gallons of beer but I do highly recommend joining a global split placement recruiter network.

Almost a year ago, I blogged about a possible new global recruiting trend emerging regarding a preference for local candidates over ex-pats. Today, I read another report that seems to confirm the trend in Asia: Western ex-pats are no longer the “most desired” candidates for management positions.

Companies want to hire managers who have a deep understanding of the local cultural norms. In most cases, that means Asian natives who have been US- or European-educated. According to the article I referenced above, both Spencer Stuart and Korn/Ferry acknowledge that these highly desirable candidates are difficult to attract and retain. Read the rest of this entry »