The ABC of recruitment - Copenhagen- Part 1

The word agile is on most people`s lips these days. We have agile software development (the origin), agile product development, agile project management and more. Yet, there is a few industries, and professions that have not yet seen the benefits of agile. Recruitment in the Nordics is one of them.

For the last 20+ years, the Nordic recruitment industry have spent vast amount of time and money in developing recruitment tools and rigid process. In many ways, as far away from agile as it can be perhaps?

 
Our definition of anti-agile recruitment
A process that has been set out in advance, a process that is the same irrespective of position and hiring team, a process set on repetitive using the same specific tools and a process that does not allow for change as you go along.

Our definition of agile recruitment

A process that allows for change and allows for learning, while the key success factor is measured by the quality of the candidate hired. To those readers with an interest for agile you know there are 12 principals and 4 values. 

Client satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of high value talent:

• Embracing change based on learning

• Delivering candidates in short time frames and as soon as possible

• Work closely together with our clients in short sprints

• Building projects for and around highly motivated individuals

• Frequent face-to-face updates with Client & Candidate

• Candidates are primary measure of success

• Promoting sustainable processes & development

• Constant pace and momentum

• Simplicity is essential

• The best solutions emerge from our self-organizing teams

• Constantly reflect, tune, and adjust

As seen from the points above, all the agile principles can be implemented into recruitment. Below we will show some examples where agile principles are used, but of course, there are many more.

Candidates primary measure of success

Many people base the success of the campaign on how well the process went. This should not be the key criteria when measuring the success of a recruitment campaign. The prime measurement criteria should be “the quality of candidate hired” (not what you did to hire him / her)

Build projects around motivating teams
Recruitment is for many a bit of a hassle, perhaps particularly for those not working with human resources and the people side of things. Recruitment is often not a priority and stakeholders want to be doing other things. With such an attitude you are likely to achieve poor results. Senior Management and HR need to ensure that line managers are motivated and understand the importance of recruitment. 

Embracing change through learning

You may be someone who has a set interview process every time you recruit. This may be things like the same interview style and structure, the same tests, the same ways of taking references, the same structure of adverts and posting of adverts at the same place. Perhaps you have even grown loyal to an out-dated and anti-agile recruitment system? According to agile, this is not the way to go. 
You should change things as you go along based on:

a) The specific positions

b) What you have learned from previous processes

c) The market

Simplicity
Make sense right? Yet some people have a tendency to feel that a simple process lacks quality. An agile process focuses on simplicity which also make it easier to ensure that the people involved with the recruitment stay motivated.

We could have given tons of examples for each of the 12 principles but hope though that some of our thoughts above have encouraged you to consider moving to more agile principles when you recruit.

Leave you with a brief thought. Some of, if not all, the best technology we use today was developed in an agile way. Then, surely recruitment too could be agile.

If you find this article series interesting, we will welcome the opportunity to discuss this and recruitment with you in more detail. Always great to learn more about companies and how they recruit, and perhaps we could tell you a bit about AvantGarde Search and how we aim to the disruptive force within recruitment.  We will happily come to your offices, or you are more than welcome to our offices at Matrikel1 in Central Copenhagen. We can be reached on 
ann.hege@avantgardesearch.dk / +45 28 26 80 35 or
tim@avantgardesearch.dk / +45 28 26 80 34

We are also hosting a breakfast seminar this spring in Copenhagen about Recruitment, the A, the B & The C.
Please feel free to contact efh@avantgardesearch.no for more info.