My 2021 Recruiting Utopia

I’m over 2020! Granted, this time of year is usually when I begin planning for the following year but this year there’s a different level of excitement. I’ve had more opportunities this year to speak to some vendors that have some exciting products that will transform our industry over the next few years. Since 2020 was such a shit show, I’m claiming 2021 to be the year of Recruiting Utopia.

What’s that look like? Let me share my vision.

Imagine being able to start your planning for a two week period focused on the 5-6 top roles for your business unit versus the twenty or thirty it may have open. The overwhelming distraction commonly associated with high requisition loads subsides as you focus on the most critical, manageable requisition list for two weeks. As you make progress on your top priority role by meeting a minimum number of qualified candidates scheduled with the manager, you move on to the next one in priority. You’ll continuously follow this format until you find a methodological approach to getting things done efficiently.

Much like the geese flying in a V formation, feedback is constant and keeps the process moving. The feedback from your managers moves candidates quickly through the process. Communication among your team members helps work be prioritized and allocated to resources with the capacity to meet the goal of the two-week sprint. Feedback helps the group adjust to changes in the industry or client demand quicker and more efficiently. The stress most feel in the traditional recruiting model has been mitigated by what I call the “sprint instinct”. Like geese, you and your team begin to use resistance as a way to push forward with less energy.

Most importantly, your clients begin to understand the process and finally, you have a common language to use to communicate progress and obstacles. The common pain points of time to fill and the number of open jobs is replaced with an obsession by you and your clients to make progress on the most critical roles. This obsession also allows you to take the time to truly focus on these roles to find more qualified candidates with more time to source. Traditional recruiting forces recruiters to move each job a little every day, sprint recruiting allows you and your team to make massive moves on fewer critical roles over two weeks.

What if you could start your day reviewing a dashboard of ranked jobs with distinct swim lanes that show how many candidates are in the process. Get ready for the relief you will feel when you realize the most critical jobs in the sprint all are at a point where you are waiting on feedback on interviews so you begin getting a jump-start from the other positions. The feeling of working more efficiently and effortlessly will become addictive. The ability to end the day and truly measure the progress you’ve made will be rewarding and allow you to be present with loved ones when you decide to end work for the day.

Most of my focus in 2021 will be maximizing the efficiencies we’ve gained leveraging Sprint Recruiting to up our game. I recently spent some time with the “Amazing Matt Alder” on the Recruiting Future Podcast discussing Sprint Recruiting and my ideas for a Recruiting Utopia. In the interview we discuss:

• Adopting Agile and Design Thinking in talent acquisition
• The development of Sprint Recruiting
• Priorities and feedback loops
• The four principles of Sprint Recruiting
• WIP limits on candidate submissions
• Managing the change
• What is Recruiting Utopia and how might we get there

We cover a lot but it’s a timely conversation if you’re planning for 2021. Be sure to check out the podcast here and Subscribe to Matt’s podcast in Apple Podcasts.