Recruiting is Underrated

Question: What is the most important asset of an organization?

Answer: Its people.

Based on this information, doesn’t simple logic say recruiting is one of the most important positions in a company? If the continued success of a company is based on its ability to hire and retain the right talent, why hasn’t recruiting received its due?

Part of the problem is there are a ton of awful recruiters out there and they’ve given our field a bad name. Information Technology professionals are bombarded on a daily basis with what is essentially spam. Some liken recruiters to used car salesmen who will lie, cheat and steal to make a quick buck. While those types do exist, the majority of recruiters I know and have met are honest brokers who seek to connect companies and people.

If you have worked with a good recruiter, you know there is a huge difference between a good and a bad recruiter. A good recruiter buys into the company’s culture and ingrains him/herself with leadership. They’re self-motivated and incredibly determined to find the absolute best possible candidates for their openings. A quality recruiter is essentially a business person who is equal parts sales, marketing, legal and human resources.

The majority of  my recruiting career was spent in the government contracting space in and around the DC beltway. To this day, I tell prospective clients the two most important positions within a govcon are BD and recruiting. I don’t care if you have the best bus dev person in the world and they win a 100 person, sole-source contract. Until a recruiter finds and hires people to put on the program, no revenue is generated. Every time I hired someone at Northrop Grumman, I was making the company money.

The same goes for software and tech companies. Say you want to launch or update a mobile app. Your company makes money by selling the app to the consumer. Do you think hiring the best and brightest developers has an impact on the bottom line? You bet it does!

Last week I attended the Inc. 5000 conference and time and time again, I heard both speakers and individual business owner’s talk about how hard it was to find good employees. I spoke with a number of owners who had revenue in excess of $10 to 20 million last year and a good number were turning business away because they didn’t have enough staff to keep up with demand. I asked these folks if they had a recruiter on staff. The overwhelming answer was no. Imagine what their revenue and growth might be if they hired someone who’s sole purpose was to hire good people.

Today’s lesson? Go hire a good recruiter!

Conor Nicholson is the Founder and CEO of NSS RPO, a consulting firm that provides on-site and virtual recruiting professionals. Contact NSS RPO to learn about how we can help your organization meet and exceed it’s hiring goals.