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Hiring Business Intelligence Resources When You’re Too Busy to Hire Business Intelligence Resources

Published: July 8, 2008

Maureen Clarry presents the top tips for working with an internal or external recruiter to find new people for your business intelligence team.

There’s a scene from the movie Jerry McGuire where Tom Cruise, the sports agent, is pleading with his client, Cuba Gooding Jr., the professional football player. He says, “Help me help you.”

That phrase resonates with me when we have clients that want us to recruit people for them. They are typically in a situation where they are overwhelmed, too busy, desperately needing more resources and in a huge hurry to find them. We’ll ask the all-important question: How soon would you like them to start? We frequently get the response “yesterday!” However, in reality, that rarely happens. They are so busy because they don’t have enough resources, but they are too busy to hire the resources that would ultimately make them less busy. Thus, from my recruiting team’s perspective (which I think would also be validated by internal recruiters), if you want to get the people you need so you won’t be exhausted, overwhelmed and understaffed, here are the top tips to “help us help you hire.”

Find Time

Stephen Covey created a matrix that defines time in four quadrants related to two dimensions: Importance and Urgency. He categorizes issues related to time management into Important/Not Important and Urgent/Not Urgent uses of our time. For purposes of this discussion, let’s contrast the Important/Not Urgent quadrant (Quadrant 2) with the Important/Urgent Quadrant (Quadrant 1). Quadrant 1 is sometimes labeled “firefighting” or “necessity.” It includes the crises, the emergencies and the deadline-driven projects that we all must manage. Quadrant 2 is sometimes labeled “strategic” or “focus.” It includes preparation, planning, prevention and relationship building. Quadrant 2 is also the quadrant most likely to be overcome by Quadrant 1; it’s difficult to do “fire prevention” when you are heads down “fighting the fire.” The reason many issues, including hiring additional staff, may become Quadrant 1 (Important/Urgent) issues is because they were not addressed as a Quadrant 2 (Important/Not Urgent) issue earlier.

For recruiting purposes, there are two important implications to consider. First, plan ahead as much as possible and recognize that finding the right candidate(s) will take time both externally and internally. Don’t let hiring become an urgent issue if you can avoid it. Second, block time on your calendar for potential interviews. For example, if you’re planning to hire someone, set aside a block of time twice a week before you even have a candidate in process. That way, you’ll have time already allocated on your calendar for meetings and you can save time by quickly scheduling interviews. If you don’t use the allocated time for an interview, it’s a bonus of “free” time in your day. If your process includes team interviews, block time in advance on their schedules, too.

Figure 1: The Time Management Matrix

Set Deadlines

One of our favorite clients sets deadlines for receiving candidates, and it’s a great approach. Deadlines help everyone involved manage their priorities. They give recruiters an idea of your hiring plans and increase the likelihood that your open position will be a high priority. Additionally, you (and your team) will make the process a higher priority if there is a common deadline. Otherwise, even if there’s too much work to do and hiring needs to be an urgent priority, it falls to the bottom of the list of urgent priorities because it’s “open-ended” without a deadline and it perpetuates the pattern of more firefighting. That does not mean that if you reach the deadline and you still don’t have good candidates, you’ll be forced to hire the best of the worst. You can always set new deadlines if the right person isn't found in the first batch of candidates.

Define Your Process

Define your process in advance and let the recruiter know so that you don’t waste time with candidates that don’t fit into your timing. For example, many companies start with a phone interview, progress to an in-person team interview, and then the last step is an interview with the manager. However, other companies have different versions of that progression, and it’s good to let the candidate know in advance if those meetings are scheduled over a period of one day or one month. Additionally, know how your contract approval process works. There's nothing more frustrating than needing a candidate immediately and finding out that completion of an external recruiting contract could take six weeks to be approved.

Be Candid

Give the recruiter candid feedback about the resume, the candidate and the interview. If the recruiter needs to “spin” it with the candidate to alleviate a negative reaction, let them do it. Approach the recruiter as the partner where you can tell it like it is. Vague or “nice” feedback does not help the recruiter find you the right resource. Examples of vague feedback compared to candid feedback might include:

Vague:  “He doesn’t have the right leadership skills in testing.”
Candid:  “He doesn’t have enough experience in creating test scripts and integration tests.”

Vague:  “She doesn’t fit our culture.”
Candid:  “She was too aggressive and her description of how she handled a specific conflict would never be tolerated here.”

Vague:  “His communication skills weren’t good.”
Candid: “He rambled and repeated himself and was not concise in his answers.”

Be candid with the recruiter so they can really understand your concerns. Then, armed with more specific feedback, they can get back to work finding you the right candidate.

Close the Loop

If a candidate is looking for a job, it’s highly likely they are looking at companies besides yours. Therefore, perceptions about you and your company will be formed based on the candidate’s experience of your hiring process. What reputation do you want to create and/or maintain for new hires? Additionally, you may miss out on great candidates if you are slow to move and your hiring process has significant gaps, stops and starts. Even if you decide not to pursue a candidate, be sure to close the loop so that your company is not seen as the “black hole” that they never heard back from.

Sell It

If you don't know what the person in this role is going to do, you can't expect the recruiter and/or candidate to necessarily fill in the blanks. If the recruiter is trying to sell a position to a candidate, they need as much information about the job as possible. A list of skills is helpful, but not sufficient. Ask yourself why someone would be excited about this position. For example: “It’s an opportunity to work in a small team and learn a broad set of skills,” “It’s working in a new technology and gaining the opportunity to learn a new product,” or “It’s a flexible work environment that allows telecommuting.”

Prioritize Skills

Go for quality, not quantity, when it comes to skills. Pick the top three to five skills/knowledge sets that will make or break a person in this role. Some roles are more general; and, in that case, it is realistic to expect a greater breadth of skills. Many roles are more specific. In that case, keep in mind that certain skill sets “fit” together and it will be reasonable to expect to find all those skills in one person. However, if you expect extensive experience in a broad range of skills, it’s not necessarily impossible, but it may be more difficult to find someone with extensive experience in a broad range of topics.

Be Real

We sometimes have clients that give us a list of twenty items they want in the candidate and then state a salary that is unrealistically low. So, we have a saying about that: you can list skills and that will drive salary, or you can list salary and that will drive skills. Of course, your recruiter wants to find you a great candidate within your budget; but if the skills don’t align with the salary, it helps to know which variable can flex. Recruiters can either stay within your salary budget – knowing that you can adjust for skills (which make prioritization all the more important), or your recruiter can find the candidate that has everything you ever dreamed of and you’ll have to pay the price. Either way is fine; just don’t waste your time trying to find your ideal candidate at the bargain price because that person may not exist.

Whether you are working with an internal or external recruiter to help you find new people for your team, keep these tips in mind to help the process work quickly and effectively for you.