HR Corner Bridging the gap by Sophie Leung Objectivity the key to balancing supply and demand Matching the perfect candidate to the ideal professional position entails more than crosschecking a CV against job specifications. Indeed, such tasks often involve a potentially lengthy process which intrinsically requires clear insight into both the human resources market and the human psyche. This, coupled with appropriate hiring strategies and a sophisticated approach, is the key to sustaining a focused and target-oriented workforce. Flora Pun, director, eideaLINK Limited, is acutely aware of the benefits of looking to an external party when recruiting. "A recruiter must seek to obtain objective advice on the whole recruitment process and stay alert to the best practices available," Ms Pun notes. Apart from recruitment strategy, Ms Pun often delves deeper into the reasoning behind high turnover rates for particular positions. She says, "I help client companies identify possible problem areas and offer advice on improvements." For projects involving numerous job openings, Ms Pun still considers traditional job advertisements a highly effective recruitment channel since they can attract many CVs within a given timeframe. Sophisticated or original print advertisements also support corporate branding initiatives, which are essential nowadays if a company is to project a unified image of excellence. Attractive benefits and career prospects are still major "catches", but in addition, a positive corporate image is indispensable for attracting talented people. Assessing values Ms Pun prides herself on the objectivity of her third-party position. She says, "We have strong expertise and professionalism in the field. By assessing the true personality and competency of candidates, judgement solely based on appearances or first impressions can be avoided." Ignoring resource or geographic constraints, Ms Pun insists on better evaluation based on face-to-face interviews to assess a candidate's attributes and values. She remarks that interviews utilising telecom or internet technology cannot fully replace the interactional nature of physical meetings. She adds, "We prefer to invite candidates residing in mainland China to Hong Kong if possible rather than conducting interviews using video conference systems, because even the slightest delay in transferring online images may interfere with our assessment results." "A recruiter must seek to obtain objective advice on the whole recruitment process and stay alert to the best practices available" While language proficiency is fundamentally important, high levels of accountability and integrity remain the key attributes. As such, a typical candidate assessment session comprises not only English and Putonghua tests, but also a brief examination of a candidate's previous work experience and a situational analysis. "We present candidates with a difficult situation and observe their body language through which we evaluate psychological responses primarily to determinate their confidence and honesty levels," Ms Pun reveals. With regards to the common attributes of high-calibre candidates, Ms Pun highlights professional attitude. "Whether employees would go the extra mile at work depends on their career aspirations," she says. To further assess candidates' credibility, Ms Pun goes to great lengths to check all references and endorsement statements to ensure the candidates are true representations of the CVs they submit. Alongside formal assessment questions, Ms Pun always invites candidates to expand on their hobbies and achievements. She explains, "If people can overcome hurdles to accomplish and succeed, they are more likely to make successful future leaders." In essence, Ms Pun views persistence as an effective predictor to career success. Diversified role Overall, the role of a consultancy firm is that of a bridge and supporter to both client companies and candidates. In addition to matching services, consultants help new appointees adapt to their new working environments by suggesting potential mentors or a network of useful contacts. Post-appointment support also includes reviews on client recruitment strategies which analyse the entire process with the goal of constantly improving it. Also on the candidate side, Ms Pun plays the advisor role, grooming recruits for career advancement. Believing in everyone's potential, Ms Pun states, "Nobody is perfect." She continues, "I would encourage interested candidates who do not yet fit the specified job description to equip themselves for alternative future opportunities." Apart from looks and manner, Ms Pun advises candidates on attitude in the face of failure or difficulty. To her, an effective career consultant encourages jobseekers to pursue learning opportunities during unemployed periods. This in turn helps people find positions which match their aspirations. Ms Pun concludes, "We become friends with clients and jobseekers alike as projects evolve, and our success is built on that unique partnership and network." Salient points * Objectivity of third-party position helpful in identifying superior candidates * Career advice prepares recruits for employer expectations * Strategic goals analysed for overall company improvement * Post-appointment support a stabilising factor * Inner values assessment fundamental to placing ideal persons in the right positions Taken from Career Times 11 July 2008, p. A20 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]