The Recruiting Inferno

Il n’y a que le premier pas qui co�te (The distance doesn’t matter; it is only the first step that is the most difficult.)                –Madame du Deffand: French hostess and a patron of the arts (1697-1780)

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.      -Chinese Proverb

There is always room at the top.  -Daniel Webster: US Senator and Secretary of State (1782-1852)

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quite, however, it lasts forever.                    -Lance Armstrong

We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success; we often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.

-Samuel Smiles: Scottish author and reformer (1812-1904)

If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.             -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from the ERE community during 2005 is that change is a five-letter word. The past few months appears to have coalesced in the collective community a bipolar disorder – I’ll call it, for lack of a better incendiary phrase, ethical versus unethical recruiting. You’ve read it in the comments, on the blogs, on other people’s blogs – “I’m right so everyone who doesn’t believe in the same things I do is wrong.”

Of late, Dr. John has been excoriated by those who take umbrage to his listing of “the best and the brightest of 2005” – and has been called everything from a misogynist to anti-European by people who don?t even bother to check the facts. In fact, from much of the anti-John speak comes talk of people being victims at the hands of unscrupulous recruiters. This is laughable.

Upon deeper analysis, what is at the heart of this chasm is creativity – or the lack of creativity; one group prefers to retrench to kinder, gentler times where all recruiters played on the same level ball field when in reality the great recruiters have taken the game to a new place. This new place has new rules, new technology, new expectations, and new masters (no longer the head of HR but now the head of the company). Frankly, there?s so much whining going on today that many recruiters may want to first shop for some cheese?

If you want to make a difference in 2006, it?s time for a change in attitude. What gets in our way are not the obstacles created by others but the ones we create for ourselves. If a technique or tool hasn?t worked for you in the past, don?t blame the game, change the player. And throw out your press clippings ? they only reinforce what you refuse to do.

Want to know why I listen to the words of innovators like John rather than criticize them? Because innovation becomes reality to the open mind; think a John Sullivan is wrong and you will forever miss out on a grain of sand transforming into a pearl of wisdom you can use. Ignore the words of innovators and like the arrow you?ll find yourself being pulled down to the ground.

Happy New Years and Happy Hunting!