Fourth in a nine-part series about the concept of Efficiency vs. Effectiveness and some possible measures to help you determine whether the job you are hiring for is one or the other. Previous posts:
Introduction
Definition
Overview
I will take the next five posts to review factors that can be used to determine whether a particular talent need (otherwise called “a potential hire”) should use Effectiveness or Efficiency criteria. Since I propose that the best way to understand the need of the position is for the recruiter to interview the business-line manager (which will not always be the hiring manager), I have posed these analyses as questions, considerations and measurements.
Question: “What is the business impact of not being able to hire this person within the time frame indicated on the requisition?”
Considerations: The answer to this question is not always obvious. This measurement cannot be ascribed to the internal customer's (read: hiring manager’s) level of distress. This will simply reinforce that the way recruiting gauges its own success is by the hiring manager’s perceptions. Instead, the recruiter has to be willing to dig deeper to figure out whether there are more financially attractive ways to fill a position while the right person is being found. Flex workers, contingent workers, and overtime might all be preferable to hiring quickly but ineffectively.
Measurement: If it is quantitative and discernible, mark the requisition for effectiveness (take the time to find the right person). If the impact is low or indefinable, mark for efficiency (get somebody in here fast and move to more important reqs).
Next Week: Effectiveness vs. Efficiency: Business Result
