Recruitment Perspectives

Published June 2007

Going Back to the Drawing Board for Job Requirements

Lisa Rummler

Continued

In taking a closer look at job requirements and deciding whether a college degree is a true requirement, Ronn said organizations need to scrutinize their own internal education. He also said getting good people into a training program is part of recruitment.

"In a world of scarcity and shortage, it pushes all of us to go back and say, 'If we broaden the pool, how do we get talent in here?'" he said. "That boils down to education, and I believe education is going to come upon the employers' shoulders, whether they like it or not, because if you can't find the talent, you're going to have to train them. If you can't afford to pay for the talent in a competitive market, you're going to have to hire at a different level, and you're going to have to train them."

All this must begin, though, with determining what a job really requires, which ultimately will be a competitive advantage as the talent pool shrinks.

"Starting out upfront right now, going back and looking at those basic qualifications, designing a broader job spec will actually help with diversity — it will broaden the pool of candidates you can consider," Ronn said. "I think the people who are going to win the war for talent are those who think creatively about things like, 'What are the real requirements this job?' 'What's the best pool of candidates I can pull from?' 'How can I broaden that pool?' And then, 'How do you onboard those people and make them successful?'"

Lisa Rummler is the copy editor for Talent Management magazine.

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