AR 542: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION FOR ARCHITECTURE 2

MIDTERMS LECTURE HANDOUTS

Specific Learning Objectives:

1. Identify basic strategies and methodologies in Human Resources recruiting and hiring

RECRUITING AND HIRING: STRATEGIES AND METHODOLOGIES

Kerry B. Harding
To remain competitive in today’s global practice arena, firms of all sizes need to be savvier than ever to attract and retain top talent.
Combining effective research and strategies with technological and social media tools will enable firms to successfully compete in
recruiting and hiring the best candidates.

RECRUITMENT: THE KEYSTONE OF THE DESIGN PRACTICE

Finding qualified employees can be the most difficult and time-consuming function of human resources and for firm leaders. Recruitment,
the “marketing” function of human resources, requires finding quality candidates that fit the organization’s culture and will remain with
the firm over time. This is important considering that the average cost of turnover is 50 to 150 percent of an employee’s salary.
Recruitment plays an integral part in getting the employee started on the right foot, which is key for increased retention. Following are
some of the goals of recruitment efforts:
• Determine the firm’s present and future requirements through human resource planning and job analysis activities.
• Increase the pool of job candidates at minimum cost.
• Increase the success rate of the selection process by reducing visibly under- or overqualified applicants.
• Reduce the probability that applicants, once hired, will leave the firm after a short period.
• Meet the firm’s legal and social obligations regarding workforce composition.
• Identify potential candidates to fill projected vacancies due to attrition, promotion, expansion, and retirement.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of recruiting techniques and sources for all types of applicants.
Recruitment represents the first contact that a firm makes with prospective employees. Through this process, professionals come to know
a firm and decide whether they wish to work there. There are only two types of firm reputations: those where people want to go, and
those where people want to leave. Recruitment activities include:
• Determining the best strategies for finding candidates and creating attention-grabbing job advertisements
• Reviewing (screening) the applicants’ resumes and phone interviewing the top candidates
• Participating in face-to-face interviews
• Conducting reference checks, background checks, and employment testing
• Partnering to make a hiring decision and extend offers to candidates to “seal the deal”
• Developing and facilitating new employee orientation
• Drafting press releases and media plans to announce strategic new hires
The financial crash of 2008 resulted in sweeping project postponements and cancellations. Fallout from this situation caused downsizing
across the board. It was only through salary reductions, benefit cutbacks, and eliminating bonuses and raises that many firms were able
to keep afloat. Faced with a lack of opportunities, anecdotal evidence shows that architectural design graduates migrated to other fi elds
interested in their computer skills as well as their creative thinking and problem-solving abilities.

DEVELOPING THE RECRUITMENT PLAN

A strategic recruitment plan outlines the methods the firm will use to solicit qualified applications for its open position(s). It includes three
key components:
• Internal distribution: Send a thoughtful e-mail to the firm’s staff including a brief yet appealing description of the role as well as a full
job posting attached or included in the body. This e-mail provides the opportunity for qualified internal candidates to apply for the
position. Firm colleagues are also good sources of referral candidates because they know the firm and what it takes to succeed there.
• Constituent distribution: Next, share the job description with the firm’s constituents-consultants, vendors, financial institutions, etc.
Post the job on an appropriate section of the firm’s website and include information about the position in any newsletters or other
external communications. If this is a new position, use it as an opportunity to highlight the firm’s growth and development. If
appropriate, contact board members, partners, and other contacts; one never knows who may be the source of a great referral.
• External posting: Broaden the firm’s reach beyond its inner circles by advertising externally. Gone are the days of placing an effective
want ad in the local newspaper; it is now more cost-effective to post positions on multiple online job boards. To determine how to
spend recruiting dollars most efficiently, research the relevant job boards or publications where similar postings are likely to be found.
Ask staff who have similar roles where they would look for jobs. Find out what professional associations people in the field belong to
and see if they have a job board or listserv. Remember when evaluating posting channels to consider both flow and quality; usually,
those hiring would rather have a smaller pool of qualified candidates than a larger pool of unqualified candidates.

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AR 542: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION FOR ARCHITECTURE 2
MIDTERMS LECTURE HANDOUTS

Job Descriptions
The next important step is developing an accurate job description, on which all
parties concerned have agreed. A job description typically consists of six major
components:
1. Essential job functions
2. Knowledge and critical skills
3. Physical demands
4. Environmental factors
5. Roles of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal laws
6. Explanatory information that may be necessary to clarify job duties or
responsibilities
Employers should develop job descriptions that clearly define essential functions of
every job before advertising the job or interviewing applicants. A job description
should have clear, concise, nontechnical language, and avoid unnecessary words.
The desired outcome of the work should be described, rather than the method for
accomplishing that outcome. Writers should avoid using gender-specific language, jargon, technical language, proprietary names (Xerox),
and ambiguity. Employers should let individuals read their job descriptions, voice any concerns, and sign their descriptions.
Job descriptions should be accurate. Within the actual job description, an employer could include the following, adaptable as needed to
firm size and organizational structure:
• Job title (job code number if applicable)
• Relationships to other jobs
• A brief summary of job functions
• Duties and responsibilities
• The quality and quantity of work expected from an individual holding the position
• Information on the accountability for results
• A statement that when duties and responsibilities change and develop, the job description will be reviewed and subject to changes of
business necessity
Detail Qualifications
When detailing qualifications on job descriptions, firms typically require certain knowledge, skills, aptitude, training, and previous
experience.
Maintain Consistency
Internal consistency is important when developing an overall bank of firm job descriptions. The firm may want to select specific formats,
fonts, logos, and other elements to streamline and standardize their appearance.
Sell the Sizzle
One of the most important things to remember about writing job descriptions is that they are a two-way street. As a baseline, they need
to be sufficiently comprehensive that potential applicants clearly understand whether or not they are qualified for the position. Equally
important is that the description be written in such a way as to sufficiently entice potential applicants to actually submit their credentials.
To accomplish this, someone in the firm’s marketing or public relations arena should review job descriptions to see that they adequately
reflect the firm’s brand and culture.
Beyond the Job Description
Recruiting’s most difficult challenge is finding those individuals who match the job description and bring something extra to the firm that
indicates they have leadership potential. People who hire others become more adept at identifying these individuals through gut instinct.
For others, the process is a bit more elusive. There are six common traits that distinguish top performers:
• Self-management. Employees who can effectively regulate their own work agenda and work independently do wonders for firm
productivity. While all employees need basic direction and tasks, the best can take direction and run with it. Top employees have the
ability to leverage what they know and effectively manage themselves.
• Accountability. In a productive firm, employees should be expected to create results from the task at hand. Top employees take this
concept to the next level. They have a sense of responsibility for their tasks.
• Initiative. Top employees rise above the rest through their own initiative. Whether assuming leadership responsibilities or pitching
ideas, action-oriented employees thrive on taking calculated risk. Where initiative really matters is when people already have the
basics well covered.

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AR 542: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION FOR ARCHITECTURE 2
MIDTERMS LECTURE HANDOUTS

• Humility. Nobody enjoys working with arrogant know-it-alls. Top employees own up that they don’t know what they don’t know.
They reach out for training and mentoring.
• Vision. Visionary employees see beyond the basic job description. While they have personal ambitions, their main interests are
growing and improving their firm. Top employees see the big picture instead of fulfilling only expected requirements.
• Values. It’s in every firm’s best interest to have employees who value integrity, honesty, and respect. Top employees uphold basic
principles, creating a standard for a comfortable, ethical work environment.

Finding Candidates
Known also as “sourcing,” how does one proactively identify people who are either (a) not actively looking for job opportunities (passive
candidates) or (b) candidates who are actively searching for job opportunities (active candidates)?
Though there has been much debate within the recruitment community as to how to accurately define an “active candidate” versus a
“passive candidate,” typically either term is irrelevant, as the status of any particular candidate can change from moment to moment or
with a simple phone call from a recruiter that happens to present a job opportunity. The status of being an active or passive candidate is
fluid and changes depending on the circumstances, including the position being offered. Activities related to sourcing in recruiting can be
categorized into “push activities” and “pull activities”:
• Push activities are activities undertaken to reach out to the target audience such as campus recruiting, reaching out to individuals
discovered through such vehicles as LinkedIn and Facebook, responding to employee referrals, and searching resume databases such
as Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, Indeed.com, Hotjobs.com, Simplyhired.com, and other Internet databases for a match to specific
position criteria.
• Pull activities are activities that result in applicants coming to know of an opportunity on their own. Pull activities may include
advertising on a profession-related job board such as Architect, AIA Jobs, or one of the many other design-firm-related job boards with
a registration process, posting on job portals, etc.
Employee Referrals
Employees can develop good prospects within their networks of friends, former classmates, and professional associates by acquainting
them with the advantages of the company, furnishing them with an introduction, and encouraging them to apply, which enables the firm
to reach qualified applicants at relatively low cost. Employees bring referrals to the firm that they feel will be a good fit, based on their
own experience. The firm can be more assured of the candidate’s reliability and character.
Former Employees
Many employees leave firms on good terms due to circumstances unrelated to workplace culture and compensation issues. Some firms
adopt an “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” attitude, refusing to even consider hiring back a former employee, even if their original departure
was not desired by either side. Other firms specifically target former employees, known as “boomerangs,” because they know the firm,
its culture, and procedures and can come in and hit the ground running. In the end, they are less likely to leave a second time after
returning to the fold.
Advertising
Recruitment advertising has evolved dramatically in recent years to accommodate new technologies like social media, mobile recruiting,
and niche job boards. Thus, it has become increasingly important for HR recruitment professionals and firm leaders to keep abreast of
what avenues will help them be most effective in their recruiting. Internet ad specialist Indeed.com identified the Four A’s of Recruitment
Advertising:
• Assign: Make someone in the firm responsible for tracking and measuring the effectiveness of every dollar spent on recruitment
advertising.
• Automate: Implement automated candidate source tracking with the firm’s applicant tracking system or career site vendor.
• Analyze: Review the firm’s cost-per-applicant and cost-per-hire data to determine which sources perform the best.
• Adjust: Optimize the firm’s recruitment advertising investments by shifting budget to sites and sources that deliver the best return
on investment.
Campus Recruiting
Economic and demographic trends continue to affect the job market and how employers develop and manage their campus recruitment
programs. In a competitive environment, maintaining campus relations is crucial to the success of campus recruiting. To do this, firms
must build relationships with faculty, administrators, career center staff, and students.
Along with on-campus recruiting tools, such as career fairs and interviews, employers can also work education programs into their college
recruitment efforts. These include internships and co-op programs. Employers have consistently rated these as some of the most effective
college recruitment methods. Some firms sponsor student design competitions, scholarship programs, and research fellowships for the
brightest talent to self-select. Other firms encourage staff to participate in education-teaching and on juries-to identify and recruit talent.

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AR 542: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION FOR ARCHITECTURE 2
MIDTERMS LECTURE HANDOUTS

What can traditional architecture practices do to woo the young graduate? “Show us the big picture,” says one respondent. “Help us to
understand how what we’re doing fits in. Lay out a plan that shows how we’re going to learn what we need to grow and succeed-and be
a little bit more flexible. We’ve met deadlines all on our own for five years without someone standing over us with a whip. Give us some
flexibility.” While that is good advice, and certainly doable, how does the firm respond to the enormous salary gap between what
architecture firms can offer, and what is available from the entertainment and consulting arenas? Says one candidate from a top design
school, “If you can get me excited about your vision, I’m willing to work for less money, if it’s also mine.”

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