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Disclaimer 1: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and they do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis do not reflect the position of any entity other than the author. As critically thinking professionals, these views are always subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time. They are not to be held in perpetuity.
Dr. RecOps’ Diagnosis by Jeremy Lyons
The ability of a RecOps professional to diagnose an issue and take the proper course to correct it is not to be overlooked. However, in every RecOps situation, the answer might not be immediately clear. A few entries ago, I talked about hardware versus software issues (here is the link if you missed it). The point of determining if something is a hardware or software issue is that it helps define an approach to a solution by giving you a What/Where/Why.
Here I’m introducing another wrinkle: Reality and Perception. These help give you an additional Why/How. The Why here will inform the origin of the question, and the How here will tell you how to deliver the information.
Please define Reality and Perception here.
Reality - There is a real problem here that is identifiable and needs to be fixed.
Perception - The problem being presented is perceived as an issue but, in actuality is brought on by misunderstanding or incomplete information.
Where do these appear in the RecOps day?
These appear more often than you might think. A great example here is pulling a report based on the request of a department head around the number of interviews. That department head could be hearing from direct reports that they have too many interviews and they need to cut back. In this example, the request's origin is perception (too many interviews) and hardware (schedule less interviews if validated). So you go and pull the report and come to find out that they are averaging one interview a day.
Yes, you could report back to the department head these results (and you should) but how you present that information to them is equally important if you want to be a great partner. If you respond back with reality (they are doing 1) and hardware (here is the solution), then you are ignoring how to address the underlying theme (how to fix the perception around their interviewing). Knowing this means your response can contain empathy and you can approach those teams to understand the real problem.
What are some examples in RecOps that would fall into each quadrant?
Perception - Software: Interviewer skills training isn’t robust enough. Too many interviews
Perception - Hardware: This tool is too difficult to use. I have too many interview questions.
Reality - Hardware: This tool is malfunctioning. I actually have too many interviews. We need a point solution because our broader solution isn’t working.
Reality - Software: Redesigning trainings to correct an increase in biased or low quality interview feedback.
Can you use this in other places?
Absolutely. This framework works especially well when giving/receiving feedback. All feedback, even if negative, is good to hear. For example, something that might fall into the Hardware - Perception category could be something like hair color. Does it impact your work quality? Not likely. Could it be changed? Yes. But it is also a personal preference. Software - Reality could be something like how someone responds to a customer and if they’re condescending. Does your response impact your work? Yes, because people might not want to work with you, which could impact the bottom line. Could it be changed? If this is your personality, you might have to strongly work on it instead of issuing an immediate response.
But what do you think? Leave your thoughts or examples in the comments.
Articles / Clips
(Nothing to report this week)
Articles (Not about RecOps but useful)
Jessica Greene for Zapier’s article: How to prioritize tasks when everything feels important
Nick Westergaard’s 5 Types of Stories Leaders Need to Tell on HBR
Blake Jackson’s Amplitude: Top Recruiting Metrics on Hatchways
Podcast
Permanent Articles
Editor Note: If you hear of any articles, feel free to share in the comments! They will be featured in the upcoming week's edition. If you would like to submit your own article, reach out to hello@recopscollective.com.
Job Search
Relativity Space - Manager, Talent Acquisition Enablement
Samsara - Recruiting Program Manager
Rocketbot - People Team, Coordinator
Editor Note: We are not sponsored by nor affiliated with any of the above-listed companies so we have no financial incentive to share these roles. We are sharing these opportunities for the community and only post roles from the company's website. We encourage possible candidates to research each one as their inclusion does not mean we support the companies or their values. Here is the list to previously listed jobs, which may or may not be available
Additional Resource
ATS Specific Job Boards
iCIMS's HR professionals job board aggregates all the HR jobs across their customers
Workable’s job board aggregates all jobs for companies that use Workable
SmartRecruiters’ job board aggregates all jobs for companies that use SR
Denys Dinkevych's remote job board, which aggregates jobs from all the major ATS
Jobvyne - For the RecOps folks out there, here is the HR and Talent Acquisition job board
TrueUp - Has a fantastic job board filled with information others don’t like the last time the company did a layoff, application experience based on the ATS, and more.
Editor Note: If you hear of any roles, feel free to share in the comments! They will be featured in the upcoming week's edition. None of the resources shared above are sponsoring there placement.
Boolean Strings for Specific ATS Job Search
We’ve consolidated our list of boolean search strings for RecOps professionals to make them easier for everyone to use. Check out the list here. Again, thank you to Steve Levy for contributing so many wonderful strings and Gabi Preston-Phypers for QA help. Follow both of them for excellent boolean content.
#YourNextHire / People Looking In the Community
Short Bio
While at Epic Games, I was keen on adopting the mindset of "How do I make the lives of the people I work with easier?" It turns out this principle was not the most practical (I'm unable to revive dead pets or write blank checks), but the merits of it were integral for driving forward the projects I've delivered and processes I've improved.
Examples include: streamlining manual processes through automation and optimizing workflows; implementing information infrastructure (aka building an "intranet" + documentation + content management); leveraging data reports to inform strategy and cost-saving measures; launching and managing company-wide Recruiting programs; and a dozen other initiatives I'd love to chat about.
I was unfortunately impacted by the mass layoffs (16% reduction); nevertheless, I'm optimistic and looking forward to chatting about new opportunities :-)
Target Roles
Recruiting Operations Specialist/Analyst + Talent Acquisition Program/Project Manager
If you, or someone you know, is interested in being featured, use this form. Please only submit yourself.
Here is a Google Sheet View for a list of people previously featured and still looking,
Upcoming Events for RecOps
Tom Allegretti’s presentation on How to Build a Recruiting Operations Team at the TechRecruit Conference on Thursday, 10/26. Use discount code SVTR23_TOM.
Daashon Eldridge is speaking at Ashby’s keynote on Wednesday, November 1st. Register here or by clicking on the image 👇
Talent Collective (we swear we came up with the names independently 🤭 ) is hosting a quarterly fireside chat on Tuesday, October 17th, 2023 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm (PDT) at Benchling’s office in SF. Tickets and lineup here or clicking on the image 👇
Recruiting Brief’s The 4 Dysfunctions of Recruiting & How You Can Successfully Overcome Them with Trent Cotton will be held on Thursday, November 9th, 2023 at 9:30am PST, 12:30pm EST, 4:30pm GMT. 👇
🎉 Reminders 🎉
We accept community contributions. If you have anything to share or would like to write an article, reach out to Jeremy Lyons.
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Until next week 😊