A Small Town View
(December 20, 2001) Earlier
this year, we grilled
Kent Harris (a former recruiter at Amazon) in an article called "Goes
Around, Comes Back Fixed". Apparently, we were a bit premature and will
have to re-title the piece "Goes Around, Comes Around". According to
the Seattle Insider, the company, Other
Resources, has been busily bouncing
paychecks and inflating its accomplishments. The article points out that the
200 customers Mr. Harris claimed when we spoke to him were actually sales leads
and not customers at all.
Mr. Harris had no comment.
We think the Seattle
news article was punishment enough. Harris attempted to start a company with
large ambitions and limited finances. His reach exceeded his grasp. Although his
workforce is certainly entitled to feel violated, startups are a blessing and a
curse.
The interesting thing that this experience
points out is that even seemingly capital-free enterprises have significant
capital requirements. Generally, Recruiting (and Human Capital Management in
general) are perceived to be low investment enterprises. The truth is that
whether you are building an HR system for your company or starting an enterprise
in the space, the capital requirements are significant. Even the simplest
Recruiting shop requires tools and processes that are not apparent at startup.
Significant components of the failure plaguing the staffing industry involve the
willingness of those companies to step up to the underlying requirements for
money.
The other question raised by the story is
whether or not the business model proposed by Other
Resources is, in fact, viable. Essentially, the company proposed delivering
a qualified short list of candidates. The job boards (and other sources) deliver
a flow of unchecked candidates while the staffing industry provides a very
narrowed list. The midground is unserved and will ultimately be a winner
(Monster is currently offering such a service). It is clear to us, in spite of
the failure of Other Resources that
there is a clear need for a company that solves the difference between job board
output and the development of a list of real candidates.
Talent is what matters most.
Hire the best with Authoria Recruiting.
Authoria Recruiting 2007 is a next-generation recruiting solution that helps you:
Understand exactly what talent your managers need.
Find the best sources.
Target and attract the highest quality candidates.
Hire top talent and track their success.
The most widely-used enterprise recruiting solution on the market, Authoria Recruiting helps our customers manage private talent pools totaling over 11 million candidates.