The construction industry is constantly changing, and at one executive search firm in Asheville, North Carolina, its best recruiter is only as strong as its in-house training.
That’s why, four years ago, Kimmel & Associates started the “Certification” program to assist in the corporate growth of its clients.
“Construction executives need us to be as smart and well-informed as possible,” explains Guy Ross, vice president of the construction-focused executive search firm.
Ross says the Certification program makes staff “that much more versatile and sharp” and “reminds me to live up to the principles and high standards that I preach when I talk to the new employees.”
That’s why all new employees undergo the in-house program, which offers 50 classes taught by senior consultants. Classes explain everything from the complex landscape of a search to how to thoroughly serve their clients and candidates.
“A class might ostensibly be about cold-call recruiting or marketing or presenting an offer to a candidate, but there is a subtext that underpins every class: represent the client with integrity, help the candidate advance his or her career, know your market, serve the other recruiters here and the professionals out there we work with,” says Michael Thurman, a consultant who completed the program earlier this year.
1 comment
Doug Beabout CPC CSP Jul 30, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Elaine,
This is a great missive of the importance of recruiter development and its great impact on a firm’s bottom line. I fully endorse Guy Ross’s comment especially when you take into account that a major criteria by which aggressive employers select a recruiting firm is; “they possess knowledge of the special needs of our industry”. As a trainer of recruiters and practioner of the same, I know how well my training reinforces my own skills and commitment to “walk the talk”. I thoroughly agree that a major firm should have, as many do, an in-house recruiter development process. For those who do not and for all the many individual practitioners, I created the Art of the Recruiting Masters ECourse at http://www.RecruiterElearning.com