Should recruitment stay under HR’s umbrella?

It’s a subject that has long been debated; talent acquisition (TA) has been a core element of HR for years, but competing priorities have meant that the relationship hasn’t always been positive. Ant Coen, Principal Consultant at Macmillan Davies discusses whether recruitment should stay within the HR function going forward.

HR is faced with an ever-growing (and competing) priority list, often acting as an umbrella function for a number of specialisms. Some TA professionals believe keeping recruiting and hiring within HR is a mistake, due to the differences between the roles, while others claim that more inclusive integration, rather than separation, is the solution.

Why the push for separation?

The reasons are numerous - HR is often seen to be focused on compliance and management, whereas talent acquisition is more aligned to marketing, selling and branding. HR’s focus is internal, and talent acquisition's focus is external. Much of what HR does is reactive, due to focusing on issues that appear in the here and now, whereas a recruitment function is proactive and looking forward to what is coming down the line. But whilst their focusses may be different, is separation really going to bring any benefits?

A holistic approach

“We are seeing many more businesses and HR leaders talk about the employee experience as an integral part of their overarching HR strategy” explains Ant. “This touches every part of the business – from talent acquisition to every part of their day to day. The more silos there are, the harder it will be for businesses to create a holistic approach for talent both internally and externally.”

Michelle Carpenter-Hanson, an Interim Global HR Director agrees: “From my perspective, HR shouldn’t be siloed - it leads to inefficiencies. An integrated model where all disciplines are closely aligned drives a consistent and effective HR function that is aligned with the business strategy. It doesn’t dilute the specialisms - in my experience, it enhances and ensures that all team members have a fully rounded view of HR and the key drivers - which in turn ensures that their work stays relevant.”

Strong leadership

We heard from Adam Pickford, Director Talent Management at Talent Sourced who believes the issue isn’t down to differing priorities, it’s down to having the right leader to bring all of the strands together: “A good HR department has a leader that creates a one-team mentality! I believe the best People leaders have already worked this out and have started creating Talent Management as the business partnering model that looks after the whole employee life cycle. Managing attraction of talent (external TA) development (Internal TA) so the business has one business advisor to help with growth, development, performance, succession planning and the risk of flight within their teams. The more silos the less collaboration, politics and time wasted which would be better used on the whole employee experience, creating fun, inclusive work environments and cultures.

Cohesion

From our experience as external recruiters, it’s important for there to be cohesion between the TA process as a candidate, and their experience as an employee during onboarding and beyond. Without this, the TA process could be fundamentally different than what they feel when they start working for the organisation. Without this, the transition from candidate to employee may not be as smooth – impacting turnover negatively.

Upcoming events

We have a series of roundtables and webinars coming up on hot HR topics, give us a follow-on LinkedIn or contact Ant Coen to be kept updated on the dates for our next event.

Get in touch

Should you wish to have a confidential chat with Ant Coen to discuss the current HR market and where we can help with inclusive recruitment or your search for work/recruiting into your team, please contact him directly at acoen@mdhr.co.uk

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