Is your HR Department hampering your development efforts?
As a recruiter I realize that I am a part of the HR structure, which is why I am incensed when I see HR recruiters blatantly hampering the efforts of development managers to recruit the best talent. One immediate example that comes to mind is a client that I’ve been working with that has difficulty procuring development and infrastructure talent while actively blocking us from helping the client. To me this defies the basic premise of talent acquisition. It makes absolutely no sense. While understanding that the vendor lists serve a purpose and that there is a definite dynamic that plays into the relationship of HR and vendor agencies, if an agency has a good track record of providing solid candidates, it is criminal to move away from working with this agency. Placing personal relationships and ego in front of the need for your company to recruit good talent by not working with the right vendors is a detrimental blow to the company.
Having worked both sides (the corporate side and the agency side) I understand how critical it is not to be overwhelmed by vendors and to manage the vendors effectively. However, when your vendor management process begins to exclude vendors that provide quality candidates it’s your ethical obligation to reassess your vendor management system.