HR: Friend or Foe?

I've had some relationships with HR that were satisfying and strategic. One client was a confident person and understood the true value of HR in a large publicly-held company. He didn't have to worry about building up political capital in the organization and our relationship was a symbiotic synergistic mutual satisfaction of needs. In other words, we partnered together and we both benefited from the relationship. With clients like this, those who are seasoned HR professionals at the director level and above, they understand the role of the recruiter (this was a client that I converted when I went from contingency to retained), and he willingly opened up all the company secrets to me because the trust and track record was there.

I've had other HR relationships where the HR dork was a mouth breathing moron who seemed more interested in carving out and protecting his turf than in working together and harvesting the fruit of our combined efforts.

How have you handled HR in your experience? What were the ways you either went around them or developed a partnership?

Scott Love

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Permalink Reply by Barton Murray on July 29, 2008 at 8:26am: HR is different in every company. It is important to realize that they are not necessarily the gatekeepers. Sometimes, they are the facilitators to the Hiring Authorities who are either bound by company policy or too busy to handle the small steps of setting the interview. I know that in the past I've tried to add a certain new client without avail because I was focusing on going through HR, in desperation and some confidence (knowing I had a great candidate), I was thrilled that the President returned my call within 24hrs and we had a great conversation.HR called me directly the next day to set up an interview with my candidate that I had presented, which eventually became one of my biggest deals ever! Major shortcut,SOMETIMES...be flexible with HR and understand the true role it plays in a company's culture.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Scott Love on July 29, 2008 at 8:29am: Yes, great input, Bart. The answer to every question in recruiting starts with 'It depends...' . Great point!

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Permalink Reply by Michael Epifanio on July 29, 2008 at 9:22am: I consider everyone a friend! I don't like to label HR as the enemy. In some cases they can be your greatest asset in the organizaiton if you treat them as an equal and are not condescending. So many in our industry have a pompous attitude when it comes to HR (which has to do with all of our ego's). Each situation and person is different. We cannot make a blanket statement and view all of HR as the foe.

We are sales people and it is our job to try and build rapport with each and every one we come in contact with in the search proccess including HR. Sometimes the tide changes and we are viewed as the enemy by HR... I play these little games with myself when dealing with anyone in business, I try to find out what thier hot buttons are and how can I bring them over to my side so that in the end, and they have fun dealing with me and remember me. We all know it takes a lot of work/phone calls/diggin etc. to find the right companies who get it and who we can effectively work with. Esteem others better than yourself and you will have a lot more HR friends! Delete Comment; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nancy Ford on July 29, 2008 at 10:34am: Currently working with a symbiotic synergistically mutually satisfactory client who has turned into the mouth-breathing moron who hired a candidate behind my back, one month after submitting them. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. The way we (I) work is, work cooperatively with them whenever you can, but always watch your back. Had trust with this great, very responsive HR department and then BAM. This happens. It's frustrating.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Scott Love on July 29, 2008 at 10:41am: Let's go put water in his gas tank. Let's go!!!

Yeah, we've all been there. Thanks for sharing, Nancy!

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Permalink Reply by Al Siano on July 29, 2008 at 1:19pm: Ouch... Sad to see this going around a pro's back. Reason for contracts and agreements.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Al Siano on July 29, 2008 at 1:24pm: If we want to do business, we need to treat those we seek to do business with respect and recognition of their role and their objectives. The accomplished in our line of work have high-level HR people that seek us out and ring our phones. If you've been directly placing permanent employees for any length of time, you too should have friends in high places in HR. I care about them; they are important caring people when the stage is set properly. The thing is not to stop at HR or be limited to HR contacts. We need to give control and information to HR executives when they absolutely need or want it or risk being shown the door. But HR should never be our only well cultivated relationships in any firm.

When placing contractors or temporary staff, HR often takes a back seat or is uninterested and vendor management wants and feels the need for control (in the large organizations). There again - if you place contractors the vendor management people have to eventually need and want you too, and not look at you as a commodity provider! That is assured by having strong high-powered leadership relationships were you are deeply appreciated. Otherwise, when it comes to trimming down the lists of vendors -- off you may go, unimportant to the people who run the business.

In getting in the door creates a whole new set of dynamics. HR and Vendor Management often become the gate keepers for management.

So who do you need to call on to get into the door? The answer is the leadership and management who have the pain. Then you welcome introduction to HR and Vendor management. Calling only on HR and Vendor Management to get in the door is equivalent to prattling up-river, it's much harder to succeed and you may tire out before you reach your destination.

Going around is a term you should take out of the vocabulary. It is simply illogical to seek a gate keeper if you need to get to a decision maker who is behind the gate. Show me a goal tender who is going to cheer for you when you’ve just kicked the soccer ball past their goal? Don't even get into that situation of getting past a gate keeper. Use tools and techniques that have no gates to pass. Meet the key players on neutral ground and build rapport when and were where and when there are no gates but a common interest if possible.

In our service business we become Big Billers by finding pain and relieving by introducing the human resources our clients need when and where they are needed. Everybody in the loop is important, timing, tact and whom to involve when is obviously critical. Always be the good guy, the problem solver, the friend the pain reliever and the person who respects everyone. Never underestimate the power of any person in HR, Vendor Management or reception - everyone should be on your side if at all possible.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike Barulic on August 13, 2008 at 9:45am: I have found that every organization you attempt to build a business relationship with contains individuals you can work with and those with whom you cannot. HR is included in that set of individuals. One of my strongest client relationships was formed and built through human resources. That being said there are key elements in communication access, process, and honesty in dialog which are necessary to make a relationship with human resources possible. HR does not take the place of a decision-maker and their only power is to say "no" in the buying decision, not "yes". They can be a powerful support ally or a voice of negativity throughout the process depending on the foundation you build with them. My advice in new business development is to always start at the top and work down the chain of command to start the dialog. Understand that developing a positive relationship whenever possible always expedites the process.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gavin Chase on August 13, 2008 at 10:07am: HR. WHATS HR?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gavin Chase on August 13, 2008 at 11:52am: Build long term social relationships with HR. Be remarkable to HR and they will want to work with you. You need to decide what you need to do or say to achieve this..; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Abby Schwarz, PHR on August 13, 2008 at 12:20pm: As a former HR Generalist, turned Recruiter, I can attempt to offer an explanation for some of the behaviors seen as "moronic" or "mouth breathing", irritating, etc.

At my agency we deal with all sorts of HR people- some are the top-notch pro's that have already been mentioned, while others are quite a headache! What we've discovered is that many HR professionals feel some sort of ownership of their department/company and hold on to each job duty like it's their first-born child (almost how we feel about our "hot" candidates, no?). In their minds, filling a job is the top priority, whether it be through an agency or on their own...they're being a conscientious employee. Sometimes they don't "get it" why it frustrates us when they tell us to work on an opening, then go behind our backs and start recruiting on their own. Just like our candidates, it's "all about them". I'm not condoning this behavior; it's just what we have experienced.

In our dealings with HR, it's better to treat them like professionals, no matter how much they tick you off. Rather than simmer alone in your office (and possibly plot their death!), we have found it's better to have "authentic conversations" with our problematic HR contacts. Explain to them your expectations and how they were violated. Ask, "How this partnership is going to continue if we keep working against each other?" Find out how this sort of problem can be resolved in the future. Make it a win-win scenario that's about the benefit of both of your organizations, rather than backing them up in a corner and making it all about you. And please, do this once you've had a day or two to calm down :)

And if HR contacts/clients continue to burn us, it's "bye-bye now". You need to make a conscious decision whether or not working on an opening is worth your time and energy. We have turned down opportunities because HR just wasn't on our side...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sylvia Dahlby on August 14, 2008 at 6:07pm: As someone who sells software to people in both HR and Agencies, I find a lot of agency recruiters that don't understand HR and view them as a "roadblock" and a lot of HR people who regard agencies as "the enemy". The bottom line is that both sides can do a better job of communicating their value to the process and building a PARTNERSHIP in the process; the end goal is the same and that's find the right person for the job.; ▶ Reply to This