Peer to Peer Magazine

Spring 2017

The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association

Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/810339

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61 WWW.ILTANET.ORG IT and HR: A Strong Recruiting Team FEATURES » Identify where to post positions. While HR has a listing of social media sites, job boards and other industry internet sites (including the firm's website), representatives from IT will have trade resources, associations or other contacts in the IT field who could assist with job postings. Using IT- specific resources will help you get the word out to a more targeted audience about opportunities within the firm. » Stay on top of communication with candidates. HR and IT should work together to ensure candidates are well-informed of where they are in the process and engaged throughout the discussion. Depending on the position for which you are hiring, competition for talent could be fierce. The best candidate must know that he or she is being strongly considered and moved along quickly in the process. Great candidates are most likely being courted by more than one organization. » Cover the legalities. HR's reputation as the policy keeper comes in handy here. Were the candidate's references adequately checked? Are there any concerns with a criminal background or job references? Is the education information on the resume correct? We cannot always assume honesty on applications, so having your HR team go through these steps is always a good idea. » Have HR and IT work together on salary. While HR may have salary data at their fingertips, IT may have a beer pulse on what is going on in the industry and if a certain skill set is in high demand, requiring special pay considerations. Working together, the departments can cra the best offer based on the needs of the candidate, the IT department and the firm. A successful collaboration between IT and HR involves them learning from and understanding each other. This understanding will help you drive successful IT recruiting processes for your firm. P2P Working Together To Attract the Right Candidates Today's candidates want quick access to company data, quick application processes, quick feedback and quick turnarounds. Many will walk away from an application process if it is too long or cumbersome. Most candidates are comfortable using job boards, consulting recruiters and networking within their industries using social media tools that did not exist when many of us entered the workforce. How we can we aract, court and hire them? » Establish clear expectations of the position at the beginning. The teams should work together to develop a job description that captures all facets of the position. Ask people in that role or people who work closely with it to make sure the key technical duties are well-covered. HR can provide important words to include and firm formaing. The team should work together to identify the top technical and interpersonal skills or characteristics that every candidate should have so these can be highlighted in the screening process. Also be prepared to present a clear picture of the role, responsibilities and culture of your firm to the candidates. » Utilize your employees to help aract candidates to your firm. The recruiter on the HR team may have some connections, but contacting a network of your IT team's associates and peers is a great place to look for quality talent. » Make sure your firm has the best technology in place to aract talent. A tech person is not going to be thrilled about filling out a paper application. Using an applicant tracking system or other automated process sends the right message about the importance of technology to your organization. Many also offer automated screening tools to narrow the search quickly, allowing you to move quality applicants to the top of the list and keep the recruiting process on a good pace for both the firm and candidates. BETH J. BAHR Beth J. Bahr SPHR CPLP is Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren's Director of Human Resources. Beth has more than 25 years of experience working closely with business leaders in a variety of service industries to build strong service cultures, develop leaders and implement HR systems and practices that drive high performance. Contact her at bbahr@reinhartlaw.com. Using an applicant tracking system or other automated process sends the right message about the importance of technology to your organization.

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