The Details from 10,000 Feet

This was a banner week for me. Doing all the things I love to do:

• coaching, encouraging and celebrating recruiters on my team
• talking with other recruiters, gurus and recruiting leaders about new and exciting tactics and strategies.
• redesigning the recruiting process [alongside our CEO, no less!]
• gladhanding among one of my client groups, gathered for a functional offsite

One of the reasons I enjoy what I do is that I get to play in the mud and drink champagne at the same time. I am challenged every day to think broadly and strategically, about issues that impact our entire 120,000 person organization. I am also called upon to influence the tiniest of details, such as what to order for candidate lunches, or the appropriate length of time for a phone screen.

Did I mention that I am involved in redesigning process, and the CEO is one of the executive sponsors of the project? A few SVPs are also involved. How cool is it to have these guys immersed in the minutia of Taleo? This is a sign that the "people statements" ["people are our most important assets", "recruiting is our highest priority"] are more than hollow cliches. You have to understand all of the levers that impact recruiting [including the backend systems] in order to truly integrate recruiting with other business processes.