On a recent call with a Fortune 500 company, we discussed a topic that many best practice companies are beginning to address…how can organizations benefit from creating a Recruitment Center of Excellence (COE)? What are some of the key drivers? Who owns the process? What are the risks? While 39.8% of organizations have a centralized model where talent acquisition departments recruit on behalf of the business units and reports directly to the head HR, the key elements of a Center of Excellence are not as clearly defined. As a result, many organizations are hesitant to embark down this path for fear that business managers will evaluate talent acquisition solely on the performance of this new entity.

While every organization should structure their COE based on their individual hiring needs, some of the key elements include:

• Standardization of Recruitment Processes and Metrics
• Vendor Management
• Budgets and Cost Management
• College Recruiting
• Workforce Planning
• Internal mobility
• Job Interview Standards
• Employer Branding Services
• Global Standards

Why Should Organizations Consider a Recruitment Center of Excellence?

• Standardizing Processes and Key Metrics- Many talent acquisition processes and key performance indicators remained siloed in various business units and fail to provide business leaders with an accurate view of talent acquisition. A COE would provide a center to standardize information such as job requisitions, interview techniques, offer letter generation and onboarding best practices.
 
• Continuous Evaluation- By centralizing talent acquisition in a COE, organizations can trust that this entity will stay informed of new innovation and key trends in talent acquisition.

• Strategic Workforce Planning -Southern Company is working with The Newman Group to create a Center of Excellence that will act as an organization and workforce capability unit. They will put workforce planning and talent management in the unit and try to create an identity for this unit within Southern Company. This unit, as well as an investment in technology, will help with disparate levels of workforce planning within the organization.
 
• Internal Mobility- In most organizations, talent acquisition remains isolated from employee development and succession planning. By including career development and internal mobility in the COE, talent acquisition can become more strategic about internal talent and improve employee satisfaction.

As more organizations become strategic in their talent acquisition processes and re-examine current talent acquisition models, we are planning to publish a major industry study at the end of this year on High Impact Talent Acquisition. We would love to hear from you on this topic…