The thing about …isms
(sexism, racism etc) is that the attitude spreads rapidly amongst stupid people
who believe their status is enhanced by it. So for example a sexist remark,
enforcing the speaker’s sense of superiority and the victim’s inferiority, is
quickly adopted by stupid men (mostly, although it could equally be stupid
women) as a kind of peer group position.
The same is true of “recruitmentism”
as exemplified by various HR bloggers including Neil Morrison who refers to
Recruitment Consultants as “the gutter rats of business”. The HR community
quickly adopts this position as a way of falling in line with “HR thought
leaders” without thinking for themselves how insulting it is to the many perfectly
good Recruitment Consultants who perform a valuable service.
As with all … isms the
solution is education. Recruitment agencies and their representative bodies
need to educate and inform the marketplace about: what they offer, how they add
value, how they intend to maintain professional standards, how their
Consultants are developing themselves professionally etc etc.
Over time this will make a
huge impact on how the market views recruiters but will not work unless it is
done collectively, as one industry and as such will require leadership by the
IOR and other bodies and most importantly the overwhelming support of all
recruiters.
If Recruiters really want
to do something about how they are perceived in the marketplace they must join
or form groups that can truly influence change. Personally I’d join the IOR as
they have a progressive agenda. Annual membership for a Consultant is only £49!
thats less than dinner for 2 at Pizza Express!!!
http://www.theior.org.uk/ior-membership?r=member
But if you don’t join any
group I don’t think you can claim to be “professional”.
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