Are HR/recruitment departments too dogmatic?

I find the HR/recruitment departments in medium to large organisations so robotic and dogmatic.

Rather than finding the right individuals for that organisation and creating a workforce with differing views and ideas, it seems much more about following the latest HR trends and mimicking the recruitment and training techniques of other firms, even if their cultures are wildly different.

I find the dogmatic adherence to the latest HR techniques particularly irritating, whether it be the latest "psychological"-based online tests or some group exercise conjured up by an academic somewhere who has rarely left the confines of their university.

I get that HR/recruitment has to evolve, but I find the current approach so lacking in character and creativity and more about box ticking and trendy techniques.

And before I get the inevitable "rejected much?" - I got through all these techniques, but rather than focussing on why I wanted to work for that organisation and other important considerations, it was about devising technical strategies for getting through the tests and exercises.

Reply 1

Classical Liberal

Firms want cost effective recruitment strategies. Things like online tests and assessment centres are a good way for firms that employ a lot of people, to do so cheaply. They need to find a way to reject people on a rational basis without having to waste time and money actually interviewing people.

Small firms by comparison don't recruit so many people and don't have the budgets/HR departments to invest in recruitment systems. So they will use the old fashioned method of reading CVs and inviting people to interview.