Project example :

"Recruitment Manager with focus on Real Estate"

Recruitment Manager with focus on Real Estate

This client was a well-known real estate developer for shopping centres, office properties and hotels. As an economically sound company with a favourable growth record staff was being recruited in many departments and the pressure in Interim Recruitment for Real Estate was on. In addition, a lot of work had accumulated in the department responsible for recruiting, necessitating an Interim Recruitment Manager. I largely took charge of recruiting for the Corporate Services Division, but at the same time also filled various positions in Real Estate.

Project »Recruitment Manager«

A Recruitment Manager in the company had become absent at short notice. Besides that, new recruiting software had been introduced some time ago, but the 100% integration thereof had not been achieved. Its usage was cumbersome and applicants in the conversancy of the HR software were not being invested in wholeheartedly, especially since the availability of candidates can change within a few days. Due to advancing digitalisation, the client had intensified the search for IT specialists. And as far as Real Estate goes, it is also fact that experts are in high demand and only come into a company through headhunting.

My duties as Recruitment Manager with a focus on Real Estate were:

Joint analysis of existing recruiting processes
Optimisation of the recruitment processes
Prioritisation of open vacancies
Recruiting for the Corporate Services Division
Recruiting for Real Estate
Revision of job descriptions
Executive coaching
Supervision of the personnel consultations
Assisting with the introduction of new recruiting software
Accompanying an assessment centre for trainees

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Course of the project

The recruiting team of the company’s HR Department was very experienced. Due to the high volume of open positions, a team was set up that I would form part of as an external Recruitment Manager. Recruiting was split up into business units. The Recruiting Managers were responsible for commissioning and outsourcing recruitment consultancies plus the screening of applicants. All administrative duties were assumed by admin specialists. This division of labour enabled the client to manage large volumes of recruiting.

» As Recruitment Manager, I was responsible for the Corporate Services Division, which encompasses all support functions such as Legal, Tax and IT. «

Lars Schott, HR Manager

To begin with, a stock take was done of Recruitment Management. The team jointly analysed where recruitment was flawed. Thereupon, the recruiting processes underwent various changes. Receiving top priority next, was filling positions. It goes without saying: Division Heads all regard their vacancy as the most important and want to see it filled without delay. But more importantly, what had to be asked was: Which positions are critical to business operations or are urgently needed for further growth? Ultimately, also given consideration was: isolating positions potentially conducive to being purchased in the market externally through consultants.

Competency-based interview methods

The client conducted the interviews as competency-based interviews. The introduction of this method worked well. As an Interim Recruitment Manager, I therefore revised various job descriptions with regard to key competences. Later, as needed, I coached managers in competence-based interviewing methods. This coaching mainly served as an opportunity to practise the known techniques in their application.

Strong applicant markets

Both in the property sector and when it came to positions in IT, the client moved in very tight candidate markets. Ad-supported searches were conducted, but almost 70% of the positions could only be filled via headhunters. Lack of capacity had prevented the client from doing any own active sourcing. Therefore, it was crucial that the HR consultancies enlisted, not only searched for candidates via active sourcing, but also approached the competition via Executive Search. It was important to the client that the recruitment consultancies were appointed and managed professionally. This would go a long way in dealing with the applicant market in a structured manner and have recruitment agencies deal with the candidates in a qualified manner. As Interim Recruitment Manager, I made sure to pay special attention to this.

Introduction of new recruiting software

In the course of the project, we worked together as a team on the introduction of the new recruiting software. In the process, the changeover from one recruitment process to another ensued on a step-by-step basis. The procedure for dealing with job applications was accomplished by the system, even if only for some jobs by then, and the procedure was strictly adhered to. Executives could now rely on the HR team’s support in the processing of incoming applications. Like this, the recruiting processes were gradually optimised. This has resulted in a significantly speeded up application process. .

Assessment Centre for trainees

An experienced colleague within the recruiting team specialised in running assessment centres. This had come about from a combination of specific experience and training for their design. Together with the aforesaid colleague, I held one such assessment centre designed for the selection of trainees. The special emphasis was on observation training. After the necessary input from the executives, the behaviours to be observed in the attending trainees were prepared. As a team, another side of the coin in conducting an assessment centre like this was to isolate possible observation errors on the part of the interviewer. There were significantly more applicants than vacancies for the trainees. As a Recruitment Manager, I was therefore in the enviable position of being spoilt for choice between different applicants.

A proven track record

The Recruitment Manager project with focus on Real Estate ran for about four months. The client used Interim Management specifically for temporary needs in recruiting. In the course of the project, numerous positions were filled, processes were optimised and the volume of accumulated work in the department was noticeably reduced. New recruiting software was integrated, thus significantly simplifying and accelerating future recruiting.