This article provides a fairly high level overview of the DMAIC (Design, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology that is so prevalent in process improvement across countless industries.
I was first exposed to the DMAIC and Lean methodologies while working in HR at a large International Logistics Firm, as part of their equivalent of Six Sigma certification. I wasn’t selected to participate because I was part of HR, but rather to drive cross-certification across the organization.
That certification process did two things for me. First, it sparked an interest in process improvement and overall project management that drives my career to this day, and secondly, it highlighted how much firm project methodology lacked in the HR department, specifically in regard to our recruitment function.
As my career progressed and I began to focus on Talent Acquisition and Talent Management initiatives, the feeling stuck with me even more. As I saw RPO projects launched, the methodology was always rooted in typical recruitment ethos, that the “feel” and “gut” so commonly associated with recruitment was as much a part of the process as any measurement, and when the client felt satisfied, the project was done and considered a success.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe in feel and fit and gut — but I also believe that your gut feelings come from the intersection of experience and critical thinking — these drive a brain chemistry that is often very trustworthy, so much so Gladwell wrote a whole book about it. But having a gut feeling does not preclude having a process; while it might be harder to do, your gut feeling should be able to be attributed to something that fits with the process: a similar engagement, a deep understanding of the market, etc. It has to be based on something, and when you use an appropriate process, you can then measure the outcomes and improve it. Overtime, this gut feeling can be measured like anything else.
The biggest dichotomy I see in the recruitment world and the Six Sigma world is in the last part of the methodology — the Improve and Control aspects of the DMAIC process. From a recruitment agency perspective, the focus usually lies on the candidate experience and the time it takes to fill a role. It’s uncommon in the industry to measure the process and evaluate how we can make it better next time. To Control for future success.
This is how we hope to be different. We want to be seen as the PMO of the HR department, taking those learning’s and applying them over and over again to one another, a continuous cycle of improvement that will shape and control our internal process. Our dream is to change the way people approach their Recruitment function, and ultimately bring a higher level of accountability to the Recruitment vendors people choose to partner with.
We’re excited not just about the future of LPR but the future of recruitment in general. Trust me, I have a good feeling about it.
