Lights, Camera and……. Recruitment!

Recruitment is an inevitable function of every company. After all, the strength of an organisation is determined by the talent that recruiters are responsible for bringing in. People form the core foundation of a company and are the only tangible assets that are capable of offering transactional inputs and feedback.

However, the problem is, recruiters aren’t given much credit for the talent they bring in. People assume that best talent appears out of nowhere — without sparing the fact how they got there. It has been observed that unlike other managerial functions, recruitment is always side-lined and considered an alternate job by most professionals. But the reality is – without a good recruitment team no company can survive.

In the world of cinema too, be it Bollywood, Sandalwood or Hollywood, some of the most celebrated films are loosely based on recruitment; movies from which recruiters can draw inspiration, insight, idea and a strategic framework to display their talent in the organisation.

But often such movies are watched purely for entertainment. What if recruiters watched these movies and enhanced their skills?

Typically, most of these movies have plots which involve the protagonist, who could either be a recruiter or manager, searching the best person to do the right job, with them often walking an extra mile either to convince the best talent or through mere observation.

To a layman this might sound irrelevant, but check it out for yourselves. Here is list of popular movies that will up your recruitment ante and bring out the ace performer in you:

Aankhen

If you have watched the film, you will know that Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan, who plays the role of ouster Vijay Singh Rajput, has literally displayed the mind of an ace recruiter. He personally verifies each person before hiring them. For those who do not remember, Bachchan selects 3 blind men to rob a bank. Rajput personally checks their backgrounds and renders them fit to execute the task.

Takeaway: Every recruiter must follow suit in line with Bachchan’s role in the film. Like Rajput, a recruiter must emphasize on understanding talent, conduct reference checks, ask for current employment details and their reason for a job change. Similarly, the Rajput approach to recruitment is must-follow skill that every recruiter should inculcate while hiring leaders and mid-level talent.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

We all know Charlie, Willy Wonka and his well-known Chocolate Factory. As children, we enjoyed reading Roald Dahl’s commendable work. In 2005, a movie was made based on Dahl’s book.

If one observes closely, the storyline of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory runs an individual through the rigorous activities that recruiters do these days. Here, Willy Wonka is actively seeking someone to acquire his chocolate factory. Though he manages to find 5 suitable candidates, he puts them through one of the most unusual selection processes ever created in the history of recruitment and finally, a winner emerges – Charlie.

Most recruiters would frown at Will Wonka’s intense screening process as it would be nearly impossible for them to follow the same screening model in the real world. The entire process involves the 5 candidates scoring a golden ticket in a candy bar they bought from Wonka himself.

The actual screening process begins when the 5 candidates are put through an intense ordeal, which is a tour of the chocolate factory. Willy Wonka observes each candidate, besides his screening and interviewing methods prove to be fruitful as four of the candidates were disqualified due to the qualities that would have prevented them from taking over the company as chocolate presidents.

Takeway: Like Willy Wonka, despite number of applicants, a recruiter should be observant and unbiased while making final decisions. Wonka observed each candidate and personally evaluated their qualities before making the final offer. By personally observing talent and evaluating the same, a recruiter can prevent reneges and other complications that arise while recruiting.

Ocean’s Eleven

A 2001 American comedy starring George Clooney as Danny Ocean gives one an understanding of how a recruiter should hire likeminded, diversepeople. Clooney is on his quest to hire diverse people with unique skills. In the pickpocket scene, Ocean elicits prime qualities of a recruiter, for instance silently observes the pickpocket on a moving train, and later cons the pickpocket by picking his wallet. He later convinces the pickpocket to join his league by offering him his visiting card.

 Takeaway: Ocean’s method of convincing talent is highly exceptional in this movie. A recruiter, while screening passive candidates, must adopt unique convincing skills to coerce candidates to join the company. At times, a recruiter should display superior knowledge on the role/job to capture a candidate’s attention. Similarly, a recruiter should give candidates a chance to prove their mettle by asking them to perform relevant tasks. Although Ocean is observing his candidate in their natural setting///gmfic, a recruiter must instead create a scenario where the candidate they are hiring for can shift their focus and perform tasks relevant to the job description.

The above movies highlight common recruitment activities, it also has lessons for recruiters and hiring managers alike: hiring could be difficult, which can only be tackled by constantly devising unique hiring strategies. Besides, it all depends on the approach recruiters and hiring managers use while searching for the best talent. Time and again characters like Willy Wonka and Danny inspire recruiters  to think out of the box. So when you watch a movie next, pay attention to hidden hiring lessons!