Should Recruiters Be Planning Succession?

I was on a client call last week when they asked, “…what should we do with all of our recruiters now that we are scaling back our hiring in 2009?”

The answer to that question is very easy—succession planning!  At most organizations, succession planning still lacks broader knowledge, context and objectivity.  It typically overlooks an individuals past jobs, experience, skills and ignores any organizational structure and talent pool that truly makes sense beyond a single individual’s performance and potential. 

In a recent Knowledge Infusion report, The Recruiting Imperative of Integrated Talent Management,  (sorry…premium membership required), Elaine Orler noted…

“…many of today’s corporate recruiters divide the time primarily focused on “hunting” for external talent, or managing the external hiring activities.  A case can –and should– be made to expand your way of thinking about the role recruiters play in managing your organization’s valuable current internal talent.  By doing so, you’ll realize the existence of areas of synergies and untapped transferable knowledge across your organization.”

Recruiters have valuable insight into the talent management process but, more often than not, that insight is lost once the candidate becomes an employee.  What are your recruiters doing to add value in the talent management long tail?