Executive recruitment is about more than just finding a candidate as quickly as possible. Rather, recruiting and indeed hiring in general is about finding the right candidate who will not just fill a role, but who will thrive in the company's environment and culture and ideally who will stay in that role - or at least with the company - for many years to come. It can cost up to twice a candidate's average salary to replace them, in recruiting costs as well as lost productivity so it is well worth it to find candidates who will stick around.
Creating this kind of magic fit is certainly no easy task. It is essential that recruiting firms look far beyond a prospect's resume in order to find candidates that are truly the best match for a job.
Taking Time to Recruit
Understandably, many companies use a recruitment strategy that is linked directly to need. As soon as a position is open, or someone gives notice, then the recruitment wheels start turning. The time pressure associated with this type of search process is rarely the way to find the best candidate. Even the best recruiting firms may not be able to find a perfect fit when under a fast approaching deadline.
Looking at the big picture when it comes to recruitment means keeping your pipeline full of potential candidates so that at any given time, there is a stack of eligible candidates waiting to be interviewed for any given position. This is, in fact, one of the best reasons to work with a recruiting firm on retainer, since they are free to do this kind of legwork even when a company is not actively recruiting anyone.
Maintaining Relationships
In addition to giving adequate time for recruitment, developing relationships is also key to big picture recruiting. That means not only having relationships with qualified candidates in different locations, but also keeping an ear to the ground, so the speak, when it comes to those candidates who could fit the bill.
Executive Recruiting Firms Can Help
For some companies, it may feel unnecessary or uncomfortable to enlist the services of executive recruiting firms but the truth is they make the recruitment and hiring process much more efficient. Not only are they already in the habit of maintaining relationships and networks of reliable candidates, they can vet piles of resumes and return only those that have the possibility of being a great fit in the long term. This means that when you as an employer go to interview these prospects, you can focus on those intangible, big picture elements rather than questioning whether or not the candidate meets your basic requirements. When employers are able to focus on these important aspects - from personality to ethics - the recruiting process can go more quickly and the company can save time and money.
Looking at the big picture is not necessarily the fastest or easiest way to go about recruitment. However, with the right recruiting firms on your side, it is the best way to find candidates that fit into your culture and are most likely to make valuable contributions for years to come.