Staying one step ahead in executive recruitment? Research is the key
Staying one step ahead in executive recruitment? Research is the key
Today’s candidates have more choice, more individual values and are generally more selective when it comes to making their next career move than ever before. So how to get ahead in today’s war for talent?
How do you approach your executive recruitments?
Perhaps, like many you identify your desired candidate profile and then go about approaching potential candidates about the role? Working within executive search our experience is that it takes much more to succeed in today’s market. The candidate market research is crucial in succeeding and that is why we at Alumni have a whole team working specifically with this part of the recruitment process. Doing your research is part of the business development to identify potential vacancies, board consulting requirements and other opportunities. Doing the mapping and market research, preparing the pitch, early insights to guide the job description and benchmarking salary levels are all important pieces of the puzzle that should happen before your recruitment search goes live.
Working to attract your identified candidates and performing the due diligence must also happen parallel to supporting candidates in preparing their applications, answering questions about the role, getting tips and input and managing potential candidate leads. It’s important to gather all information that will enable a most well-informed recruitment decision. Your research should continue all the way to final interview rounds with on-going due diligence and cross-referencing data points about a candidate.
In addition, your research efforts support and add value to the candidates in the process, improving their experience and potentially helping them uncover information that will help them make better decisions about the match and prepare for any interviews.
“Doing your research is part of the business development to identify potential vacancies, board consulting requirements and other opportunities. Doing the mapping and market research, preparing the pitch, early insights to guide the job description and benchmarking salary levels are all important pieces of the puzzle that should happen before your recruitment search goes live.”
Doing the research is not an automated process
Working with executive recruitment and specialist roles, you will find that these positions do not normally generate large amounts of applicants. Most applicants will be passive candidates, only a few people are actually a match and have the required experience and competencies to do the job. Researching and mapping out potential leads is an activity that requires rigour of method, creativity to find and identify people, tenacity and resilience in approach, integrity and sensitivity to the confidential nature in these candidate dialogues.
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“Doing your research will help ensure success and it needs to be based on the unique role and context.”
Looking beyond the CV in recruitment
You must look beyond the CV, read between the lines and invest time in speaking with potential candidates to discover the right match.
Technology advancements and shifts to hybrid working have also led to roles being created that never existed before and new skills needed for people to succeed. These are not always apparent or even part of an applicant’s CV but instead needs a bit of digging to unearth. Having an established network of people to rely on for referrals of potentially suitable candidates and advisors to lean on for trends and specific insights around expertise is a highly valued asset.
Managing to attract and secure the person that will succeed in the specific role, is not necessarily the candidate with the most impressive CV. You need to uncover the all-round qualities of the candidate as an individual and their ability to do the job. An assessment of personality, leadership skills and general aptitude is highly recommended to uncover what lies beyond the written word on a CV. It also helps to ensure you remove unconscious bias from the recruitment equation and offer the position to the best qualified candidate.
Working with any type of recruitment, diversity should be at the forefront of your efforts to secure a list of potential candidates with the right insights, experiences and skills. Diversity will have different meanings for each organisation and the motivations behind any diversity efforts will likewise also depend on unique circumstances. Doing your research will help ensure success and it needs to be based on the unique role and context.
Alumni
Alumni has more than 30 years’ experience sourcing and developing leadership that makes a difference to the businesses they work in. Our long-term approach to building our extensive networks containing diverse, deeply talented and highly experienced leadership candidates is a much-valued asset in our client engagements. Our strong team of researchers have the opportunity to enhance our clients’ brands and are able to have those conversations that in-house recruiters or HR sometimes cannot. Our experienced team can change the perception of an employer, or of a role in the market, and provide great insight for our clients to work with.
In our research we also have the ability to tackle the deal breakers upfront – salary, location/commute, other applications or commitments such as family that may affect the availability of an individual for a role. With these aspects all squared away before an application is made or highlighted as risks, we allow our clients to make their decisions based on the best possible information. In many cases we also act as a sounding board, challenging our clients in the design of a position to suit modern-day candidate requirements and ensure a successful recruitment.
If we can help you with any area of leadership acquisition or development please do reach out.
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