Posted on 26-01-2010 at 01:00
Headhunting is an Art
With the proliferation of social media and the ease and speed that people can now make contact many people now think that they can recruit a top manager, director or business partner just by tweeting!
If you do not believe me just log on to LinkedIn or FaceBook and see the proliferation of adverts for executive and senior level jobs on these sites. What’s more, they want them filled “urgently”.
The problem with all of them is that they miss a number of important points.
A good head-hunter has a number of key skills and attributes
• They are always well connected.
• They are patient.
• They are experienced in speaking to people
• They are excellent networkers.
• They are researchers.
• They have had senior level management experience themselves..
• They are skilled negotiators and are persuasive.
• They can evaluate people and are excellent communicators.
Too many people think that filling a senior or executive job is just about placing and advert and waiting for the applications. A kind of “build it and they will come” approach, you then undertake a couple of interviews, pass them onto the client and hey presto, job done.
Wrong!
This does not work for any position but especially for senior positions. Most roles are skill and competency based and most people can understand most skills and most competencies. However at executive level the skill and competency mix is much more intricate, more difficult to understand and the difference between candidates, while sometimes large, is sometimes the thickness of an atom.
Yet it is that difference of an atom’s thickness that can make the difference for the success of your company.
All employees are important, all employees can damage you company if you select the wrong one. The difference is, is that if you get your executive recruitment wrong it can cause much more damage much more quickly.
This is where an experienced Headhunter can really help.
They will be able to determine if your executive candidate is a true leader or an also ran. An experienced Headhunter will be able to research the person, their background, their successes and their failures. They will be able to weigh up their management and leadership style and test their knowledge of business and people management.
Too many firms want a vacancy filled quickly and so throw out the vacancy to several recruiters at once. It doesn’t work, quantity does not equal quality and these recruiters rush to fill the post to receive their fee and move on.
Have patience, retain a reputable head hunter or executive search firm and get the right person the first time. Twitter et al work, but in the wrong hands a blunderbuss can be a dangerous weapon.
Two final points: If you want to obtain cheap recruitment that’s what you will get. The right person in your company can seriously affect your bottom line for the good, spend some time and a little money, hire a good head hunter and have patience. It will pay huge dividends in the long term.
And Finally
Remember “the best people are not looking”
If you do not believe me just log on to LinkedIn or FaceBook and see the proliferation of adverts for executive and senior level jobs on these sites. What’s more, they want them filled “urgently”.
The problem with all of them is that they miss a number of important points.
A good head-hunter has a number of key skills and attributes
• They are always well connected.
• They are patient.
• They are experienced in speaking to people
• They are excellent networkers.
• They are researchers.
• They have had senior level management experience themselves..
• They are skilled negotiators and are persuasive.
• They can evaluate people and are excellent communicators.
Too many people think that filling a senior or executive job is just about placing and advert and waiting for the applications. A kind of “build it and they will come” approach, you then undertake a couple of interviews, pass them onto the client and hey presto, job done.
Wrong!
This does not work for any position but especially for senior positions. Most roles are skill and competency based and most people can understand most skills and most competencies. However at executive level the skill and competency mix is much more intricate, more difficult to understand and the difference between candidates, while sometimes large, is sometimes the thickness of an atom.
Yet it is that difference of an atom’s thickness that can make the difference for the success of your company.
All employees are important, all employees can damage you company if you select the wrong one. The difference is, is that if you get your executive recruitment wrong it can cause much more damage much more quickly.
This is where an experienced Headhunter can really help.
They will be able to determine if your executive candidate is a true leader or an also ran. An experienced Headhunter will be able to research the person, their background, their successes and their failures. They will be able to weigh up their management and leadership style and test their knowledge of business and people management.
Too many firms want a vacancy filled quickly and so throw out the vacancy to several recruiters at once. It doesn’t work, quantity does not equal quality and these recruiters rush to fill the post to receive their fee and move on.
Have patience, retain a reputable head hunter or executive search firm and get the right person the first time. Twitter et al work, but in the wrong hands a blunderbuss can be a dangerous weapon.
Two final points: If you want to obtain cheap recruitment that’s what you will get. The right person in your company can seriously affect your bottom line for the good, spend some time and a little money, hire a good head hunter and have patience. It will pay huge dividends in the long term.
And Finally
Remember “the best people are not looking”
