Anyone who runs or manages a business knows how problematic hiring can be. Employee retention is an issue for at least 57% of American companies. One problem stems from hiring the wrong people in the first place. As many as 22% of people will leave a new job within 45 days of being offered the position. The main reasons for this are poor work performance and problems with temperament. The U.S. Department of Labor has estimated that when the wrong person can cost an organization about 30% of that person’s earnings for the first year of employment. Because it is so important to find the right people to fill vacancies, many companies are turning to executive search consultants to help. The problem is sometimes finding the right executive search firm. Here are some tips to help you find the right human resources consultants.
- Take some time to get to know the different companies. You may want to get those positions filled as soon as possible but if you skip the step of getting to really know the executive search consultants, you will not have the best results and it may end up taking you a lot longer to find the right candidates. You also need to give them some time to get to know you and your needs so they can find the right people for you.
- Do your due diligence. When you are talking to different executive search consultants, you should understand that not all are created equal. Talk to other people in your industry and get a sense for what human resources consulting firms they have used and had success with. That can help you pick the right company for your needs.
- Make sure they understand how critical confidentiality is. When you are working with any executive search consultants keep whatever they see or hear while working with your company to hire new people stays with them. This is important for you and the candidates. Many job seekers do not want work to get out that they are looking for a new position. It is important that the executive search firm understand just how crucial this is.
- Make sure the firm you hire has a thorough interview process. The interview process is incredibly important to getting the right people for your organization. There are a number of executive search consultants who use sophisticated methods that focus on behavioral and psychometric evaluations to help weed out candidates who may not work out as well and to focus on those who will be great fits for the jobs that are open and the companies that are hiring. Make sure you are able to get all of the information you need about their process for interviewing candidates.
- Work with an executive search firm who understand the importance of relationship building. The process of interviewing with any company for any position should not be a painful one. You want all of the candidates that you talk with to walk away from the experience with good feeling about you and the search firm. While one person may not work out for an opening you have today, they may be perfect for another job that opens up at a later date. By keeping them happy with their experience, you can have access to a bigger pool of talent. When you work with executive search consultants who treat people with respect, you know they can attract better candidates.
- Make sure they get back to you in a responsible way. If you have questions, you need to be able to have them answered in a timely manner. The answers they give also need to be clean and concise. If you do not feel that you are getting answers that address your concerns, you should go with a different company. If you find that you are not getting your questions answered before you become a client, you can bet you will have trouble getting them once you have hired the firm. If you have follow up questions, you should feel comfortable asking them.
The hiring process can be a really painful one. When you work with executive search consultants, you can make it go better for everyone involved.