Will any company see a benefit from hiring executive search firms to help them with critical hires, or even with HR consulting? Here are a few things to consider:
- Think about your search requirements In other words, do you have a hiring team? If so, do they have all the procedures in place to make a successful hire? Some of the things they will need to be able to do is keep up frequent contact with potential hires, standardize and simplify the application process, and deal with branding and reputation. They may also need some specialized knowledge about where to even go looking for the right candidates. A Robert Hall survey of 1,400 executives found that 36% of them believed that a poor skills match was a major factor in failed hires, followed by unclear performance objectives. If your human resources department does not have clear procedures in place and confidence in their ability to find and match quality talent, executive search firms could be the way to go.
- How long do you have to hire? If a search takes too long, the best candidates might get away. This is another situation where bringing in some human resources consultants could be the right way to go. Executive search firms can not only help you find and hire the right candidates quickly, but can also assist with streamlining your own in-house process for the future.
- What’s the cost to benefit ratio? What will it cost you in lost man hours and focus to apply your own people to the process? The hunt can be difficult and could even mean having to acquire the right software and website tools. However, that cost might be offset by letting your own in-house HR department hone skills they will need for the future. It all depends on the position in question and your current goals and unique needs.
- Will you be able to woo the candidates you want? By hiring executive search firms, you get access not only to their expertise, but also their reputation and their access to the candidate pool. They may even be able to approach candidates that are not actively looking to change jobs and help them see the benefits of making a change. Talent acquisition companies also have the expertise and resources to do thorough background checks and otherwise complete due diligence with potential hires in ways that might be too difficult and time consuming for your company.
- Do you need to keep the search confidential? This is a big reason companies hire executive search firms, but it is not always the first reason considered. Are you replacing an employee but need to keep that under wraps for a while? Are you on the lookout for a specific candidate but do not want word getting out about it to other candidates or companies that might want to start a bidding war? Recruiting firms are able to keep things confidential until you are ready to announce your new executive hire.
Strategic human resources consultants can provide enormous tangible and even intangible benefits to any company and can streamline and simplify what can be a difficult and expensive process. Next time you have an important hire in the pipeline, take time to consider whether an executive search firm could be the right move for your company.