Choosing Recruiters: Mistake #1 – No Systematic Process
CEOs and Senior Executives in our survey assumed that all retained executive recruiters must have a rigorous process to help clients hire key executives that will deliver expected results.
How many times have you crossed your fingers in the hope that the recruiter you hired will hit the bullseye? Conversely, how many times have you felt like you’ve thrown good money down a dark hole – never to see an appropriate outcome?
After all, if you visit the recruiter’s website, doesn’t it always identify that the recruiter has a “process” to do search. This assumption represents the number one mistake that is made in working with recruiters. Falling victim to this mistake results in searches that do not get filled in a timely manner, do not get filled with a top caliber candidate, or do not get filled at all.
Industry statistics show that less than 65% of all executive searches are completed by the search firm. The Success Factor Methodology is a process which overcomes the #1 mistake when it is used both by the recruiter and by the company.The vast majority of recruiters have no process. If you go to their website, they claim they have a process – but there is no real process. There is no application of best practices in sourcing, interviewing, assessing, and recruiting top talent.
It’s random, willy-nilly, and seat of the pants. Most recruiters approach is superficial and lacking in substance.
The next time you interview recruiters to select one to help you fill an important position – ask what their process is? Probe for their specific methodology on sourcing or interviewing. Ask what specific questions they use, the research it’s based upon, and what the uncover through those questions. Discover how they build sourcing plans, where they fish, the precise techniques they use to fish in deep waters for the best candidates.
Most of the time, you’ll hear fluff instead of substance. Having a phone and asking interview questions does not make for a great recruiter. Understanding the best practices in sourcing, assessing, recruiting, and interviewing – then applying these on a consistent basis – does make for a great recruiter.
Like the failure behind hiring in many companies, the vast majority of recruiters fail because they have no process.
For over two decades we’ve been using a highly structured process in our Retained Executive Search Practice called the Success Factor Methodology. Using this process has resulted in a success track record over 95% of helping clients hire key executives. We’ve taken this process, and modified it so that you too can implement a rigorous hiring process to find, interview, and select Top Talent. A few years ago we wrote a book, “You’re NOT the Person I Hired”, detailing the steps to implement the Success Factor Methodology in your company. We’ve built an ecommerce site around video, audio, templates, and tools to help you implement the process. Finally, our website contains a wealth of free products, downloads, audio archives, and examples to reinforce improving your hiring process.
STOP relying on recruiters who have no systematic and rigorous process to help you hire top talent. Take back your searches by implementing a simple and effective process field-tested in thousands of companies.
Barry Deutsch
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Tags: Cost of bad hire, Finding Top Talent, Hiring Errors, Hiring Failure, hiring process improvement, recruiting process
Hiring Mistakes, Recruiters | Barry Deutsch November 5, 2009
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By Steve Dill, November 6, 2009 @ 12:32 pm
Great article! We are also discussing why it is imperative for medical sales reps to develop a strong working relationship with several good recruiters even if they are not currently seeking a new job. You may access this discussion at: http://www.gorillamedicalsales.com/blog
By Debra Young, November 6, 2009 @ 9:12 pm
I can’t agree with you more. The process is critical to finding the optimal organizational fit of a candidate into a client company.
My firm has a rigorous, methodical process that identifies candidates that are not only technically competent, but culturally, personally and also aligned with our clients business values. If anyone is interested I would be more than happy to show you our process. We have a 100% success fill rate and a two year replacement guarantee that has never been employed. That speaks very clearly to the success, longevity and commitment of our placements. You do not have to settle for anything less!
By Bill Bliss, November 7, 2009 @ 11:48 am
Thanks for the article – interesting observations indeed. As someone who has hired retained search firms dozens of times while in corporate life, I agree that their process is critical. It is something that I always zeroed in on to understand their process and to hold them accountable in following it by providing me regular status updates throughout the search process that were in line with their process and my needs. When there were problems identified, we worked together to fix it right away. This led to a “no surprises” format that resulted in strong placements.
Today, I have several search firms as clients who tap into an assessment tool I utilize. These are search firms who are committed identifying, assessing and placing the right candidate at their client. They know it is for their best interest in having a long term client relationship.
Today, one of the services we provide is to offer companies a proven process to assess and hire the best candidates, and a proven process to ensure their successful integration into the organization. Visit us at http://www.blissassociates.com for more information.