The days of traditional hiring is over. Talent acquisition is getting more and more specialized and targeted by the day with ever reducing cycle times. The war for talent is tough given the competition in every industry, be it ecommerce, consumer goods, IT or telecom, for market leadership.
To deliver a strategic talent acquisition agenda, companies will look to partner more and more with specialized search firms.
Firstly, search consultants have a quick pulse of the market given that they work for multiple clients in each industry. Secondly, given that search is their day job, their focus on market and talent research is a razor sharp compared to an in house recruiting team. Their long-standing relationships with key talent and high level of engagement with them, allows them to quickly turn around even the most critical roles.
Search consultants have extended reach into the talent pool. They uncover candidates who are hard to find, passive or selective candidates who don’t typically respond to any advertisements but have cultivated relationships with key search consultants. Even if they aren’t currently active, there’s a strong chance that a good search consultant will know who they are and how to reach them. Search firms have many networks – each consultant, candidate, client or collaborator has the potential to leverage their networks to help connect you to people with a range of skills and experiences, many of who would be off the radar of an in-house recruiting team.
Search firms also help with employer branding, large companies invest a lot of time and money in developing and marketing their employer brand, but many startups, SMEs and smaller businesses don’t have the same resources. If you choose your partner wisely then they can give potential candidates a real insight into your business – as an extension of you. If you partner closely, let them spend time getting to know you and some of your key managers, then they should be able to represent you as an employer of choice. If a candidate checks your business out on social media, either through a site like Glassdoor or by searching for people who used to work with you, then a fully briefed search partner should be able to help clarify any points that may arise.
The super benefit of hiring through a search firm would be cost saving. You only pay consultants when you actually use the consultant, which may be cost effective than having a dedicated in house team. Especially for startups, search firms are a boon because they don’t have to build big HR teams, and no overhead costs either.
Timing is also critical. The right partner can quickly provide pre-screened relevant candidates for the client to make a fast decision. In summary partnering with the right search firm is bound to turbo charge your recruiting agenda.