21 Apr Why Use An Executive Search Firm For Your Next Hire
You’ve posted a new executive job, and you receive 200 applications. While this might seem like a blessing, if you’ve been in those shoes, you’ll know it’s anything but. As you sort through the applicant pile, you realize that only a few meet your needs. Suddenly, you’ve wasted hours sifting through your inbox instead of focusing on growing your business. Stop wasting valuable time and use an executive search firm to find researched, quality candidates.
You may believe you can successfully hire an executive because you don’t want to pay a firm’s retainer. Is saving money worth losing out on the opportunity to hire the best leader for your company? There are several advantages to using an executive search firm to fill complex leadership positions. They will increase your odds of finding the right individual on the first try.
Keep reading to explore the benefits of retaining an executive search firm and what the process entails.
Gain Access to Expertise Through Executive Search Firms
You may think you have the skills and resources to lead an executive search. However, merely posting an open position on job boards or your company website is not going to be enough to attract top talent.
The world’s top leaders aren’t reviewing job boards for new positions. They’re consumed by their work—they are busy leaders. And they have always had access to new job opportunities through their existing networks.
Only Interview the Best of the Best
If you ask your in-house human resources team to reach out to a top executive, they most likely won’t get a response—if they even get past the executive assistant.
On the other hand, recruiters have access to top executives through connections they’ve made over the years. They have infiltrated the networks and built relationship with inaccessible people.
Alternatively, if you post a job opening for a senior-level position, you will be bombarded with applicants. The vast majority of these applicants won’t fit the role. You’re only wasting your time by reading through applications from candidates who won’t make it past the first round of interviews.
An executive search firm will do the work to narrow the candidate pool down to a manageable number of people. Then you are left to choose from the best of the best. This process of pre-qualifying and recruiting candidates streamlines the job search and saves your company valuable time.
Save Time, Money, and Resources
The process of vetting, attracting, recruiting, and hiring executives is not an easy task. It takes time. Reaching out to top prospects is a strategic and time-consuming project that is better performed by multiple people.
If you put an employee committee in charge of hiring executives, you’ll waste energy and time that is better spent working on other projects. Not to mention leaving the hiring decisions to inexperienced people will result in hiring the wrong leader for the position.
Additionally, hiring the wrong person for an executive role can lower employee productivity and morale. The costs associated with a bad hire and turnover are often higher than the cost of hiring executive search recruitment consultants.
Pinpoint Leaders with Unique Skills
Executive roles are often created for professionals with a unique collection of skills. In the past, top-performing employees rolled into executive roles. However, now, that’s rarely the case in most industries. For example, today’s chief marketing officers need to have a core skill set, but they should also be creative and analytical.
Finding someone well-versed in these areas is not a simple task. Usually, the person comes from outside of your company.
Executive search firms have access to tools to find candidates that will fill unique positions. Their databases consist of pre-qualified candidates, and they know how to perform searches for interlinked jobs that require specific sets of skills.
Get Expert Guidance
If you’re growing your business, you may be trying to fill executive roles that you’ve never had before. There are several things to consider when selecting someone for a newly created role: who will determine the compensation structure? How much experience do they need? Can you handle hiring for this position internally?
If this will be a new position at your company, it can be hard to answer these questions alone. You need the expertise of an executive search firm. In ways, retaining a search firm is a consultative partnership.
Throughout the process, if you have questions about compensation or job roles, they can advise you based on industry knowledge of the job market.
Maintain Confidentiality
Do you have an underperforming executive you’re hoping to replace? You may have to find their replacement before they are terminated or ready to leave their current role—which is awkward.
Hiring talent in this way requires confidentiality and trust. A firm will ask you questions to determine which qualities were lacking in the current leader and strive to fill the position with a candidate that meets all of your qualifications.
Eliminate Biases and Encourage Diversity
If you have internal candidates involved in a job search, biases in the hiring process can be a significant issue. With access to an executive search service, you’ll truly have an objective, third-party view to ensure that candidates are selected based on merit and not who they are or who they know.
Firms also have access to technology resources to identify candidates from a diverse, active candidate pool. This technology eliminates unconscious biases related to age, race, gender, and ethnicity.
Many HR leaders admit that their company’s leadership lacks diversity. However, it’s apparent that diversity helps companies excel—companies with above-average diversity scores report 45% more innovation revenue.
Finally, without access to the right technology, it’s difficult for an organization to diversity on its own. This issue is what leads many executive search firms to provide services that focus on meeting diversity and inclusion benchmarks.
Dedicated Partners
One exceptional hire can change an organization forever. Regardless of your need, at Scion Executive, our goal is to help our communities one mission at a time. Our nonprofit recruiters take pride in providing mission matched candidates to the organizations we partner with and will provide expert search strategies and leadership for your organization.
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As proven experts in nonprofit executive recruitment, we understand the importance of hiring experienced nonprofit talent that is fully motivated by your mission, and that fits within your nonprofit’s specific culture. We excel in placing real and experienced people at social causes who are ready to wrap their arms around your mission, feed their respective passions, and in turn improve our nonprofit community. Contact us today to learn more!
