Who Needs Search in Tough Economic Times...?

Being strategic is not always about initiating something new. Sometimes it is as simple as going against the grain to take actions contrary to convention — and as a result, getting ahead of the curve.

Today that could mean leveraging current market conditions to build your organization's talent, while not being lulled into thinking you can do it by yourself. The market just may not be as flooded as you think with the best candidates for your critical senior level positions.

This could be the very time when it makes the most sense to use search services to help you fill certain critical jobs. That is if you are serious about hiring the best of the best.

In this market when it appears so much talent is available it is difficult to think you would have to spend any money to attract "A" players for your senior openings. In fact most companies that follow conventional wisdom don't.

But be careful. The apparent logic here will fail you unless you think it through first…run the numbers…be open to viewing it differently. So let's continue.

Hiring Decisions Are Difficult

Making good hiring decisions is difficult in any economic climate, but in a buyer's job market new realities clutter the process making it even more difficult not to mention time consuming.

• A staggering number of job seekers respond to public ads and postings in times like these
• Over-qualified as well as under- and non-qualified applicants submit their resumes — all looking for work
• Determining the best candidates just on paper with this volume is confusing and inefficient
• Hiring in this market is a test of your screening process, and while engaging candidates in insightful interviews to determine the all important "fit" is critical, this step should not be the first time you seriously test the applicant's viability

That is from the company's perspective, but there is more.

From a serious, professional job seeker's perspective there are important realities companies should be alert to. Top talent will scrutinize your company as thoroughly as you research them.

• Many best fit, top talent candidates don't even participate in the high-volume, public posting process — because of the inefficiencies and lack of responsiveness
• Senior professionals are interested in company and job-specific information that generally is not available through on-line processes
• The frequent lack of two-way communications and personal updates throughout high-volume screening sends poor signals about your hiring process and company culture
• Often internal screening/interviewing teams are not well prepared to address company and job priorities, and answer questions of discerning candidates

And the result is neither the company nor the candidate is successful and as we'll see, it costs money.

Missing Great Candidates

I recently spoke with Ms. Patricia Wuthrich, a C-Level HR Executive with 30 years of international, domestic and multiple-industry experience who said, "My experience of late is that companies are wasting huge amounts of time (productivity) and therefore money in this down economy, and possibly missing great candidates by trying to do searches themselves."

Pat's observation not only comes from her experience of being in the current job market, but also from having led organizations responsible for bringing in "top of market talent" for her previous employers, which include APL, Danone Waters, Charles Schwab and Lucent Technologies/AT&T.

"A number of weeks ago I spoke to a corporate recruiter," Pat continued, "who told me she had received more than 500 resumes for a single senior position, and I could immediately empathize with what was going on internally at the company and how some candidates in their process must be feeling."

Another influencing factor to consider before jumping to the notion of doing senior level search on your own is a fact not often reported today. Granted the news media keeps us extremely well informed about the rising unemployment rate — be it nine, 10, 11 percent or more. What you don't hear however is that the unemployment rate for the college-educated workforce is actually hovering around four percent.

What does that say about finding the best of the best in a stack of 500 resumes for one senior position? It could be tough. The best may not even be in the market.

Points to Consider for Best ROI

So before you limit your search strategy to simply posting your ad online, consider these points:

• Senior positions have great impact on business results and you need to hire well for them.
• Loss of time from an inefficient hiring process, hiring the wrong candidate and possibly having to repeat the process later is expensive in dollars, business progress and can impact organizations negatively. The accumulative costs can conceivably run as high as two to four times the position's annual salary.
• The way you engage "best in class" candidates speaks volumes about your company's culture and could be instrumental in retaining that talent and attracting others. Err on the side of always showing up in a professional manner.

When you carefully select a search provider and partner with them, they can deliver these results and your top talent more quickly and with less expense in the long term.

• Targeted candidate lists are narrow, short and researched
• Based on the priorities of the position and the business goals outlined by you, the skills, experiences and goals of candidates are validated to be in alignment for success. You know that about the candidates and they know that about you.
• Important time will be spent with you first and then the candidate, to ensure a "fit" is there for you both. Again — full disclosure.
• Fees for the value brought and efficiencies delivered are all part of the service, but can be discussed. In markets like the present and when multiple searches are involved your vendor of choice should work with you.

The Take Away

The take away is that director and above positions in most companies are best put out to search for all of the reasons cited so far.

"I particularly value the research and analysis write-ups on candidates, prepared by search professionals," Pat said, "and I have on occasion asked that my internal candidates also be interviewed by the same expert, to ensure fair comparisons to external candidates. Very few internal processes or staffs can be that objective or gain access to the strategic information to utilize when vetting candidates, and that is what determines the best fit."

"Technology is great and it is getting better when used appropriately for certain aspects of search," Pat continued. "But regardless, it remains limited just as inexperienced internal staffs are limited with rote sets of questions designed to effectively screen. It takes a human exchange with a few top candidates, experienced listening and an ability to ask the right questions to find the 'best in class' so that you can make that all important hire decision," she concluded.

In the 20 years we at Merit Resource Group have been providing HR services to companies throughout Northern California, we have witnessed great successes and failures with respect to how companies hire. No one sets out to do it poorly or spend money unnecessarily — although both results are possible when objectives and options are not clear, processes are inefficient or you lack objective information.

Contact me if you have questions about positions you are attempting to fill and you would like to discuss your options from executive search to contingency staffing, or contract expertise to get you through critical periods until you can successfully complete your career hire. We would welcome the opportunity to talk with you.