Executive search: Is HEAD HUNTING the Best? =================================================

 

PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS : PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE IN GLOBAL CONTEXTS. 

( by M.D.E.I.M.Muthugalage - 23042637)

Executive search: 

Is "HEAD HUNTING" the Best?

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Talent acquisition is a strategic game in today’s dynamic business world. The term “Headhunting” carries an air of mystery and sophistication, often associated with the pursuit of top tier professional. In this blog, it delves into the intricacies of headhunting, exploring its significance, methodologies and changing dynamics of the talent searching.

Why head hunting is much lucrative.

Headhunting is a process of sourcing the best People for the positions identified in organizations. Companies use specialized internal / external Headhunters to target on high level employees for the roles that has significant importance for the organization.

     

  Below video takes you to a comprehensive illustration of Headhunting process. 

 

Headhunting vs Recruitment 

Both, Headhunting and Recruitment could be seen as similar role in finding suitable talents into positions vacant in organizations. However, there are marked differences in each role and deviate each other with unique approach.

Headhunting is called, performing an executive search for finding the best candidate for an upper-level position. It’s used to fill executive roles like Managers, CEO, COO or Executive directors. Headhunters are specialized in finding certain type of technical or high-level positions and approach prospective candidates who are currently working in similar roles. They approach passive candidates, who are not actively seeking employment opportunities and entice prospective applicants to leave their current position for the new, with right offer made.  
 
Recruiting is hiring professionals for a variety of entry level and mid-level positions. Recruiters may work with certain industries and help candidates find the right role or work with variety of sectors and help organizations to find the right candidate to the positions opened. They use online job posts, job fairs and professional / social networking to find candidates and organizations.

Reference to a valuable blog :

https://peoplelift.com/post/whats-the-difference-between-headhunting-and-recruiting/

Features of Headhunting. 

ü  Headhunting approach

Headhunters make professional research to find right professionals in the industry and mostly target on passive personalities. They first short list the right People and present the position as an opportunity and not as another job. Mostly it takes a considerable period for the negotiation as they need gradually to change the person’s mindset for the new offer and entice. Potential leads could be approached via social media, Telephone or one to one meeting.

 ü Reputation 

Reputation of a Headhunter is very important to have a successful role in both aspect building trust with organizations and also winning the trust of talents to be tapped into. They need to maintain a certain caliber of professional competencies and more over adopting to ethical practices is very much important. Especially in this process a third-party involvement is exist where company and the employee have to deal with an outside party and need to ensure maintaining of clear transparency in each involvement.                                                 

 ü  Level of specialization 

Not like traditional recruitment process, headhunting involves with a level of specialization as often deal to fill senior level of specialized positions in organizations. Traditional recruiters find difficulties in filling this type of job vacancies and headhunters have to work with deep understanding of job market and skill levels and identifying the best candidates.  

 ü Level of control

In traditional recruitment, the organization hold the full control over searching of candidates and executing the selection process. In headhunting the organization only provides the employee requirement and specification of the position. Eventually headhunter presents a shortlisted qualified candidates for the review of the organization.

 ü Cost involved with 

Headhunting cost is comparatively higher than the traditional recruitment process. Headhunting companies or the individuals charge a significant service fee for the engagement and same to be added to the overall hiring cost. However, many of the view is that this cost is a worthwhile, given the opportunity cost of expertise and time saving met with it.   

   

Advantages of Headhunting

Accessing to a wider talent pool.

Headhunters obviously have deep understanding on job market, sound network & contacts and database of potential candidates. Organizations doesn’t have such resources in their own and headhunters makes easy way to fill difficult positions.  

 

 Expertise and specialization

  Headhunters have expertise and understanding to select best candidate for the key                 senior  position in the organization. In this role they need to deepen into job                     specification in the organization and get to  know the required knowledge, talent               and skills to be matched with requirement exist and bring them the most suitable             talent database.

 Save time

Accessing to correct database in an own is cumbersome and time consuming.                        Headhunting makes the process smoothen and direct for effective and fast                          mechanism than traditional recruiting.

 Improved reliability and trustworthiness

Headhunter plays a vital role in having a background verification of the person to be recruited. This provides a mean of passing sensitive information in advance and to make the final decision standing  on a more precise platform

 

Disadvantages of Headhunting

 

 Lack of control

 Headhunters are the ones in charge of the whole recruitment process and choosing                 the final candidate. This results in lack of control of the organization in whole                       process. 

 Cost

 Cost of this method could be comparatively high since headhunters often charge a            considerable service fee for the services rendered by them.

Potential conflicts of interest

In an instance, headhunters may have personal relationship with selected candidate        which may lead to create a conflict of interest. This could potentially lead headhunter to recommend an unfit person to a position looking for. 

Missing industry expertise

Headhunters typically source employees to match requirements given in a paper.       

More often they are quite alien to the particular business & industry and in such time

it could be fail to address the precise requirements of the industry and the business.

Being removed from the process

Headhunter handle the entire process and the organization is eliminated from the  

interview stages. A compromise here is to allow the headhunter to source and

validate  a person that organization would not be happy with and they meet him at

final interview stages.

    

Ethics of Headhunting 

Headhunters importantly need to adhere to ethical principals and best practices in their role. This can include obtaining informed consent from both the organization and the candidate, avoid conflicts of interest and promote diversity and inclusion in the recruitment process. They need to build trust with their clients by behaving in an ethical and responsible manner. Then they could contribute into a positive and fair job market.

 ü  Confidentiality

 

Headhunters have access to sensitive information of both organizations and the candidates. They have great duty to maintain confidentiality and protect such information being disclosed or misused.

 

ü  Representation

 

Headhunters may represent both the organization and the job candidate in recruitment process. Their dual representation could create ethical dilemmas and the potential conflicts of interest.

 

ü  Recruitment of the Candidate

 

Headhunters use different tactics to persuade candidates like cold calling or approaching employees who are yet under control with their current employer. These tactics could be considered as unethical, particularly if involved with deception or manipulation.

 

 

ü  Discrimination

 

Headhunters may discriminate against candidates based on factors such as race, gender or sexual orientation. Such discrimination is illegal and unethical and could negatively impact both the organization and the candidate.

  

 

ü  Compensation

 

Headhunters receive a significant service fee for successful placements. Situation could create a compromise, that best interest of the organization be diluted with own financial gain.

  

This is clearly indicating the mutual commitment that is expected from both the ends of organization and the headhunter to act on ethical ground and maintain fair job market to make all attempts to be successful and productive.

 

Conclusion

There are numerous factors to recognize the best recruitment approach and is obviously a crucial. Headhunting is a mean of highly effective strategy for identifying and recruiting top-tier talents is solely based on nature of the position, industry dynamics and organizational culture. Headhunting shines in it’s ability to target specific, high caliber individuals and leverage the expertise of specialized recruiters. In the meantime, other recruitment methods like job posting, employee referrals and online platforms too plays a vital role in this process.

 

Finally, the effectiveness of Headhunting is depended on the ethical and professional approach of the process. Maintaining strong relationships, transparency, confidentiality and respect of all the parties make a great sense for successful headhunting process.

 

Therefore, Headhunting could be a powerful tool in the recruitment toolkit having a holistic and adaptive approach that considers the unique requirements of each hiring need and will yield the best results for organizations who excel exceptional talents.

References

“The Art of Executive Search: Research, selection process and Techniques ”

Author: Larry R.Noble. (Published in 2005)

 “Executive search in the Twenty-First Century: A Global Perspective” 

Author: Caroline S.Wan. (Published in: Journal of Management inquiry 2014.)

Article provides an overview of the executive search industry including it’s evolution and challenges in the global perspective.

 

Harward Business review – Available on https://hbr.org/2021/03/reengineering-the-recruitment-process

 

Blogs:

https://www.sesamehr.com/blog/what-is-headhunting-and-what-are-the-benefits/

 

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/headhunting