Now that Artificial Intelligence is considered to be the next big change in the top executive search firms. Will the use of AI eliminate the executive search firms and will it be an enhancing tool to help the organizations find their C-suite talent with even more precision with minimal risk and in the least possible time?
So many questions and the answer lies in a balance between the two. AI and executive search firms in Delhi together can help their clients faster in a much precise way. What Can AI Do To Help In Recruiting?
AI And Executive Search
Significance Of Search Firms AI can be a great assistant making the entire hiring process speedy and accurate but that being said the significance of search firms does not fade at all. AI can help you find the individuals with just the right skill set with just the right amount of experience but C-suite positions are not only about quantifiable competencies. The executive search focuses on leadership style, cultural fit, soft skills, and emotional intelligence. These are the qualities that only an experienced executive staffing expert can identify and evaluate in depth. Executive-level positions are complex and need a lot of experience to understand the nitty- gritties involved in a particular job role. AI cannot do this. It takes a seasoned and intuitive human professional with years of experience in the field to understand the unspoken requirements of a role. AI is incapable of developing relationships with potential candidates. At the same time, AI cannot increase engagement with passive candidates encouraging them to take a leap of faith with them and give a shot to the interview for another position in a competitive company. This is something that can only be done by a human who has invested years in building long term relationships with people.
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When companies seek to hire management and professional talent, they have multiple options to carry out their search. They can manage the entire process internally or they can outsource it to Executive search consultants. In-house recruitment, especially for the top positions, have some limitations over if the company goes for one of the top executive search firms.
Limitations Of In-House Recruitment *** Firstly, many candidates won’t be actively looking for new career opportunities and so they might not respond to your job advertisement. The passive candidates who might not be looking actively but might be interested in the entire process would simply be ignored thus skewing your chances of having the right hire further. *** Small and mid-sized businesses lack the internal resources and experience to attract passive candidates effectively. *** Another limitation is that the in-house recruitment team lack the focused approach thus end up getting a lot of unqualified application. This leads to a wastage of time in the screening process. Advantages Of Hiring Executive Search Firms >>>> A retained firm operates on an exclusive client-centered basis and thus works on a limited number of search assignments at a given time. This ensures speedy delivery process without having to compromise on the quality of the search. They carry out dedicated research while leveraging the full spectrum of both active and passive candidates that are available in the market and therefore manage to find candidates with unique backgrounds. >>>> The second advantage is confidentiality. Executive search professionals work in a confidential manner and will participate in all aspects of the search process, starting from laying down a tailor-made search strategy to providing highly qualified potential candidates who have just the right background and experience for the specific job opportunity and would fit well with the company's culture. >>>> Retained consulting firms are a great option for advanced specialist positions that require a unique set of skills. They are hired for the positions where the risk needs to be minimal and a wrong hire can be disruptive to the company. The retained executive search not only helps provide the potential candidates to pick and choose from, but they also help in the long tedious process of convincing the candidate to make a move from their current company. >>>> Last but not least, hiring is incomplete without the much-dreaded negotiation process and thus having a firm by your side can help you more than you can imagine. With years of experience in this industry, they are well-aware of the nuances involved and can tackle them with ease with no real stress from your end thus freeing your time for priority tasks in hand which needs your absolute attention and are related to the overall growth of the company. If you’re hiring for the strategic positions of your company, a thought always has crossed your mind, “Should I go for one of the top executive search firms in India to do the job?” or “Do I really need to hire a top executive search firm? The answer to both the questions is YES. So what value do executive search firms bring to the overall hiring process?
The answer is more than you think! Because of the nature of what they do, these firms are capable to save you companies a tremendous amount of both time and money when it comes to hiring and attracting the top talent in the industry. In order to fill the mission-critical positions, the companies always are looking for a very specific type of candidate and the advantages of hiring a firm to find that one for you is that you don’t have to deal with a lot of critical aspects of the interviewing and hiring process on your own thus saving you a lot of energy and time. Here is a list of few ways, how a firm can help you find better talent at the same time saving you both time and money: Streamlined Process - The hiring firms with years of effective processes in place streamline the entire work and keep all the stakeholders always on the same page. They make sure that the candidates are engaged throughout the process so that they do not get lost to a competitor’s offer. By reaching out to both active and passive candidates - With an extensive network at their disposal and a well researched and laid down qualities the company needs in the candidate, these firms are capable of locating candidates that the companies can’t find on their own, namely “passive candidates.” These are those candidates who aren’t conducting an active job search but would be happy to explore if an opportunity knocks at their doors. These candidates aren’t reading job boards or website postings and hence won’t be able to find you otherwise. Hence, with passive candidates involved, the prospects of finding a better fit increase thus saving you time and money in the longer run. By utilizing a well-crafted network of candidates - Third-party firms have a well-crafted database of individuals and thus they can help you find the most relevant candidates in less amount of time. In executive search, the most important task is to look for the most fitting candidate both in terms of skill and company culture and having an extensive network of candidates helps the firms shortlist just the relevant few for you to interview thus saving you a lot of time and money. By doing a thorough screening process - This is important. We need to think about it this way. Had you been doing this on your own, you had to go through a lot of relevant resumes. A single miss and there goes your perfect candidate rejected in the screening process only. Backed by years of experience, third party firms can actually help you screen and will provide you the most relevant candidates. Inclusive Hiring – Understanding The Concept And Its Significance For Organizational Success8/9/2019 Ensuring diversity in their workforce has become essential for organizations consistent growth and success. This has, in turn, led companies to focus on inclusive recruitment strategies for attracting and hiring the best talent from the broadest pool. This is essential for creating a more cohesive, collaborative and creative work environment critical for driving continuous growth. Most importantly, having an inclusive workforce helps organizations to establish their identity as a company that cares for and values diversity. Even though inclusive hiring should be practiced at all levels within an organization, its significance at senior executive positions is far greater. In fact, it has been observed that companies committed to ensuring diversity in leadership hiring tend to be more successful.
Inclusive Hiring – A Brief Overview A good work environment should reflect the reality of the society in terms of the diversity of people from different, races, religions, abilities and even sexual orientations. A workplace celebrating such diversity fosters innovation and creativity, which helps it to stand apart from its competitors. This can be ensured only through an effective inclusive recruitment strategy that provides a competitive advantage to organizations implementing the same. This is because it helps in bringing a greater variety of life experiences in the workforce. As a result, the organization ends up having multiple teams of professionals with different perspectives and problem-solving capabilities. Benefits Offered By Inclusive Hiring According to the experts from leading executive search firms, when implemented properly, inclusive hiring can offer a multitude of benefits to business organizations. The most important of these benefits are discussed in brief as follows. It Helps In Building A Strong Employer Brand Organizations following inclusive hiring practices in a stringent manner are known to be a preferred workplace choice for top talent. In addition, the employee retention rate of such organizations is also significantly higher than those that overlook the importance of workplace diversity. These factors combine to create a strong employer brand for the organization, which helps in drawing the best quality candidates to their doorsteps. It Enhances Employee Happiness And Performance Surveys have suggested that employees tend to feel happier working in a diverse environment. This is because they are able to meet and interact with people having different perspectives, opinions, and experiences. This provides them with an opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills and help others to do the same, which makes them feel happy and satisfied. Since happy and satisfied employees tend to be more productive, it helps in enhancing their overall performance and makes them more committed towards the achievement of organizational objectives. It Helps In Improving Innovation And Creativity Most top executive search firms are of the opinion that working in a diverse environment helps in enhancing innovation and creativity among employees. Companies nurturing inclusive environments promote employees to think out of the box and come up with innovative and creative solutions for various business problems. The employees do not feel ashamed or fear being judged for their unique thinking or way of working if it helps them to get the desired results. Most importantly, it helps in opening up new opportunities of growth for employees as well as organization. These days, more than 100 job applicants come in the job listings for a particular job position. Some of the applicants seem to be qualified, but, some may not have the skills required, but have used the right keywords to make their resume reach the executive search firms.
Indeed, a face-to-face interview is what that is always preferred, but a phone interview can also lay a base for some valuable selection for the final hiring. Thus, it is often seen that recruiters make use of the phone interview for screening the potential candidates. The phone interviews help in focusing attention on only those candidates who are worthy of the time and the efforts involved in the hiring process. We bring to you some of the strategies incorporated by the top executive search firms for making the most of the phone interview: Duration Of The Interview At the time of conducting the phone interview, the recruiters need to determine about the qualification of the candidates, their personalities, their driving factors and at the same time also find out whether the things mentioned in the resume are correct or not. The duration of the interview to a greater extent depends upon the expertise and experience, the candidate possesses. It can last for even 30 minutes, however, as per standard, a phone interview should at least stretch for 15 minutes. Script The phone interviews generally cannot be on the fly. The recruitment firms prepare key questions before starting the phone interview and the questions are kept consistent for all the applicants. However, the type of questions varies in accordance with the job position because the questions asked during the leadership hiring process cannot be the same as are asked during mass recruitment. However, the interviewer prefers not asking the stock questions, the answers for which can be easily researched and a prepared answer can be given by the candidate. Comfort Level The firms in the recruitment industry believe that if you can comfort out the candidate, you can dig in to get better and honest answers. Therefore, the conversation starters in the form of asking information about college, school or even general life are used instead of starting grilling the applicant from the beginning. Succinct About Job Needs The phone interview needs to be done for nearly 100 of candidates, thus wasting more time on one candidate can cost heavily to the recruiter. Hence, to save on the time, the applicant is made aware about the job requirements at the beginning in a direct and succinct manner and if found suitable, the interview continues, otherwise it stops there and then. Document The Interview The interview of the selected candidates is clearly documented by the executive recruiters in order to see if the answer still lines up, when such candidates are called in for a face-to-face interview. Since, there is no face to face contact during the phone interview, the candidates cannot be judged on the basis of the visual clues and the entire pressure lies on asking the right questions and listen to the candidate’s answer with all the concentration in order to decide whether to further pursue the candidate or not. With the above tips the result of the phone interview can surely be maximized. Key Features That Recruitment Professionals Look For In The Resumes Of Executive Candidates6/1/2019 The one question that most hiring organizations seek an answer to but rarely ask from their recruitment partners is the strategy used by them to identify potential executive candidates. While individual recruitment professionals follow a different methodology in this context, most of them look for some key features in the resumes of such candidates to find the perfect fit. The most important of these features as sought by the top executive search firms are discussed in brief as follows.
Whether The Resume Is Crisp And To The Point Most recruitment professionals give preference to resumes that are brief and to the point. They neither have the time nor the inclination to go through multipage resumes that provide extensive details about every aspect of a candidates career. They would rather prefer a resume that highlights the most important professional accomplishments of the candidates and other aspects relevant to the job vacancy. Things That Make The Candidates Unique When conducting the search for a top-level executive, the recruiters are often provided with resumes of candidates with a sound academic record and best qualifications along with the experience of working with blue-chip companies. However, it the uniqueness of the candidates that the recruiters often focus on while creating a shortlist for their clients. The uniqueness might be in the form of a professional initiative taken by the candidate to bring about a significant workplace change or by the way of their diverse personal skills. Ability To Highlight Value Creation The recruiters from the leading executive search firms also focus on the ability of the candidates to highlight the way in which they might have created value in a previous role. Rather than providing a comprehensive explanation about their responsibilities for the entire duration of the said role, the recruiters give preference to candidates who provide a bullet point summary of the key elements. This depicts their ability to stay market themselves in the right manner which can prove to be a valuable skill. Display Out Of The Box Thinking Recruiters are constantly on the lookout for candidates who display a tendency to think out of the box. This quality can be displayed by the candidates in various ways including, creating a multi-media presentation rather than a regular textual resume to attract recruiters. The candidates with such unique thinking capabilities can prove to be an major asset for any organization especially if they are appointed to fill a top executive position. Their foresight and vision can help the organizations to grow by leaps and bounds even in the most challenging situations. Providing An Outsiders View Of The Role And Organization While this is something that the professionals of executive search India might not come across frequently, candidates the resumes of candidates providing an outsider’s view of the role and the hiring organization are much appreciated. It depicts that the candidates have performed proper research about the organization and are well-aware of what is expected of them if they are selected for the role. This in itself is enough to help the recruiters assess the seriousness of the candidates for the job role and their long term association with the organization. It is not uncommon for people to use the term leadership hiring quite commonly for recruitment drives aimed at finding the right candidates for almost any management role. However, most such recruiters fail to understand the fact that the term is indicative of hiring activities focused specifically on recruiting middle management professionals. In some cases, the term may be used while recruiting top management professionals as well but it is never used while hiring for junior management positions. In fact, executive search consultants are of the opinion that leadership hiring is significantly different from any other type of recruitment.
Understanding The Term Leadership Hiring When it comes to defining leadership hiring, the business community, in general, describes it as a process of hiring professionals, who can be considered responsible enough to take care of the people under their charge. However, the perspective of such professionals may vary from one organization to another. While some organizations may consider seniority to be a key trait for leadership hiring others may give greater preference to their skills and expertise. It is essential for recruitment professionals to understand the unique perspectives of their individual clients with respect to leadership hiring to provide them with the best candidates. Factors That Affect Successful Leadership Hiring There is no best process or strategy to ensure maximum success in leadership hiring. This is mainly due to the fact that different agencies operating in this niche use different strategies to identify, engage, assess and hire the best leadership talent for their clients. However, there are several factors that can affect the success of a leadership hiring process, and the most important of these are listed below.
Being aware of these key factors can help people responsible for leadership recruitment to hire the best people to ensure maximum client satisfaction. Leadership Hiring Best Practices To Be Followed Having gained a comprehensive understanding of what matters the most while hiring for leadership positions is simply not enough. The top executive search firms also need to follow the below listed best practices for leadership hiring.
Executive search has evolved in more than one ways, especially with the integration of technology into the overall search process. This has made it mandatory for the executive search firms in India to come up with unique strategies for recruiting the right talent. However, many times even the best executive search campaigns fail to provide the desired results leaving the recruiters feel frustrated and even desperate. While there might be several reasons that can lead to the failure of an executive search campaign, the three most important of these are discussed in brief below. The awareness of these reasons can help the recruiters with better and more efficient planning of the search campaigns.
Significant Increase In Chaos Related To Candidate Data Most executive search firms today rely extensively on various online sources to gain personal and even professional details of prospective candidates. However, this often leads not only to information overload but also causes much chaos in terms of the data being collected. The probability of candidates having not updated the information about their skills and competence available online is quite high. Hence firms that rely solely on the information accumulated through online resources might actually miss out on some really great candidates due to outdated information collected by them. Moreover, the sheer volume of data offered by the internet often makes the task of filtering relevant information about the candidates quite overwhelming. This naturally increases the risk of missing out suitable candidates by the recruiters due to the onslaught of data and information. Use Of Outdated Executive Search Best Practices In view of the current data explosion faced by recruiters, the executive best practices that were considered highly effective only a few years back, have become completely outdated today. A majority of search firms still use the methods of identifying and developing candidates, which were established long before the integration of internet technology into the recruitment process. Unfortunately, these processes have undergone little or no change irrespective of rapid technology evolution. As a result recruiters are finding it increasingly difficult to co-ordinate these processes with the new methods of sourcing candidates. Consequently, the overall efficiency and success of the recruitment process is compromised and in some cases it leads to total failure in terms of acquiring the best candidates. Failure To Invest In Proper Expertise One of the biggest causes of the failure of even the best executive search campaigns is the lack of ample expertise in terms of handling big data. In fact only a handful of top executive search firms in India understand the importance of investing in professionals experts capable of managing and using big data in the most effective manner. Given the huge volumes of data and information that these firms have to analyse and refine on a daily basis, the lack of such professionals in their workforce can prove extremely detrimental for the success of recruitment campaigns. These professionals can ensure that the most relevant information is identified and extracted to maximize the reach of the recruiters to the right candidates. The absence of such professionals in the recruitment teams only leads to complications of matters for the untrained professionals. Hiring The Right Talent Is Holds Much Significance As Competent Employees And Executives Form The Backbone Of A Successful Organization. Wrong Hiring Decision Can Cost A Company Not Only In Terms Of Reduced Growth Rate But Also Damage Its Market Goodwill. So, While It Is Important For The Executive Search Firms To Minimize The Duration Of The Recruitment Process, They Also Need To Devise Methods To Eliminate The Wrong Candidates. Discussed Below Are Five Signs That Such Firms Should Look Out For To Identify Non-Viable Candidates Early On In The Recruitment Process.
Being Fixated On Monetary Benefits While Discussing Compensation Issues Is A Natural Tendency For Prospective Candidates Looking To Take Up Executive Positions. However, The Fixation Of The Candidates Only On This Aspect, While Ignoring Other Motivating Factors Such As The Pursuit Of Excellence, Leadership And Creating Real Value Should Be Considered As A Warning Sign By The Executive Recruiters. This Is Because Candidates Obsessed With Money Alone Are Least Likely To Possess The Ability To Lead And Inspire Their Teams And Help Them Attain Great Heights. Answering Questions In A Vague Manner It Is Understandable When Prospective Candidates Make Efforts To Present Themselves In The Best Manner. However, This Does Not Justify Their Providing Misleading Or Even Intentionally Vague Answers To Questions. Such Behaviour Is Often Indicative Of The Fact That The Candidates Might Be Trying To Hide Some Critical Information Or That They May Lack The Ability To Own Up To Truths That Might Prevent Them From Getting Hired. Such Candidates Generally Have Flawed Values And Cannot Be Expected To Work In An Honest And Transparent Manner. Inability To Keep Their Promises Many Times, It Might Be Essential For The Recruitment Teams To Seek Additional Documentation From Prospective Candidates. However, If The Candidates Fail To Provide The Requested Documents Within The Set Timeframe Without Any Valid Reason For The Delay, Then It Must Be Taken As A Warning Sign. Such Behaviour Might Be Indicative Of The Lack Of Interest Of The Candidate In Taking Up The Position They Are Being Interviewed For. Sudden Breakdown Of Communication A Sudden Breakdown Of Communication On The Part Of The Candidates Is Surely Something That The Top Executive Search Firms Need To Take Quite Seriously. The Failure Of The Candidates To Respond To Calls, E-Mails Or Other Forms Of Communication Might Be Indicative Of The Fact That The Candidates Are No Longer Interested In The Job Post. It Is In Fact, Advisable For The Recruiters To Ask The Candidates About Whether They Are Being Pursued By Other Employers At The Very Start Of The Hiring Process To Get A Clearer Picture. Being Too Proud Or Arrogant While It Is A Good Thing For Candidates To Have A Positive Approach And A Good Sense Of Self-Achievement, Being Arrogant And Proud Is Definitely Not A Desired Skill. The Candidates, Who Believe Themselves To Be Perfect And Lacking Any Weaknesses, Are Generally Not Capable Of Working With Their Team Members In A Cordial Manner. Such Candidates Generally Brew Discord Within The Workforce And Fail To Establish Themselves As Capable And Forthright Leaders, Who Are As Humane As Their Peers. One of the key responsibilities of executive search firm is to ensure that they help their clients choose the most suitable candidates for various job positions. However, this is often not as easy as it seems and many times the recruiters end up making bad hires that prove costly for their clients in more than one ways. Most experts suggest that the best solution for this problem is to invest professionals capable of performing the executive search India in a more intelligent and effective manner. Using smarter and unique recruitment strategies helps the search firm to gain a serious competitive advantage in terms of great talent acquisition. Some key tips that can be utilized by the search firms in this respect are discussed in brief as follows.
Pursue Only The Best Candidates It is essential for the search firms to devise a method for identifying only the best candidates for specific job positions. Not being aware of the best candidates available in a specific niche minimizes the chances of the recruiters for making a great hire. The first step in this direction is to filter data that can help the recruiters distinguish top performers from average ones. The recruiters need to do some thorough research to get hold of this data that can prove vital in ensuring great hires. Perform Pre-Reference Checks For Candidates Pre-referencing the candidate is an essential step in the process of short- listing top talent. Performing pre-reference checks should not be confused with verifying the formal references offered by the candidate. Rather it involves performing discreet checks on the candidates through back channels to establish whether or not they really are top performers. Verifying the competence of the candidates from at least three independent and discreet sources is advisable for selecting the best candidates. Keep Out An Eye For True Grit In order to build a team of the most competent professionals, it is important for the search firms to keep an eye for candidates that have an intrinsic sense of motivation and a true grit. They should focus on finding candidates with an extremely deep sense of persistence and determination, which makes it possible for them to handle even the most difficult tasks. The recruiters should analyze the achievements of the prospective candidates thoroughly to get a clear idea of their level of grit. Never Set Too Much Score By High IQ’s And GPA’s It has been proved umpteen numbers of times that high IQ levels or even high GPA’s of candidates do not make them quantifiable as successful hires. This is especially true in case of leadership hiring, where the recruiters need to focus on skills and traits essential for motivating a team. When it comes to efficient management of the workforce and building strong teams, high marks and impressive degrees cannot prove to be of much help to the prospective candidates. For such situations, it is the inherent behaviour and attitude of the candidates that the recruiters need to focus on. Conducting Interviews In A Mindful Way Interviewing the candidates is one of the most effective ways of establishing their suitability and competence for a specific job post. However, in order to recruit top talent, it is essential for the executive search firms to conduct truly mindful interviews. This essentially means that the interviewers should not only ask the right questions but should also have the ability to truly listen to what the candidates are saying. This will help them to learn about the values, ambitions and goals of the candidates and how these align with the roles and responsibilities they are being considered for. It is also important for the recruiters to ask follow up questions and look for any discrepancies with respect to the earlier responses of candidates. |
AuthorCornerstone India is a leading player in CXO Search, Board Search for Independent Directors and Leadership Advisory services. Archives
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