Three reasons to engage an executive search firm in 2021

Many organisations start out with their managing director or another non-HR executive handling the human resources role, but at a certain point an HR professional will be necessary to handle most issues – from hiring, firing and leave management, to training, discipline, policy development or enforcement, and company benefits.

There is, however, one aspect of “hiring” that should ideally be directed to an outside (i.e. outsourced) team, and that is the matter of hiring your C-suite candidates.

While you may argue that your in-house HR professional and/or department can undertake such a search themselves, it can be tricky for them to find the talent you need as C-suite individuals tend not to send out CVs or make themselves available to the ordinary market.

An executive search firm is an agency with whom you can effectively team up to effectively locate the talent that your company needs, as they are there to dedicate their time, contacts and expertise towards finding the type of leaders who are usually so busy and engaged, they are not even considering a career move.

As we wind down from the tough year just been, here’s some food for thought on the hiring of your C-suite individuals in 2021.

• Networking clout

As mentioned above, the real senior talent you’re seeking – to make a significant difference to your company’s innovation, productivity and bottom line – is not likely to be registered on a job site. But an experienced and reputable executive search firm will have their own unique pool of talent to tap into, and within which to ferry enquiries, and their feelers should ideally produce a small group of individuals just perfect for your needs.

• Error avoidance

If your in-house HR team makes a mistake regarding salary structures or job expectations, you could lose the very candidate you most hoped to gain. Once again, an executive search firm with significant years of experience in the niche will be able to negotiate expertly, advise on market-related remuneration, and evaluate your own expectations before these are transferred on to the ideal candidates/s. Your in-house team is unlikely to have the time or energy for a similar level of dedication.

• Confidential approach

A top candidate is more likely to go for the privacy that an executive search firm can offer them, within the hiring process, over the exposure of being approached by an in-house HR professional. No matter how skilled and astute your in-house team, they are unlikely to be able to converse about the requirements of the position at hand on the level of an executive search team; or to be able to provide the degree of discretion required to handle the highly sensitive information involved. This applies particularly when a replacement is being sought, with some urgency, for an existing C-suite executive, or a candidate from an industry competitor is going to be approached.

In conclusion, a executive search partner will assist you all along the journey – from selection and approach, to evaluation, reference checking and information sourcing – of bringing in that hotshot C-suite individual who is likely to prove transformative to your company performance.

And they’ll do so without taking away from the day-to-day workload that your in-house HR team must tackle. Just leave your senior staff hiring to the specialists.