Posted: Thu 08 Jan 2009
In the specialist recruitment world, we have all been concentrating on adapting our business strategies for the downturn with our clients. It’s been too easy to forget we also need new strategies and approaches for managing our candidate customers. It is still difficult to find the right candidates for key positions with our clients. Many less experienced consultants may assume that as unemployment and response to adverts is rising, that the need for headhunting candidates is diminishing. Not so – in fact never is it more important to use headhunting skills appropriately as part of the operational approach to the success of your desk, whether on a contingency or retained basis. Good candidates are staying put and are reluctant to move from current positions. However, they will talk about opportunities that are out there partly because they want a back-up plan if anything happens to the organisation they are in, and partly because they want to increase their earnings as they are in high demand.
Core competencies in headhunting techniques still apply and in fact it is easier to make the approach call now than in a buoyant market place as all potential candidates are willing to listen.
So, the challenge for consultants who use headhunting techniques is two fold. Firstly, finding good candidates who are willing to do more than just talk about making a move and are actually willing to follow through. Secondly, managing those candidates who do make a move, through the process.
Deal breakers such as cold feet and counter offers will be rife and consultants must be able to tightly manage the recruitment process step by step to the final result. This means correctly managing the candidate process through the start date and beyond the probationary period.
When using the continuously growing candidate pool to find the candidates you are looking for, it is absolute essential that you are rigorously consistent in your qualification process. Much time can be wasted by working with candidates who are not quite right and therefore rejected by the client further down the process.
It’s vital that you don’t see your candidates as a second priority customer, they are equally important as your clients in terms of offering them an outstanding customer service. In this market, it is important to have a consistently high quality of service standards for candidates regardless of whether or not you place them. Sometimes it is best to be honest with candidates and if you can’t help them then refer them to someone who can. If you are finding and attracting the best candidates, everyone else will be looking for them too. It’s therefore essential that you offer an exemplary service, otherwise, as candidates have many choices, they will go to someone else who will.
Time management and prioritisation need to be re-addressed on your desk as there will be a demand for more candidate interaction. For example, you will get a higher response to your online or hardcopy ads and therefore this will take longer to filter through to those you pre-select and then qualify. Secondly, you will get more candidates contacting you for progress updates as they are keen to move the process along to finding their next position. You will need to be disciplined and planned in how you use your time so you can still be proactive in your candidate searches as well as being reactive in looking after your candidate customers. Of course, it is essential to ensure you have plenty of time for business development with clients in an ever increasingly competitive market place. The consultant with the right candidates for the clients’ positions will be the consultant that closes the deals.