Proven Executive Recruitment Strategies For High-Quality Talent Acquisition

Executive recruitment strategies mean the difference between success and failure for many organizations. As businesses look to cut costs, they are depending on their HR departments to step up their recruiting efforts instead of outsourcing to executive recruiters. Good organizations welcome their HR executives as key strategists and as top management team members.

Recruiters should expect candidates to earn the job, rather than assuming that they have to persuade them to take the job. If the recruiting and screening processes are effective, candidates will work to convince recruiters that they are qualified for the position. Recruiters must understand the candidate's motivation in order to position the job as a growth opportunity.

Good recruiters are undeterred by the word "no". Often, candidates say "no" to a position based on superficial information such as title, location and compensation. Recruiters should give candidates plenty of information about the opportunity but should remain in the position of deciding whether they want the candidate. The candidate should not be deciding whether he or she wants the job.

Recruiters should depart from the traditional job description. Jobs are more than bulleted lists of competencies and job descriptions. In order to recruit successfully, recruiters have to see the "real job" and understand the kind of candidate who can do the job. By taking time to truly understand requirements, recruiters will make fewer hiring mistakes and will get more acceptance when offers are extended.

Good recruiters will sell the job in terms of the quality of the opportunity, not the compensation. Good leaders are looking for fair compensation, but they also want to look for an opportunity to lead effectively. The short-term stretch and long-term growth aspects of the job, then, are crucial talking points in any discussion with an executive.

Many recruiters have success with consumer-based advertising. Some executives are looking for something different, first on search engines and then on specific company websites, so targeted advertising may persuade a few candidates. Cold calling, however, should be limited to people who have been referred by at least two or three trusted sources. Then, from these people, recruiters should ask for two to three additional referrals to keep their talent network growing.

Sometimes, recruiters forget to shop for talent internally. Internal talent will save money on costly external recruiting and will guarantee a good fit with company culture. If companies have high expectations and are constantly working to give employees opportunities to learn and grow, then they will not have to look externally for talent. Instead of cutting back on these initiatives, top companies continue investing in training and relocation, even in difficult economic times.

The best talent on the market will not be attracted to a company that is not great. Also, candidates at the executive level will dismiss a second-rate recruiter. The best recruits will expect companies to have universally high expectations, good communication within the company and initiatives for developing their employees. For top-level executives who can afford to be selective, companies have to adjust their executive recruitment strategies, molding themselves to the way that top people capitalize on opportunities.