Who can conduct executive recruitment?
When a company has a need for an executive recruitment, the first step is to decide who will carry out the future executive recruitment project. In a large company, there is usually an HR department with recruiters, HR Business Partners (HRBPs) and other internal HR professionals. For such a business, there are 3 options when starting an executive search project:
1.Internal search for managers
If the company has a sufficiently large HR department with dedicated recruitment specialists, it is possible to start an executive recruitment project using internal resources. The main potential problem to be anticipated is the lack of experience in managing executive recruitment projects. Typically, the internal HR department does not have a steady workload of executive searches, and therefore the experience of the HR professionals working there specifically in the management of top-level executive searches is also limited. In this case, they are already learning during the executive search process, which is extremely risky as it can lead to a loss of talent:
The dynamics of the executive search project – the project may run much slower.
Quality – without specific experience in executive recruitment, it is difficult to ensure the quality of the process.
Time management – suddenly having an additional large strategic task, internal HR specialists have to sacrifice other tasks for a new high-volume executive recruitment project.
2.Searching for external resource managers
This is probably the most popular way of selecting executives – choosing an executive recruitment company for project management. Although this method may be more expensive at first sight, the benefits are significant: high quality, guarantees, faster selection process, reliable certified testing, etc. It should also be taken into account that, in a process with a trusted partner, you can also count on ongoing advice during the selection process, which can also lead to savings, e.g. if the advice provided during the negotiation process helps to reach an agreement on a lower salary with the same candidate, etc.
3.Hybrid model of executive recruitment
If the company’s internal HR team wants to get involved but does not have enough experience in executive search, it is worth considering a hybrid working model. This model means that the executive recruitment is carried out by the recruitment firm, but with the active involvement of the internal HR department in terms of candidate requirements, long-listing, testing, etc. Such a process certainly provides a lot of additional knowledge to the internal HR department and helps the executive search firm to get answers to questions from the client side quickly.
The most popular selection methods for finding top-level executives are external and hybrid. Both of these methods ensure the highest quality and give the employer the possibility to benefit from a guarantee, should the need arise. The executive recruitment method, which uses a partner but does not involve the HR department, is more suitable for smaller businesses or where the selection of a manager is so confidential that not even the HR department is aware of it.
