The best way to recruit the Right Candidate?
In my twenty years in the recruitment industry there have been certain practices that have evolved but many that have remained unchanged. One thing is for certain is that the Right Person for the available position is a requirement that is absolutely non-negotiable. How this Right Person is sourced, attracted and contracted to accepting a career in the Right Position is achieved through various channels. These channels differ from organisation to organisation and can vacillate from in-source to out-source to co-source. What I would like to share, in my opinion, are the pros & cons of all three which may assist organisations in sourcing their Talent.
IN-SOURCING
As the economic pinch rapidity started becoming an economic GRIP many organisations started investigating ways to reduce their respective costs to deliver. Linked to this the ever-increasing war for Talent resulting in mid-tier to executive skills being poached by competitors on an ongoing basis. Thus instead of making recruitment agencies richer, they would in turn poach the top recruitment consultant to perform this function in-house.
The Pros…
This certainly reduces the cost of the placement fees initially as the consultant joins the organisation and brings along with them their recruitment knowledge and in some instances their candidate base that may have accumulated.
The Cons…
Over time their objectivity diminishes as a result of working in the organisation’s culture every day. Their access to potential candidates becomes reduced to overused career portals or the independent organisations career page on their website. Access to passive job seekers evaporates and the organisation once again finds itself in the need to approach external recruitment partners.
OUTSOURCING
The intention is to create efficiencies for the organization by outsourcing the sourcing, screening and matching to an external party. The expectation is that this with route is contribution in terms of reduced recruitment costs, scalability, reduced time to hire and perhaps a few more anticipations.
The Pros…
When it is set up correctly the above expectations can be realized. It however does require true trust in relinquishing the entire process and management thereof to the external partner. This has to be a long-term, strategic decision as many successive levers such as performance, development and productivity are connected to the sourcing and onboarding of the Right Talent.
The Cons…
Unless the outsourced partner has a clear understanding of the organisation’s culture and strategy, it can often be a hit and miss with matching the Right Person. This is also not a “quick fix” and should not be procured as one. Such a solution needs to work in tandem with the HR department – not replace it.
CO-SOURCING
This is a model that adopts the best of both worlds. It allows for organisation’s recruitment teams to be supported by the reach and expertise of reputable Search and Recruitment companies.
Whilst the internal recruitment team works on developing a Talent pipeline from within the organisation, they can focus on succession planning from the most junior levels upwards. The external recruitment partner can focus on identifying the future talent and skill required to take the organisation to the next level. This category of Talent is generally sourced through the robust candidate networks of credible Search and Recruitment companies as they are viewed as job aggregators.
A partnership is essential to bring about not only a quick solution but also an ongoing strategic outcome to ensure the Right Pipeline of the Right Talent is built to ensure that any organisation can always be equipped with the Right People to achieve business objectives and the linked commercial outcomes
Written by: Desire McDonald
Group Business Development Director at Mindcor Executive Search and Consulting