According to executive recruiter Bill Graves, writing for ERE.net, many companies approach the process of deciding whether to use an executive search firm "backwards." Since internal recruiters feel that it's their responsibility to save their companies money, they often put off the decision to hire a search firm until after all the company's internal resources have been exhausted and it becomes clear that they are not capable of finding a candidate on their own. However, as Graves points out, this often ends up losing the company money overall by fruitlessly occupying HR employees' time.
Instead, it's important to think about whether your company should consider engaging an executive search firm early in the recruiting process. There are a few key questions to ask in order to determine the best solution for your company.
One is whether your internal staff has the connections, the passion and most importantly, the time to successfully carry out an executive search. If your HR employees are well-connected in your industry and have a lot of time to devote to recruiting, you may be able to go it alone. However, if they lack the right social networks and resources to guarantee that they will be able to succeed in an executive search, turning to an executive search firm ahead of time will help avoid wasted effort.
Another question to ask is how much you will be contributing to your company's bottom line by hiring this new executive. If there are significant gains to be made, the cost of hiring an executive search firm will pale in comparison.
Finding people is easy, but finding the RIGHT people is not. YES Partners helps companies FIND the right people – for all company functions, across many industries and globally.
