The Recruiting Blog of RG Search

Last year, I was contacted by the VP of R&D of a medical device company who was growing his team and was looking for recruiting assistance.  After discussions and due diligence, he decided to work with us on an exclusive basis.

The result? The client company couldn’t be happier.  Over the course of several months, we’ve recruited and hired on several A-player candidates, who then recruited other top performing former colleagues, and I’m still recruiting for them.

I’ve written about exclusive recruiting agreements in the past – this is where a company who has a hiring need agrees to work with one recruiter exclusively for one or multiple searches.  This can be either through retaining the recruiter, or working with one recruiter or recruiting firm for a set period of time on a contingency basis (contingency means that the client pays only if the recruiting firm finds the candidate who is hired).  

In my experience and in the example above, exclusive recruiting agreements, when done right, work exceptionally well – and in most cases, work significantly better than working with several recruiters on searches.

Can you afford to work with only one recruiter?

Some hiring managers would never consider working with just one recruiter or search firm for their recruiting needs…especially for their hard to fill positions / searches.  I understand the logic, but I respectfully disagree and would submit that in order to find the A-player, especially for difficult searches, you have a much better chance when working with just one search firm.

The logic for wanting to use multiple recruiters on a search is that by casting more "nets", you'll catch more "fish". The flaw with this approach is that a hiring manager might ultimately see more candidates for their searches, but most of these candidates will likely be unqualified or lower performers.  The hiring manager will also likely spend a significant amount of time sorting through unqualified resumes and interviewing unqualified candidates.

The other problem with this approach is that recruiters want to focus their time and efforts on searches where they’ll be rewarded for successfully delivering the A-player.  Chances for success are significantly less when they have a low level of commitment from their client company and are competing against several other recruiters for the same role (and recruiters do know).  This means that a client may have several recruiters working on their searches, but they may stop receiving new candidate submissions after a short time from those recruiters as they move onto other searches.

Can you trust just one recruiter to deliver the A-player, hard to find talent for a role? 

I’m glad you asked.  The answer: absolutely.  BUT - it takes spending the time and effort up front to find the right recruiter, and ensuring that they know exactly what you’re looking for.   Good recruiters look for client relationships where they are a trusted partner – and knowing that a hiring manager has put their trust exclusively in the recruiter for their search or searches fosters a committed, consultative relationship and a very high sense of urgency for the recruiter to find the right person as quickly as possible.  This ultimately results in an effective recruiting strategy and a hiring manager who is thrilled with their team of top performers.

Here are some recruiting case study examples that show just how well good recruiting strategies put in action can work.  Want a client's perspective?  See what hiring managers have to say.

If you're a hiring manager and have ever needed hard-to-find talent, chances are you have worked with a recruiter, and if you have -- I sincerely hope it has been a good experience.

I've heard anecdotes from my clients about experiences with recruiters ranging from stellar to disastrous. If you are one of the unfortunate people to have had a bad experience, or you just want to be proactive and ensure your recruiting success, well, this post is for you.

Working with a headhunter is critical when you're searching for hard-to-find talent. A good headhunter can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to find and hire the right person. They should also be able to help you identify who is (and who isn't) the A-player, with a thorough and rigorous interviewing and reference checking process.

Today we'll talk about tips for working with a headhunter to help you find the best talent for your organization in the least amount of time.

Tip #1: Do Your Due Diligence When Choosing a Recruiter

Ask your network for recommendations. Look for recruiters who know your industry and have a successful track record – and also have a strong cadre of client references who you can contact. Partnering with a recruiter who won't quit until he/she successfully completes your search is imperative. 

Tip #2: Offer Your Recruiter a Time-Bound "Exclusive"

If possible, consider working with one recruiter exclusively for a certain amount of time – say, six weeks. At the end of this time period, if you're not satisfied with his/her performance on the search, you can engage another recruiter.  Another option worth considering is a retained search where you retain their recruiting services by a retainer, such as 1/3 of the estimated search fee up front, another 1/3 upon a milestone, and the last 1/3 upon completion of the search.

Giving your search to a large number of recruiters is typically not a good idea. As with anyone, recruiters don't like wasting their time.  They want to maximize their chances of a happy client, successful outcome and get compensated for the work they do. When a recruiter gets a search on which several others are working, they're most likely not going to spend much time or effort hunting for candidates – the odds of being successful are just too low... which brings us to tip #3.

Tip #3: Choose a Hunter

Make sure your recruiter is a hunter. When you set your sights on finding the A-player, you want a recruiter who is truly going to hunt for “passive candidates”. Passive candidates are those aren't actively looking and typically don't have their resumes posted – but are open to hearing about new opportunities that might be better than their current role.

Much of my recruiting focus is in the medical devices and diagnostics industry – where specialized expertise and talent is in extremely high demand. Let's say you need an R&D Engineering Manager with heavy Class II medical device experience in Austin. The pool of qualified candidates at this level is relatively small, and the number of A-players (top 10% of performers in this pool) is even smaller. To attract the A-player, you need a recruiter who will actively work to find and recruit them.  Actively recruiting means sourcing (or identifying names of potential candidates through all means available), approaching candidates, and being able to generate interest in the opportunity by presenting a compelling value proposition - and in a talent market that is heating up like it is, this is critical for your success in winning the war for talent.

I hope that this provides you some insight on which you can begin acting immediately.  In our next installment, I'll go into more details on what to look for in a recruiter and how to ensure your recruiting and hiring success. 

A friend of mine got invited to Tiger Jam, a Tiger Woods Foundation fundraiser held in Las Vegas.  He told me about getting to meet some celebrities and even sitting down with Tiger to talk golf and life.  Then he told me something that struck me as odd.  As he was passing through the casino one day, he saw Dr. J playing the nickel slots.  My friend had to take do a double-take and walk back to make sure it was him.

Dr. J (one of the all-time great NBA/ABA basketball players, winner of 3 championships, 4 MVP awards, 3 scoring titles,  and famous for the Baseline Reverse Layup in the 1980 NBA Finals against the Lakers) playing the nickel slots...it was an unusual place to see him.

My friend's story has stuck with me, because in many ways, hiring managers deal with their own version of Dr. J playing the nickel slots when interviewing potential candidates.  These candidates come to you with stellar backgrounds, having worked at well-regarded companies with a  solid track record of producing results, but you sense something that is just not right.  Maybe it was a way the candidate answered a question or how they didn't elaborate fully on their motivation for leaving a company.

Hiring managers....in the same way my friend had to do a double-take, you must also dig deeper to get to the truth in an interview.  It means asking tougher, direct interview questions that require candidates to explain in a more detailed level - the questions that allow you to get to truth so that you can make an informed assessment of the candidate and their fit for your organization.

In our experience recruiting, we have found that the ability to ask tough questions is one of the best indicators of a hiring manager's success in assessing talent.  It’s a simple concept...but it takes practice and a willingness to do the uncomfortable.

In this series, we're discussing key aspects of building an effective recruiting process that can give your organization a sustained competitive advantage.  For part two, we'll focus on a few fundamental philosophies and mindsets that are critical to your success in recruiting.  

Commit to Hiring the Best Talent and Fit

We use the term “A-player” to define the best.  In the book “Topgrading”, Dr. Bradford Smart defines an A-player as a candidate in the top 10% of available candidates for a given role, considering all factors...including the responsibilities, company, compensation, location, etc.  
recruiting success

After conducting several surveys which included respondents including companies such as Boeing and Rockwell among dozens of others,  he concluded that the average cost of a mid-level manager “mis-hire” is 15 times annual base salary on average, and the cost increases the longer the person is in the role.  To quantify: a mis-hire with a $100K annual base salary costs the company $1.5MM!  This sounds outrageous, and it is – but true. 

Consider all of the potential cost impacts that a senior level manager can have: driving the top performers to leave the organization due to discontentment with leadership; lower levels of productivity, innovation and quality; a greater potential for costly mistakes, such as a warning letter or worse; not to mention the direct costs of recruiting, compensation and severance. 

Sadly, in this situation, your best case scenario is that a bad hire only performs below your expectations, stays under the radar and doesn’t produce the results expected.  The worst case scenario is all too often much more damaging to an organization. 

On the other side of the spectrum, when you commit to hiring the best, it not only brings you immediate measurable results, it also creates a winning culture that improves the quality of candidates attracted to your organization.  Top performers attract other top performers in several ways – through their network, through the fostering of a company brand known for its success and high standards of talent, as well as by having an organization full of managers who can more effectively identify and manage the top performing candidates. 

Hiring the best must be a company-wide commitment, and that means getting buy-in from your executive team, all levels of managers, individual contributors, human resources and search firms.  This needs to be more than them just agreeing on the principle, but should result in taking the steps necessary to implement a robust process that produces results. 

It is not easy and takes significant effort to begin with – but it will benefit you, your career and your company more than you can imagine. 

Develop a Robust Recruiting Process
The recruiting process is a funnel - you want to ensure that you have the largest possible pool of candidates going into the top of the funnel from which to select the best candidates, with an ultimate result of selecting the best from the group, as well as having them choose to join your organization.   

Before you start the recruiting process, you should know and document in detail exactly what the role is – What are your expectations?  What are the outcomes and accomplishments that you expect this person to achieve in the first 6 months?  1 year?  2 years?  What behavioral and technical competencies does this person need to possess in order to be successful in this role? 

A successful recruiting process includes casting a broad yet targeted net, having a rigorous screening and interviewing process, and selling candidates on the company and opportunity throughout the entire process – especially after they start.  Hiring decisions are all too often taken too lightly, with the resulting negative consequences.

Constantly Assess the State of Your Organization
Knowing your organization’s overall mission, the skills critical to get you there, as well as the current makeup of your group is fundamental to building and developing the team that can best deliver on that mission.  This may seem like common sense, and it is – but formally identifying and tracking this is critical for succession planning as well as adapting your organization to an evolving mission.

You should always be evaluating the direction of your organization and what you expect your hiring needs to be in six months or a year out.  Identifying competency gaps or those lacking depth in your organization should be a part of your recruiting plan, making those competencies that you will want to seek in new hires.  Succession planning is another key area that is integral to this process – this is not just the problem for global multinationals either.  Just like Warren Buffett or Steve Jobs worry about who will replace them, you should be honestly asking the same hard questions to yourself, especially for your star performers today -- the one’s that you cringe when you think about having to replace them. 

Always Be Recruiting, Constantly Build Your Talent “Bench”
Budgets and organizational factors can shut down your ability to hire from time to time – but that should never stop you from developing and cultivating relationships with candidates that you’d like to hire at some point.  As the economy improves, it is more likely that people from within your organization are going to be looking to make a move and leave.  If and when that does happen, it is imperative that you jump start the recruiting process and shorten the time it takes you to backfill or even grow as the market expands. 

Recruiting can be one of the more frustrating aspects of leading your organization – but it is something that can be developed into a sustained advantage if you know the “how” and the “where”. 

In my next post, I will discuss sourcing - how and where to find the A-players.