How do you define a hard-to-fill role in executive search?

Identifying a role as hard to fill is an important step in the executive search process, as it informs the search strategy and recruitment efforts. It often involves a comprehensive approach, not just LinkedIn! This will include targeted networking, leveraging industry relationships, and employing creative recruitment methods to identify and attract the right candidates.

I've found that speaking to all the decision-makers and not just HR is key. The job description is the starting point but the final decision is usually based on culture fit.

Definition of the role goes far beyond the JD. Candidly, many JDs become a dry HR formality instead of providing a snapshot into an organization's culture, values and growth plan. By engaging with executive teams pre-search to co-formulate a clear vision of the journey that the business needs to go on to achieve the desired future state you can dramatically decrease fill time and improve length of tenure for new executive hires. In my experience, best fit candidates aren't put off by challenges but are often attracted by the opportunity to have a tangible impact on the desired results.

To source candidates effectively, it's crucial to define the job role clearly, considering skills, qualifications, responsibilities, and culture fit. Beyond the traditional job description, involving all decision-makers is vital, as culture fit often decides the final choice. Start by outlining key objectives for the candidate to achieve in 2-3 years. This guides the selection of relevant skills and experience, avoiding unnecessary limitations. Using a competency dictionary helps identify the top 3-5 leadership skills supporting these objectives.

We advise to start by defining the key objectives the candidate has to accomplish in 2-3 years to be considered super successful. That helps to be super specific with the required skills and experience that's relevant for the job and helps to avoid listing irrelevant things that would limit the candidate pool unnecessarily. Finally, we advise using a competency dictionary to select top3-5 leadership skills that would support achieving those objectives.

LinkedIn is without a doubt an incredibly useful and potent tool when it comes to recruiting. It can really help to connect you with some of the very best talent available. However, there are many other reliable and effective channels to identify and engage highly accomplished individuals who may not necessarily market themselves on LinkedIn. For example, reviewing attendees of relevant conferences and events can really lead a head-hunter in the direction of some of the best and most progressive-thinking potential candidates out there. In short, be creative with the 'search' part of the process and you will definitely maximise your chances of identifying and engaging with the people your client expects to see on the short-list.

Crunchbase is an fantastic untapped resource when it comes to executive staffing research - especially for CEO searches where you can target previous acquisition history within a CEO's portfolio.

There is nothing more challenging and exciting for a recruiter than "hard-to-fill roles". The best candidates are there to be found, and it is up to us to discover the best way to find them. There are so many in LinkedIn (of course) but sometimes they are not as active as they should be as they are not looking for opportunities. So you have to be ready to dig into your network and ask for referrals, check on groups of professionals. Dont miss a good search on google, congress speakers, AI, Facebook, or Instagram may help, but the most important part of it is to remember that you only have 1 chance to impress this candidate when you ring them. So be ready for a good fight and jump into it! Have a nice week everybody. L

For those working in an internal executive recruiting function, understanding the candidate persona (through candidate journey mapping) for your most common executive roles can help your team make better decisions about how sourcing channels are utilized. For example, you may learn that the Managing Partner talent pool for your company is best engaged through working through a 2nd degree connection. Or for a Principal consultant, they pay more attention to job postings in XYZ sites than LinkedIn InMails.

Use multiple channels to find such people Some suggestions that worked for me are: 1- boolean searches 2- expos and events 3- xray competitors and client's contacts 4- Google maps 5- insta searches 6- buddy referrals 7- resume books from universities

Building trust and relationships with executive candidates is an art that requires a blend of empathy, active listening, and personalization. Start by understanding the candidate's needs, wants, and aspirations, acting as a career consultant rather than a transactional recruiter. Offer personalized information tailored to their interests and expertise. By demonstrating genuine care and commitment to their professional growth, recruiters forge strong connections and establish credibility with executive candidates.

One of the most important things a Search Consultant must do is build relationships and trust with their clients. You must work to create a mantra of trust between you, the brand you represent, and your team colleagues, with your clients or potential clients. Credibility is everything in this business, and probably the only thing that will be with you forever. Let your clients know your process, speak clearly and with real facts, and offer what you can do. Express your opinion, and no matter what, leave your recruitment suit at home and dress your consultant clothes proudly. We're here to help, we're here to succeed. We're here to find the best and unique profiles for our clients, but also to find the perfect home for our candidates.

Estabelecer uma conex?o genuína com potenciais candidatos pode ser o diferencial na busca por talentos difíceis de encontrar. Construir confian?a através de comunica??o aberta e transparente ajuda a atrair e manter o interesse dos candidatos ao longo do processo.

Candidate trust is built with the consistent demonstration - often over years - of empathy for a candidates' wider situation, technical understanding of their role, being able to clearly show the path that other executive leaders have trodden to reach the candidates' aspiration point and the ability to deliver difficult to hear feedback.

Your interview teams need to bring the same mentality and behaviors into the process to support maturing trust throughout a candidate's journey with your company.

Get creative! Asking for an off-cycle review in 6 months is a way to bridge potential compensation shortfalls. Negotiating a stock grant that's structured as a cliff vest instead of cash sign-on bonus helps the client's budget and employee retention, but appeases the candidate financial needs. If there's no employment contract, craft language from the company's severance policy and weave it into an offer letter. Clients can ask the candidate for a philanthropic cause that they want to champion inside the company which both indicates culture, but engages the candidate on a more personal level.

In my experience to fill tricky roles you have to look at it as a marketing exercise with Talent as a consumer. You then want to pull together a compelling proposition that makes sense to your target markets head, heart and wallet.

If you've built a solid relationship with both your candidate and your client, you'll be able to see where the opportunities for negotiation exist. Flexibility is fluid these days as some organizations are going back to the office and others are remaining remote. You hopefully established expectations on both sides at the beginning of the search, but if you know the commute is challenging, then ask for one week a month that is fully remote. The true difference on average is only 2 to 3 days a month, but the positive emotional and psychological aspects of "one week a month fully remote" carry weight.

A natureza complexa dessas posi??es muitas vezes exige uma abordagem personalizada, reconhecendo as necessidades individuais dos executivos em potencial. Isso pode envolver a cria??o de pacotes de remunera??o competitivos e personalizados, levando em considera??o n?o apenas o salário, mas também benefícios, b?nus e outras formas de reconhecimento. Essa abordagem proativa n?o apenas torna a oferta mais atrativa, mas também reflete a compreens?o da empresa em rela??o às demandas e expectativas específicas associadas às fun??es executivas desafiadoras.

Highlight the impact of the role. Candidates want to feel like their work is making a difference. When you're describing the role, be sure to highlight the impact it will have on the company, the team, and the customers. This will show candidates that their work will be meaningful and that they will be making a difference.

Finalmente, para recrutar candidatos para fun??es difíceis de preencher, é fundamental ser proativo e criativo. Antecipe os desafios e obstáculos que podem surgir e tenha solu??es e alternativas preparadas. Monitore constantemente as tendências do mercado, o banco de talentos e a concorrência. Adapte sua estratégia e táticas de sourcing de acordo com as circunstancias e o feedback recebido. Além disso, pense fora da caixa e experimente novas maneiras de alcan?ar e engajar os candidatos. Utilize gamifica??o, questionários, desafios ou concursos para despertar seu interesse e curiosidade. Empregue narrativa, humor ou emo??o para capturar sua aten??o e estabelecer uma conex?o.

The old-school ways can still be the best way of finding those people who aren't on LinkedIn. Targeted industry events & awards ceremonies are an excellent way to grow your referral network to enable you to reach those hard-to-reach people. When it comes to marketing roles via adverts or outreach, companies often make the mistake of talking about themselves too much "We're an award-winning, forward-thinking business" etc. Focus on the needs of the candidate, what's in it for them? What is your value proposition? What makes your role different from what they are doing at the moment?

Para preencher cargos difíceis, é necessário ser proativo e pensar fora da caixa. Isso pode incluir a busca de talentos em setores diferentes, mas com habilidades transferíveis, ou a considera??o de candidatos que, com o treinamento certo, poderiam evoluir rapidamente na fun??o.

Companies and organizations leverage search firms for the hard-to-fill roles. If every role was easy, there'd be no need for us! Search firms should constantly be on the lookout for talent. I've recruited people at the supermarket and my kid's sporting events. Wherever you interact with people, you have the chance to augment your network. With the exception of deep tech, every role has someone doing that role today. Research on industry, company, and individual levels Who are the thought leaders in that space? Is it an author? Read the reviews on their website and locate the people who wrote them. Curious learners who are generous with their time and knowledge sharing make great potential candidates!

A hard-to-fill role usually means it is difficult to find enough candidates who meet the requirements or who are interested in the role. If it is the former case, have a discussion with the hiring manager to better understand what are the absolute “must-have” requirements and what are the “good-to-have” ones. When you relax one or more requirements/constraints, you will be able to broaden the pool of eligible candidates. If the issue is talent attraction, then we need to revisit if the role has been defined in an attractive manner in the job description and this include the branding and positioning of the hiring company. Having a clear and compelling value proposition can then entice more candidates to consider the role.