The reason technology scale ups are embracing the retained recruitment model.

The reason Technology scale ups are embracing the retained recruitment model Vs the traditional contingent.

As the technology market exponentially grows and changes, the need to?bring in expertise to your business has never been higher to remain competitive and relevant. This task has also become increasingly difficult due to extraneous market factors such as reduced immigration levels and international border closures limiting the flow of people into this country, as well as your competitors will be trying to do exactly the same thing creating a landscape by which there isn’t enough talent to go around!?

The traditional recruitment approach utilised by the core of the finance recruitment market, has always been to maintain large networks of candidates of vastly differing skillsets and abilities with the main USP being the ability to deploy multiple shortlists quickly and competitively with the hope that 2 or 3 of the candidate's delivered will hit the mark.?

This approach comes with risk, as it relies upon the depth of quality actively looking candidates that the individual recruitment firm possesses at that moment in time. This model's approach has always had significant limitations as soon as you add more requirements such as industry specific knowledge and skills the probability of those candidates being highly active in the market exponentially reduces.?

The reality of finding great finance leaders specifically in the Technology space who already possess the knowledge to drive growth specific to that industry, revolves around an ability to map the entire market and specifically target candidates who are entirely passive and are not “active” in the traditional sense.?

This is why the retained model has become essential for any tech business who wishes to remain competitive. This model partners with the client and creates a detailed brief that is realistic and appropriate for the role, a target landscape of specific businesses that this individual is most likely to be found, a deep dive contact approach through headhunting – referrals - word of mouth – advertising on tech specific platforms within that space. All this work is being delivered by a team of recruiters all devoted to this one role to guarantee the thoroughness required.?

This approach allows the client to know for certain who is in their space and who they can acquire, but moreover the time given for the process allows the recruiter to know for certain who is available, rather than who is available “right now”.?

Reasons you may want to engage with a search firm.

1) Access to a high-quality network of executive professionals?

If you’ve blown through your list of referrals and network connections and still aren’t able to find a serious candidate that has the industry specific knowledge, the values and the cultural fit, it may be time to call in an executive search firm.?

Many retained executive search firms have a global reach and the tools to access the truly passive market who you won’t find clicking on LinkedIn or on jobs boards, meaning that the pool of talent they have access to is far larger, far more exclusive and of a far higher quality.?

2) This position is too important not to invest in and get right 1st time!?

The implications of a bad hire into the leadership team can have ripple effects that cause greater trauma to the business and can deeply affect the carefully constructed cultural landscape of your business. Top retained search firms are well practiced in understanding the values and approach that a C-suite position requires rand can easily identify the right fit.?

Retained search firm fees are usually higher than the fees of a contingency firm, as the extensive mapping of your market does take significant man hours and research to confidently show you what you can truly acquire. Vetting candidates based on values and detailed, high functioning experience can be highly time consuming. ?

3) You don’t currently have the in-house resources to access this market?

Assessing candidate CVs properly takes time and years of experience to quickly identify a person's character and ability. Search firms deal with CV assessment every day, so know what to look for in a strong CV, including hard skills, soft skills and personality.?

4) Gaining greater knowledge and better diversity?

If you’re recruiting for a position that has been newly created or isn’t within your businesses area of expertise, top head-hunters have the specialist skills to help fill that knowledge gap. They have seen hundreds of companies over the years who have many shared complexities and challenges. This allows them to help guide you to the right solution.?

Diversity is an issue with senior executives and corporate boards. Executive search firms will conduct original research on all candidates, which in turn brings far great diversity into top-level roles and avoids any unconscious biases that may be held in-house.?

5) When discretion is paramount?

There are occasions in which ultimate discretion is needed, such as hiring a replacement when an executive is still in the role. By outsourcing the task to a retained search firm, you’re relieved of workplace secrecy but still have all the control, trust and transparency of having the job taken care of by someone impartial. Search firms as standard operate with the greatest discretion when they go to market with the role, as it’s usually too important a position to advertise freely in the open market, therefore reducing the risk considerably of “the wrong people finding out”.?

6) Avoid damaging relationships with partner companies or competitors?

Hiring through an executive search firm is a good way to avoid damaging relationships with businesses that you often work with, or causing tension with a competitor. Hiring from the same pool of talent becomes far less complex when working through a discreet, impartial third party.?

7) Succession planning to future-proof your Leadership and wider business.?

Being prepared for every eventuality is crucial for business stability. Unexpected resignations can cause unwanted disruption within teams and hinder how successful you are at reaching goals.?

Hiring an executive search firm to come in and assess your workforce is a reliable way to get a fuller picture of the in-house talent you already have and also lets you know which options are available to you externally.?

Feel to reach out to Simon Bennett at Zeren for any advice around this topic.

Case studies, successes in relevant industries and process descriptions are all available to be shared.

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