The “sniper-only” recruiting approach will never win the war

The “sniper-only” recruiting approach will never win the war

Written by William Spengler, Founder of Frederick Fox [ https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/william-spengler-2193433a/ ]

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The “sniper only” approach in recruiting is too intimate and arrogant, effective in low-volume isolation, and doesn’t defend nor win the war for its army.

The Sniper-only approach leads to low-volume perfectionism and paralysis by analysis. It is often used by “Senior Recruiters” to justify their loss of work ethic and leaves the recruiter vulnerable to being flanked by his/her competition. ?Desperate to skip corners for results instead of doing the work to win the war, the Senior Recruiter often picks up the Sniper rifle only to try to outsmart its prey, only to have hung themselves in the process.

The Sniper-only approach blinds the recruiter from seeing the larger war at play, frustrates the customer with too narrow of scope, and blocks the firm from properly expanding and gaining ground on the battlefield through multiple tactics.

If you have a low-volume “sniper” recruiter on your team, they likely send excellent candidates but are a low-billing member of your organization. They are extremely talented and knowledgeable of the sport, but this does not translate to revenue or results.

It is extremely hard to get these often “Senior Recruiters” to change their mindset. Instead of accepting the year-over-year results of their approach and adapting, they will double down on their approach believing a different outcome will occur next year. ?I know this because I was a Sniper only approach recruiter from 2015-2020, stuck with the same results year after year. Instead of adapting and changing throughout the 5 years, I was stubborn, unwilling to adapt, and consistently frustrated by “average” revenue results.

The globally-recognized management consulting firm McKinsey wrote in an article about the “Adaptability Paradox” (https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/future-proof-solving-the-adaptability-paradox-for-the-long-term ) that it is human psychology to “double down” on past methods of success when faced with a challenge and stressful conditions. Most humans will go back to their "tried and true" previous methods when in duress, when they would otherwise thrive in duress by choosing to adapt. Failure to adapt leaves the recruiter in a do-loop. They have to work harder every year to get the same results. This is often well described in the "Red Queen Effect".

So how do you help these perfectionists lay down their pride and ego to help them help themselves?

My name is William Spengler and I have been in the executive search industry for 12+ years and have been in a high-volume leadership role within the executive search for the last 7+ years. I have opened and trained branches/teams at a 16B publicly traded staffing company, a Partner in a 120M staffing company, and am now an Owner of a rapidly growing boutique executive search firm with 20+ senior-level all-star recruiting professionals. I don’t have the industry figured out yet and I am constantly humbled, but I have learned enough by now to share my thoughts on the “Sniper" with confidence in the data.

I do believe in the Sniper approach but not in isolation.

The United States would never go to war and only send in a sniper squad. They would send in snipers, infantry, tanks, navy, warships, aerial support, and space support. A Handyman doesn’t show up to a work site with only a hammer. They bring screws, nails, pliers, scissors, etc. You have to know when to use the sniper and when to use the battle rifle, and when to use the machine gun. Sniper Recruiters that are big billers know when to lay down the sniper in their routine and when to pick it up.

If you are a client or a recruiter looking for better recruiting results, I am happy to schedule time with you to discuss different methods you can take to find better Recruiting Results. If you have a vendor sending too few of options that are close, but missing the mark, it's time to try a new firm that is Different. Better. and Delivers.

You can book time with me here: ?https://calendly.com/williamspengler