Navigate the Risks of In-House Recruiting
Several articles have recently been published focusing on the increased trend of “In-House Recruiting” and the search for C-level talent without external recruiters.
I agree that this is an increasingly popular trend, but published reports have been slow to acknowledge the challenges that have surfaced as organizations attempt to navigate this new territory. The biggest challenge may be finding In-House Recruiters who bring significant – and sufficient –breadth and depth of experience in recruiting. Those that do are in high demand, are costly, and hard to attract.
Not all companies are large enough to have In-House Recruiters who understand how to identify, attract and retain C-Level talent. One of two things usually happens:
• Many organizations recruit junior or mid-level In-House recruiters who often struggle given their lack of experience in recruiting and interviewing candidates for C-Level positions;
• The recruiting role is delegated to a Senior Human Resource Leader or Functional/Line Manager who hire external recruiters to manage these searches on their behalf.
As a talent advisor to businesses, I believe there is a role in this emerging trend to help organizations navigate this new territory, reduce risk and provide consulting/mentoring services to clients who are increasing their amount of In-House Recruiting. Even experienced recruiters may still need help with the market insights that will set them up for success or in defining the proper go-to-market strategies.
The insights and wisdom gained through conducting hundreds of searches in multiple functions and multiple industries cannot be underestimated. The success of a search revolves around getting the process right from the get-go. Articulating the role correctly and identifying the proper go-to-market strategy sets you up for success early on. If unsuccessful, the outcome can be very costly, resulting in a failed hire, the wrong hire, or wasted time searching in the wrong places with nothing to show for your efforts.
If your longer-term strategy is to build a competitive talent acquisition capability in-house, find a coach/consultant to help you put the right people together and then train them.
The right coach/consultant can make a difference. I believe that there is a unique opportunity to provide coaching, consulting and/or mentoring to In-House recruiters, Line Management or Human Resource Leaders who want to keep their senior searches In-House.
