The Future of Headhunting
Is the executive recruitment game going through a radical change? That depends on whom you ask and, maybe more importantly, what level of executive you want to recruit. On one hand are those who argue that the Internet and other innovations are transforming today’s headhunting firms and recruitment strategies. On the other hand are those who say that, for now, many senior execs will continue to rely on the traditional headhunting ways rather than turn to new tech-based processes.
The things-are-in-flux perspective is argued by Robert Barner, author of Executive Resource Management and VP of Organizational Development and Learning for Choice Hotels International. In a recent The Futurist magazine article, he states that a variety of trends are altering headhunting practices. At least three of these trends are linked to technology.
One is Web-based selection. Barner writes, “Executive search firms were once extremely reluctant to use the Internet but are now pushing boldly into the broader arena of Internet searches.” Among the Internet ventures are LAICompass.com, owned by global executive search provider TMP Worldwide, and Korn/Ferry International's Futurestep program. Even as executive search firms move in this direction, however, Internet career cites such as Monster.com are moving into the executive market, threatening to compete against old-style headhunters in a lucrative market.
Another trend is cyber-selection, by which Barner means “computer-based, video-based, and Web-based assessment technologies.” In particular, he points to firms that provide simulations supposedly capable of testing executive-level skills such as strategic thinking and team management.
A third is the growing use of competitive intelligence-gathering. High-potential candidates are located, tracked and monitored as they move through their careers in other companies. When the time is right, these people are offered a job. In some cases, firms use the Internet to help gather such strategic intelligence. Cisco Systems, for example, has developed a “Make Friends @ Cisco” button for visitors to its Web site. This allows visitors to contact a Cisco employee “friend” who gives them information on the company and refers them to the recruitment department. If the visitor winds up being hired, the “friend” receives a bonus. What’s more, using a combination of special origin-tracing software and advertising, Cisco can sometimes make its “Friends” emblem appear at other Web sites when people who work for companies in Cisco’s field visit those sites.
It’s hard to argue that these trends are not having an impact on executive recruitment, but it may also be premature to imply that most top-notch global executives are suddenly going to put their rйsumйs online or allow their skills to be evaluated by software. Management Accounting magazine (of London) quotes Stephen Bryan -- a director with KPMG's Executive Search & Selection team in Birmingham, UK -- who suggests that many senior executives don’t consider the Internet secure enough: “As far as the most senior executive positions are concerned, the Internet has a lot of catching up to do. The people needed to fill these positions are already senior decision-makers. For them to bring their decision to look for a new job into the public domain via the Internet could have massive repercussions for their current employer.” Bryan also feels that some senior executives, grown accustomed to being feted by headhunters, would be reluctant to migrate to a less glamorous and personalized Internet-based system.
Nonetheless, Barner may well be correct in his prediction that the future will bring more consolidation between old-style headhunting firms and new Internet-based ventures. He foresees one-stop hiring agencies that offer everything from job analysis to high-tech assessment tools to traditional matchmaking. He also believes that cost-per-hire may drop even as corporations demand faster searches and a bigger bang for their buck.
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Robert Barner's article, "Talent Wars in the Executive Suite: Six Trends Shaping Recruitment," appears in the May/June 2000 issue of The Futurist. For more information, see http://www.wfs.org/futcontmy00.htm.
The article "Top Executives Shun Internet Recruitment" appears in the April 2000 issue of Management Accounting .
The things-are-in-flux perspective is argued by Robert Barner, author of Executive Resource Management and VP of Organizational Development and Learning for Choice Hotels International. In a recent The Futurist magazine article, he states that a variety of trends are altering headhunting practices. At least three of these trends are linked to technology.
One is Web-based selection. Barner writes, “Executive search firms were once extremely reluctant to use the Internet but are now pushing boldly into the broader arena of Internet searches.” Among the Internet ventures are LAICompass.com, owned by global executive search provider TMP Worldwide, and Korn/Ferry International's Futurestep program. Even as executive search firms move in this direction, however, Internet career cites such as Monster.com are moving into the executive market, threatening to compete against old-style headhunters in a lucrative market.
Another trend is cyber-selection, by which Barner means “computer-based, video-based, and Web-based assessment technologies.” In particular, he points to firms that provide simulations supposedly capable of testing executive-level skills such as strategic thinking and team management.
A third is the growing use of competitive intelligence-gathering. High-potential candidates are located, tracked and monitored as they move through their careers in other companies. When the time is right, these people are offered a job. In some cases, firms use the Internet to help gather such strategic intelligence. Cisco Systems, for example, has developed a “Make Friends @ Cisco” button for visitors to its Web site. This allows visitors to contact a Cisco employee “friend” who gives them information on the company and refers them to the recruitment department. If the visitor winds up being hired, the “friend” receives a bonus. What’s more, using a combination of special origin-tracing software and advertising, Cisco can sometimes make its “Friends” emblem appear at other Web sites when people who work for companies in Cisco’s field visit those sites.
It’s hard to argue that these trends are not having an impact on executive recruitment, but it may also be premature to imply that most top-notch global executives are suddenly going to put their rйsumйs online or allow their skills to be evaluated by software. Management Accounting magazine (of London) quotes Stephen Bryan -- a director with KPMG's Executive Search & Selection team in Birmingham, UK -- who suggests that many senior executives don’t consider the Internet secure enough: “As far as the most senior executive positions are concerned, the Internet has a lot of catching up to do. The people needed to fill these positions are already senior decision-makers. For them to bring their decision to look for a new job into the public domain via the Internet could have massive repercussions for their current employer.” Bryan also feels that some senior executives, grown accustomed to being feted by headhunters, would be reluctant to migrate to a less glamorous and personalized Internet-based system.
Nonetheless, Barner may well be correct in his prediction that the future will bring more consolidation between old-style headhunting firms and new Internet-based ventures. He foresees one-stop hiring agencies that offer everything from job analysis to high-tech assessment tools to traditional matchmaking. He also believes that cost-per-hire may drop even as corporations demand faster searches and a bigger bang for their buck.
====================================================
Robert Barner's article, "Talent Wars in the Executive Suite: Six Trends Shaping Recruitment," appears in the May/June 2000 issue of The Futurist. For more information, see http://www.wfs.org/futcontmy00.htm.
The article "Top Executives Shun Internet Recruitment" appears in the April 2000 issue of Management Accounting .