The future of executive search: The impact of technology and data

The executive search business enables and impacts the future of industry in a big way. After all, executive search companies help find and place the right people in organizations. And it is only with the right people on board that companies can hope to deploy their strategies and achieve the results and outcomes that they envision.

It is therefore very important that executive search firms and top-end recruiters understand how they can make their operations future-ready. The long and short of this future-ready strategy is this: Embrace technology and leverage the power of data.

That’s pretty simple. It is the how of achieving this that requires greater understanding and application.

Here are some top trends in the executive search domain that are important to consider and focus on.

1. Use artificial intelligence (AI) for the best outcomes: Over the last 25 years, the internet has changed how executive searches have been conducted and how people have been recruited. Now, AI has changed the game even further. It has dramatically transformed the space. AI can help recruiters sift through thousands of resumes and sort applications into specific, assigned categories. This helps a recruiter match a candidate’s profile for a role very accurately and very quickly. This saves costs and enhances recruitment efficiency. Additionally, using key words and online search tools, AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms can help conduct quick background checks on the candidate. This saves costs again helps greatly in avoiding making recruitment errors.
2. Instant video interviews: Before video conferencing became the order of the day, meeting candidates and interviewing them was both time-intensive and costly. But now, instant messaging services and video calls have made the recruitment process seamless and fast. Recruiters have to only take the initiative and reach out to candidates. Technology then plays a great enabler in furthering the conversation and moving the recruitment process forward swiftly.
3. Recruiters as brand ambassadors: Recruitment has long stopped being a core HR function. Today’s recruiters are brand ambassadors. They are marketing and selling employer brands. They are not just offering a role to a potential candidate, they are upselling the company’s culture, its values, and its best practices. Recruiters therefore must play a big role in how the employer brand of an organization is visible on social media today. They must advocate the use of the right key words and talk about concepts and initiatives that are integral to being an employer of choice or a great workplace. These include diversity and inclusion, employee well-being, a hybrid working model, a transparent, ethical appraisal system, and an environment where there’s respect for each individual. When recruiters play a strategic part in how an employer brand is built and showcased, they are very effective with getting higher quality recruitment outcomes. This means they are able to attract and onboard the best talent in the market.
4. Recruiters as thought leaders: These days candidates too look up companies and recruiters online before they are willing to open a conversation. So, recruiters too must use technology and social media well to enhance their internet-based presence. Their social media posts must reflect their thinking on key subjects related to employee well-being, culture, performance management, leadership, vision and values. They must make an effective case, one social media post at a time, for why their companies are great workplaces and why high-quality talent must consider joining them. The recruiter of today is not just another HR executive who is achieving an executive search and recruitment target. The recruiter of today is a strategic resource. And only leveraging technology can help showcase them as that – and as a thought leader.
5. Think remote, think global: One big way in which technology is shaping the executive search space is that a company based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, for instance, can be recruiting talent in California or Sydney or Sao Paulo or Johannesburg. Not just that, the recruited candidate can work from those locations – remotely. So recruiters must embrace the new thinking – the talent they are looking for is not just in their city or region or state or country. Their talent is anywhere out there in the world. They must use technology effectively to find them, interview them and onboard them. They must also be willing to offer them a remote working option. The executive search business has changed. And if recruiters don’t adapt to the new way of searching, recruiting and working, they and their companies may well be rejected by the new generation of talent in the market.
6. Network: High-end recruiters would network at social and business forums, conferences, seminars, and cocktail parties. That was in a different time. But now, all the networking happens online. That’s where a connection is first made and introductions are exchanged. Some of these connections lead to coffee meetings or meetings at a business conference or seminar. But largely the conversation and meeting platforms are digital. Recruiters cannot be shy of being on online platforms and on social media. They have to network aggressively if they want to connect with high-quality talent.

Conclusion

The future of executive search is already here. In fact, it has already transformed the business. If you are not a recruiter who is conversant with this new development, the key trends listed above can give you a good overview to help you get started. Without any doubt, technology and data-based search is going to lead the executive search and recruitment business in the next 25 years. As a recruiter you will do well to adapt to this new normal and be a leader than a laggard in the space.