One of the significant crises companies currently face is the Great Resignation. The term refers to the high rise of workers consciously deciding to leave their current jobs for several reasons.
As a result of this phenomenon, there’s been a rising need to fill work positions. Organisations are now saddled with finding the best ways to stop their staff from quitting and getting the right workers. Consequently, these organisations have to focus on recruitment and executive search.
It’s upon this central backdrop that the services of recruitment agencies and executive searches have become a corporate necessity.
Recruitment: How Does It Work?
Recruitment is primarily concerned with the filling of junior to mid-level positions in organisations. This includes recruiting and employing workers for graduate and other positions. Companies recruit people with work experience levels considered relevant to the smooth operation of an organisation.
Recruitment is conducted chiefly in two ways: by the HR department of an organisation or by a hired recruitment agency. The services of a recruitment agency are mostly needed when a company lacks a functioning in-house HR department to execute the task. Hence, the mantle falls on recruitment agencies. The focus of recruitment agencies is to match qualified and skilled workers with their prospective employers.
In the recruitment process, job openings are made available, allowing people to apply for advertised roles and positions. Through the application process, candidates reach out to organisations. It’s through this process that recruiters seek out the best candidates by assessing submitted documents and resumes. Afterward, they proceed to organise interviews.
Executive Search: How Does It Work?
Executive search is a more active employment strategy than recruitment. Companies usually conduct executive searches when they require high-demand and highly qualified candidates to fit into strategic positions in their organisation.
For instance, a company currently lacking an HR system can source for one through executive search. The technique for executive searches often involves delegating the search to third-party consulting firms to help search for highly qualified candidates to fill those vital positions.
The purpose of executive search for organisations is primarily to find great talent. To achieve this, the process generally involves persuasion. The idea is to convince potential senior role candidates to fill the available positions in organisations where they’re most needed. This is often achieved by elaborating the improved work conditions of the hiring company.
Differences Between Recruitment And Executive Search
Recruitment and executive search differ in nature, function, and benefits. Here are some striking differences between them:
Extensiveness
Executive searches perform a more proactive role than the recruitment process. This is because the process goes beyond calling for eligible candidates and involves seeking qualified employees and taking the application process.
On the other hand, the recruitment process takes on a less active approach of putting out calls for job applications and is concerned with reviewing the applications of applicants to choose candidates who are most suitable for the job.
Specialty
The recruitment process focuses on filling in available positions within an organisation. The skills needed during a recruitment process are contributory skills and differ from the technical know-how that executive search demands.
The candidate search process is primarily a search for executive and senior positions. It focuses on in-demand talents, which are highly needed within an organisation. To achieve this, the search goes beyond the usual application process to unique recruitment methods.
Expertise And Experience
Recruiters are primarily charged with filling junior to mid-level positions in a company. The focus is on recruiting candidates to fill vacant positions in an organisation.
The executive search focuses on finding people with unique experience and expertise to join a company.
Employment Approach Technique
Another area where recruitment differs from executive search is the approach. Recruiters send out job openings for eligible candidates to apply to while also organising interviews to fill a position.
Executive search most often seeks out the candidates who are believed to be eligible for this position. And most times, this is achieved through persuasion.
Timeline Management
Recruitment also differs from executive search in timeline management when sourcing candidates. In traditional recruitment, even though the requirements are outlined, the recruiter goes through a shuffling process before selecting qualified candidates. Generally, recruitment takes a longer time to complete.
Meanwhile, the executive search focuses more on pointing out to the candidates what’s required of the position. It’s resource-intensive and consumes less time.
Conclusion
At its core, executive search and recruitment perform the same function but differ in approach and demand. The executive search focuses on filling top positions within an organisation while recruitments fill in other essential roles relevant to the operation of an organisation.