Study Highlights Strategies for Most Effective $100k+ Recruiting
October 21, 2009 – Results from a study by the Human Capital Institute (HCI), a global association for talent management, indicates that a growing number of skilled, six-figure earners is requiring employers to rethink their high level hiring strategies, turning to cost effective and time efficient tools to access, source and hire qualified candidates. According to the report, titled “$100K+ High Level Recruiting: What's Working and Why,” there are greater numbers of high level skilled knowledge workers, including managers, professionals and executives, than ever before, and many of them are joining the ranks of those earning $100,000 or more in yearly salary. To recruit these workers efficiently and effectively, organizations must optimize their $100K+ recruitment strategies for today and the future–yet most have not yet done so. “We found that current practices are either ineffective or will become un-scalable as hiring in this category grows,” said Allan Schweyer, the study's author. “An evolved approach is necessary if organizations are to optimally manage future high level hiring. Our research suggests that $100k+ hiring is becoming a category that recruiters need to consider separately.” The research examined $100k+ recruitment strategies and trends through a survey of nearly 250 HCI members, in-person interviews with a dozen industry experts, and a comprehensive review of secondary sources. HCI collaborated on the study with TheLadders.com, an online service for the $100K+ job market. A majority of respondents moderately or strongly agree that external recruitment agencies do not represent a scalable solution for their $100k-$300k hiring due to high fees. Among respondents, almost half do not use external agencies at all, or use them very rarely because they are too expensive. The survey found a trend of moving away from over-reliance on external recruiters and toward the development of an internal recruiting organization that is capable of high level and executive recruiting. Today's primary complaint among recruiters and hiring managers who use large, public job boards for high level hiring is the inundation of resumes they receive when they post a position, and the ensuing cost and challenge of sifting appropriate candidates from the “pile” of applications received. For senior level recruiting, respondents also cited the lack of qualified candidates received from large, public job boards. However, specialized job sites, especially those that cater mainly or specifically to $100K+ jobs, are more effective than large, public boards in this category of hire, especially to the degree that they ensure their candidates are screened. Survey respondents and interviewees report that specialized job sites and services save them time by delivering targeted, senior candidates who are either actively or semi-actively seeking new positions. A majority of respondents use social networking sites in recruitment. More than half report that social networking sites can be effective in providing quality senior level prospects, despite the time it generally takes to sift through candidates.
