There’s nothing more rewarding than placing a perfect hire – finding that special candidate that fits perfectly into your client’s business, like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle slots perfectly into place. Of course it may take time, commitment, extensive searching and assessment, but you can’t deny the satisfaction it brings.
But understanding the culture of your client’s business is imperative if you’re looking to achieve successful long-term appointments. That’s why it’s not just about the candidates skills and qualifications, it’s about them as an individual too.
Cultural identity
Qualifications and experience may appear impressive on paper, but don’t let them deceive you. Just because your candidate has the correct skills for the role, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the right person for the company. You need to look beyond that and assess them as a person – ambition, attitude, values, motivations – these are the true determining factors for finding your perfect candidate, and your client’s perfect employee.
Although it’s not an approach adopted by all recruiters, assessing cultural suitability is becoming a more widespread practice within the selection process, as recruiters are using it to ensure they keep delivering successful placements for their clients. But how does this ‘cultural suitability’ really separate the wheat from the chaff?
From my point of view, if a candidate has the required skills and experience for a role, as well as a ‘make up’ that is similar to the pace and atmosphere within the workplace, then the likelihood of them being culturally compatible is high. But it takes much more than that – you need to look at the candidate’s goals and aspirations, and ask yourself: Does this individual’s ambitions align with those of my client?
There are means and ways of doing this, which include taking the time to interview candidates for the business not just the role, comparing their character to the culture within the workplace, and many other methods that if you are willing to take the time, will allow you to decide whether that candidate is worth pursuing.
Achieving ROI
Cultural fit also contributes to your client’s return on investment, which some recruiters may naively view as less of a priority. But it’s this ROI that shows your client how successful you’ve been in meeting their requirement needs, and helps them to decide whether they should use your company for future recruitment.
In my experience, maximum ROI is achieved when a candidate is placed within a company, stays with that company (for as long as required by the client), excels within the company, and helps the company in achieving its ambition.
That’s why it’s not enough to base your success on the initial placement – you have to find someone that’s going to perform well too.
Extend your search, improve your skills
Becoming a ‘successful’ recruiter requires a great range of skills, even more so when recruiting for senior-level roles. It becomes more than simply finding the best person on the market, you need to find the best person in the market, regardless of their job-seeking status.
In order to achieve this, you must focus on companies with a similar culture to your client’s, develop an extensive network of contacts and sought after candidates, be aware of who’s looking to move up, and who’s looking to move on (before they announce it), and ultimately persuade these people that you can offer them something more suitable and enticing than what they already have.
Only when you are doing these things, are you positioned to approach these candidates, and work towards ensuring your perfect candidate becomes your client’s perfect hire.
Adam Shaw is MD of Assured Recruitment, one of the fastest growing executive recruitment businesses in the UK. The company offers a complete range of professional recruitment services, including permanent and contract positions.
