Hunting for the Right Heads

In times of crisis like these, it is more essential than ever for companies to select the right people for the right job. Staying in business means to be able to respond rapidly to change and innovate within increasingly binding economic constraints. And the right people can make the difference. Academic research shows that the performance differential between top and average performer can vary from +18% in operations to +64% for job positions that are characterized by complexity, discretion, and cross-functional interdependence.
 

Also, over the last two decades there has been a trend in organizational models toward increasing the empowerment of employees, by delegating extensively and making use of work in teams. This has translated into higher complexity and sophistication in headhunting. Traditionally, the focus was on whether the candidate had the technical knowledge to get the job done. Today, the evaluation of a candidate must also keep into account his/her relational skills and self-management capabilities, so that how the job is done is as important as getting it done.
 

Recent research shows that relational and self-management skills can make up to 24-35% of the quality differential in performance. The variables that make the difference fall into three specific clusters: cognitive abilities (analytical skills, systemic thinking); relational skills (understanding the environment, managing relations); emotional skills (self-knowledge, self-control and valorization of one’s human capital assets).
 

Higher complexity in headhunting and the significant cost of the headhunting process (80-150% of the selected candidate’s yearly compensation) pose the problem of how to maximize return on investment. Efficacy in personnel selection means finding the person that is appropriate to the organization, not only to the position. For the headhunter this means he/she has to focus on three crucial variables. First of all, he/she must know the company perfectly (business models, internal and external critical elements, management and leadership styles, human resource management philosophy) and define the fundamental assets that the new hire must bring to the company. Secondly, these critical elements need to be translated into an observation grid that will guide the selection process. Thirdly, the headhunter must identify the candidate who has the highest level of compatibility with the firm. A further pre-condition is the ability to plan for a process that makes use of relational insights and diagnostic skills to limit the impact of inevitable subjective factors in the interpersonal evaluation of job candidates.
 

Summing up, headhunting requires a professional approach that combines experience and intuition with a structured methodology and the competent and rigorous use of tools for the selection of personnel.