It’s 2024 folks, and in this new world of work, organizations finally understand the critical role executive talent plays in actualizing company goals and reaching new heights of success.
Executive employees are hot property; they are visionary leaders with shrewd business acumen, aggressive strategies, and an unmatched ambition to drive organizational growth, innovation, and performance - making the difference between a company that thrives and one that merely survives.
These seasoned professionals not only bring a wealth of experience, expertise, and connections to the table but also shape corporate culture. Their values, work ethic, and leadership style set a precedence for all the employees, directly influencing their morale, motivation, and engagement.
As a result, executive talent ends up delivering approximately 50% more than the rest, directly impacting an organization’s competitive stance within the market.
However, according to McKinsey Global Survey: War for Talent 2000, 82% of Fortune 500 executives believe their companies don't recruit highly talented people. And for companies that do, only 7% think they can keep it.
Great talent truly is scarce. And the more scarce top talent becomes, the more companies will find their best people cherry-picked by other companies who are on top of this vicious recruitment game.
At the end of the day, organizations must focus on the 5% that deliver the 95%. This article explores various executive recruitment strategies that will help you attract the right executive talent for your company.
Identify and define key positions within your organization.
In a world where resources are scarce, the first step is to focus on key roles where the best people have the largest impact.
After identifying these roles, the next step is to gain insight into the skill set, experience, and character traits required for the role.
This will help you create detailed and captivating job descriptions that depict company culture and offer professional growth and career-defining opportunities.
Adding this to your recruitment strategy will give you a detailed guideline as to what your company needs when you partner up with an experienced executive recruiter to find the right executive employee.
Partner up with an experienced executive recruiter.
Partnering with an executive recruiter is an effective recruitment strategy because they’ve spent years building networks and nurturing relationships with top-level candidates.
This makes it easy for them to pinpoint and approach candidates who may not be seeking new opportunities but are open to the right offers. Their industry expertise also allows them to better understand your organization’s requirements.
As a result, this will expand the pool of potential candidates and increase your chances of securing the right executive talent. After all, you must hire the best person for the job, not the best person looking for a job.
You can find verified executive recruiters on our user-friendly platform, Workfully.
Workfully is an all-in-one solution for your recruitment needs because you can collaborate with executive recruiters in various industries, access a large pool of promising candidates, and log in at any time to check updates on recruitment activities - all this under one roof.
Executive recruitment has never been more convenient, cost-effective, or trustworthy.
Make your offer impossible to refuse.
To attract executive talent, companies must adjust their recruitment strategy to offer magnetic compensation packages and actually deliver them.
This includes a well-structured base salary, performance bonuses, and other incentives that match the executive’s potential impact on the organization.
If your employee value proposition (EVP) is stronger than your competitors, you will attract and retain the best talent. But, how do you make sure your EVP is strong?
Make it distinctive. Companies should stand out in one arena, while also not ignoring the others. So while you’re offering competitive salary packages, great culture, flexible working arrangements, good location, and stability, make sure it’s also unique to your company.
Employees want to be surrounded by inspirational and supportive leaders. They want an interesting job and opportunities for growth at reputable companies that have values and morals, all the while being compensated through wages, benefits, perks, and recognition. In what way does your company offer this?
Make it targeted. Instead of having a generic EVP, make it targeted towards the roles that bring in more revenue. For instance, if that’s software developers, the factors that would interest them would probably be professional autonomy, a rapid career progression, and a job that’s innovative and has a big impact on people.
Make it doable. Executive talent can now see past the grandiosity of EVPs that are too good to be true. And even if they fall for it, they quickly become disillusioned when the reality doesn't add up.
Employees are now a more trusted source of information about working conditions than CEOs or HR professionals. Similarly, social media and sites such as Glassdoor or Job Advisor provide ratings and reviews of what it’s really like to work for a company.
Have strong employee recognition schemes and transparency in succession planning.
A company having a firm and calculated strategy that recognizes employees and helps them advance in their careers is a company that will not only attract executive talent but also retain it.
Acknowledging and celebrating both individual and team successes creates a motivating and appreciative workspace.
This can be done through award programs or informally on a weekly basis; regular recognition can boost employee morale, making them happy to come to work. It also builds company reputation through site reviews and word of mouth.
Similarly, professional development and progression is important for executive talent. They are often interested in what new and upcoming opportunities companies can offer them.
Therefore, companies should have specialized programs that continuously offer learning, leadership development, and opportunities for advancement.
This not only enhances the skills of their promising employees but also shows a genuine interest in their career trajectory.
Use people analytics to find and retain the right executive talent for your company.
Data and analytical tools need to be a part of every recruitment strategy you have in place.
There is no room for inefficient or ineffective recruitment strategies, especially when 77% of the global leaders think top talent and business growth go hand in hand.
According to an experiment performed by the National Bureau of Economic Research, people picked by computers stayed far longer and performed just as well or better than the ones picked by human judgment and instinct.
Similarly, Oracle, SAP’s SuccessFactors, and Workday already gather data through sources such as LinkedIn using HR software systems to provide alerts when executive talent may be thinking about jumping ship.
McKinsey also used machine-learning algorithms to investigate why 60% of their managers end up leaving, and surprisingly, all three are unrelated to pay, travel, or hours worked.
The right HR technological tools can solve an organization’s executive recruitment and retention problems.
People analytics is rapidly gaining speed, and leaders who don’t incorporate technology into their recruitment strategies will quickly fall behind in this war for talent.
Conclusion
The difference in organizational productivity depending on the right executive talent is truly extraordinary - Executive talent is up to eight times more productive.
It’s safe to say an organization can make it or break it depending on their executive talent.
Don’t wait now and sign up on Workfully to collaborate with executive recruiters and find the right executive employees for your company.