Over the past 24 months, there has been an even greater focus on cost-saving; we have seen increasing number of companies of all shapes and sizes conducting their own searches for board executives and higher level roles. This begs the question, what value does the executive search model have to offer over and above this new trend of trying to recruit senior level staff in-house?

This new route can be highly effective and cost-efficient for the recruitment of professional staff throughout other levels of an organisation, but unfortunately it is more often than not counter-productive in the search to hire the right senior executive for the job.

The downside of the process is all too frequently months of wasted time and a limited pool of talent to choose from.  Executive Search has the opposite effect as the very best talent is actively sought out, matched to the organisation’s needs, interviewed and an offer accepted, all in the space of 12 weeks.

This is a strong contrast to several stories we have heard recently of in-house searches lasting anywhere from six to 18 months, only to result in the chosen candidate pulling out at the last minute or the right person for the role still not being found. During this time the companies in question have lost out on the executive leadership they obviously needed to drive their businesses forward and often find themselves further behind their rival competitors.

The flaw of the in-house model is quite simply this, the best senior executives are never likely to respond well to being asked to apply for roles they have become accustomed to being sought out for.