Management Notes

Reference Notes for Management

Headhunting – External Sources of Recruitment | Human Resource Management

Headhunting

Executive search or headhunting is sometimes used to recruit very senior managers. Advocates of this philosophy believe the best candidates aren’t just those who answer advertisements or look for new jobs, but those who are successful in their current jobs and aren’t thinking about leaving.
When a headhunter receives a commission, he or she will search for potential candidates,
i)  In the competitors’ businesses,
ii) Professional organizations, newspapers, magazine membership lists, etc.
iii) Utilizing a confidential network of headhunters
iv) A few of the selected candidates are introduced to our client firm discretely.

Important Aspects of Headhunting

  • The headhunting process severely disrupts successful businesses, which lose expensively trained senior managers.
  • A headhunted individual might subsequently be motivated by other headhunters to leave his new firm after a short period. To avoid this, some companies attach golden handcuffs to senior management positions. ie. They pay large cash bonuses which are only available to executives who stay with the firm for  a certain number of years.
  • An unsuitable candidate might bribe the headhunter to recommend him for the vacant job.

Advantages of Headhunting

  • Bringing in people with new ideas.
  • It is often cheaper and easier to hire an already trained professional skilled manpower, and
  • Temporary employees can provide the organization with much more flexibility than permanent employees.

Disadvantages of Headhunting

  • Better morale and motivation associated with internal recruiting is denied to the organization.
  • In general this is costly source, and
  • Adjustment of new employees to the organization culture takes larger time.

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