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Recruitment process outsourcingCandidate experienceLatest NewsEquality, diversity and inclusionExecutive recruitment

Diversity biggest challenge for in-house executive recruitment

by Ashleigh Webber 19 May 2021
by Ashleigh Webber 19 May 2021 Shutterstock
Shutterstock

Finding, engaging with, and hiring diverse candidates are the biggest challenges faced by in-house recruiters when hiring leadership positions.

Research conducted by The FIRM (the Forum for In-house Recruitment Managers) finds that 31% of in-house recruiters see diversity as the biggest leadership hiring challenge, while attracting the right talent and finding the right talent are the biggest barriers for 21% and 16% respectively.

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Its In-House Leadership Hiring research finds that the organisations that are consistently successful in hiring diverse leadership talent have a strong track record of diversity in their organisation, a positive brand image, and the ability to offer a competitive compensation package.

The research involved a survey of FIRM members and interviews with talent acquisition leaders and heads of executive search.  Some 80% of those who took part were working in companies with more than 1,000 employees.

A third of firms saw the volume of leadership hiring – defined as director or VP-level or higher – increase in 2020. These organisations are mainly in the telecoms and tech industries, which saw demand for their services leap during a year of lockdowns and mass homeworking.

However, 53% say that Covid-19 has had an impact on their leadership hiring plans. Thirty-two per cent saw the volume of hires decrease in 2020, with reasons for this including a focus on internal promotions, consolidation of roles, hiring freezes and business restructuring.

Nearly half (47%) feel that hiring volume will remain the same in 2021, while 20% anticipate that it will increase.

The majority of respondents (70%) have an in-house leadership hiring team. For more than half of these organisations this team is relatively new, with 25% having it in place for less than a year and 33% for 1-3 years.

Many bolster their in-house leadership recruitment capabilities with help from an executive search firm (60%) and research firm (28%), giving their in-house team time to focus on client and candidate management.

The report says: “The majority of companies with an in-house team are also using search firms making the hybrid model the most prevalent. In fact, we have seen that the most successful in-house models are those that are focused on providing a well-managed consistent process and experience rather than being driven purely by cost savings.”

Asked about their challenges in making an in-house leadership hiring function successful, 94% say that getting buy-in from executives and the broader talent management function is an issue. Seventy-six per cent struggle with resourcing and 48% feel capability is a challenge.

Benefits of having the function in-house include avoiding cost (cited by 88% of respondents), candidate experience (49%), ensuring a consistent process (48%), and speed of hiring (47%).

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Ashleigh Webber
Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is editor at OHW+ and HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh's areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development. She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport magazines, touching on some of the employment and wellbeing issues experienced by those in road haulage.

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