Simply because they believe the external recruitment consultants tend to be more objective, thus creating higher trust during the recruitment process.

That has been one of the points discussed in the Regional conference of the International Headhunting Association INAC held end of September in Malmö, Sweden. The meeting was organized by the Swedish INAC partners People Impact and Re Source. Central and Eastern Europe was represented by TARGET Executive Search, Klemens Wersonig and Gilles Huart from Austria, Mariana Turanová from Slovakia, Jiří Hůla from the Czech Republic and Anikó Soós from Hungary.

As we talk nowadays about the “candidate market”, the candidate experience during the selection process is key both for Employers and Executive Search Consultants. The candidates claimed, they are missing not only detailed feedback, after the selection process is over, but even more, they are missing selection process guidelines, enabling them to have a clear picture of the timeline, and decision-makers involved. We all take for granted getting process-related information from Amazon or actually any e-shop, and even though a selection process naturally has nothing to do with buying goods via e-shops, the modern digital tools should be applied across industries and it is up to us recruitment consultants to make the best use of the technology available.

In further discussions, it has been clearly stated, that employers tend to retain people rather than hire new ones. Rising uncertainty in the job market, high inflation, wage pressure, and the hunt for talent put high pressure on employers. Further, the employers claim there has been a clear lack of technical competencies in the markets around Europe. And that in a time when huge change agendas and new processes need to be implemented to be able to support the business over time. There has been a big shortage of Change Managers, Controllers, Business Analysts, IT architects, Power BI, and MS Azure experts, just to name a few examples.

Another highly engaging topic discussed has to do with Board Members’ hiring. The INAC members explained that nowadays, after so many scandals in the boardrooms, it is crucial to probe thoroughly not only the career track record, experience, and references but the focus should be on making sure the candidates fulfil society’s expectations such as professional ethics & personal values.

By Mariana Turanová – INAC Slovakia