Executive Recruitment Trends You Need to Leverage to Win Talent in 2022

The Great Resignation. The Great Re-Evaluation. Hybrid work. The last two years have reshaped work and talent recruiting. This has led to changes in processes, strategies and tools used.

The reality is, if you’re still doing the same things as you did in 2020 to attract executive talent, you won’t be successful.

So what’s changed?

Data & Tech

No company can afford to make a hiring mistake. In recent years, executive search has become much less an art form where gut-feel is heavily relied upon. Instead, leading executive recruiters use data-driven recruiting tools to improve the search process and find the right leaders for the right opportunities.

As the name suggests, data-driven recruiting places heavy emphasis on leveraging data to optimize the search process. Tools like AI (artificial intelligence) efficiently organize behavioural assessment data to draw insights that can lead to more precise candidate searches. Data can illuminate important insights about a candidate such as:

Values: Do they believe in the core mission of your organization? Are they driven by the same goals? How will they impact your team?

Cognitive and behavioural attributes: Will they succeed in the role? What drives and motivates them? How do they deal with stress? Are they capable of driving change?

Experience: How have they achieved results? Can they prove it? How do they learn and do they continue to develop their skills to be leaders of tomorrow?

This type of analysis helps minimize subjective bias in the recruitment process, it also helps provide a deeper layer of information about the candidate that may not always come out in a traditional interview structure.

Data and technology has led to a big leap in recruiting. But the human element is still crucial. Ultimately, hiring managers and recruiters need to use the information as part of a comprehensive assessment and to ensure a successful hire.

Boundary-less Recruting

The future of work is now. For years companies have half-heartedly committed to hybrid work. Almost overnight that all changed. A Gallup poll found that 53% of respondents expect to be working in a hybrid environment in 2022 and beyond. Hybrid work has had a big impact on what’s important to today’s talent pool and it dramatically impacts how companies can recruit the best talent for their roles.

In addition to flexible work arrangements, many executives are looking beyond traditional compensation when evaluating potential employers. According to PWC, 11.7% of job seekers are willing to take less salary for more development opportunities and greater flexibility. The importance that executive talent place on upskilling, inclusion and flexibility speak to the value they place on culture. PWC’s Future of Recruiting report found that 33% of executive level candidates polled would take a pay cut to work for a company whose mission aligns with their own values.

This new environment presents both challenges and opportunities for recruiting. Candidates are more accessible than ever, and may be constantly fielding new opportunities. On the flip side, you can now find candidates anywhere from Toronto to Kamloops. Geography no longer restricts you from picking the best talent.

In today’s market, aggressively marketing the opportunity is essential. But to do it effectively, it’s crucial that your value proposition goes beyond compensation. This includes painting a clear picture of your work culture, your corporate vision and values, and the learning and development opportunities you can offer.