Category: Blog-EN

The English Variant of the S+R Blog.

Posted on

Approaching passive candidates: How it works in 2026

Recruiter working on a laptop in a bright office

Approaching Passive Candidates: How It Works in 2026

Anyone looking to fill a key position in 2026 runs into one point sooner or later: the best specialists aren't looking. They're in permanent, well-paid positions and rarely browse job boards. That's exactly why approaching passive candidates is becoming a core skill for HR leaders in the Mittelstand. The active applicant market is largely picked clean for specialist and leadership roles. Anyone waiting for the right application to arrive is often waiting in vain.

This article shows how directly approaching passive candidates works. Which channels carry weight, how the first message lands, and where internal resources hit their limits. Factual, practical, and grounded in the reality of Mittelstand industrial companies.

Why passive candidates are decisive for key positions

The skills shortage hits technical and leadership roles particularly hard. For an SAP consultant, a design engineering lead or a plant manager, classic job boards barely produce qualified responses anymore. The reason is simple: these people are already committed. They don't read job ads.

For business-critical positions, that calls for a rethink. Anyone relying only on incoming applications is drawing on a small slice of the market. The profiles that actually fit stay out of reach. They move within the passive market, among those not actively searching.

According to the XING Wechselwilligkeitsstudie 2026 (conducted by forsa, n = 3,418 employees subject to social insurance contributions in Germany), 34 percent of all employees are considered open to a move. Only 8 percentage points of that group plan a concrete move within the current year. The remaining 26 percentage points are open to an offer but aren't actively searching. That means roughly three out of four people open to a move never appear in a job posting. Without a systematic approach to this group, the vacancy stays unfilled. Projects slip, colleagues step in, and senior management keeps asking. Extending the search into the passive market is therefore not a nice-to-have. It's the precondition for a successful hire.

Active vs. passive candidates: where's the real difference?

Active candidates are searching. They write applications, set up job alerts, and respond to postings. Passive candidates don't. They're satisfied enough not to look, but open enough to listen given the right opportunity.

The difference is more than a matter of definition. It determines the entire recruiting approach. You react to active candidates. Passive candidates have to be approached, persuaded, and won over for a move they hadn't planned.

The added value lies in quality. Someone who isn't searching because they're needed and carry responsibility often brings exactly the profile that matters for a key position. The challenge: reaching these people is considerably more work.

What sets passive candidates apart, and why they're harder to reach

Passive candidates are in permanent employment and not job-hunting. Their threshold to move is high. They have an established environment, a familiar team, and ongoing projects. A move means risk, and that risk has to be worth it.

Standard job boards fail almost completely with this group. Anyone who doesn't read job postings won't see yours either. Even well-placed adverts only reach those already actively searching.

Discretion adds another layer. A passive candidate in an ongoing, unterminated position doesn't want their employer to learn of their interest. Every approach has to account for that. That explains why a public application process falls flat here, and why direct approach is the only viable route.

Which roles are most often filled from the passive market

The more specialised the role, the greater the share of passive placements. Leadership positions are rarely filled through open postings. A head of production or a CFO typically moves after a targeted approach, not through their own application.

That applies to core technical profiles too. Development engineers in the automotive sector, design engineers in mechanical engineering, or experienced SAP consultants are barely available on the open market. Competition for them is fierce, and their time in the applicant pool is short.

At Schlagheck + Radtke, the industry focus sits exactly there: mechanical engineering, automotive, IT, plastics and chemicals, and construction. In these fields, passive approach is the standard, not the exception. Industry focus areas at a glance

Finding passive candidates: channels with real reach

Not every channel suits every role. The choice depends on the function, the industry and the company size. Professional networks, targeted talent mapping and personal networks are the main pillars.

For IT and leadership roles, business networks dominate. For specialised industrial profiles, systematically mapping the market is often added on top. And the narrower the niche, the more important the direct consultant network becomes, one that isn't publicly visible.

One channel alone rarely suffices. The combination determines the reach into the passive market.

LinkedIn and XING: setting up active sourcing properly

Business networks are the obvious entry point into direct approach. Through LinkedIn and XING, candidates can be filtered by function, industry and region. For many roles, that's the fastest access to the passive market.

The catch lies in the effort. Systematic active sourcing takes time that HR teams rarely have in day-to-day business. Identifying candidates, researching, approaching, following up: that's its own process, not a side task.

Typical mistakes pile up when capacity is missing. Mass messages with stock text, no personalisation, no follow-up. The result is low response rates and a channel written off as ineffective, when it was simply used the wrong way.

Talent mapping: who's actually in the running?

Talent mapping is the systematic charting of the relevant candidate market. Before the first approach even happens, it captures: which companies employ suitable profiles? Who sits there in comparable roles? How is the market structured?

This groundwork is missing in many sourcing processes. Without it, the approach is scattered rather than targeted. With it, a map emerges showing exactly where the truly suitable candidates work.

For niche roles, that's decisive. If perhaps only a few dozen people nationwide meet the requirements profile, you need to know them, not search for them. Talent mapping turns a diffuse search into a structured approach. This is exactly where the strength of professional executive search lies.

The first message: what gets passive candidates to reply

The first approach decides the entire process. Someone who isn't looking checks within seconds whether a message deserves attention. Relevance, personalisation and discretion are the three levers that decide whether you get a reply.

A passive candidate first asks themselves: why me, why now, why this sender? If the message doesn't answer these questions, it goes straight to the archive. Generic approaches fail because they feel interchangeable.

Tone matters too. No pushy sales pitch, no pressure. The approach is an invitation to talk, not a call to apply immediately.

Personalisation over templates: what really counts in the approach

Mass messages fail because they're recognisably mass messages. A passive candidate can tell instantly whether someone engaged with their profile or just sent out a stock text.

A personalised message makes a concrete connection: to a specific project, a step in the career history, an area of specialisation. It shows: this approach is meant for you specifically, not for anyone from a list of hits.

That doesn't mean every message needs an hour of research. A sensible framework is enough: the right occasion, a genuine point of reference, a clear reason for the contact. This balance between effort and impact decides the response rate. Use a template, yes, but as a scaffold, not as the finished message.

What really motivates passive candidates to consider a move

Salary is rarely the sole reason for a move. Someone who already earns well doesn't move for a few percent more. Other factors matter more: development prospects, scope for initiative, the chance of more responsibility.

This is exactly where the Mittelstand's opportunity lies. Where a large corporation offers another management layer, a Mittelstand company can offer short paths, direct influence, and visible impact. For many specialists, that outweighs a well-known brand name.

Cultural fit matters too. Anyone who addresses the right motivation convinces even without a corporate logo. As a Mittelstand company with a clear profile, you can present your own advantage credibly, not as an overblown promise, but as a concrete offer.

Avoiding bad hires: why cultural fit must be checked from the start

Technical suitability isn't enough. A candidate can meet every point on the requirements profile and still not fit the company. If cultural fit is missing, the working relationship often ends after the probationary period. Costly, frustrating, and with wasted onboarding time.

A bad hire costs more than the salary paid during the probationary period. Lost time, missed project progress, a second search round, and falling trust in the recruiting process. A reliable average figure is hard to pin down: published estimates, according to Robert Half (2026), range from half an annual salary to several, depending on which cost items a source includes. Four blocks are undisputed and weigh especially heavily at management level, because decisions and team leadership are directly affected: search costs, lost performance, onboarding time, and the inevitable second search.

That's why checking fit belongs at the start, not the end. Management diagnostics provides an objective basis here. Structured procedures capture whether leadership style, values and working approach fit the company. Not by gut feeling, but by verifiable criteria.

At Schlagheck + Radtke, management diagnostics is a fixed part of the process. Precise fit rather than speed. That lowers the risk of a technically strong candidate failing culturally. Management diagnostics

Executive search: when internal resources aren't enough

Internal approach via LinkedIn is possible. But it has limits. HR teams in the Mittelstand carry the day-to-day business, and systematic sourcing ties up capacity that's rarely free. Access to the passive market often stays patchy.

Executive search steps in exactly there. A specialised consultant knows the market, has an existing network, and runs direct approach discreetly and in a structured way. Talent mapping, personalised approach, management diagnostics: all from a single process.

That makes sense when the role is business-critical, the market narrow, and time short. When a bad hire would be costly and the internal search hasn't produced results for months. That's when industry expertise pays off, not the cheapest recruiter without technical understanding.

Schlagheck + Radtke is active at three locations: Dusseldorf, Munich and Ulm. Involved in cross-border mandates through the international network PRAXI ALLIANCE. Adviser, source of impulse, partner. For clients and candidates alike.

Your key position won't wait

Have you been searching for months without the right applicants coming in? Is the market for your role picked clean and time running out? Then let's talk about your specific vacancy.

Book a no-obligation first conversation. We listen, take stock, and show how filling your key position precisely can realistically work. Discreet, experienced in your industry, and partnership-based. Get in touch

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What are passive candidates, and how do they differ from active applicants?

Passive candidates are employed specialists who aren't actively looking for a new position but are open to the right opportunity. Active applicants, by contrast, search themselves, write applications and respond to job postings. This difference shapes the entire recruiting strategy: passive candidates need to be approached specifically.

How do I approach passive candidates without coming across as pushy?

Personalised, relevant and discreet. Make a concrete connection to the candidate's profile, frame it as an invitation to talk rather than a call to apply, and respect that the person is in an ongoing, unterminated position. No pressure, no mass message, no sales tone.

What response rate can I realistically expect from directly approaching passive candidates?

The response rate depends heavily on personalisation, role and channel, and varies considerably. According to the Recruiting Trends study series from the University of Bamberg, around half of approached candidates at Germany's 1,000 largest companies responded: 28.5 percent positively, 20.8 percent declining. In the IT sector, the positive response rate was even higher at 35.0 percent (Recruiting Trends 2020, University of Bamberg / Monster). Personalised messages achieve significantly higher response rates than generic templates. Reliable figures only emerge within a concrete search mandate.

Can I approach passive candidates as a Mittelstand company without a large recruiting setup?

Yes, in principle. What matters isn't company size, but the right approach and the right case for motivation. Mittelstand companies score with scope for initiative, short paths and responsibility. If internal capacity for systematic sourcing is missing, a specialised consultant is often the more efficient route.

From when does it pay off to hire a headhunter to approach passive candidates?

When the position is business-critical, the market narrow, and the internal search has gone months without results. Even when a bad hire would be costly, professional direct approach combined with industry expertise and management diagnostics pays off. Rule of thumb: the more specialised and important the role, the more executive search pays off.

Posted on

Direct candidate approach: How executive search works

Consultant and colleague reviewing candidate profiles on a tablet

Direct Candidate Approach: How Executive Search Works

Direct candidate approach is, for many key positions, the only path left to success. The market is picked clean. Classic job boards produce hardly any qualified applicants for specialist roles anymore. Anyone trying to fill a business-critical vacancy won't reach the right people through job postings, because they're already in permanent positions and aren't actively looking. This is exactly where direct approach comes in. This article explains how it works, where its limits lie, and when a specialised executive search consultancy makes the difference.

Why direct approach becomes essential amid the skills shortage

The skills shortage hits the Mittelstand especially hard. For a key position in mechanical engineering, automotive or IT, the right specialist is often missing for months. The vacancy stays open, projects slip, and senior management keeps asking.

The real problem: the best candidates don't apply. They're in a good position, satisfied enough, and don't read job ads. You won't reach these passive candidates through StepStone, not through an internal posting, and rarely through referrals. For niche roles, the pool is simply too small.

One lever remains: actively and specifically approaching exactly the people who meet the requirements profile. Don't wait for someone to get in touch. Instead, approach passive talent where they work today. That is the core of direct approach.

What direct candidate approach means

Direct approach refers to specifically initiating first contact with specialists and executives who are currently in permanent employment and not actively applying. The recruiter or consultant identifies suitable people, contacts them directly, and sparks interest in a concrete move.

The difference from a classic job posting is fundamental. With a job ad, the company waits for responses. With direct approach, the person searching takes the initiative. It is therefore the standard method in executive search whenever quality and fit matter more than fast availability.

Direct approach is discreet, individual and time-intensive. Not a mass mailing, but a qualified dialogue with a clearly defined target group.

Direct approach vs. active sourcing: what's the difference?

The two terms are often used interchangeably but don't mean the same thing. Active sourcing is the umbrella term for all proactive methods of candidate attraction. That includes researching talent pools, approaching people via social networks, and building candidate relationships.

Direct approach is one specific expression of that. It means immediate, personal contact with an identified target person, usually at specialist or management level. Active sourcing can be broad. Direct approach never is.

For key positions, depth is what counts. It's not the number of contacts that decides the outcome, but the relevance of each individual approach.

Who can be reached through direct approach?

Three types of candidate can be reached via direct approach. Passive candidates are satisfied in their role and aren't looking. Latently searching candidates are open if the right offer comes along but won't become active themselves. Candidates ready to move are actively weighing up a concrete step.

The first two groups in particular are invisible on job boards. But they make up the bulk of the relevant market, especially for specialist roles.

Key positions benefit disproportionately as a result. Anyone looking for a niche skill set, say an SAP specialist or an experienced leader in mechanical engineering, finds the right people almost exclusively in the passive market. Direct approach opens exactly that door.

How professional direct approach works in practice

Professional direct approach follows a clear sequence. It doesn't start with contact, but with analysis. Four steps structure the process.

First, market analysis and a target company list. Then, concrete candidate research. Next, first contact. Finally, qualifying the interest shown. No step is left to chance.

This sequence determines the quality of the outcome. Skip the first two steps and you approach the wrong people. Skip the last one and you present candidates without a genuine motive to move.

Target company list and candidate research

Before the first approach comes structured market analysis. Which companies employ specialists with the profile you need? In which industries, regions and company sizes do they sit? These questions produce the target company list.

An example from mechanical engineering: for a technical leadership role, the consultant first defines 30 to 50 relevant target companies. Competitors, suppliers, adjacent industries. Only then does the search for named individuals begin.

This order matters. The target company list defines the candidate pool before anyone is approached at all. That keeps the search focused and the effort calculable. More on this in our Executive Search service overview.

First contact: what opens an approach, and what ends it

The first contact decides everything that follows. Anyone sending standardised text blocks via LinkedIn gets ignored. Passive candidates spot a mass message immediately.

What opens an approach: a concrete link to the candidate's current role. A clear reason why this particular person is being approached. And a guarantee of absolute discretion, since many candidates are still in an ongoing, unterminated position.

What ends it: generic stock phrases, unrealistic promises, a lack of confidentiality. Anyone who fails to show relevance in the first sentence doesn't get a second chance. A phone call often remains more effective than any message, because it allows real dialogue.

Run direct approach yourself, or hand it to an executive search consultancy?

Many HR departments first try direct approach themselves, via their own LinkedIn and XING profiles. That rarely fails because of a lack of skill, but because of three factors: time, access and discretion.

Time, because a credible direct approach quickly covers 40 to 60 contacts per mandate, each individually researched and personally approached. Access, because the passive market can't be reached through open profiles. Discretion, because an approach made under the company's own name becomes visible on the market.

A specialised executive search consultancy pays off when the position is critical, the profile narrow, and internal capacity limited. Industry focus is decisive. A consultant without technical understanding misreads the requirements profile and approaches the wrong candidates. Many HR managers have already experienced exactly that with cheaper generalists.

Why Mittelstand companies struggle with direct approach - and how to offset it

As a Mittelstand company without a well-known corporate name, the starting position is difficult. Big brands attract the talent. In direct approach, the candidate's first question is: who exactly is contacting me here?

A corporate employer-branding budget is missing. But the strengths of the Mittelstand are real: shorter decision paths, a direct line to senior management, genuine scope for initiative, often a more stable culture. These advantages are just too rarely communicated credibly on the market.

This is where an executive search consultancy acts as an extended arm. It approaches candidates neutrally, without the company name being on the table right away. It translates the Mittelstand company's strengths into a compelling case. And it acts as a trustworthy authority that makes it easier for the candidate to place the opportunity. That offsets the disadvantage against the big brand.

Schlagheck + Radtke operates from three locations, Dusseldorf, Munich and Ulm, and is also involved in cross-border search mandates through the international networkPRAXI ALLIANCE. The consulting team brings its own industry experience, including from reinsurance, banking and management consulting.

Management diagnostics as protection against costly bad hires

The candidate was a technical fit. Not a cultural one. After the probationary period, they were gone again. Many HR managers know this experience, and it's expensive: double costs, lost onboarding time, falling trust from senior management.

Direct approach delivers candidates. It says little about whether someone fits the company culturally and stays for the long term. This is exactly the gap that management diagnostics closes.

It structurally examines what the interview alone doesn't reveal: understanding of leadership, motivational structure, fit with the existing organisation. That turns a technically correct selection into a sustainable decision. Complemented by onboarding support, the likelihood rises that the candidate stays on beyond the probationary period.

Aptitude diagnostics is therefore not an add-on. It's an integral part of a direct approach aimed at fit rather than a fast placement.How expensive a bad hire gets is shown by a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM, 2022) study: depending on how demanding the role is, turnover costs range from 16 to 213 percent of an annual salary - a clear argument for investing in solid aptitude diagnostics.

Frequently asked questions about direct candidate approach (FAQ)

Is direct candidate approach legally permitted?

Yes, direct candidate approach is generally permitted in Germany, including at the workplace. Under case law, a brief first contact is allowed as long as it only informs the candidate and isn't repeated or excessively intrusive. The processing of candidate data is also subject to GDPR requirements. Under settled case law of Germany's Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH), a brief phone call to a candidate at their workplace is permitted (BGH, judgment of 4 March 2004, case no. I ZR 221/01 - "Direktansprache am Arbeitsplatz I"); once the conversation goes beyond what's needed for that first contact, it becomes unfair competition (BGH, judgment of 9 February 2006, case no. I ZR 73/02 - "Direktansprache am Arbeitsplatz II"; BGH, judgment of 22 November 2007, case no. I ZR 183/04 - "Direktansprache am Arbeitsplatz III").

How long does it take before a candidate is presented through direct approach?

As a rule, the first qualified candidates are presented within four to eight weeks of the mandate starting. The exact duration depends on how narrow the profile is, market availability and the region.

What does direct approach through an executive search consultancy cost?

Fees are usually based on the target salary of the position and typically range between 25 and 35 percent of the annual gross salary. Two models are common: the retainer model with payments split across phases, and a pure success fee on successful placement.

What information does an executive search consultancy need to start direct approach?

What's needed is a precise requirements profile, the salary range for the position, and an honest description of the company culture. The clearer this basis, the faster and more precisely the search can start. Details on target companies, reporting lines and the key tasks for the first twelve months help further still.

How does direct approach differ from classic headhunting?

Direct approach and headhunting essentially mean the same thing: specifically and directly contacting passive candidates. Headhunting is the older, more colloquial term and usually refers to filling individual top positions. Direct approach describes the method more neutrally and covers specialist as well as management positions alike.

Your next step

Has a key position stayed open for too long? Are job boards failing to deliver suitable applicants? Then direct approach is the right lever, and industry focus decides the outcome.

Schlagheck + Radtke fills management and specialist roles in mechanical engineering, automotive, IT and other industrial sectors. Adviser. Source of impulse. Partner.

Posted on

Executive search Dusseldorf, filling key positions

Executive looking out at the Düsseldorf skyline with the Rhine Tower

Executive Search Dusseldorf, Filling Key Positions

A key position has been vacant for months. Job boards aren't delivering suitable applicants, senior management keeps asking, and the pressure keeps rising. This is exactly where Executive Search Dusseldorf comes in: active direct approach instead of passive job postings. Schlagheck + Radtke fills management and specialist roles for industrial and technology companies. Discreetly, precisely, with real industry knowledge. Below, we show how a professional search process works and why it's the right answer to the skills shortage for the Mittelstand.

When the vacancy stays open for months

The market for specialists is picked clean. The people who fit the profile are already in permanent positions and aren't actively looking. So job boards produce hardly any usable responses for a business-critical role.

You know the consequences. Projects slip. Colleagues step in and work at their limit. The vacancy stays unfilled and eventually lands back on HR's desk.

The skills shortage hits key positions harder than any other role. Anyone still relying on reach here loses time. For critical roles, access to the passive market counts, not the number of adverts placed. On top of that, the cost of every additional month of delay is measurable.

Executive search in Dusseldorf: direct approach instead of job boards

A job posting only reaches people who are actively looking. Executive search reaches the people who actually fit. The difference is methodological, not just a matter of degree.

With direct approach, consultants identify qualified candidates in the target market and contact them specifically, including those who currently have no intention of changing jobs. That is exactly where the right profiles for a demanding key position are found.

So you're not buying a database export. You get a guided search with market research, personal approach and genuine assessment. Precise rather than broad. For one-off, critical vacancies, that is the superior channel.

For more on the methodology, see the Executive Search service page.

Industry expertise that actually understands the requirements profile

A recruiter without industry focus often doesn't understand the technical requirements profile. The result: profiles that look right on paper and fall short in practice. On top of that, valuable time is lost because candidates have to be re-qualified.

Schlagheck + Radtke therefore works with clearly defined sectors: mechanical engineering, automotive, IT, plastics and chemicals, and construction. The consulting team brings its own industry experience, including from reinsurance, banking and management consulting.

One example: for an SAP role in an automotive setting, the details decide. Which module, which migration experience, which interfaces to production. Anyone who speaks the language of the industry filters out the wrong candidates early. That saves time on both sides.

An overview of industry-specific placements is available on our values and guarantees page.

Management diagnostics: strong on paper and a cultural fit

Bad hires are expensive. The candidate was a technical fit, not a cultural one, and after the probationary period they were gone again. Double costs, wasted onboarding time, falling trust.

Management diagnostics addresses exactly this. It structurally examines what a CV doesn't show: understanding of leadership, motivation, fit with the company culture. That turns a plausible candidate into a well-founded decision.

The benefit is concrete. Someone who fits culturally stays longer and grows into the role. A meta-analysis across 172 studies shows a clear link between cultural fit and intention to stay (ρ = -.35), and structured interviews predict later performance better (r = .42) than tests of cognitive ability (r = .31). One further finding shows this is no academic footnote: at 28 percent of companies, a lack of cultural fit was a direct cause of early resignations. Onboarding support further safeguards the first few months on top of that.

On structured selection procedures, the German Association for People Management (DGFP) recommends evidence-based methods that go beyond the classic CV.

How a discreet executive search process works

Transparency removes the uncertainty before the first step. The process follows three clear phases. Discreet throughout.

Phase 1: Briefing and requirements profile

It starts with a joint briefing. Consultant and client work out the search profile together, both professionally and culturally. What does the person need to be able to do? Which team will they join? What goals does the role carry? Only once the profile is set does the search begin.

Phase 2: Market research and direct approach

The second step is systematic research of the target market. The focus is on Dusseldorf and the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as nationally and, through PRAXI ALLIANCE, internationally. Passive candidates are approached personally and confidentially.

Phase 3: Shortlisting, diagnostics and presentation

This is followed by structured assessment, including management diagnostics. Only vetted profiles go forward to the client. You don't see a list of names, but a reasoned shortlist. That noticeably shortens your own decision-making process.

Competing against big-name brands as a Mittelstand company

Against well-known corporate names, Mittelstand companies often struggle in candidate conversations. The big brands draw attention away. But the brand name alone rarely decides a job change.

Top candidates ask about scope for initiative, short decision paths and real responsibility. That is exactly what the Mittelstand offers. In direct conversation, the consultant makes these strengths visible and sets them against the corporate offer.

Executive search is therefore also translation work here. An unfamiliar name becomes a compelling offer. Pointers on this are collected in the employer branding guide for the Mittelstand.

Frequently asked questions about executive search in Dusseldorf (FAQ)

What does executive search in Dusseldorf cost?

Executive search is usually billed via a fee model combining a retainer and a success component, typically calculated against the target annual salary of the position to be filled. A flat price quote would not be credible, because the effort and depth of the search vary by mandate. A concrete quote follows the briefing.

How long does an executive search placement take?

An executive search placement typically takes three to five months from briefing to signed contract, with the decisive candidate profiles usually available within four weeks of project start. How quickly things move after that mainly depends on the pace of conversations and decisions on the company side. Market research and direct approach take time, because passive candidates don't switch jobs at the push of a button. Realistic expectations beat empty promises of speed.

Is executive search worthwhile for the Mittelstand too?

Yes, executive search in Dusseldorf is particularly relevant for Mittelstand companies with 50 to 500 employees. That is exactly where key positions are business-critical and a bad hire especially costly. The Dusseldorf and NRW region also offers a dense candidate market.

What is the difference between executive search and classic recruitment agencies?

Executive search approaches passive candidates specifically and discreetly. Classic recruitment agencies, by contrast, mostly rely on job postings and existing applicant pools. For key positions, direct approach is superior because it reaches exactly the people who would otherwise stay invisible.

Which roles and industries is executive search in Dusseldorf suited to?

Executive search suits management and specialist roles, for example in automotive, mechanical engineering and IT/SAP. Schlagheck + Radtke also covers plastics and chemicals as well as construction. The more specialised the role, the greater the advantage of a targeted search.

Your key position won't wait

The longer a vacancy stays open, the more expensive it gets. So talk to Schlagheck + Radtke now about your open role. Adviser. Source of impulse. Partner.

In the first conversation, we clarify the requirements profile and the possible timeframe. No obligation, and discreet. Book your first conversation now: Contact the Dusseldorf office.

Posted on

Headhunter for mechanical engineering: Fill roles discreetly

Führungskraft am Laptop in einer Maschinenbau-Produktionshalle mit Industrierobotern

Headhunter for mechanical engineering: filling key positions discreetly

You have been searching for months. And finding nobody. A specialist headhunter in mechanical engineering starts exactly where conventional job boards fail: with specialists and executives who are already firmly in the saddle and are not looking at all. The market for technical key positions is picked clean. The right people are employed, often by a competitor. Reaching them takes direct approach, technical understanding and a discreet process. That is what executive search in mechanical and plant engineering does. This article shows what matters and how a mandate actually runs.

Why the conventional routes fail in mechanical engineering recruitment

You know the pattern. The job ad runs on a large board. Responses come in. None of them fit. For a specialist role in mechanical engineering, the reach of the big job boards produces hardly any qualified applicants. That is not bad luck but a structural problem.

The reason lies in the market itself. Experienced heads of development, SAP specialists or sales professionals with sector knowledge are not actively looking. They are committed elsewhere. That passive candidate pool therefore appears in no applicant database. Advertise only, and you never reach it.

Approaching people yourself through LinkedIn or XING runs into limits quickly too. HR departments in mid-sized companies have neither the time nor the systematic access to approach hundreds of passive candidates properly. Internal postings? For niche roles the pool is simply too small.

The consequence is predictable. The vacancy stays open. Projects slip. Colleagues cover. And at some point the management board asks why the key position is still unfilled. The skills shortage in mechanical engineering is real. The actual problem, though, is rarely the number of talented people. It is the lack of access to them.

What makes a specialist mechanical engineering headhunter

A generalist recruiter knows processes. A mechanical engineering headhunter knows your industry. That difference decides the outcome.

Specialisation means three things in practice: active access to candidates who are not looking, a solid sector network grown over years, and the ability to understand a technical requirements profile properly and represent it credibly in conversation.

Schlagheck + Radtke works with clearly defined sector focuses, among them mechanical engineering, automotive and IT. The consultant team brings its own industry experience. That closeness to the subject is not a nice-to-have. It is what makes a candidate take the call seriously.

Direct approach instead of a job ad

Direct approach is the only method that opens up the passive market. Instead of waiting for someone to apply, the consultant goes to the right people. Deliberately, on the basis of research, in person.

The sequence is systematic. First the relevant market is mapped: which companies employ people with the profile you need, and who sits in which role there? Then comes discreet contact. Step by step.

That precision is what separates executive search from database recruiting. It is not about volume. It is about the ten or fifteen people who really come into question professionally and culturally. Well matched rather than broadly scattered.

Technical competence as a basic condition

Recruiters from outside the sector fail at a simple hurdle: they do not understand the profile. If you do not know the difference between design and calculation, you filter wrongly. If you do not know what a commissioning engineer does in plant construction, you approach the wrong people.

Real mechanical engineering focus shows up in conversation. Within two minutes a candidate can tell whether the person on the other end speaks the language. An experienced head of development will not be courted by someone reading technical terms off a page.

An example from practice: in a search for a head of design in special-purpose machinery, a detail often decides it. Does the consultant know the demands of one-off production as against series? Can they judge which CAD systems are relevant? That knowledge separates a workable process from an expensive waste of time.

The key positions we fill in mechanical engineering

Not every vacancy needs a headhunter. Key positions do. These roles decide revenue, technology and whether the company has a future. They are also the hardest to fill.

Typical mandates in mechanical engineering include:

  • Technical managing director / CTO, with overall responsibility for technology, often in the context of a succession
  • Head of development and head of design, the core of any capacity to innovate
  • Sales director for machinery and plant, with the rare combination of engineering and selling
  • Head of production and manufacturing
  • Head of quality management and service
  • SAP and IT specialists at the interface with production
  • Specialist roles such as calculation engineers or commissioning engineers

What these positions have in common: a bad appointment does not only cost salary. It costs time, projects and market position. That is what justifies the systematic effort of a targeted search.

Our focus areas in mechanical and plant engineering

Mechanical engineering is not one uniform field. A sales professional from series production rarely fits into plant construction. The finer distinctions matter.

Classic mechanical engineering covers machine tools, packaging technology and conveying technology. Here process reliability and scaling count. The requirement profiles differ markedly from one-off production.

In special-purpose machinery the project business dominates. Customers order individual solutions. What is needed are people who can steer complexity and negotiate with the customer on a technical level. A different profile, a different personality.

Drive technology demands a deep understanding of mechatronics, electronics and, increasingly, software. The boundary between mechanical engineering and IT blurs here. That is why mechanical engineering and IT complement each other sensibly as focus areas in one consultant.

Plant construction, finally, is a universe of its own: large projects, long cycles, international sites. Anyone searching here needs candidates with nerve and a willingness to travel. Depth rather than breadth.

All sector focus areas at a glance

How a mandate runs: from enquiry to acceptance

Transparency lowers the barrier. So here is the concrete sequence, step by step.

Step 1: Briefing and sharpening the profile. It starts with a conversation. What exactly does the position need? Which professional criteria are non-negotiable, and which cultural ones? That exchange often sharpens the profile considerably.

Step 2: Market analysis and target company list. The consultant maps the relevant market. Which companies come into question as a source? The list is agreed with you, including any off-limits notes for competitors or customers.

Step 3: Direct approach. The identified candidates are contacted discreetly. In person, not by mass email. Interest is aroused, not forced.

Step 4: Shortlisting and management diagnostics. A shortlist emerges from the conversations. This is where diagnostic assessment comes in. More on that in the next section.

Step 5: Presentation and interviews. You meet the suitable candidates. The consultant accompanies, moderates and provides a well-founded assessment.

Step 6: Contract phase and onboarding support. The process does not end with the acceptance. An accompanied induction raises the likelihood that the new employee stays.

The executive search process in detail

Cultural fit and management diagnostics: why professional suitability alone is not enough

The most expensive mistake in recruiting looks perfect on paper. The candidate fitted professionally. Not culturally. Once the probation period was over, they were gone. Double the cost, induction time burned, falling confidence in the management board.

This is exactly where a consultant differs from a supplier of CVs. Management diagnostics examines not only whether someone can do the job. It examines whether the person fits the environment: leadership style, values, ways of working.

The cost of a bad hire frequently exceeds the annual salary for the position by a wide margin, above all once induction, lost productivity and a second search are counted in. The German Federal Association of HR Managers (BPM) (in German) points to a study by the consultancy Kienbaum, according to which the direct and indirect total costs for specialists and managers add up to between 1.5 and 3 times annual salary, and up to three times at managing director level. A more recent analysis by Oxford Economics puts the total cost at around 3.3 times. For key and bottleneck roles in mechanical engineering, careful selection based on personality is therefore considerably cheaper than correcting a wrong decision.

An example: a technically brilliant head of development can fail in the wrong context if their leadership does not fit the culture of a family-run mid-sized company. Diagnostics makes risks like that visible before the appointment. That is not an extra. It is insurance against the most expensive recruiting mistake there is.

Management diagnostics

Who we work for: ambitious mid-sized mechanical engineering

Our clients are mid-sized machinery builders, typically with 50 to 500 employees. Often owner-managed. Technologically strong, but without the brand name of a large group.

That is the source of a problem many HR directors know. The big names pull talent away. A candidate appears to find it easier to choose the well-known listed corporation over the hidden champion in the Rhineland or southern Germany.

That disadvantage is smaller than it looks, though. A lot of specialists and executives want precisely what a mid-sized company offers: short routes, real responsibility, visible influence. Those strengths have to be conveyed credibly. An experienced consultant in the direct approach is therefore not a luxury but a counterweight.

They do not sell the name; they sell the role and what it opens up. For clients and candidates alike they are a partner in the process. With offices in Düsseldorf, Munich and Ulm, Schlagheck + Radtke is anchored in mid-sized industry, in the Rhineland as much as in southern Germany. For cross-border searches the PRAXI ALLIANCE network also provides access to the international market.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What does a headhunter in mechanical engineering cost?

A headhunter in mechanical engineering usually works for a fee based on the target annual salary for the position, often as a percentage. Billing is generally in stages along the course of the mandate. A transparent offer sets out the exact terms in advance. At Schlagheck + Radtke the model is success-based: the full fee falls due only on a successful appointment. A 24-month guarantee also covers the placement, so that if the person leaves within that period the search is repeated at no further fee. We set out the exact terms transparently in advance, in a personal conversation.

How long does an executive search in mechanical engineering take?

An executive search in mechanical engineering usually takes a few weeks to a few months, depending on how rare the profile is and how tied it is to a region. A specialist consultant often presents the first suitable candidates after just a few weeks. At Schlagheck + Radtke, the clearly defined search process means the decisive candidate profiles are generally with you four to six weeks after the project starts.

What is the difference between a headhunter and a placement agency?

A headhunter approaches passive candidates actively and deliberately, through direct approach, whereas a classic placement agency mostly draws on existing applicant databases and people who are actively looking. For rare key positions in mechanical engineering, only the direct approach opens up the relevant market.

Does a headhunter work for smaller mechanical engineering companies too?

Yes. Executive search is worth it for smaller companies as well, as soon as a key position is hard to fill. What matters is not the size of the company but the importance of the role. In owner-managed mid-sized firms in particular, getting the fit right is often especially critical.

How discreet is a headhunter search in mechanical engineering?

A headhunter search in mechanical engineering runs in strict confidence: neither your company nor the candidates approached are disclosed prematurely. Discretion matters particularly in succession and leadership appointments, so as not to unsettle the market or endanger the candidate's current position.

Your key position will not wait

The longer a key position stays open, the more expensive it gets. Delayed projects. Overloaded colleagues. Questions from above.

A specialist headhunter for mechanical engineering solves that problem at the root: with direct approach, technical understanding and a discreet, transparent process. Adviser. Source of impulse. Partner.

Talk to us about your open position. In a first conversation, with no obligation, we sharpen the profile together and show you what a well-matched search for your vacancy would look like.

Request a first conversation

Posted on

Executive search consultancy: What it does and when it pays

Executive search consultant in a meeting with a client

Executive search consultancy: what it does and when it pays off

An executive search consultancy helps companies fill key positions with the right people. Not with the first CV that turns up in a database, but with candidates who genuinely fit, professionally and culturally. In mid-sized industry that matters more than anywhere. If you cannot fill a leadership or specialist role for months, you feel the pressure every day. This article explains what a consultancy does, how it works and when going through an external adviser actually pays for itself.

What is an executive search consultancy? A clear definition

Executive search consultancy means professional support for companies in filling positions. The focus is on executives and specialists, on roles that are hard to reach through the regular candidate market.

A good consultancy delivers more than candidate profiles. It analyses the requirements profile, approaches suitable candidates deliberately and tests the fit, professionally and culturally. That is what makes it fundamentally different from plain placement.

The term covers a range of services: executive search, management diagnostics, onboarding support and strategic recruiting advice. Depending on the situation, those elements work together. Advisers, a source of impulse, partners.

Search consultancy versus placement agency: where is the difference?

The two are often confused. The difference is fundamental.

A classic placement agency usually works from a database and on a contingency basis. It passes on existing profiles and earns a fee when a hire is made. Depth of advice is rarely part of that model.

A search consultancy works differently. It starts by understanding the position and the company. Then it actively identifies suitable candidates in the market, including people who are not looking. The process is structured and accompanied rather than transactional. Put briefly: placement supplies contacts, consultancy supplies certainty that the role gets filled.

When is a consultancy worth it? Typical situations in mid-sized industry

Not every vacancy needs an external adviser. Certain roles do. Three situations come up again and again in mid-sized industrial companies.

A key position stays open for months

The vacancy has been open for months. The usual job boards stop producing suitable applicants. The market is empty; the right people are in permanent roles already.

The consequences are tangible. Projects slip, colleagues cover, the management board starts asking. The skills shortage hits technical key positions in mechanical engineering, automotive and the SAP world particularly hard. Direct approach starts exactly where job boards have nothing left to offer.

The candidates are not actively looking

The best candidates for a specialist role do not apply. They are content, well paid and committed where they are. You reach that passive market neither with an advertisement nor with a referral from your own team.

A consultancy approaches those people deliberately and discreetly, through researched networks rather than mass mailings. That is the core of executive search: access to people who otherwise stay out of reach. An experienced adviser also brings a credibility that is hard to create internally.

After a bad hire: starting again with more certainty

A bad hire is expensive. The candidate fitted professionally but not culturally, and once the probation period was over they were gone. Double the cost, induction time burned, doubts about your own process.

Management diagnostics helps here. It examines not only professional competence but leadership behaviour and cultural fit. That noticeably lowers the risk of getting it wrong a second time. For key positions, the extra step is worth taking.

How a consultancy works: the typical process from briefing to onboarding

A serious search follows clear steps. Transparency is not an extra here but the basis of the working relationship.

  1. Briefing and requirements profile. The adviser comes to understand the position, the team and the goals, professionally and culturally.
  2. Market analysis and search strategy. Where do the right candidates sit? Which companies come into question as a source?
  3. Direct approach. Identified candidates are contacted discreetly and interested in the role.
  4. Selection and diagnostics. Interviews, references and, where needed, management diagnostics create a solid basis for a decision.
  5. Presenting the shortlist. The company receives a manageable selection of vetted candidates, not a stack of CVs.
  6. Onboarding support. The work does not end with the signature. An accompanied start secures success in the long run.

That sequence is the difference between chance and a well-matched appointment. You can read more on our executive search service page.

Executive search and direct approach: how to reach the passive market

Executive search inverts the logic of the job board. Instead of waiting for someone to apply, the adviser goes to suitable candidates.

The starting point is research. Which companies employ comparable specialists? Who carries responsibility there for relevant projects? Out of that analysis comes a longlist of real candidates, not a database extract.

Then comes the direct approach. Personal, discreet and tailored to the individual. An adviser with their own industry background understands the technical requirements and speaks the candidates' language. That creates credibility a recruiter from outside the sector cannot produce.

For a mid-sized company without a big brand name, that is a real lever. The adviser conveys your strengths in places where candidates would otherwise only register the large corporate brand. The whole process also runs discreetly, without competitors or your own team being told prematurely. There is more on reaching passive candidates in our overview of sectors and contacts.

For a broader view of the market, the German Federal Employment Agency's bottleneck analysis (in German) offers a solid data basis on shortage occupations in industry and technology.

What to look for when choosing a consultancy

Not every consultancy suits every search. These criteria are worth a close look.

  • Sector focus. Does the adviser understand your technical environment, whether mechanical engineering, automotive or IT and SAP? Without that understanding the direct approach fails.
  • Industry experience of their own. Advisers who have worked in industry themselves judge profiles more accurately.
  • Diagnostic competence. Is cultural fit examined systematically, for example through management diagnostics? That lowers the risk of a bad hire.
  • References from your sector. Solid references say more than any promise. Our focus areas are automotive, mechanical and plant engineering, medical technology, plastics and chemicals, construction and IT.
  • Transparency in the process. A clear, comprehensible sequence is a good sign. Sweeping promises are not.

Schlagheck + Radtke works from three locations: Düsseldorf, Munich and Ulm. For cross-border mandates the team also draws on the international PRAXI ALLIANCE network. You will find an overview of our offices and contacts on the contact and locations page.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What does an executive search consultancy cost?

Consultancies generally work with a fee based on the remuneration for the position being filled. Two models are common: the retainer fee, paid in stages across the search, and the contingency fee, which falls due only on a hire. Actual rates depend on the position and the effort the search requires.

How long does it take to fill a role through a consultancy?

An appointment through executive search typically takes several months, depending on the role and the state of the market. For specialist profiles in high demand the search can run longer. Serious advisers therefore give a realistic range rather than quick promises. At Schlagheck + Radtke that range is, in our experience, two to five months.

What is the difference between executive search and general search consultancy?

Executive search is one part of search consultancy. It concentrates on the direct approach to executives and highly specialised experts. General consultancy can also include strategic recruiting advice, diagnostics or onboarding. Executive search describes the method; search consultancy the wider frame.

Is a consultancy also right for mid-sized companies?

Yes, and for mid-sized companies it is often especially valuable. They compete for key positions against large corporate brands and rarely reach the passive market on their own. An adviser with a sector focus makes the company's strengths visible to candidates and opens access to people who would not have applied.

Your key position will not wait

An open vacancy costs money, time and confidence every month. Once the usual channels stop delivering, access to the passive market is what decides the outcome.

Schlagheck + Radtke fills management and specialist roles in industry and technology, through direct approach, management diagnostics and accompanied onboarding. Advisers, a source of impulse, partners.

Talk to us about your open key position. Get in touch and we will work out in a first conversation what a well-matched search would look like for your company.

Posted on

Diversity at work starts with recruiting (Part 2)

Diversität am arbeitsplatz 2

Diversity at work: it starts with recruiting, part 2

Encouraging diversity deliberately matters throughout the recruiting process. Decision-making in hiring splits into two kinds: implicit decisions, made unconsciously, and explicit decisions, where information is consciously weighed up. Our brains make most decisions implicitly, which is another way of saying that application documents get analysed on feeling and that hiring managers listen to their gut. A certain share of individual habits of thought and action therefore flows into selection whether we like it or not. A related case is self-cloning by similarity: people favour candidates whose outlook differs little from their own.

To make recruitment free of prejudice, hiring managers first have to become aware of their own routines.

Easy application

Applying should be as simple as possible. In recruiting young professionals in particular, that can decide whether a suitable person applies at all. What matters is ease of use, few clicks and, in the simplest case, being able to leave a link to a LinkedIn profile.

Review your old job ads

"We have always done it this way" has no place in recruiting either. Even where the same profiles come up again and again, reviewing old ads is indispensable. Requirements change, and some requirements are no longer necessary for a given role at all. Studies keep showing that women, for instance, only apply when they meet every criterion listed. Cutting an ad back to the essential competencies therefore makes it more likely that they will feel addressed.

The weight of soft skills

Naming the qualities and soft skills you want in the ideal candidate is essential. An example: if the aim is to reach women as well, words associated with men, such as "driven", "independent" or "analytical", are better avoided or used very deliberately, with terms associated with women, such as "responsible", "gifted" or "trustworthy", used instead.

Gender-fair language

It starts with the job title and runs through to the description of the duties. Language and images should speak to all genders equally. An example: in German, a line such as "then you are our man for the purchasing role" reads positively to male candidates but is unlikely to make women feel addressed. The better choice is the paired form that names both, "Einkäufer/in". English has the same problem in a different form, in phrases such as "he will be responsible for".

Diversity in the company and how you show it

Once a company has decided to give diversity more weight, it should say so publicly. Candidates care that a potential employer stands for particular values and works towards equal opportunity.

Employees as brand ambassadors

Who could be better placed to carry the company's values outward than its own people? In networks, at trade fairs and on social media, they can convey the company and what it stands for more credibly and authentically than any well-turned sentence on the corporate website.

Use interview guides

Guides help when recruiting. They give colleagues from the specialist departments a way of running interviews so that the pool of candidates going into the next round is as diverse as possible. Guides also help recruiters avoid bias.

Defined assessment criteria

The requirements profile for the prospective employee is set out clearly. Assessment criteria are broken down for the interviewers and are therefore transparent to third parties as well.

Diverse recruiting teams

Recruiting teams should be as varied as possible. Every member brings different experience and contributes ideas, feedback and someone for candidates to identify with. At the same time candidates get a broader view of what the workforce looks like.

Training for recruiters

All managers and interviewers should be trained regularly. The focus is on refreshing knowledge of recruiting practice and trends, and on subjects such as diversity.

The recruitment process is one of many fields of action for making a company more diverse. What matters is not walking into selection carrying prejudice or bias you have picked up without noticing.

Posted on

Diversity at work starts with recruiting (Part 1)

Diversität am Arbeitsplatz

Diversity at work: it starts with recruiting

Social and economic trends are changing how we work. Demographic change, globalisation, shifting values, falling numbers of people in employment, a growing share of women in work, more people with a migration background. Those are the conditions companies and institutions operate in today. Their success depends on how well they can hold their own in globalised trade and in the competition for qualified staff. A company that commits to diversity sets out to create a working environment in which everyone is valued, regardless of age, ethnic origin and nationality, sex and gender identity, physical and mental ability, religion and belief, sexual orientation and social background.

Numerous studies show that teams put together with as much diversity as possible achieve better results. Companies that pay attention to diversity in selection and in how they compose their teams are more successful. Diversity drives shared creativity and innovation, and recognising and developing a wide range of potential brings real commercial advantages.

1. Diversity makes people satisfied and productive, and strengthens loyalty and morale

Diversity has a real effect on how satisfied employees are, and that in turn strengthens their productivity and morale. It also increases their sense of belonging to the company.

2. A diverse team is a better team to work in

Only when everyone is in an environment where they can be fully themselves do they draw on their full potential. Different ways of thinking, different experiences, skills, backgrounds and cultural influences working together improve motivation and performance. Diversity is a win for employees and employers alike.

3. Diversity strengthens innovation and competitiveness

A diverse workforce develops innovative solutions and gives research and development a lift. The varied backgrounds and accumulated experience of the staff allow processes and structures to be tailored precisely to the markets in question.

4. Diverse companies are more profitable

According to the study "Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters" (McKinsey, 2019), diverse companies are more likely to be above average in profitability. With high gender diversity the potential uplift is 25 per cent; with ethnic diversity it rises to 36 per cent.

5. Diversity matters to candidates and employees

Seventy-three per cent of employees and candidates attach great importance to diversity in a company when looking for a new job (source: Diversity Study, Page Group, 2017). Successful diversity management therefore makes your company more attractive.

Part two of this article will look at how to encourage diversity deliberately within the recruiting process.

Posted on

Time-to-hire: the race against costs

Time-to-Hire: Wettlauf gegen die Kosten

Time-to-hire: the race against costs

Time-to-hire describes the period from a vacancy arising to the open position being filled. For many companies it is an important KPI. Two factors weigh heavily: the labour market situation in a particular industry or region, and the efficiency of the recruiting process at the hiring company. What a company can influence directly and at short notice is above all the efficiency and professionalism of its own process. The tighter the labour market, the more decisive fast response times and clear, comprehensible selection and decision-making processes become.

How long may filling a position take?

Various surveys put the average time-to-hire at between two and four months. Finding and selecting qualified specialists and executives sometimes takes considerably longer.
In a Forsa study commissioned by Xing E-Recruiting, 200 HR directors from companies with more than 200 employees were asked about time-to-hire. Around 70 per cent said it had risen over the previous five years. The remaining 30 per cent were dealing with a sharp increase. More than 70 per cent of the HR leaders surveyed expect the trend to continue and time-to-hire to keep climbing. Far more important for the individual candidate than the length of time a position stays open, though, is how they experience the selection process. How candidates rate their own experience after submitting an application, the candidate journey, is often the decisive factor for top candidates in particular.

What does it cost?

Many companies look only at the budget needed for the search itself. Those costs come from placing job ads on job boards, from social media activity or from engaging executive search consultants. The opportunity costs, the benefit forgone through lost revenue and the like while a position sits unfilled, are likely to be considerably higher, especially for key and bottleneck roles.

What can be done?

Companies have plenty of options for countering rising time-to-fill and speeding up their processes. Contacts in HR and in the hiring department need to be easy for interested candidates to reach. Prompt first interviews by phone or video would shorten response times considerably without much effort. Where a candidate looks like a fit, a decision should follow without notable delay, on the basis of a detailed interview or an individual assessment, or both.
Because this apparently seems impossible for many companies, given the lack of time and the workload of decision-makers in HR and the departments, those companies lose attractiveness through long response times and delays that candidates often find impossible to understand. Feeling undervalued or unsure how long the process will run, the best candidates not infrequently decide to withdraw from a procedure that may already be well advanced but looks opaque and open-ended.

A good consultant can help

Preparing the ground for a positive candidate journey is core business for a good executive search consultant. A professional consultant with industry experience should also be well placed to identify suitable candidates on the basis of a thoroughly worked-out requirements analysis, and to provide a reasoned shortlist covering the expertise, personality and motivation of the candidates they recommend. The consultant's value lies above all in the ability to find the top candidates in the market who are not actively looking, to get them interested in the vacancy and to motivate them to enter the process. In many companies, the people responsible simply do not have the time or the expertise that alone requires.
Beyond that, it is the consultant's job to keep an eye on the selection process through to a signed contract, in the interest of a positive candidate journey, and to steer it or at least influence it where needed. Only that genuinely takes the load off decision-makers in HR and the departments.
Engaging an executive search consultant does not just save resources and nerves. It can bring down time-to-hire considerably, and the costs that come with it. The condition is commitment on both sides and a willingness to let real trust develop between the consultant and the decision-makers in the company.

Posted on

What a generation wants: feedback and work-life blend

Wünsche einer Generation 2: Feedback & Work-Life-Blend

What a generation wants: feedback and work-life blend

The new generation of soon-to-be graduates and young professionals is changing the rules on the labour market. Demand for young, well-educated staff is high. There are more vacancies than there are young people to fill them. Their self-confidence is considerable and their expectations of a future employer are rising.
In the first part of my "What a generation wants" series we looked at the reasons behind the so-called war for talent, and I set out what defines my generation, the one labelled Generation Y or the millennials, and explained why the purpose of their work and financial security are essential pillars of their satisfaction and productivity at work.

You can find part one here: What a generation wants: purpose and security.

In this second part I will look at two further aspects that I draw from my constant exchange with people of my generation and from my own views. I would recommend engaging with them if you want to hold your own in the recruiting contest for the best talent and keep those people for the long run.

Feedback

Members of Generation Y are often notably self-assured. Behind that apparently confident manner sits an unusually strong appetite for feedback on their own performance. Preferably as quickly as possible. How do those two things fit together?
This is not about stroking anyone's ego. The reasons for wanting fast feedback lie in the communication culture of the generation. In other words: in how we handle our smartphones.

Our brains are wired quite differently for communication than those of our parents' generation. For us, communication is immediate. We are used to responding to messages within a few minutes or even seconds. We can transfer our thoughts into our phones as a text message almost in real time, often considerably faster than we could have said the same thing out loud. We are already so used to that lightning-fast exchange that pauses in communication can unsettle us.

In dealing with young employees, managers should therefore put a lot of weight on fast, regular feedback. Conversations in person are especially worth recommending. A large part of our communication is already digital, so we value a personal exchange all the more. Feedback of that kind makes a real contribution to reflecting on how we are performing. What we would most like to know is exactly where we are already strong and where there is still room to improve.

Work-life blend

Work-life balance has been a catchphrase for several years and has established itself as a fixed part of the recruiting strategies and employer branding of many companies worldwide.
Work should not dominate life, either in hours or in mental capacity. Alongside the job there should be enough time for hobbies, family and friends, personal development and the rest. Anyone who now concludes that my generation, cheerfully disparaged as the "can't be bothered" generation, is unwilling to do demanding, time-intensive work is mistaken. What will matter most in the coming years is the working model.

We have been calling for reform of the working world since well before the pandemic. To be more precise: we are calling for more flexibility. Where work-life balance still describes a strict separation of professional and private life, the idea of a work-life blend is gaining ground.
Our generation is willing to combine work and private life. The condition, alongside enjoying the work itself, is self-determination.
Stoically going flat out for our employer for eight hours straight and only being allowed to think about our private lives again once we leave the office has long counted as antiquated for us.

We want more freedom over when and where we do our work. We want to be paid for what we deliver, not for the time we sit out. We do not want to work in an environment where we are not allowed to deal with private matters during official working hours, even where doing so would not affect our performance in the slightest. Employers who grant rising top talent that flexibility and extend the necessary trust will be rewarded for it in future.

Posted on

What a generation wants: purpose and security

Wünsche einer Generation: Sinn & Sicherheit

What a generation wants: purpose and security

The contest between companies for well-educated top talent is in full swing. The skills shortage that already exists is being sharpened by a demographic shortage of young people coming through. Companies need to engage now with what the coming generation of specialists and executives expects, if they want to win them over.

The current generation of young professionals and soon-to-be graduates is marked out by a very high level of education and a strong affinity for technology. Their training and studies push them hard on analytical thinking, resilience and creativity. Solving problems with the help of up-to-date digital tools makes up a large part of that. Their feel for the internet, in all the different ways it can be put to use, will do a great deal to change how challenges inside a company are approached in the first place.

As an enthusiastic working student in recruitment, talking to people my own age about exactly these questions is part of my everyday life. In this first article I want to draw attention to two central points that come out of those daily conversations and out of my own views. Later articles will pick up further points.

Purpose

For companies it will come down to creating an environment of inspiration for the coming generation of specialists and executives, one that makes us burn for our work. Defining a clear mission and vision provides the basis for identifying with an employer. For that identification to work, the values the company actually lives have to line up with the values of our generation.

Among the things that carry weight here:

  • Sustainability
  • Protection of the environment and the climate
  • Diversity
  • Equal opportunity

Companies that do not give these values enough weight should not be surprised in future when passionate commitment to the company's goals starts to fall away. We want work in which we can take responsibility for these values together with our company. We want to be proud of being part of something that strengthens them instead of disregarding them.

It is not only values that matter, though, but the basic purpose of our job. If our work is not going to save the environment or improve society, we at least want to be part of a company whose reason for existing is not limited to making its shareholders richer. If the main reason for our overtime is the eagerly awaited full leather interior of a new Porsche, my advice would be to disguise that rather well.

Financial security

Our generation is also marked by a high standard of living and high spending. There is no sign of any great willingness to scale that back. And yet an entire generation is at risk of poverty in old age.

Young adults do well to think about their financial situation in retirement now. Given current demographic trends, it is doubtful whether the solidarity-based pension system will offer enough protection. We know interest on a bank account only from our parents' tall tales. Retirement provision therefore has to be taken in hand personally. The money for it has to be there at the end of the month, after rising living and consumption costs and after allowing for the things people want to finance in life: starting a family, buying a home, going on holiday.

That will show up as an expectation of high salaries. Financial stability and the ability to plan should not be something you first have to climb a career ladder for twenty years to reach. Ideally it is a permanent state from the moment you enter working life.

Finally, any debts incurred during training or study have to be paid off. One in three people finishes their degree in debt.