Recruitment: Classic headhunting is dead - computerwoche.de

For years there has been talk that recruiting in companies has to change because the market conditions are changing - and even more so in view of the current developments with digitization and the pandemic. The logical consequence of this development: Headhunting must also say goodbye to its classic behavior, must - even if it has been known in theory for a long time - get away from simply filling positions.

The Munich consultant, coach and author Frank Rechsteiner puts it this way: "It's about seeing people's potential - identifying it and then creating positions that are profitable for everyone, i.e. for the candidate and the company." Because the work is still done in the old-school way, to put it bluntly: the customer throws the advertised vacancy over the fence and the headhunter has to fill the position.

Personnel search: How headhunting will work in the future

Rechsteiner believes that he has noticed a change in management in companies. The management has recognized that it is not about filling a position, but that the superiors who are in need of personnel give the "company developer - focus on personnel, information about the area in which reinforcements are being sought." Rechsteiner explicitly points out that "it's not a job that's required, it's about the skillset". The Munich consultant is convinced that this requires a different type of cooperation between companies and headhunters. However, the following requirements must be met for this:

"The new headhunting requires new roles on both sides", Rechsteiner is convinced. The new title of the person responsible on the client side should be: Business developer - focus on human resources. And tomorrow's headhunters don't fill vacancies, but "support the customer to grow".

The Munich personnel expert reports on a current case in which the headhunter filled the position of a department manager for his client - for a department that did not even exist in his company. But where both sides, based on market knowledge, experience and future potential, felt it was worth creating this new division and growing in this field.