Role Transformation of Recruiters: From Headhunter to Growth Partner. The role of recruiters has changed significantly in the last few decades. In the past, a recruiter’s job was limited to finding and recruiting candidates to fill vacant positions. In other words, recruiters simply acted as headhunters. But now, their role has become broader and more strategic. Recruiters have become growth partners in driving growth. They proactively help companies achieve success.
When they were just headhunters, recruiters were tasked with finding candidates to place in suitable positions. In fact, this task is more quantitative and short-term, meaning it focuses on the number of candidates recruited. Once the recruitment is done, the recruiter is hands-off. As for the company’s strategy, it is not the recruiter’s business.
Role Transformation of Recruiters: From Headhunter to Growth Partner
However, the above approach is increasingly outdated because the workplace has changed significantly. Companies increasingly need talent that has a significant role in progress.
What is the reason why recruiters need to be reliable growth partners? The first reason is technological advancement. Today, companies can have deeper knowledge and insights into candidate behaviour, potential, and performance, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI),big data, and analytics platforms. As a result, the decisions are more accurate.
The second is related to candidate expectations. Today, workplace is increasingly dominated by generations Y (millennials) and Z. For them, big salary is not enough. They care about work-life balance, organization culture, and career and professional development opportunities.
Third, the change in organizational structure, from a hierarchical to a flatter structure. Obviously, recruiters must better understand the development of this structure, and its implications for the organization.
Fourth, the growing importance of long-term orientation. This implies that the long-term development potential of employees and cultural fit are increasingly taken into account, rather than just focusing on technical skills.
Getting involved in HR Management
So, how can recruiters become growth partners? Recruiters need to be involved in long-term human resource management. For this, recruiters must understand how talent can contribute to achieving the company’s vision and mission, along with the appropriate strategy and culture to achieve it.
An example is Grab, a super app developer for ride-hailing, food delivery and digital payments on mobile devices. At Grab, recruiters are part of the business unit. They attend strategy meetings to understand the organization’s growth priorities, such as expanding GrabPay and GrabFood services, and developing AI-driven products and services. Thanks to their presence in meetings, recruiters can anticipate talent needs to align with the long-term needs of the company.
To be a successful growth partner, old ways must be abandoned. The use of analytics must be optimized. This aims to understand market trends, evaluate hiring, and predict future HR needs. Microsoft is investing in tools like LinkedIn Talent Insights and other advanced analytics platforms. The goal is to help recruiters map the talent pool for long-term needs, understand trends in talent availability and movement, and provide data-driven advice to hiring managers. Recruiters act as strategic advisors who influence hiring decisions with long-term growth in mind.
As a growth partner, the recruiter should be a kind of company ambassador in HR. To attract the best talent to apply, recruiters must be at the forefront of maintaining the company’s reputation. At Grab, recruiters play an important role in positioning the company as an ideal workplace. Grab highlights its mission to “Drive Southeast Asia Forward” and advance social impact. Recruiters also promote Grab’s culture of innovation at career fairs, tech meetups, online platforms.
In order for every hire to be aligned with the company’s goals, recruiters must of course collaborate with other departments, divisions or units (whatever they are called). Also, don’t forget about developing talents from within the company.
To Be a Successful Growth Partner
To be a successful growth partner, you must have a number of skills. What are these skills? Most importantly, of course, recruiters must be able to understand the industry that the company is in. Next, understand the company’s strategy to be successful in the industry. With this understanding, recruiters can search for talent more effectively and efficiently.
Next is the ability to analyse employee data, understand market trends, and measure the results of recruitment strategies (the extent to which recruitment strategies are able to attract the right employees). Next is the ability to communicate and negotiate effectively with candidates, management, and others within the company. Creativity is equally important. This is because recruiters have to compete with recruiters from other companies to get the best talent.
Therefore, recruiters need to be smart in finding ways to attract the best talent to join the company. The skill of working with various people from different backgrounds and functions is a must-have for recruiters. With this ability, the recruiter’s perspective becomes richer.
Every candidate has their own character and aspirations. Recruiters must be able to understand these characters and ideals. Thus, prospective employees will have a pleasant experience.
Role Transformation of Recruiters: From Headhunter to Growth Partner
Category: Human Capital & Talent Management
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