ACCUR Decade in Review

What a decade it’s been in the world of executive recruiting!

We have a host of new technological innovations promising to make our jobs easier and our candidate-company matches even more effective, we have new challenges in the form of new competitors and visa restrictions, and we also have new help in the form of growing global connections.

So here’s a quick look at the biggest forces shaping our business in the past decade, and a look at what’s to come.

Talent Shortage

The prior decade was defined by the financial crisis, but this one has been defined by economic expansion and a tight labor market. Executives have become very choosy and the good ones are often over-solicited by recruiters. Finding the right talent is becoming increasingly difficult — as we expect the response rate to be lower.

The solution? Our business is, as always, relationship-based. It’s never been more important to have a strategy for approaching talent in a super-tight market.

Scarcity of Visas

At the beginning of the decade we were reacting to a tightening of visa restrictions that got much, much tighter over time. A decade ago, the quota for H1-B visa was roughly equivalent to the demand. Today, that is very much not the case, which can require some flexibility from companies attempting to place executives in the United States.

If you find yourself in the position of trying to determine whether or not you should send a foreign national to the United States or hire locally, you may consider reading our guide that was developed in consultation with businesses making that decision.

We have a lot of experience in the area of placing executives in the United States and are happy to discuss your unique needs with you, just contact us for more information.

Changing Motivators

Over the past decade we’ve seen the so-called “Gen Z” generation move into the workforce, and the much discussed “millennial” generation entering the executive ranks in larger and larger numbers. Frankly, these two generations have substantially different motivators than their predecessors in Gen X and the Baby Boomer generation.

How do changing motivators factor into our process? We like to poll our database of candidates to find out what kinds of motivators factor into their job happiness (besides compensation, of course).

Growth of Internal Recruiters

A big change in our business over the past decade is the growth of internal recruiters. Companies hire internal recruiters to beef up their staffing from the inside. They can have some advantages including insider knowledge of the company they are recruiting for.

But as valuable as an inside perspective can be, internal recruiters lack some qualities that firms like ours possess. It’s impossible for internal recruiters to accomplish searches that are completely confidential. Internal recruiters also usually lack the ability to tap into a global network of colleagues who can fill positions for them.

Importance of LinkedIn

LinkedIn was important ten years ago, but as its search features have grown more sophisticated over time, so too has its primacy in executive search and placement.

Having a sophisticated understanding of LinkedIn boolean searches is vital to us now in rooting out the maximal number of appropriate candidates for the positions we are seeking to place. We use boolean searches to get past the obvious candidates and really zero in on the top talent who may or may not be searching for a new position at the moment.

Looking Ahead

Over the past decade we’ve heard a lot of promise about artificial intelligence but we have not yet seen the promise of this bleeding edge technology. We expect that human intelligence to continue to be important into the next decade at least.

In the coming decade, we hope to also expand our partner network considerably. You can read more about partnership here, or contact us for more information.

Related article: ACCUR Year in Review for 2019