Contacts & Management -The Best Headhunters In Germany

Difference Between A Headhunter And Recruiter

When a firm hires a headhunter, they hold the responsibility of identifying the talent and qualified individuals.  Whereas, when a recruiter is hired, they merely do the job of filling in the position. 

A headhunting company would take complete responsibility for employing individuals on the employer's behalf.  Hence, a headhunter is said to add more value, especially when the client is a global company. 

How To Pick An Apt Headhunter?

Germany is a country that has set several rules and regulations for their employees and companies. And to abide by the rules without compromising on having qualified individuals as a part of the company, can be an overwhelming task. For an organization which has a global presence and is aiming at expanding in Germany, it is necessary that it has the best of the people on board. Because it is the people who will sail their vision and the built reputation further in a new land. So when one looks out for headhunters in Germany, they should consider which process and aspects apply while spotting.

Contacts & Management

There are several headhunting companies, but the best headhunting company in Germany is Contacts and Management. There are several factors which give them this credibility. They are a German based recruitment company who are experts in headhunting. They hold an experience of 25 years in headhunting. While enabling a company which has a foreign foot with employees in Germany, they understand the cultural diversity. This provides leverage for a company to know that the German employees would have a balance of both, their company ethics with the talent and resources of the locality. They provide a diverse set of assistance to their clients with step by step solutions.

Why Top Recruitment Company Germany Encourages Their Client Organisation To Become Employer Of Choice?

In today's world employment which is characterized by high competition, the top recruitment company Germany believes that employers must strive to be different from others and it can only be done by donning the hat of 'employer of choice'.

The employees these days make a conscious decision when it is about joining an organisation or staying in an organisation. The employer choices are wider today than ever before. Due to strong economy prevailing in Germany, there is an abundance of employment opportunities. The term 'employer of choice' refers to an employer, the workers choose to work with when offered other employment choices. The workers today make a clear decision with respect to their location of work, with whom they will work, why they will work and for how much of the time.

We tell you why the best headhunting company Germany encourages their client organisation to steal the title of 'employer of choice'. Let's look into the benefits:

Better Productivity

As per statistics, the happier the employees are, the more productive they become. The employee first approach by employers result in nearly 15% spike in company's productivity. Thus, for long term benefit of the organisation it is better to keep the employees happy and engaged.

Healthier Workplace

The employer of choice usually provides a friendly environment to the employees where collaboration and productivity plays a great role. The healthy workplace seems to be one of the biggest attractions for the employees which improve the retention levels among them.

Attract Top Talent

The stronger employer branding helps in attracting the top talent to the organisation. This is because the top performing employees give equal value to a great pay check and a happier work culture.

Having Said That, The Question Doing Rounds In Your Mind Is How One Can Become An Employer Of Choice?

Each and every employer can turn into employer of choice by fine-tuning the company culture, brand image and recruitment strategies. Hiring the right employee can bring a huge difference to the fate of the organisation. The company should vision who the ideal employee is and then make sure to hire and retain such people. Perks and other benefits which seem to be attractive to such employees should be offered.

3 Tips For Filling Hard-To-Fill Positions

Finding the best candidates who can fit within your culture and contribute positively to your organization is an opportunity and a challenge at the same time. Retaining the best candidates you have hired becomes busy when you follow certain cautions while hiring the candidates in the first place. Many companies are going for the best headhunting company in Germany as they can find you the right candidates faster with less hassle on your part. 

Below tips will help you fill the hard-to-fill positions:

1.Improve Your Candidate Pool

Companies that are considering only those employees who came seeking opportunities after looking at your ad are missing out on a huge of potential candidates that are passive and are not looking for any opportunity right now. Having the top recruitment company in Germany can immensely help but in case you still have decided to take matters in your hands, here are a few tips:

a.       Invest time in developing relationships with other recruiters and university placement offices.

b.  Encourage your recruitment staff to actively participate in industry professional conferences and associations.

c.     Keep an eye on the online job boards for potential candidates.

d.      Use professional websites and magazines to advertise for your job vacancies.

e.      Try to find potential employees on LinkedIn.

The idea is to build the candidate pool before you actually need it. This would help you save time when the need arises.

2. Look First At In-House Candidates

Studies show that providing promotional and lateral opportunities to the current employees increases the loyalty towards the company and positively boosts their morale. So always look within your organization and try to find any potential candidate who can take up the given vacant position. You can work towards merging the two roles if they are closely related or bring up the ladder a potential employee who has given a promising performance in the past. This also helps with the overall retention rate as any company that has a clear growth plan for an employee can expect them to stay longer.

3. Prefer Culture Over Skills

As we said in the beginning, when it comes down to two or three employees, it should always be a decision based on culture over skill. Skills can be taught in less time and would further fire up the positive attitude in the employee but people with not the right attitude or that are not suitable for your company culture can do more harm than good, leaving you to scout for another candidate very soon for the similar position. 

Ask case studies in the interview and questions on how they would solve a given problem. Drawing instances from their past work could be a great way to judge a candidate on parameters like team building, problem-solving, performance under pressure and so on.

Recruitment - Is That All A Top Headhunting Company In Germany?

The answer is a big NO. A common myth regarding headhunters in Germany is that they will only help you find the right candidate for the job vacancy. As soon as you find the right candidate, their job is done and you are on your own. The top headhunting company in Germany do way more than simply meeting your recruitment needs. 

Here is a list of few things, a headhunter can help you:

Working On The Job Description For The New Roles - This happens all the time especially in a startup. A lot of new vacancies with brand new requirements come up and your in-house team is not able to jot down the exact points they would need in the potential candidate. Result? You end up having a lot of irrelevant candidates wasting your time and their. Having a headhunter can help you decide the requirements in a precise manner. Backed by the years of experience, they know what exactly to look for in a particular job vacancy.

Widening The List Of Options By Taking Passive Candidates Into Consideration - It is one thing to find the right candidate but a whole different story to find the right fit for the company in the most streamlined manner, you can possibly imagine in less time and with fewer resources spent on the overall screening and initial interviewing process. With a well-established database and a tight network built over the years, it is easier for a headhunter to find you the right fit after thoroughly understanding your job requirements. This increases the overall retention rate. This advantage came in extra handy when the job you are trying to fill in is the executive level.

Decreasing The Overall Turnover Rate - This is a crucial point where headhunters prove out to be the most effective. Hiring the right candidate from a skill perspective but hiring the one who is not a cultural fit could be a disaster. Headhunters with their deep understanding of recruitment can help you find the most potential candidates that would be a fit from the company culture perspective as well. This helps decrease the overall turnover rate thereby improving the overall stability of the company. This helps increase the overall efficiency of the company thereby making the company more productive.

Salary Negotiations And On-Boarding Processes - A good headhunter does not leave you on your own once you have found the right candidate. They help in salary negotiation and ensures a seamless onboarding process. They act as a middle man between the company and the candidate. This helps in a smoother transition of the candidate as they lay special confidence in the headhunters they have come through.

3 Signs It Is Time To Outsource A Recruitment Company In Germany

Often while running a business, we would deem fit to keep everything in-house so that all the functions can be performed under our watchful eye with minimum risk involved. But in reality, it is actually the opposite. The more you outsource, the more time you will have for productive tasks in the company and the less risk you will be in. Every company at one stage of their business asks themselves whether it is time to hire a top headhunting company in Germany. 

So how to decide if it is time? Here is the list of 3 Signs that can help you decide that it is now time to pass on the work to a good recruitment company in Germany. 

Lack Of Experience Or The Right Experience In Your Recruiting Team

An in-house recruitment team is good for day-to-day activities but whenever there is an impromptu vacancy or a crucial role in the company that needs to be filled, the in-house team cannot strain it’s already exhausted resource. As a result, the recruitment gets delayed impacting the overall productivity of the business and efficiency of each employee associated with the vacant position.

This is usually one of the foremost signs that the company takes as a cue and starts looking for a recruitment agency to help you with their hiring needs. The executive search is even more crucial and sometimes needs to be carried out in a confidential manner and thus hiring a firm to do the job is a good idea both from long term and short-term perspective. It decreases your long-term cost and your short-term risk of having a bad hire in the company.

Lack Of Quality Hires

The next clear sign is if you have had a series of resignations and terminations in the recent past. This happens due to 2 reasons - one, the candidate you hired was not as good as you thought he would be. Second, you hired the candidate for the wrong position thus causing a series of blunders in his work leading to low productivity in the company. If you are grappling with similar two problems, it is time to start looking for an agency that can help you find the right candidate with maximum precision in a minimum time period. This helps you save a lot of costs in terms of re-hiring for the same position again.

Too Much Turnover

Identifying the root cause of high turnover in your company is the key to finding the solution for it. Try to focus on the areas that are contributing the most to the high turnover rate and then look for solutions to fix the problem. This may be the perfect time to engage with a good recruitment company. Hiring one at this juncture will help you in two ways. Firstly, the firm can help you conduct exit interviews so as to understand what was going wrong until now. Secondly, the firm can help you find the right replacement who would be a perfect fit for both skills as well as the company culture perspective.

What To Look For Before Hiring A Headhunter In Germany

Recruiting has evolved dramatically over the last few years. In addition to the traditional old skills that make a good recruiter, there are some new skills that have become eve more important. With the advent of social and a dynamic market where hiring the top talent can be the deciding factor behind the success of your company, hiring a headhunter Germany becomes even more important.

Here is a list of few things you need to look for before going for one the best headhunting company Germany:

Ability To Influence

One of the first things you need to look into a company is its ability to create a network. A good recruiter is the one who is able to form tight relationships with everyone they come in contact with and work hard towards building trust and credibility amongst the potential candidates so that whenever there is a need for them to call a potential candidate for a possible opportunity, they listen to them. This earned trust allows them to drive successful hiring outcomes.

Data-Fluent

Data fluency or in other words, well-established networks can’t be stressed enough. Only a company with a wide network of potential candidates can build data-based talent pool assessments and help you find the exact candidate who will not only be fit from the skills perspective but will also the right fit in the company culture. This becomes even more important when the vacancy the company is looking to fill is the C-level position.

Empathetic

Empathy and care are the unspoken skills of a recruitment company. Working with human beings needs a lot of experience and expertise and this is something recruitment companies master in. Also, recruiters are the face of your company in front of a potential employee. They can make or break your company’s reputation. So going for a professional firm can help you gain a lot of credibility amongst the potential candidates who would never go for another opportunity just because the process was too slow or the HR was not very understanding.

Risk-Tolerant

Good headhunting firms are creative, curious, and are willing to think out of the box in order to get you the best in the industry. They have the ability to see opportunities where others don’t and thus do not hesitate to find the passive candidates for you who are not currently looking for opportunities but would be open to a good opportunity if it comes their way. And how they do that? By leveraging a wide data-sufficient human network they are able to create over the years. This is something you can’t achieve on your own. Having an in-house team working for recruitment will only be able to fetch you active candidates half of which won’t even be relevant for the role. Going for the firm, on the other hand, will get you the most suitable potential candidates thus making it easier to select one out of fewer options.

A Look At Important Questions Asked By Headhunters Germany And How One Should Answer Them

Interviews have an important role to play when it comes to landing a job of one’s dreams. Irrespective of the fact that you are a pro at giving interviews or are the one who is entering the process of giving interviews, the last minute butterflies in the stomach seems to be a common scenario.

To get yourself prepared for the interview with the top headhunting company Germany and also to put yourself in the best job search position, here are the important questions being asked by the headhunters and how one should answer them. Let’s take a look:

·         What Is The Motive Behind This Move?

You must be having a number of reasons for switching the job. The headhunters Germany are always keen on knowing the reason behind the move by the candidate. There can be a number of answers as per the report of a job market. To the utter surprise, salary is not the topmost reason. It’s continued learning, growth and development which tops the chart. But, if salary is your prime motive, the same should be communicated to your interviewer and you should know the salary as per industry standards prior to the interview.

·         Why You Think You Should Be Chosen For This Role?

This interview question is purposely asked to give the candidate a chance to shine and give details of their glory from the past. The points you can include in the answer for this question can be your journey till this point in your career, the key drivers that drive you, past steps taken in the career that led to your success and your future aspirations. The question does not require you to walk through your entire resume, but, what you have learnt and what you wish to learn. You can touch upon your skill sets and key experiences which are relevant to that job position for which interview is being conducted. Prepare yourself in advance in respect of your values and their alignment with the mission and vision of the organization.

·         What Are Your Key Strengths And Weaknesses?

This question is an opportunity which can set you apart from the rest of the candidates. Indeed, this question has a number of generic and good to go answers which include, time management, excellent in vocal and written communication, experience in different domains and leadership. But, you can surely get a standing ovation, if you go a unique way. Co-relate your skills with specific examples from your experience kitty. Go for less common adjectives such as motivated, sociable, bright, adaptable, etc. The important thing here is to tie these skills with the relevant role for which you are being interviewed. It is advised to be honest about your weaknesses and also link it with your past experience.

The above-mentioned questioned sound common, but a wrong or a hype answer to these can certainly impact your new job opportunity.

5 Reasons To Hire A Headhunter in Germany

As businesses grow, the challenges to run it becomes more specific. One of those challenges is to efficiently fill the top positions of your company. And this task can be best handled by a headhunter Germany.

Here is a list of a few reasons, why hiring the best headhunting company Germany is a good idea:

1. To Find The Right Person

It is important to find the right candidate for the upper-level leadership positions that have a significant impact on the overall growth and success of the company. With too much at stake, you simply can’t risk hiring the wrong person as the cost of a bad hire can be detrimental to the company that can also have a negative effect on the company’s culture for years.

Partnering with a headhunter with a proven track record and enough years of experience of the industry can help you find the ideal candidate at the same time reduces the risk of making a bad hire. With a well-built database of not only active candidates but also the passive candidates, these firms will help you find the exact fit for your company both in terms of skill set as well as the cultural fit. 

2. To Save Time

If the hiring process needs company leaders for a number of interviews, they are losing a lot of time that could be diverted towards developing the company. By going for a recruitment firm, only the right candidates will be presented to you while all the pre-screening would be done by the firm. This would not only help you save a lot of time in interview processes but will also make the whole hiring process smooth and quicker thus saving you a lot of time. 

3. To Have Expertise And Experience

Expanding businesses are often faced with unique vacant positions with specific requirements that can be beyond the hiring team’s core expertise. The expertise and experience needed for the role make it necessary to go for a headhunting company to help you find the right fit for the role. Recruitment firms specialize in finding potential candidates with specific skill sets and experience.

4. Limited Internal Resources

Many businesses operate without an HR department, requiring the leadership to divert their precious time to conduct searches for top talent. As they are not the experts in the recruitment field, not only will it take more time for them to find the right candidate but it will also mean precious hours getting invested which could otherwise be used for expanding the business and growing the company. Even with an internal HR department, some searches may be out of scope for the HR specialists’ bandwidth and therefore having a recruitment firm can help you with the executive search without compromising on the limited resources of your company.

5. When The Search Is Confidential

Sometimes internal confidentiality becomes an important factor in recruitment and in that case the clear solution is to work with a recruitment firm. Another crucial factor can be maintaining external confidentiality for high-profile searches especially when the firm is speaking with people already employed at a competitor.

Must Know Executive Search Trends For 2019!

Hiring leaders and executives is no longer a straightforward thing for Headhunter Germany as it used to be. Over the years, it is technology which is ruling the world of executive search with business models hovering around the power of technology. It is the technology which is paved way for the headhunting companies to add a real value to the client’s search.

The year, 2019 has brought with it certain new changes in the headhunting space. Let’s read further :

Gig Economy

People now a days like working from wherever and however. Yes, this is the reason, the recruitment arena is now dominated by the gig economy. Nearly 47% of the individuals are working on a freelance basis in some or the other capacity. This is certainly expected to skyrocket by 2027. Till now, the executive level hires looked for a permanent role, but sooner or later, this trend is bound to change. The gig economy has a great potential which can be tapped by all, be it business, headhunters or the executives.

One-Stop-Shop Approach To Executive Search

The business environment is now ready for changes. Thus, the old school approach for hiring the candidates will no longer work. The client organization now demands the Headhunters Germany to provide insights based on evidences regarding the suitability of a candidate to the particular role and work culture. This is the reason the executive search firms are now using psychometric assessment tools for succession planning and talent consulting. In the business landscape, the headhunters need to give assurance to the business organization that the new hire is right candidate in every manner.

Complex Hiring Process

Organisations now need leaders who possess an agile thinking and are eager to embrace and navigate through the changes. With more and more rules and regulations eyeing the companies in Germany, it is always better to hire senior leaders from diverse backgrounds. To find the right set of people, it is of importance for the headhunter company to have a clear understanding of the existence of the client organization which includes why the company was formed and what they do.

Soft Skills Are More Important

The successful leader is the one who can empathise, influence, and motivate their team; thus they require a high level of emotional intelligence. Earlier, the things discussed by executives during the job interview used to be all about their work experience, achievements, technical know-how and qualifications attained; but it is about cultural fit and soft skills these days. The job functions are more of a collaborative nature, thus leaders are required to play the role of a coach for their team for which soft skills are a necessity.

Executive Search Technique Should Be Bang For The Buck

The headhunting companies charge their clients for outsourcing the right candidate for the job position in the organization. With innovation influencing every process, certain innovative techniques were also invested in solutions for searching executives for a particular organization. The client companies require headhunter companies which are agile and can easily align the traditional approaches of executive search with the latest methodology to give fast results. Using innovative technology ensures that the most suitable potential candidates have been shortlisted.

In a true sense, the executive search landscape is evolving!

Employee Retention Strategies To Help Businesses Build A Stable Workforce

Employee retention is a major challenge faced by organizations today. The loss of a well-performing employee not only creates instability in a team but also causes financial loss amounting to around 33% of the annual salary of the outgoing employees. Moreover, the struggle to find a suitable replacement can be an extremely time-consuming process which further hinders a smooth workflow. That is why the experts from a recruitment company Germany advice their clients to work towards maximizing employee retention rates. However, there are various reasons that might prompt an employee to give up their current role and organization. Since it is impossible for employers to control all these factors the next best thing they can do to build a stable workforce is to implement various strategies that are likely to improve employee retention. The most effective of these strategies are discussed as follows.

Make The Employees Aware Of Their Worth

In most business organizations, managers are quick to point out the mistakes and failures of employees while they do not show similar eagerness in appreciating their efforts and achievements. This tends to demotivate the employees and reduce their engagement levels. They then seek employment opportunities with other organizations with the hope of being better appreciated for their hard work and contribution. Hence it is important for an organization to ensure that the employees are constantly made aware of their value and worth by their superiors through the provision of positive feedback on a regular basis.

Provide A More Flexible Work Environment

A large percentage of the workforce today comprises of young professionals seeking flexible work environments. This flexibility might be in the form of different work hours, freedom to work from home or other remote location or even the choice of workspace within the office. By providing this freedom to the employees, an organization assures them of being considerate of their needs. It also reflects a sense of trust in their work ethics and ability to perform even without any supervision. This goes a long way in motivating the employees and enhancing their sense of loyalty and commitment towards the organization.

Encourage Managers To Have Difficult Conversations With Employees

One of the key reasons for low retention rates is the lack of effective communication between the employees and their managers. That is why the consultants from a top headhunting company in Germany, stress on the need to encourage the managers to hold difficult conversations with their team members. Such conversations can help the employees to share any work-related issues and stresses with someone capable of resolving these problems. In addition to helping them find an effective solution for their problems, such conversations can help in restoring the trust of the employees in their organization.

Help Employees Develop A Clear Career Path

Professional growth and stability form an important aspect of enhancing employee retention rates. That is why organizations that help the employees to develop a clear career path and provide them with the right opportunities to follow the same, enjoy a high retention rate. Being assured of having enough growth opportunities within their current organization minimizes the chances of employees seeking better employment options with other organizations.

How Do The Recruitment Companies In Germany Measure The Success Of The Recruiting Process?

Measuring the success of the recruiting process is as important as conducting the recruitment process for any client organization. However, the process of measuring the success is a challenging one and this is the reason the recruitment companies in Germany shy away from measuring the success of their recruitment process. Also, measuring as well as reviewing each and every aspect of recruitment in order to determine whether the process was a success or a failure will leave no time to plan the next recruitment exercise.

But, if certain key metrics are selected and the success is measured based on those parameters, one can easily understand whether the recruitment campaign was a success or a failure. These metrics, tests the quality and efficiency of the recruitment efforts poured in by the recruiter in conducting the recruitment process for an organization.

Have a look at the key metrics which are deployed by the top headhunting company in Germany to measure its success quotient:

Turnaround Time For Making The Recruitment

The length of time which elapses between the job position opening and filling up of the seat with the right person matters a lot. By measuring the average time required to fill in the particular job position and the time actually taken for making the recruitment can give an idea whether the recruiter is able to meet the expectations of the hiring manager.

Aging Of Requisitions

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the recruitment team, it is important to track and monitor the aged requisitions. Having the zero aged requisitions is commendable, getting a 10-20 % of requisitions, which are beyond the 45 days period is also quite normal. By keeping a track and reporting the number as well as the percentage of the aged requisitions, the recruiters can easily identify as well as solve the problem before it even arises.

Present To Interview Ratio

Bringing a whole lot of candidates in front of the hiring manager is of no use if the hiring manager does not like any of them. A key metrics come in the form of ratio of the candidates presented to the client organization to the number of candidates actually selected for the interview. Anything less than 75% selected may be considered as a cause of concern. But the reason can be many, including high expectation of the hiring manager or not giving a proper brief of the candidate’s job profile which leads to incompetent candidates being presented to the client.

Interview To Offer Ratio

This ratio measures the number of candidates interviewed by the Hiring Manager to the number of candidates actually hired. The ideal ratio is less than 3:1 i.e. every 3 interviews should result in at least 1 hire.

Any ratio higher than this indicates that poor candidates have been submitted to the recruiter or the hiring manager failing to evaluate the candidates. A poor ratio leads to a lot of wastage of time for both the hiring managers as well as recruiters.

Measuring the overall success of the recruitment exercise, gives you a fair understanding of the entire recruitment process and also will make you learn from your mistakes which if prevented in the future can result in great campaigns.

Getting Familiar With The Benefits And Hinderances Of Successful Succession Planning

Every business needs to replace the members of its top management at some point in time. However, only a few organizations invest in succession planning activities, which can play a critical role in enhancing the overall performance efficiency of the top management. Even the top headhunting company in Germany advocates the need for timely succession planning to ensure a smooth transition of power at the top level within an organization. In fact, timely succession planning can prove beneficial for a business in more than one ways. The most important of these benefits are discussed in brief as follows.

Better Understanding Of Talent

Succession planning helps the members of the top management to identify the potential candidates suitable for replacing them long before the transition actually happens. This gives them enough time to understand their skills, competence levels and their ability to take the organization on a path of growth and success. This is not possible with new candidates hired at the last moment.

Mitigating Business Risks

Timely succession planning ensures that responsibilities are gradually passed on to the chosen candidates gradually by the people who need to be replaced. This helps in ensuring the continuity of business processes in an uninterrupted manner even during the actual transition of power. It can further help in boosting the market value of the business besides enhancing investor trust and employee confidence resulting in greater growth and profitability.

Improve The Effectiveness Of Top Management

Given that there is minimal business disruption during power transition at the top levels due to proper succession planning, the overall effectiveness of the management is naturally improved. The members of the top management does not need to invest too much time and effort in getting comfortable with each other before they can focus their energies on business growth.

Sends A Positive Signal Down The Line

Investing in proper succession planning helps to send the right signals to hard working and competent employees working at various levels within the organization. It assures them of getting a fair chance to succeed through their skills, diligence, and determination.

Hinderances In The Path Of Succession Planning

It is quite surprising that despite being aware of the various benefits of succession planning, the top management of most organizations may not approve of it due to the following reasons.

• Many times the members of the top management might not share the same view about the future direction of the business. This might lead them to oppose the idea of identifying any potential candidates, who might endorse a view and vision quite opposite to their own.

• A leading recruitment company Germany believes that the myopic view of the management board of a business organization may also prevent it from investing in succession planning activities. The members of the board may be too selfish to consider the idea of being replaced by someone with better capabilities and skills.

• Many times the boards might also oppose the idea of succession planning as they might actually be ignorant of what it involves. The fear of being judged for their ignorance prevents them from taking this extremely vital step necessary for maximizing business growth and profitability.