I was having an end of year catch up pizza with a HR Director we work closely with in the innovation and tech sector and we got talking about the evolving world of executive recruitment and the impact of AI. I was curious to get her take on how AI may have changed their approach and if there were things we could be doing differently to help support these new ways of working. As a follow up to this, we subsequently reached out to some of our HR colleagues and networks to compare their thoughts on the impact of AI on senior recruitment. This is what they told us:
Unlike more junior recruitment, over the last 2 years the rise of AI capabilities has not had a significant impact on the use of executive search consultants by the public sector for senior roles. This has been predominantly because of the increased ‘personal touch’ executive search can bring to finding the right person for what are often complex senior leadership remits.
In fact, it is this human expertise and judgement that is considered the biggest advantage. Executive search consultants bring a comprehensive and detailed understanding of leadership roles and organisational culture which is – still – challenging for AI to fully understand. It is this professional intuition in being able to identify candidates who align with an organisation’s strategic goals and culture that is so extremely valuable to our clients with one respondent stressing that “they will continue to use executive search as it is more nuanced than AI.”
Alongside this, executive search consultants bring long-standing relationships and networks with a range of high-caliber professionals, including those not actively seeking new opportunities. The ability to connect with and provide candidates that aren’t ‘actively’ on the market is a real advantage in using executive search over AI products. This ‘discreet outreach’ is especially important for high-profile and sensitive roles.
Personal professional strategic advice and support is also seen as a real benefit particularly in regard to market feedback and negotiation on compensation and benefits discussions to ensure alignment between both parties.
Our research has found that contextual understanding, relationship building and reputation management through a real ambassadorial approach remains as important as ever. One respondent commented that, “the benefits of using executive search over AI products is the more personal interaction, the screening process is more engaging and in tune to what our needs are.”
Where there has been some increase in AI use, it appears that this has predominantly been for data processing and initial CV screening. In this regard, somewhat ironically, organisations are beginning to use AI to check that applications haven’t been forged by AI. Furthermore, our feedback confirmed that AI products had been used more specifically to “improve basic job applicability screening.”
The future is moving towards a hybrid model where organisations will leverage AI more and more for data processing and initial application screenings while continuing to rely on executive search consultants for deeper evaluations and strategic advisory support. It’s a fast-changing recruitment world, so watch this space for what’s next!