Heard About Niche Recruiting?
"With the growing number of recruitment agencies registered
with Jabatan Tenaga Rakyat under the Ministry of Human Resources,
client companies are basically getting flooded with more choices of
recruiters and bigger pool of candidates, whom had been supposedly
shortlisted. Choosing from the myriad agencies, is a difficult choice,
hence the familiar ones gain a better position, while the others resort
to working harder on intangible differentiating factors. This includes
speed, first-class customer relationship, candidate volume and neck-braking
rates. Whichever it may be, would this mean that you would have access
to blue-chip prospects? Consider another form of recruiting…
Niche Recruiting.
… P.Raj Kumar (Head, Strategies and Operations, CnetG Asia
Sdn Bhd)
Recent news articles have reported layoffs and hiring freezes throughout the country, from small start-ups or corporations to large conglomerates such as Sony Video, Seagate, MBf Finance and Bank Bumiputra, either in anticipation or as victim of what some forecasters are calling a "soft economy." But despite a soft economy and its potential negative financial impact on business, companies still need to make critical hiring decisions on key positions within their organization. Niche recruiting is a unique, effective, and financially sound tool to help companies fill these key positions.
Consider These Facts:
A research conducted by an international recruitment company estimates
that it costs a company one-third of a new hire's annual salary to
replace an employee. Using an average salary or RM 2, 400.00 per month,
it would cost a company $ 9600 for each departing employee. Estimates
of the cost to replace supervisory, technical, and management personnel
run from 50 percent to several hundred percent of their salaries.
(Society for Human Resource Management, November 2000).
Though this estimation may sound absurd in the Malaysian context, one should not neglect the cost of hiring which also encompasses training, loss time due to adjustment to new work place, cost of the recruiter, cost of the hiring manager and the lost cost in intangible knowledge and experience due to the departure of the former employee.
What is Niche Recruiting?
Many people confuse niche recruiting with the type of professional
services employment agencies or executive search firms offer. Niche
recruiting is very different. Niche recruiters work for the "company"
that has a position it needs filled rather than the individual looking
for a specific job for him/herself.
Niche recruiting is a valuable tool for generating a number of viable candidates and a method for discovering "passive" job seekers - people who are currently doing the job an employer is looking to fill but are not actively job searching or reading the ads a company places in the newspaper or on the internet.
Niche recruiting is like a giant sifter - it takes all of the candidates as whole, then sifts through each of them carefully to present the client company with only the best and most qualified of the prospects. This pre-screening process saves the client company numerous hours of interviews, as well as the costs associated with management's time spent on screening and sorting through less than the most qualified candidates. Because niche recruiting focuses on "constant sourcing," the client company and its human resource department realize greater value in the internal recruitment process.
Niche recruiting is designed to work with the client - not just for the client - in finding the right candidate. This type of partnership enables companies to develop a long-term, strategic recruitment plan that works in synergy with their goals and direction.
Why is Niche Recruiting Different Than Executive Search Firms
or Employment Agencies?
Niche recruiting is different from broad-based executive search firms
or employment agencies because it emphasizes "niche recruiting."
A niche recruiter focuses on a small target audience based on what
the client company indicates it is looking for in a particular position.
For example, if Company X is searching for a Chief Information Officer,
a niche recruiter will call into a competitor or other targeted company
and speak directly to potential prospects who are actually doing that
job or whose next logical career step would be to move into that position.
Another big difference is the "niche" aspect of niche recruiting. Some employment agencies fill a position with the potential candidates they have in their database. They look for a quick fit and a fast turnaround. Niche recruiting firms don't necessarily have candidates "in the can," but rather, do direct calling and sourcing into prospective companies and industries where the potential candidate may be working.
Niche recruiting also goes a giant step further than traditional search firms by gaining valuable background details about a competing company so that the recruiter's client company can formulate a strategic hiring plan. The plan could be based on the information obtained through the niche recruiter's information such as a company's internal culture and organizational structure, new product developments and acquisition potential, salary and/or benefits information, hiring bonuses, employee referral rewards, and other pertinent research data which the client company can use to make sound business and hiring decisions.
As an objective third party, niche recruiters are not looking to push or promote a specific candidate compared to employment agencies that look for positions based on the needs and desires of the particular individual who comes to them. Also as an objective third party, niche recruiters gain vital information from potential candidates who may not feel comfortable giving out the same details to a competing employer company.
When Niche Recruitment Works Best?
Niche recruitment is recommended for specific businesses such as those
in the pharmaceutical sector, oil & gas sector, or even specific
construction sectors, and that which requires specialized personnel.
These personnel bring along with them the industry experience and focus, including good knowledge of competitors' information, best practices, and future trends of products and services.
When Company X needs to accelerate into the market, its newly patented respiratory product, niche recruiters will come in handy, instead of the traditional modes of recruitment. Niche recruiters will be able to zoom down industry prospects, well heeled in the respiratory line of products and information, and adorned with excellent track-record in sales.
Thus acquiring the services of the niche recruiter assures the client
good return on investment, and other value adds such as shorter time
on sifting and hiring, retraining on product and industry knowledge
and most importantly, getting down to accelerated business, as soon
as the employee steps in, on the first day of work.
