Companies today must re-assess their talent needs in order to remain competitive and drive growth. The satellite communications industry faces challenges and remains ripe with new opportunities. The right talent can make a huge impact. Employers need to get it right and make a “great hire.”

To assist with career searches, we asked Bert Sadtler of Boxwood Executive Search to discuss various aspects  regarding the processes of recruitment and hiring as well as how Companies can retain crucially-needed talent. Boxwood is located in the Washington DC region and has success in senior level recruitment in satellite communications, government contracting, and within the intelligence community. Boxwood also provides a consulting solution for the analysis and improvement of the employer’s current recruitment process.  If you would care to submit a recruitment, hiring, or retention question for Bert to answer, please email your question to BertSadtler@BoxwoodSearch.com.

Nothing stands still, certainly not in business where the paradigm is in a constant shift.  Human Resource Departments have held the roles of benefits management and recruiting. Few companies have changed the HR responsibilities as the business paradigm shifts.

Granted, technology has made its impact. However, technology is nothing more than a tool. Business keeps changing. Critical talent is needed for companies to grow and enjoy success. Shouldn’t we be asking “Do we need to adjust our process in order to target and attract the best talent?”

Forward thinking is needed to attract top talent. Today, benefits management and recruiting require two completely different skill sets. Consider the following:

• The traditional recruitment process has been implemented and managed by Human Resource Departments.

• The classic approach is to bundle the following responsibilities and assign them to HR:

» Employee relations
» 401K Plans
» Medical Benefits
» Compliance with employment regulations
» Recruitment and hiring of talent

Today’s employment benefit plans have become complex and expensive. The HR professional who is a benefits expert has a full workload keeping their employer current and efficient. They must focus their priorities internally and could be regarded as spending their time playing “defense.”

As the “defensive mindset” requires having a deep understanding of the employer’s internal issues, “the defensive player” is generally someone who is most comfortable spending their time in the office.

At the same time, the acquisition of talent has become much more complex than simply posting a “help wanted” flyer.

• In today’s environment of fear and uncertainty, the pressure is on for employers to repeatedly get it right and make a great hire

• Best Practices Recruiting has become less about the “hiring wedding” and more about the longer-term “hiring marriage” where a successful hire is measured six months after the “wedding” to confirm the new talent is a valuable asset

• Recruiting for great talent is a pro-active event, requiring business discussions with business units in order to solve business problems

• Recruiting for great talent can be regarded as playing “offense”

• The “Offense’s playing field” exists in the office as well as outside the office and requires an outwardly focused approach

With the paradigm shift toward a deeper and diverging focus, does your company’s HR team frequently spend time attending and participating in business functions and events? Is your HR team involved in understanding and solving business problems? Is this a realistic expectation? How can the “Defensively focused” HR Department effectively implement “Offense focused” recruiting?

Therefore, under the shift in the recruiting paradigm, how can the HR Department be expected to fully implement the responsibility of playing defense and offense at the same time? The paradigm is shifting HR and Recruiting to be more opposing then complimenting. It would be like playing center on an NBA basketball team in the morning and then riding a racehorse in the afternoon.

New adopters and nimble thinking employers are developing models which provide HR with the tools and focus to continue to deliver an excellent benefits program while standing up a new role focused on critical acquisition of great talent and aligning recruitment as an integrated business unit member.

Best practices recruiting is evolving out of HR and into its own separate discipline where it solves business problems by attracting and acquiring the right talent in direct partnership with the business units. Metrics to measure recruitment success and successful recruitment performance rewards will closely mirror the metrics and rewards of the company’s business performance models.

When it comes to hiring the right talent, the stakes are high. You can be an NBA center. You can be a Triple Crown jockey. Trying to be both means you are likely to not do either very well.

About Boxwood Search
There is a battle for senior level talent. A great hire can make a long term positive impact and a failed hire can prove to be very expensive. How does a company recruit  and  hire the right talent? It is more than just networking within the community of friends and business associates. It requires focusing on results through a process oriented approach. We are committed to reaching a successful outcome. Our recruitment method has repeatedly proven to deliver very qualified senior talent.

We exclusively represent employers in the marketplace as a dedicated resource and discrete trusted advisor. Through original research and industry contacts, we will target qualified candidates and motivate them to consider the opportunity.

We will screen candidates against key criteria, analyze technical fit along with cultural fit, interview, contact references and present our recommendations. Upon making the offer, we are the employer’s advocate and an active participant in communicating with the candidate until offer acceptance has been secured. Results are guaranteed.