Changing Nature of Recruiting and Outsourcing

¶ … impacting Heidrick and Struggles. This will be accomplished by focusing on new ventures and how the firm has been able to remain relevant. Together, these elements will highlight the way the firm is changing with these issues. It is at this point, when the conclusions are discussing the long-term effects on the organization.

A Brief Analysis of the Situation

Heidrick and Struggles began in 1954 as an executive search firm. At the time, finding the best talent meant having the knowledge and connections to know where to look. This network-based model remained in place until the early 2000s. This is when new competitors emerged who had cheaper solutions and access to more information. The result is that customer demand began to shift away from these kinds of organization to online firms (i.e. Career Builder and NASDAQ's Match Making Services). To remain relevant, the company expanded into sustaining mid level searches internationally, leadership training and creating value. This was accomplished through Visual Careers, Talent at the Fingertips and Jobkoo. Visual Careers is a social networking platform that targets mid level managers. It was purchased by Heidrick and Struggles in 2008 for $3 million. Talent at the Fingertips is a software application that helped executives to manage their internal and external talent. Jobkoo is a joint venture with Beijing Leading Human Resources consulting. This is a platform that is designed to address the staffing needs of managers in China. Each one of these solutions is a new approach in helping the company to address the needs of customers. This is because strategic recruitment is vital to the success of the organization and their ability to locate the best talent.

Identification of the major issues surrounding the organization or individuals involved with the organization.

The biggest issues impacting Heidrick and Struggles are fundamental changes to the business model, advancements in technology and cliental becoming smarter. These areas have eroded their customer base to the point that the firm is facing severe challenges with its brand image and the ability to create value for cliental. In the case of fundamental changes to the business model, Heidrick and Struggles is concentrating mainly on high end searches. This is when firms will pay them a fee of at least $1 million to recruit the best candidates for their high level executive positions. However, over the course of time, the customers' needs are changing. As they no longer want solutions with high fees for select positions. Instead, they require an all encompassing tool that has considerably lower costs and creates more value. This hurts the company's ability to connect with a younger generation of managers that wants something extra at reduced fees.

Advancements in technology meant that Heidrick and Struggles could no longer generate value from its database. This is because the information they provided was available at other sources for a fraction of the costs. The result is that other services were created which gave cliental access to the information they needed. Career Builder is classic example as to how technology was able to reduce the fees and deliver added value. This is a direct threat to the company's high end cliental. That can use these solutions without having to pay as much in fees and can reach key objectives without the assistance of Heidrick and Struggles.

Cliental becoming smarter is illustrating how HR personnel know where to find information about potential candidates and the value of information relative to the costs. This means that Heidrick and Struggles can no longer rely on customers coming to them with limited sources. On the country, they must have access to an array of information and are utilizing it to address their needs.

The combination of these factors is slowly eating away at Heidrick and Struggles customer base. To prevent this, the firm needs to adjust their strategy to reflect these shifts from a long-term perspective. Once this happens, is when the firm can evolve with these issues and remain a key player inside the recruitment sector.

Identification of alternate courses of action to address the issues identified.

The alternative courses of action focused on Heidrick and Struggles expanding into sustaining mid level searches internationally, leadership training and creating value. This is accomplished through starting alternative ventures (i.e. Visual Careers, Talent at the Fingertips and Jobkoo). Visual Careers is a social networking platform that targets mid level managers. It was purchased by Heidrick and Struggles in 2008 for $3 million. Talent at the Fingertips is a software application that helped executives to manage their internal and external talent. Jobkoo is a joint venture with Beijing Leading Human Resources consulting. This is a platform that is designed to address the staffing needs of managers in China.