Are you looking for your next superstar executive in the biotechnology, life sciences, or pharmaceutical industry? The search for a key executive is a mission-critical process that demands significant resources, time, and effort.
When you’re looking for an executive, your margin for error is exactly zero—it’s a decision you must get right. Unlike a typical mid-level or entry-level hire, hiring an executive means you’re choosing a leader to steer your organization into the future. It has the potential to be a daunting task, especially when internal resources are stretched thin.
Enter: the external recruiting firm. An external recruiting firm, often referred to as an RPO (or recruitment process outsourcing provider), can be a game changer. RPO providers are able to identify and attract top-tier executives, all while driving substantial cost savings.
Wondering if a partnership with an RPO provider makes sense for your organization? Here are 10 ways external recruiting can save costs in your executive search.
1. External Recruiter Partnerships Provide for Reduced Time-to-Hire
When it comes to executive searches, external recruiters have well-vetted and established processes in place from the get-go. This helps external recruiters reduce time-to-hire and streamline the hiring process significantly for their client businesses. Low time-to-hire is key in innovation-forward industries like biotechnology, life sciences, and pharmaceuticals, where every day counts.
2. External Recruiter Partnerships Provide Access to a Larger Talent Pool
External recruiters have spent years (if not decades) building and maintaining extensive networks in the industries in which they specialize. For their client businesses, this means access to a broader talent pool than they may find on their own. RPO providers are able to quickly locate and connect with qualified candidates, saving their clients time and recruiting dollars.
3. External Recruiter Partnerships Offer Expert Screening and Evaluation
When it comes to screening and evaluation, the experts at external recruiting firms know what to look for. Beyond understanding the technical skills and qualifications necessary for a candidate to succeed in a particular role, external recruiters can quickly tap into their client business’ culture and understand what values and qualities will make a candidate a great fit long-term.
4. RPO Providers Help Reduce Your Advertising Costs
Advertising open roles can be extremely costly, and it certainly doesn’t guarantee you’ll find the right candidate. Experienced external recruiters and established RPO providers often have long-standing advertising channels in place, as well as lucrative agreements with job boards and professional networks. Relying on an RPO provider to advertise for you can allow you to avail yourself of the great rates they have in place—not to mention the expertise they carry in boosting your advertisement efforts.
5. RPO Providers Bring Negotiation Expertise to the Table
Once you’ve found the right candidate or significantly narrowed your search, you can rely on an experienced external recruiter’s skill in salary and benefits negotiation to bring your organization substantial cost savings. The negotiation expertise an RPO provider brings to the table can help strike the delicate balance between recruiting the right candidates and offering the right compensation packages, without busting your budget.
6. Your External Recruiter Partnership Will Allow You to Focus on Your Core Business Functions
Outsourcing your executive search to an RPO provider allows your internal teams and leadership to focus on what they do best: execute your core business functions and strategic initiatives. In the biotechnology, life sciences, and pharmaceutical industries, there are few people who can do what you’re able to do—if someone else is able to expertly handle recruitment, your time is freed to run your business the way only you can.
7. Your External Recruitment Partnership will Help You Lower Turnover Rates
Hiring an executive in the biotechnology, life sciences, and pharmaceutical industries is a high-importance endeavor. You’re counting on the executive to stick around and carry your firm forward with confidence. When turnover happens in these roles, it can be a nightmare for science industry organizations.
External recruiter partnerships help mitigate this risk. When you partner with an RPO provider, your provider is able to thoroughly vet candidates and ensure a strong cultural and organizational fit. In turn, reduced turnover translates to long-term stability, which is good for productivity. Additionally, you’ll cut down on the high costs associated with rehiring and retraining new team members.
8. Your RPO Provider Uses Advanced Technology and Tools
Your RPO provider has access to advanced recruitment technologies, such as applicant tracking systems (ATS), data analytics, and artificial intelligence-driven tools. These advanced technologies allow you to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your executive search process, leading to cost savings in terms of time and resources. They may also reduce bias, leading to success in your diversity and inclusion initiatives.
9. The Principle of Economies of Scale Means Big Costs Savings for Client Businesses
When you partner with an RPO provider, you benefit from the economic principle of “economies of scale.” Because external recruitment firms spread their costs over multiple clients, they are able to provide their client businesses with better services than their clients could receive in-house, all at competitive rates.
10. Your RPO Provider Unlocks Access to Passive Candidates
An external recruitment partnership gives an organization the ability to reach individuals who may not be actively seeking new opportunities, but could be open to moving into the right role. This is an especially important concept for the executive level search, where movement between firms is less common than in mid or entry-level roles.
Cornerstone Search Group: Your Experienced RPO Provider
The biotechnology, life sciences, and pharmaceutical industries’ talent landscape is competitive, and the heat is only turned up when you’re searching for your next executive.
When you partner with Cornerstone Search Group, you gain an edge over your competitors. Cornerstone can help you tap into a deep network of specialized and hard-to-find talent. We can introduce you to individuals who may not be on the “open market” looking for a job, but who trust our recruiters when high-profile leadership roles become available.
Our well-connected headhunters are excited to get to work finding the executive that will take your biotech firm into the future. Start a conversation with us today to learn more.
