hidden vacancies

Hidden Vacancies

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“I get offered positions that I don’t see anywhere on the internet, the so-called hidden vacancies,” says a Retail Director. He finds it a struggle to find vacant positions on his own. He has a busy job. In addition to his daily duties, which include managing 13 employees combined with the desire to leave, he gets stuck scouring the internet.

Hidden vacancies
With the fact that there are hidden vacancies, he touches upon an important point. Many jobs are not (always) listed on the internet as vacant positions. These vacant positions are put “on the market” in a different way, such as through:

  1. Own network (usually that of the Managing Director) of key persons within the organization
  2. Specialist recruiters who do not post them online
  3. Network of Private Equity firms that have an interest in a profile
  4. Within the sector through a professional association and/or network

How do you ensure you get your hands on these “hidden” vacant positions?
You can do this by engaging a “broker” who has connections at many companies at the relevant levels and knows exactly where you can and want to take the next step. Bureau Boeren Executive Search is a broker that takes over the service of scouting for “vacant positions” from you.

Proactive approach
Bureau Boeren can actively bring your profile and CV to the attention of organizations you have indicated in writing that you wish to be brought to their attention. Targeted finding, in other words, for hidden vacancies.

For someone currently engaged in a busy job, this requires a time investment. Bureau Boeren has a structured, efficient, and effective method for actively approaching the market. The result of this method is that they provide suggestions for placing your profile and CV with a potential holder of a hidden vacancy.

Thanks to the targeted approach and broad view of the market, the active approach and guidance provided by Bureau Boeren open a path that can give your career journey an extra boost.

Apply
If you would like to know more about this active method of tracking down hidden vacancies, please let us know via this contact link.

Recruitment without bias does not exist

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“I don’t recognize myself at all in what you say about my “soft skills,” the candidate replied. I just told her she came in second. I justified this with the support of my client’s feedback. Because these are serious processes, motivation is certainly a key part of the recruitment process. (See the art of rejection in Dutch.)

Alarm bells went off when she said she didn’t recognise herself at all in the feedback on soft skills. She wasn’t concerned about the evaluation of a few hard skills. She had less proven experience overall. She could understand the motivation in that regard.

Recruitment without bias does not exist

After this conversation, I started thinking about how I, as a man (and the client also consisted of men), view a woman who shows equal “soft skills” compared to a man. Are we more likely to consider a woman who is alert, to the point, and direct in her communication to be someone who is less warm and therefore lacks the necessary social security to lead an organization? While we believe these soft skills in a man make him capable of leading an organization while exhibiting the same behavior?

The next day I called her and told her that I was aware of my “bias” regarding the soft skills that were part of the motivation why she didn’t get the job. We then discussed how culture fit is crucial for hiring. She sent me an interesting article about this by Doug Hanna: “The Failproof Matrix for Evaluating Fit vs. Performance.”

My conclusion is that recruiting without bias is an illusion. The trick is to be aware of it and try to eliminate it as much as possible. Thanks to this candidate who spoke out about how she didn’t recognize things in my feedback, I’ve gained a better understanding. This candidate has a better understanding of the evaluation with the disappointing outcome.

Eleven years in Recruitment

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Everything is relative, especially in this time of war, oppression and legal inequality of minorities in many (developed) parts of this planet. With Eleven years in recruitment and experience in being self-employed , I am getting to know myself better.

My experiences/lessons are:

  1. Stay true to yourself
    With the start in Recruitment & Selection I discover a conviction to manage this drastic career “turn”. The confidence has been tested with many months without income.  Many rejections of potential customers, a lot of pitches and loneliness. By staying true to myself this careerchange feels like the best path to follow.
  2. Perseverance
    My “entrepreneurship” is characterized by a certain stubbornness that is followed by perseverance. Without adapting the path to the clear objectives. My objective is making a living of matching cusotmers with candidates. Knowing why you want to achieve something. The “how” is therefore flexible. Keeping the mindset on the “why” enlightens the path.  support from your loved ones
  3. Support from “loved ones”
    In all phases of these past eleven years I could count on the support of my life partner. She is very important in this. We took into account scenarios that forced us to sell the house. The request for help was answered with support. I learnt to ask for help. Being able to ask for help and count on “loved ones” is of great importance in my eleven years.
  4. Discipline
    I want to keep to the promisses I make. Both candidates and customers can rely on my expertise in FMCG. Working in a disciplined way with professionals in my team makes all the efforts worthwhile.
  5. and Trust of customers and candidates
    Trying to get grip in this VUCA* world asks for discipline and vision. As an entrepreneur of services, it is essential to continue to be able to convert built-up trust into value. Over the years, I can grow from “ticking the boxes” to “trusted advisor” with a “local to local” to “local to Europe” reach.

Conclusion:
The business remains a personal/human interest profession. Eleven years in recruitment provides me with a journey i really enjoy with my heart and mind.

Happy Summertime!

Embrace differences_2

Embracing Differences

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In an attempt to create a marketing plan for our Executive Search firm, we come to a conclusion that embracing our differences is the core of our success.

As partners in Europe, we are all born with characteristics, qualities that we carry into our careers. The careers we take shape us in different ways of thinking and doing. We can use these differences to our advantage.

embrace differences

Assuming that our “prospects” do business from a business and personal perspective, it is precisely the personal component that can make the difference. There are many agencies in executive search in The Netherlands and Europe. We all do (hopefully) business with customers. The lifecycle of a customer-agency defines the following statistics; Thirty percent of clients are latently dissatisfied with the agency* they work with, and within 5-7 years a client leaves an agency* even if the collaboration is still fine.

What matters in the strategy of positioning as an executive agency to prospects is, in addition to the standard qualities you must possess, to offer a stage to the differences of the partners who are involved in your agency. Not only the partners, but also the back-office/recruiters involved. We can still strengthen and improve this.

Why is this personal profiling so important?
Because the agency’s choice for an important component depends on a favorable-or-magic click factor. And this factor is born from the vulnerability or transparency of the partner and the ideas that the partner has about the world/business/humanity.

Within the frameworks that you tend to create to emphasize uniformity in structure and appearance, it is vital to embrace and even emphasize individual differences.

Interested in a personal meetup with us? Send us an e-mail info@bureauboeren.nl

 

 

 

*I cannot confirm these statements based on research, these are personal observations

recruit for attitude

Recruit for attitude, train for knowledge

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In a conversation with a Retail Executive who has travelled all over the world, an important theme emerged: “Recruit for Attitude, Train for Knowledge.” This theme is not only relevant for a service-oriented role in hospitality—where “customer friendliness” or “hospitality” should be a natural disposition—but also for an Executive involved in the reorientation of a business strategy (such as downsizing). In both cases, a professional, honest, and transparent attitude must come naturally.

Why do we ask for 10 years of experience?
We often deal with managers who prefer to hire a copy of themselves. This increases the risk of revisiting well-trodden paths in search of a false sense of security and stability.
From a specific business perspective (e.g., fresh cut flower cultivation), I can understand wanting to hire someone with experience in the fresh flower trade for business purposes.

Matrix as an intake support
In my practice, I use a “matrix” that includes both attitude-related and experience/knowledge-related elements. When both HR and the line manager independently complete the same matrix, I often discover differences in emphasis between the two areas. I make this a topic of discussion and ask them to jointly determine the five most important “Must-Haves.” In 99% of cases, these are attitude-driven elements, such as:

  1. Demonstrating leadership during a reorganization (where 400 people have to be let go)
  2. Being result-oriented
  3. A challenging mindset that brings improvements aligned with business goals
  4. Being change-oriented and acting as a “change agent”

Intake is essential
To find the most suitable match and to bring about real change or improvement within your organization, the principle of “Recruit for Attitude, Train for Knowledge” is certainly applicable.
To me, that means conducting a thorough intake. For the organization, it also means ensuring the newly hired individual is not left to fend for themselves.

Interested in the Matrices we made of a lot of roles in FMCG? Send us an e-mail to info@bureauboeren.nl

Five Business advantages in hiring Bureau Boeren

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Why should you hire a boutique executive search agency in general and Bureau Boeren more specific? Below you find five reasons why.

  1. Expertise in a specific territory
  2. Personal approach
  3. Flexibility in services
  4. Limited restrictions in talent attraction
  5. SPOC

International Foodtrends

Ad 1. Bureau Boeren Executive Search is founded 12 years ago with an expertise in the territory of FMCG/Food. At the beginning local to local marketing & sales roles. Nowadays we find for our global customers Commercial, Financial, Operational and General Management profiles in Europe

Ad 2. In our “pitch-adventures” we get often feedback on values like: direct, off the main road, unconventional, transparent, excellent business and psychological sense. Business is build on persons with values that resonate.

Ad 3. When we are committed to an assignment we act with passion and trust. When a relationship is build we consider ourselves as a partner in talent attraction. We advise some customers on more topics than the restricted mandate we are hired for.

Ad 4. Our number of customers is restricted. We are dedicated to our customers. Thanks to the limited number of customers, our “pond” to attract talent from is much bigger than colleagues with lot’s more customers. We are not aloud to attract talents from our own customers. Their “pond” could be substantially smaller to attract talents from.

Ad 5. A highly personal approach means as well one single point of contact through the process of recruitment and onboarding. No waste of time to have discussions with several persons in the process. One person who is in charge of the assignment.

Conclusion:
Trust is the key to success. Over the years we are fortunate to build trust with many customers in FMCG around the world. Building this relationship takes effort and dedication. The existence of Bureau Boeren as a boutique executive search agency  underpins the relevancy of values like personal, unconventional and transparency.

International Women's Day

International Women’s Day

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The International Women’s Day recognizes the struggle of women worldwide and  to express solidarity.
This day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women globally. The day  also marks  a call to action to accelerate the progress of gender equality.

Women with impact.
I struggle finding examples of women who stand out for me personally. Spontaneously Angela Merkel and the New Zealand Prime Minister during COVID came to mind. It is appalling that it is so hard to come with examples of women. Off course I relate to my mother as a woman with significance and meaning in my life.

On second thought Mrs Obama and Christine Lagarde comes to mind. It still is hard to recognize the dominance of male actors in my context of influence.

From my professional point of view a lot of women in FMCG/Food/Retail come to my mind.  What I find in knowing those women/impact players is the way how they generally speaking underestimate their capabilities. I recommend them to be more outspoken.

Why is this important?
It is my belief that an equal number of women and men exist with impact in the world. It seems that the male dominance is more triggered than the female ones. This could mark for me an unconscious pattern to gender inequality.


What do I do?
In my Executive Search practice I make sure that I actively search for the best possible fit, without being specific in gender, age or other denomination. I actively find woman candidates and interview them within the FMCG/Food/Retail in Europe on C-level. I am actively working on extending my network with women impact players and I am happy to meet a lot of them.

What can improve in my practices to drive women to the short-list?
The way the intake with the customer is designed and the formulation of the job description should be more gender neutral. I reckon this process could help in improving the application of a bigger part by women.

Which Women do you have in mind related to this International Woman’s Day?

Why is onboarding a crucial part of the success of the new hire?

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With a signed contract and a hand-over to the client the process of a successful search process is not ended. Onboarding is crucial in integrating new employees into a company’s culture, systems, and procedures. It is an essential step in ensuring that new hires are productive and engaged from day one.
The importance of onboarding is especially critical in the food industry, where employees handle food and interact with customers.

Beyond the food industry, onboarding is equally important. A well-executed onboarding program can help new hires feel valued and integrated into the company culture. This can increase employee engagement, reduce turnover rates, and improve overall job satisfaction.

onboarding vraagt aandacht

Here are some reasons why onboarding is critical in any industry:
1. Sets Expectations: Onboarding sets clear expectations for new hires, outlining what is expected of them and what they can expect from their employer. This can reduce confusion and anxiety and help new employees adjust more quickly to their new role.
2. Builds Relationships: Onboarding provides opportunities for new employees to build relationships with their colleagues and managers. This can help them feel more comfortable in their new workplace and create a sense of belonging.
3. Increases Productivity: Effective onboarding programs can help new employees become productive more quickly. By providing the necessary training and support, new hires can start contributing to the company’s goals and objectives sooner.
4. Reduces Turnover: A well-executed onboarding program can reduce turnover rates by creating a positive first impression of the company. Employees who feel welcomed and supported are more likely to stay with the company longer.
5. Improves Job Satisfaction: By providing new hires with the resources and support they need, onboarding can help improve job satisfaction. This can lead to higher levels of employee engagement, better performance, and increased loyalty to the company.

In conclusion, onboarding is critical in the success of a hiring process. It sets clear expectations, builds relationships, increases productivity, reduces turnover, and improves job satisfaction. Investing in an effective onboarding program can have a significant impact on a company’s success, and it is a worthwhile investment in the long run.

As a Managing Director of Bureau Boeren executive search we will certainly be part of this process as well. Feel free to contact us via info@bureauboeren.nl

Onboarding vereist aandacht

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Met het verleiden van kandidaten voor een nieuwe werkomgeving is het werk niet gedaan. Juist in deze tijd waarin de vraag naar passende mensen groter is dan het aanbod, kun je niet om aandacht voor de onboarding heen. Ik loop er zelf tegenaan in onderstaande geval; Intake Ondanks een gedegen intake bij de opdrachtgever én […]

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