Executive recruitment delays cost years to UK businesses

Recruitment delays are costing average UK businesses two years in senior management time, according to new research unveiled today by fast track executive resourcing specialists Executives Online, (stand Q220).

According to Executives Onlines latest research Executive Talent 2006, an in depth analysis of the trends and issues driving the UK executive recruitment market, it typically takes companies more than four months to fill an executive vacancy, with 25% reporting that it takes them at least six months. Those in the north tend to fill their vacancies almost a month faster than their counterparts in the south (3.5 months vs 4.4 months).

The independent study involved interviews with 102 HR managers and line managers who are actively involved in the recruitment of senior personnel and who work for UK organisations across a range of industries and with turnover in excess of 25 million.

The study reveals that the average company needs to hire six very senenior executives each year. This suggests that around two full years (6 x 4 months) of top performing senior executive time is lost to each company because of the time taken to fill the vacant posts. What is more, this problem is significantly exacerbated in bigger companies, which need to recruit twice as many senior executives each year and tend to take longer to find each one.

19% of the largest companies taking part in the study reported that they hire between five and ten execs each year, while a further 7% recruit between 11 and 20 and 3% over 20.

MDs and CEOs are predictably the hardest to recruit within all companies, but the research throws up some interesting job function variances. IT recruitment is a much more significant issue in larger organisations, with 14% reporting that senior IT personnel are the hardest to find (vs 7% in smaller companies). In contrast, smaller organisations are almost three times as likely to struggle to find the right calibre of FD than their larger counterparts (14% vs 5%). One in five interviewees, across the board, report that the easiest executive role to fill is the sales/business development function.

Given that one in five companies find that their senior managers typically stay with them for less than 4 years, the findings emphasise the importance of companies speeding up the recruitment process when vacancies do arise.

Norrie Johnston, MD of Executives Online comments: There is a painful cost attached to having to wait while the traditional recruitment process kicks in. During such delays opportunities are missed, decisions are stalled, corporate direction is lost and staff morale can really suffer. Thats why an increasing number of clients are looking to us to rapidly supply an interim manager, to plug the gap while they find their permanent senior appointee.

Executives Onlines talent bank contains over 6000 senior executives who are available to start work immediately. Featuring senior managers through to CEOs, and covering every industry sector and function, the talent bank is proving a powerful recruitment resource.

Although the talent bank was originally created to support Executives Onlines interim management business, many of thef the 6000 candidates are looking for permanent placements. As a result, the company can now also offer clients a permanent recruitment service that can go from brief, to shortlist of candidates all of whom can start work immediately - in a week.

Executives Online cites examples, which illustrate this speed:

MD, fluent Japanese speaker, placed in 4 days

Bid evaluator, with public sector experience, placed in 6 hours

Food operations director, with experience of desserts, placed in 24 hours

Chairman, high profile automotive experience, placed in 3 weeks

Executive Talent 2006, will be published in November. To request a copy or to find out more about Executives Onlines services contact 01962 829 705 or visit: