The Executive Monitor report, a study to understand the work behaviour and intention of Executives in Australia, has been released today.
Job boards continue to remain an important channel for executives to find a job. While only 11.6% of executives credited job boards for finding direct employment, the vast majority (67%) planned on using job boards in the next twelve months. Karen Jenkin, Six Figures, believes that executives will continue to endorse job boards because “they are an important gateway to other channels like recruiters and employers, especially as the survey found that 77% of executives are ready to leave their current employer.”
The report also highlighted the ubiquity of recruitment firms in the Australian employment market, with a majority 64% of executives having found a job at least once in their career using their service and 23.2% of executives crediting recruitment firms for delivering their last job. However, 33% have negative opinions of recruitment firms and only 18.66% considered them to be effective.
“Executives continue to have a love-hate relationship with recruitment firms. While many executives are critical of recruitment firms, they are also the most successful channel to find a new job” said Phillip Tusing, author of the report. “Executives appreciate the role of recruiters, but are weary of below-par performances.”
Other successful channels to find a new job includes personal networks and referrals, accounting for 22.3% and 20% respectively. Cold calling employers worked for 1.1% of executives, while social networking sites delivered only 0.8% of new jobs.
Besides their job searching behavior, the report explored various facets of the work life of executives including remuneration, education and views on employers.
The report is a joint project between Six Figures and Destination Talent, and has been produced with the support of the following organisations – Peerlo, Talent Acquisition Specialist; Australian Institute of Management (AIM QLD/NT); Graduate College of Management, Southern Cross University; and Dutton Direct, International Luxury Circle.
The report is available for free download on the Executive Monitor site.
One Comment
It seems perfectly understandable that executives would be motivated to use any legitimate means to create brand and positioning for themselves in order to procure plum appointments in a narrow market. The skewed composition of boards in Australia, as well documented, under representing women and cultural minorities is testament to the fact that the recruitment of board members via any means is a grossly inequitable process and informal networks and visibility count for too much. Having said that it is always going to be important to ensure that anyone appointed to positions with such ‘reach’ is highly competent and so having trust and confidence in those people is paramount. It’s just so unjust that those methods of board member recruitment perpetuate such systemic bias. What is also disturbing to me and a touch ironic is that the report cited in your article has found that 77% of executives surveyed wish to leave their current employer. Many of these people would be spearheading campaigns to maximise engagement and/or talent retention. The saying “I couldn’t ask my people to do anything I would not be prepared to do myself” seems quite fitting.