Delegate to Better Manage: The Advantages of Outsourced Recruitment – an article by Henri Vidalinc for FocusRH
23.07.2025
How to find the “right” candidate? How to ensure not missing the rare gem: the right person, in the right position, at the right time? The recruitment process, especially for an executive or senior manager, is highly strategic. I know its demands well, having had the opportunity to wear primarily two professional hats. The first, for 15 years, was that of HR Director. The second, still today, is that of company executive. In both cases, I faced the multiplicity of challenges linked to recruitment. And in both cases, I was able to measure how valuable calling on an external partner could be.
Unfortunately, it must be noted that in France, this conviction is not always shared, far from it. Less than a third of recruitments are outsourced: 32% in 2023 [*], a figure that has likely declined since, given an uncertain economic environment and financial constraints weighing on companies. Nothing comparable to the United Kingdom, where half of recruitments are outsourced [**]. So, why entrust this mission to a specialized external partner? What added value can one expect?
Accessing the “invisible world”
A specialized actor has, as a primary advantage, the ability to broaden the company’s search scope, necessarily limited to the visibility of the job postings it publishes on specialized sites, spontaneous applications, and its employees’ professional networks. During the sourcing phase, the recruitment consultancy opens other doors, thus tracing new perspectives thanks to the large talent pool to which it has access. It possesses the networks and tools to identify talent from very diverse backgrounds, whether or not they are actively seeking a professional change. It has the know-how to spot them, but also to approach and reach them, if necessary through direct “headhunting.” It finally has the right arguments to convince them.
It is therefore capable of selecting, based on their skills but also on their fit with the company culture, a richer and more relevant palette of candidates. A palette that it will refine and validate through a process integrating career analysis, pre-selection interviews, in-depth assessments and personality tests, and a strategic reading of acquired skills and soft skills. All this work, extremely time-consuming and demanding, results in the list of candidates submitted to the company.
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