How to Recruit the Best Talent

Five years ago, Anna Stenberg set up Women Executive Search (WES); a headhunting firm that goes beyond the traditional recruitment networks to ensure that strong female leaders are included in every recruitment process. In Sweden, where 80% of headhunted candidates are men, Anna and her team have hired over 200 female leaders to date. Inspired? We were too. So we caught up with Anna to find out how she does it. And, how Oriflame’s consultants can recruit great female talent into their networks too.

1. Create a job description "Everything starts with the creation of a really good needs analysis. By that I mean, understanding the organisation and position you are recruiting into. Ask yourself: What kind of competencies and personality motivators are going to succeed here? Then you’re ready to build a profile description so that you know what you are looking for –I would say that at Oriflame, this means creating a straightforward job description. For example, you might want to look for women who are already demonstrating a passion for beauty online."

2. Be a detective  "After creating a job description the search process begins. This is a bit like being a detective. At WES, in addition to looking at our existing network, we look at other companies and to other women who have the potential, drive and experience to succeed in the role we are recruiting for. We create a long list of potential candidates and then edit them down to a final selection through phone and face-to-face interviews."

3. Search social but meet face-to-face "As a passion for beauty is part of the Oriflame consultant job description, social media is a very efficient and cheap way of finding people who might want to join your business. But once you’ve identified your potential candidates via Facebook or Linkedin, make sure you meet with them to understand what lies beyond first impressions."

4. Pick the best employee, not your best friend "When you’re recruiting for a role, you often meet someone that you can identify with and that you really like. Because you think they are nice, you forget about the job description and want to recruit them – you shouldn’t. Sometimes it’s far more dynamic if you hire someone with different skills to your own. Stick to the job description you created and you’ll be able to focus on the best person for the position."

"Social media is a very efficient and cheap way of finding people who might want to join your business."

5. The what, why and how "You need to get under the skin of your interviewee. Don’t just ask what people have done, but rather ask how and why they did it. The “how” is extremely important if you want to understand the way a person reasons and what motivates them.”

6. What's the adventure? "When you’re hiring someone, don’t forget to tell people the story: What kind of adventure is your recruit going to embark on with you? And answer the question: What’s in it for me? If someone is going to invest their time, effort and money into a company, you need to let them know the potential.

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Words by: Photographs by: Oriflame