In 2012, the 500 member in-house recruiting staff at General Electric filled most of GE’s 25,000 openings, helped by LinkedIn and BranchOut. About 10 percent of the positions filled were executive and senior professional positions formerly filled by executive recruiting companies such as Heidrick & Struggles, Korn/Ferry and Spencer Stuart. The GE team completed most searches in about 73 days, compared with the average 170 days it takes outside firms. (BusinessWeek)
This practice of taking executive recruiting in-house has produced substantial cost savings at GE, as well as Coke, Pfizer, Microsoft and Nike. This new way of operating is one example of what we have termed Rampaging Efficiencies at U.S. companies. But while it has produced savings in the tens-to-hundreds of millions of dollars at these corporations, it has resulted in substantial revenue declines at the talent-search companies. No wonder the search giants are now acquiring leadership consulting companies in an effort to broaden revenue streams. What happens when the corporate in-house recruiters also branch into in-house leadership consulting?
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