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5 min read
More Than Hiring: How Recruitment Creates Business Value
Over the past few years, I have led an executive search team, and if there is one thing my profession has taught me, it is that successful recruitment rarely comes down to luck. Many people still think of recruitment as a process that begins with posting a job advertisement and waiting for applications to arrive. In some cases, this approach works. However, the more specialized or senior a role becomes, the less reliable it is.
The reality is that many of the best professionals are not actively looking for a new job. They do not spend their days browsing job boards, nor are they necessarily planning a career move. Yet they may still be open to the right opportunity, they are just unlikely to take the first step themselves.
That is why I believe recruitment today is much more about building relationships, understanding the market, and thinking long-term than simply filling vacancies.
Throughout my career, I have found that the most successful hiring processes are always backed by strong business collaboration.
Recruitment does not exist for its own sake. Its purpose is not to generate as many CVs as possible or to close searches as quickly as possible. The goal is to bring people into the organization who can create real value and thrive in their roles over the long term.
To achieve that, it is not enough to understand the position itself. Recruiters must also understand the business environment, how the team operates, and the challenges the role is expected to solve. In my view, the best recruitment professionals do much more than find candidates: they bridge the gap between business needs and labor market realities.
One common assumption in recruitment is that candidates make decisions primarily based on salary.
While compensation is certainly an important factor, my experience has shown that many other considerations can be just as influential.
I have worked with candidates whose main motivation was reducing their daily commute and gaining more time with their families. For others, professional development opportunities, the quality of leadership, or the nature of the projects themselves were far more important.
This is why I believe genuine curiosity is one of the foundations of successful recruitment. Understanding what truly matters to a person is the only way to identify an opportunity that genuinely aligns with their aspirations and priorities.
Among the many recruitment channels available today, employee referrals have always stood out to me for one simple reason: trust.
When someone becomes interested in an opportunity based on a recommendation from a colleague or professional contact, the conversation starts from a completely different place. The candidate is not responding to an advertisement; they are responding to the experience and opinion of someone they already trust.
Referrals do more than support hiring efforts—they also reveal a great deal about an organization's culture. When employees are willing to recommend their workplace to people in their professional network, it is usually a strong sign that they believe in the organization.
That is why I consider a well-functioning referral program to be one of the most valuable assets any organization can have. What I have already observed at Stratis is that referrals often come not simply because of an incentive program, but because colleagues genuinely believe that talented professionals they respect would thrive here.
When people hear the term employer branding, they often think of social media, career websites, or marketing campaigns. While these are all important tools, they are not enough on their own.
In my opinion, a strong employer brand begins when employees can authentically talk about what it is like to work for an organization. No communication strategy can replace that.
External messages are most effective when they reflect everyday reality—when employees are proud of what they do and are happy to represent their organization within their professional communities.
About author
Fruzsina Bodor is the head of talent acquisition at Stratis, responsible for the professional operations and strategic development of the recruitment function.
