Here today, gone tomorrow: A mixed-method study on headhunter-intermediated recruitment practices

Abstract

While unsolicited job offers are the strongest pull factor driving turnover, little is known about headhunters’ candidate contacts and outcomes. Drawing on the unfolding model of voluntary turnover (Lee & Mitchell, 1994) and research on headhunters, this study examines what kind of employees are contacted by headhunters and why some of them leave. Using the case of Japan, where subsidiaries of foreign multinational corporations use extensively headhunters to recruit host country national employees (HCNs), we first conducted interviews with 131 expatriate managers (clients), contingency-based headhunters, and HCN employees (candidates). The findings suggest that headhunters’ contacts were guided by HCNs’ English proficiency, tenure, and previous placement by headhunters. The findings also suggest that headhunters’ contacts can drive up turnover. To further examine the antecedents and outcomes of headhunter contacts, we collected time-lagged survey data from 456 HCN employees in foreign subsidiaries. In addition to confirming our interview findings, the survey findings also suggest that headhunters’ contacts have a positive relationship with HCN employees’ voluntary turnover.