The method for recruiting the best - Antoine Freysz

Antoine Freysz is a multi-entrepreneur and investor graduated from HEC, recognized for his role in the launch of successful start-ups such as The Fork, Doctolib, and Malt. In 2015, he created Kerala Ventures, a fund dedicated to early investment in new businesses, offering close support to founders from the early stages of development.

In this episode, he shares his innovative recruitment methodology. He says, “Recruiting is an art”, highlighting the importance of combining intuition and strategy. His approach, combining entrepreneurial and investor experience, offers informed practices for effectively identifying and engaging talent, essential for HR professionals looking for innovation in their recruitment strategies.

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Plan of the episode

00' — Introduction
03'00 — The importance of good recruitment
04'30 — The mistake of investors
06'01 — The role of the manager
08'00 — Don't settle for the good ones
10'09 — How to hunt candidates
12'03 — The role of hunters
13'56 — Use the Scorecard well
20'43 — Business case & evaluation
24'21 — Dedicate the necessary time
26'20 — The causes of failure and how to avoid them
33'07 — Preconceived ideas about recruitment

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Part 1: Importance of Recruiting

Antoine stresses that recruitment is fundamental. It highlights the importance of a thoughtful recruitment strategy, aimed at building teams that not only have the required skills, but also share the vision and values of the company. Effective recruitment is therefore a cornerstone for success and growth.

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Part 2: Selection Criteria

He insists that the first step to successful recruitment involves knowing what you want. He recommends having specific selection criteria, saying, “You have to know exactly what you are looking for.” This clarity makes it possible not only to target technical skills, but also to assess cultural fit, which is essential for successful integration and successful long-term collaboration.

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Part 3: Active Role of the Manager in Recruiting

On the involvement of the manager, Antoine insists: “The manager must be actively involved”. This personal approach ensures that new hires align not only with the company's current needs, but also with its long-term vision, strengthening the cohesion and strategic direction of the team. In addition, being in contact with the manager can influence the choice of the candidate and allow the company to stand out in the recruitment of highly sought-after profiles.

These elements offer a critical reflection on the recruitment methodology, offering an essential global vision for HR professionals.

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Points to remember:

Antoine underlines the crucial importance of strategic recruitment, the need for precise selection criteria, and the active involvement of the manager in this process. This approach provides a more holistic and aligned view of recruiting, which is essential for building successful teams and achieving long-term business goals.

This invites critical reflection on the importance of well-thought-out recruitment in the overall human resources strategy.

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Antoine Freysz's advice

• Don't rush the hiring process: Take the time to clearly define the needs of the business, develop a detailed scorecard, and involve the internal team. Not rushing early on in the process is critical to avoid costly mistakes.
• Maintain close communication with candidates: Ensuring constant and transparent communication with candidates, especially after receiving their agreement, is essential. This can help prevent candidates from retracting and keep them engaged throughout the process. So keep in touch until they arrive at your house.
• Evaluate cultural compatibility: When recruiting leaders, don't underestimate the importance of cultural compatibility. Look for candidates whose values and operating methods match those of your company.

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The quotes from the episode

• “The way to move quickly without compromising on quality is also correlated to the investment of the main recruiter's time. If there is something to place in the next few days, the next appointment, for the moment, it is not in five days. It is tomorrow at 8:00.”
• “And then after that, the complement to all that, for key positions, is business cases. That's really an absolutely fundamental step in order to be, in quotation marks, tough.”
• “My estimate is that about one in two recruitments fail because of this. We didn't look for the right person. It's not that the candidate didn't have the right level, it's that we actually just didn't understand who we needed.”

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Conclusion

The discussion with Antoine Freysz provides valuable lessons for corporate recruitment strategies. It emphasizes the importance of careful talent selection, the establishment of clear criteria, and the active involvement of the manager in the process. These aspects reflect the importance of finding a balance between the intuitive approach and structured methods in recruitment. This vision opens up to future challenges in the field of recruitment, in particular the adaptation of strategies in a constantly changing labor market and the integration of new technologies while maintaining the human aspect.

To follow Antoine Freysz, find him on Linkedin.

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Watch the episode with Antoine Freysz on YouTube

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