Our Approach


Albert Einstein once said

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”.


Consider for a moment these studies:

  • 40%-60% of management new hires fail within 18 months (Harvard Business Review)
  • Nearly 50% of executive new hires fail within 18 months (The Corporate Leadership Council)
  • A three-year study by Leadership IQ, involving 5,247 hiring managers who hired more than 20,000 employees during the period, found that 46% of newly-hired employees failed within 18 months, while only 19% achieved unequivocal success

That leaves you with another 35% of B and C players – not performing badly enough to fire but not adding much value either.

Recruitment as we know it has some deep-rooted flaws.

  • Classic contingency recruitment is a speed and numbers game

The average recruiter fills 10-20% of the jobs they work on, meaning they work for free 80-90% of the time. There is no time to deep-dive into the market to identify and attract the passive top-performers.
Recruiters have to pick the low-hanging fruit and move on to the next spec to hopefully earn a fee somewhere so they can make a living.
It is a bit like calling 5 plumbers to fix your one broken geyser all at the same time…..The wider you ‘spread the net’, hoping to have access to a broader talent pool, the less commitment they can give your search.

  • You pay the fee but the flawed system forces recruiters to represent the candidate to as many employers as possible so they can hopefully earn a fee
  • As a hiring manager you can delegate this function so you don’t have to deal with the bombardment of inferior and unqualified candidate CVs

Then you appoint the best of the bunch you interviewed, hoping for a star performer. But when you need to report on missed production targets (again), or work 20-hour days for weeks on end to make sure the financials are in on time, your hope for things to fundamentally change flickers dimmer by the day.
The constant worry in the middle of the night that negligence may cause a fatality, or your promotion is once again thwarted because your team (ultimately you) did not make target, or you miss your child’s Awards night again because you needed to fill in the gap – the stress is no fun at all.

  • Because of the flawed nature of the process it often feels like any successful appointment was just the result of luck and chance. It is difficult to duplicate luck and chance…

It is a vicious cycle that brings the worst out of all players in the market. Candidates have been burned with no feedback, so they think little of ghosting in return. Employers lose out on top talent but have also in turn treated candidates like a commodity rather than people with families, fears, needs, wants, hopes, skills and talents.

  • Consider the harm done to your brand

Working with many recruiters allows very little control over how you are presented in the market. With a system that almost forces you to treat recruiters and candidates like a commodity… well they will return the favour.

The financial cost of hiring failures, combined with the opportunity cost of not hiring high performers, can quickly amount to millions of Rands. And the human cost can be even worse.


“The one thing that hasn’t changed is the team that fields the best players wins”

Jack Welsh, Former CEO of GE


The ability to find, develop, challenge and retain A-players is the distinguishing mark of great leaders. But if the recruitment approach only presents B and C players, that becomes very difficult to do.

The Stratsource Top Talent System has been developed to address these flaws and virtually de-risk your hiring process.

Our in-depth, 7 step system works through the entire process of attracting and engaging the top performers in the industry, including the passive talent who don’t hang out on job boards seeking a new position.

  1. We start with Discovery Session: We work with you to uncover the Role, your Employer Value Proposition, your Top Performer Profile, your Company DNA. We develop the scorecard we will use to recruit and develop the performance milestones for the role.
  2. Then we create a Market Map: We use a multi-pronged approach to map the market, leveraging continual database building, referrals, higher level search activities to map the market. We use this to reach out to the other 60% of the market – passive candidates who would consider the right new opportunity but won’t apply to a job posting or respond to average approaches.
  3. Now we Go to  the Market: Through inbound and outbound marketing strategies, as an established search authority in mining and metals, we tell your compelling story to the broadest audience in your discipline. Our lead-generation strategies are focused to attract the largest pool of potential candidates for us to assess.
  4. Next is our Candidate Assessment process: We filter interested candidates to match company DNA on top of key qualifications, experience and skills; we conduct in-depth assessment interviews and pre-submittal references. We carefully sift to identify the top performers best suited to your unique opportunity.
  5. Time for the Client Interview: We work with you to design your interview process, including competency and DNA interviews; and if required we facilitate further assessments and also a ‘working interview’.  
  6. The Offer, Acceptance and Start: As the last step before hiring, we don’t leave this to chance. Let’s face it, top performers are always at risk of receiving counter-offers, and now that they have opened themselves to consider a new opportunity, yours might not be the only one they consider. We continue to work closely with you to prepare and present an attractive offer, we steer the successful candidate through the acceptance and resignation process and all preparation required to ensure a smooth start. We support you to prepare an effective on-boarding process which sets the tone for their future in the company.
  7. Last but not least is the Retention Regimen: We conduct 30-day, 90-day 180-day and 360-day informal interviews with you and your new appointee to ensure all is well and they are meeting and exceeding the performance milestones agreed upon. This is to ensure both client and candidate are taken care of through the critical first six months to one year of employment.

We offer up to a one year replacement guarantee on all engaged search placements – the longest in the industry.

The value in this approach includes:

  1. Top candidates delivered to your doorstep and first right of refusal on them – we don’t present them to other employers until you have had the chance to consider them
  2. Promotion and protection of your brand – we continue to represent and further establish your reputation as a true employer of choice to the top talent in mining
  3. A clean, clear, highly effective and time-efficient process
  4. Partnering throughout the entire recruitment process through to candidate retention
  5. Arguably the longest guarantees in the industry
  6. A major reduction in recruitment costs as you will hire right AND retain top talent

If you would like to know more, please schedule an exploratory discussion on the “Book me” button below. We will talk about what’s working, what’s not working and how we can help.  If we can’t help, I’ll point you in the right direction or give you some ideas to implement that will have an immediate positive impact on your hiring success.