Why talent density is more important than employee volume

"Finding talent is an adrenaline rush that keeps me going for the week," confides Jonathan Trepo Lantelme, CEO of Qovoltis. With over 200 recruitments to his credit, he has developed an approach to recruitment that is methodical, demanding and deeply human.

Recruitment, a strategic growth driver

For Jonathan, recruitment isn't about HR support, it's about strategy. "When you leave a company, what's left is not the deals, but the people you've recruited.

At Alma, he conducted over 220 interviews in one year to recruit 70 people. To achieve this feat without compromising quality, he has learned to industrialize his processes - without losing the human essence of recruitment.

Its key lessons

• Respect candidates - "They're in a vulnerable position. Your process has to match what you expect of them."
• Making feedback an asset - Jonathan systematically gives live feedback, even to very senior profiles. "The best talent wants to be challenged."
• No neutral notes - For him, every interview must end with a strong opinion: strong yes, yes, no, strong no. "If you don't have conviction, you haven't done your job properly.
• Beware of co-optation bias - Many of his biggest failures came from poorly challenged "referral" mode hires. "You want to believe, and you let your guard down."
• You can't make up for a bad BP with recruitment - He warns about the blind hypergrowth reflex. "What counts is not volume, it's talent density."

The transition from tech to private equity

Jonathan has navigated between tech start-ups, corporate groups and companies under LBO. For him, the difference is not cultural, but temporal. "A start-up lives from day to day. A PE company thinks in years. But both need excellence.

Final tip: Aim for fertility, not just performance

A good recruiter must not only perform, but also make others shine. "Performance is what you do. Fertility is what you trigger. It's what changes a company."

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