Finding top talent is tough in today’s market, but executive search firms make the task easier.
With more jobs available than talented people to fill them, companies are finding competition is stiffer than ever for top executives. Because of this imbalance, Cynthia Kohlbry, president of Grant Cooper & Associates, a retained executive search firm, says the way her client companies are finding the right executives is changing.
“Companies are getting smarter in attracting and retaining employees,” Kohlbry says. “For example one company in the technology field offers employees a BMW convertible as part of its perk package. At the same time, our clients have increasing demands for finding people with the best talents, who are appropriate to the company’s culture. And business is much more competitive on a global basis.”
Terry L’Ange, president of the L’Ange Group, a hiring and performance company says there is no clear-cut way to find the right employee. “It’s more challenging to find qualified ‘right-fit’ candidates today, because for the most part companies are doing well and making serious efforts to keep good employees content where they are,” he says. “You really have to be proactive and use all the tools available, including networking across industries and using the Internet.”
Finding a Fit
A three-hour interview is only 7 percent better than a coin toss when determining if a candidate will work out long term, Kohlbry says. “Executive search firms today don’t just assess a candidate’s skill set, but also his or her successes and failures and behaviors,” she says. “Finding the right fit for an executive and a company is more of an art than a science. But we use a variety of processes both formal and informal to find the best people.”
L’Ange says today, more than ever, companies are realizing that fit rather than just a certain skill set is the key to long-term employment. “If an employee doesn’t fit into the company culture, he or she won’t be happy and won’t stay long. Matching personality and culture is at the heart of finding the right person.”
Kohlbry says because doing business has changed so much, executive search consultants and their clients have to be much more creative in their search, too. “Old rules of business don’t apply anymore with the onslaught of technology and e-commerce,” she says. “We can’t just look for executives in the local market or in the same industries as the job to be filled. We’re looking for a person who is already successful and not necessarily looking to be found. We have to be more lateral in thinking. No one knows the pat answers anymore, which is why managers are so critical. Executives today have to have lots of talents to brainstorm and create solutions to new problems and opportunities that never existed before.”
The Technology Conundrum
Although Kohlbry takes full advantage of technology and the Internet in her business, she says it ultimately hinders the executive search process. “The irony is that technology makes it easier to communicate but more difficult to actually reach people and have that human contact so key to assessing a candidate,” she says. “Voice mail and e-mail are handy but can be tremendous barriers, although an executive search firm’s credibility and reputation can help break through these barriers.”
L’Ange believes technology, especially the Internet, has enhanced the ability to research companies and find candidates – although some say the Internet could eliminate the need for recruiters. “This may be true in some cases where a company essentially just wants a body to fill a lower-level position but on the executive level the new tools only enhance the industry,” he says. “As a result, I see a growing need for good quality executive search consultants in the future.”
Discovering A New Colored Parachute
The face of the outplaced employee has changed quite a bit over the years. A few generations ago, organizations tended to be stable, and people didn’t lose their jobs unless they were poor performers. Then in the late 1980s and early 1990s, restructuring and downsizing became the nature of business–and large numbers of good employees were eliminated. The result? The outplacement industry was born. “While downsizing has slowed, as organizations get larger through acquisitions and mergers–especially in banking and health care–good employees become redundant and are outplaced,” says Gerald Mathews, managing principal, Right Management Consultants.
“Our primary role is to help people turn a difficult situation into an opportunity. We provide a wide range of services with the objective that people will be proactive and smart about selecting new jobs and often new careers, generating options along the way.”
Right Management Consultants is an international consulting firm with more than 170 locations around the globe that work with companies as well as individuals. “The career transition paradigm has changed,” Mathews says. “People have more options than ever. Some just want and need to be quickly re-employed in the same type of job. Others stop and, sometimes for the first time, closely examine what they’ve been doing.
Options, choices and changes are all possible. “In today’s world, mergers and acquisitions aren’t the only forces driving outplacement. Organizational culture and individual “fit” are also key factors. Bill Meyer, vice president and senior consultant, Career Management Associates, says outplacement can be a wake-up call for even the most talented people. “Research shows up to 80 percent of the working population doesn’t like what they’re doing because they’re in a career they didn’t really choose,” Meyer says. “We work with talented people who no longer fit in with their organizations to help them focus their search on opportunities and environments that will play up their strengths.”
Career Management Associates (CMA) provides its executive clients with their own laptop computers, printers, Internet accounts, e-mail, and passwords to proprietary research databases. “The job search isn’t just from 8 to 5,” Meyer says. “CMA places the best job search technologies at our clients’ fingertips, so they can conduct a 㢼/7’ search from our offices, their home, an airport or hotel. Today, outplaced people can use a combination of virtual, face-to-face and telephone contacts to accelerate their search to land the best positions as quickly as possible.”
Meyer continues: “Being outplaced is like getting a divorce. We help people work through their loss stage faster and ultimately understand, market and sell themselves better.”
Mathews says Right Management Consultants takes each outplaced client through a process of self discovery using exercises and assessment tools. “It’s not a canned process. Assessments are tailored to the individuals and we bring out what they’ve learned. Ultimately, we want to put employees in the drivers’ seat of their own careers.”
He also wants companies to realize what a gift career transition services are to outplaced employees. “Career transition can be the best thing that happens to people,” he says. “It allows people to make conscious choices and often gives birth to a new career. Career transition can energize people and help them emerge victorious. There’s something deeply rewarding about that.”
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