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Executive Search
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Local headhunters
suggest ways to make executive searches more productive.
By William Poe
Nearly every organization conducts executive searches from time
to time, and for many it’s a never-ending process. But how many
know how to do it right?
According to area executive recruiters, many organizations can achieve
better results by improving the way they work with the executive
search firm.
“Good communication is the key to any executive search,” says Joel
A. Okun, vice president of Executive Recruiters.
Annie Gray, principal of Annie Gray Associates, says she is often
invited to the executive search party after a bunch of party crashers
have aggravated the hosts. “We are often retained after an initial
internally-directed search has proven to be both frustrating and
fruitless,” Gray says.
Larry H. Munson, executive vice president and managing director
of DHR International Executive Search, says many companies fail
to provide the recruiter with sufficient information to yield the
best possible results.
“The information needed is often too scanty,” Munson says. “The
result is searches that take longer to fill.”
Recruiters agree a big problem is that players on both sides of
the hiring equation—organizations and candidates alike—don’t understand
the recruitment and employment services industry.
“I don’t think people really understand the differences in the groups
of agencies,” Okun says. “Whether you are a company or an individual,
you need to know what the firm is going to do, or not do, for you.”
Gray adds, “Our clients should always come out of a search better
educated about the search process than when we began.”
Munson explains that the industry is divided into two broad segments:
firms that help individuals find jobs and firms that help companies
find candidates. The first group includes employment agencies and
staffing firms (finding both temporary and permanent jobs), career
management and counseling firms, and outplacement firms. The second
group includes corporate recruiters, contingency recruiters and
retained recruiters. Recruiters are commonly referred to as “headhunters”
because of their penchant for raiding companies to hire away the
best “heads” for their company or corporate client.
DHR and Annie Gray are retained search firms; Executive Recruiters
is a contingency search firm. All three work for the employer, but
fee arrangements differ. A contingency search firm is paid (usually
by the employer) only when a candidate referred by the firm is hired
and has started his new job. A retained firm is paid (always by
the employer) in installments during the search process. For their
services, retained and contingency firms are typically paid a fee
equal to 20 to 30 percent of the total first year compensation of
the recruited employee.
Some firms guarantee placement success. DHR, for instance, agrees
to conduct a new search at no additional fee if the candidate it
places is fired or quits within the first two years.
Personnel searches, especially at the highest executive levels,
can take months. DHR, Munson says, presents “benchmark candidates”
to clients within 10 working days and a larger group of six to 10
candidates within another 10 working days. In about half of the
searches, Munson adds, the organization will hire someone from that
second pool of candidates. Okun says Executive Recruiters nearly
always has candidates in front of the employer within two weeks,
although the hiring process may extend for many more weeks. Gray,
who limits her searches to executive suite-level managers, says
a search typically takes three to four months and once consumed
18 months.
Every executive search can bear fruit, says Gray, who also specializes
in recruiting corner-office secretaries. “There is someone out there
for every client, but every search takes on a life of its own.”
Munson, who is one of five recruiters in the DHR St. Louis office,
says organizations can best enhance their recruiting success “by
providing all of the information needed about a particular position
and by responding quickly when we present candidates.” He also says
that organizations should be open and candid about their requirements
and organizational culture. “Recruiters are often brought in only
after a search conducted by the company failed,” he says. “Recruiters
get the toughest jobs and need organizational support to succeed
at the highest levels.”
Okun and Munson say they want to know as much as possible about
the corporate personality and culture of the organization or business
unit.
“Chemistry comes into play a lot more than people realize,” Okun
says. “A manager might want a team player, but the candidate might
be a ‘churn and burn’ player. We need to find the perfect fit.”
Munson adds, “We can bring in candidates who meet all of the job
specifications, and we can bring in another who doesn’t quite meet
the specs, but has the chemistry to fit. We like to submit that
latter person, too, and there are many times that the company will
hire the person with the chemistry fit. It’s not just about job
descriptions.”
Gray, who champions an 11-step process to unearth required skill
sets and cultural compatibility factors, says employers need to
allow her to focus on more than job tasks for the high-ranking executives
she recruits. “It’s not tasks so much as values and competencies,”
she says.
For individual job-seekers, Munson also has some advice:
- Learn
to differentiate search firms and different kinds of players
in the job services industry.
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Touch base periodically with your representative. “Repetition
helps,” he says.
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Use your personal contacts to open a few additional doors
for your recruiter.
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Offer to help your recruiter identify a few candidates
or companies for other positions.
Okun’s Executive Recruiters adds a few more:
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Confirm that your recruiter has placed individuals like
yourself in the position you are seeking.
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Be honest about your education, work history and performance.
If you were fired or laid off, don’t say you resigned.
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Be realistic about salary requirements.
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Be sure your recruiter likes you because he or she will
work harder for you.
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William V. Poe is principal of Poe Communications, a St. Louis
advertising and marketing communications firm. |
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