Exploding The Myths: Choosing and Using the Right Executive Search FirmBy: Jordan GreenbergEvery business struggles today to hire enough qualified personnel to maintain its optimum level of operations. Many wise ones have opted to share the responsibility for acquiring critical talent with firms specializing in personnel search and replacement (call them executive search firms/corporate/recruiters/headhunters/search consultants/etc.) to assure a maximum effort to upgrade their level of productivity. Now that partnering with professional recruitment firms has become mainstream and necessary for companies to stay competitive, it is time to educate ourselves on which firm(s) to select and how to go about working with your headhunter of choice. Having worked in the trenches of search firms for a couple of decades, it is my contention that corporate hirers can make their lives easier and the hiring of key employees more effective by considering these suggestions and/or avoiding these five great myths. Great myth #1 - Using multiple search firms for an assignment will yield more candidates and better results. Fact - The quantity of search firms in the USA has grown exponentially the last three to five years, making it even more difficult for you to find quality. Because there is so much noise out there, take your time finding someone that actually plays your kind of music. Realize that the majority of successful, experienced recruiters in business today refuse to take on an assignment from a client at the same time another search firm is already engaged on that project. There is simply too much demand for the services of a reputable headhunter to take a chance on an assignment that may be fruitless despite his/her efforts. Regardless of how time-sensitive your search is, choose your partner carefully. If you do convince a recruiter to share an assignment don't expect their undivided attention or impressive results. Remember, you've made the decision to share your requirement with different sources. Expect that they, in turn, will be spending only a small portion of their time assisting you. Most headhunters work on a pay-for-results basis and are appropriately focused on searches for clients that value their expertise by providing them with an exclusive opportunity to service them. Your results will be impacted enormously by the quality of the relationship you establish with a well-chosen recruiter. The bottom line is that you should not dilute your search by engaging multiple resources at the same time. There are better ways to qualify and select a search firm other than by "trying out" a few and seeing who comes up with the best candidates. Read on. Great Myth #2 - The best headhunter for your assignment is the one you like the most. Fact - It is very, very easy to confuse chemistry with results. In an ideal world, you would choose your search partner as your golfing partner too. But remember - what you and your company really need is a serious search professional who has a proven track record of successfully completing similar assignments for similar companies. For example, if you run a software company and you need a new VP of Sales, find a search firm who has already filled VP Sales slots with your competitors or other software companies in your community. Then go a step further and reference the results of those placements. Did the VP they placed grow the clients' sales from $3mm to $30mm or did that placement "fall off" and result in turnover in the first year? Does this firm have a track record of repeating this success several times or was their placement a one-time wonder? Does the business specialize in placing VPs with software firms or are they hired guns just looking for their next big fee? In essence, your best bet is to find a search partner who can talk to you knowledgeably about your business the first time. And remember - don't be afraid to ask them about their other customers and their own track record. If they're not able to clearly articulate some of their recent successes, how well will they really be able to represent a new client like you? Great Myth #3 - Your boss or your board will know who the best recruiters are! Fact - Most CEOs, founders and financiers of companies are brilliant businessmen and women. They are expert at overseeing, inspiring and, most importantly, leading. By definition their role is strategic and visionary, not tactical or tied to detail. Therefore, I have found that you are more likely to be referred to a capable search firm by those in the field, in the trenches, or those with whom you compete. It makes sense that your employees who are being contacted by headhunters should know which ones are on top of things. Your best sales people, operations/finance people, tech support types and others probably hear from the good recruiters in your industry regularly. Ask them for referrals first. Ask them which search consultants do a good job presenting opportunities to them, how they go about maintaining relationships and what their phone skills are like. A side benefit of this approach is that a sure fire way to get that corporate poacher off of your key people and on your side is by engaging them on a search assignment for you. Another source for getting to a strong industry-related search firm is to ask your local trade association executives. We headhunters are usually trying to impress them by showing up at seminars, trade shows and breakfast gatherings. Even if you don't belong to their group, they are often full of valuable contacts and will to share - as well as trying to convince you to become one of their members. Additionally, do not overlook your competitors. Most well-intentioned professionals are willing to tell you what kind of success their company has had with search and placement firms. Obviously, they won't share much information about the playing field you're fighting on, but people love to talk about other people. Call with a dubious tone and ask if he/she has ever had any success with any of these overpaid headhunters. You may be surprised what you hear. Lastly, the Internet is a powerful tool for any information search. Use your browser to find a search engine that will give you a list of executive search firms and then use your own key words to hone in on your target. This is a subject for another entire article. Great Myth #4 - The best headhunter probably already knows the right candidate for this search! Fact - Top producing corporate recruiters today must be a mix of expert investigator, disciple of a complex process and one who possesses strong contacts too. It is no longer good enough to simply know a couple of the right candidates with whom to network. Market conditions (tons of demand/lack of quality; supply) require that recruiters must first understand your requirement thoroughly and then be able to take that information to a targeted marketplace of candidates. Only a grassroots recruiting effort can surface those hard-to-find candidates you need to outperform your market niche. When you interview a search firm, make sure to pay attention to the types of questions they ask you, and how carefully they listen to your answers. A good headhunter has to be an expert at extracting information from you that they know is critical to conducting an effective search. A search consultant must also know what questions to ask in order to be directed to the right target and to know when they've found Mr. or Ms. Right. Good examples of questions initiated by a recruiter before a search commences are: How will you define this candidate's success during his/her first year? What are the three most important things this person must accomplish their first six to twelve months? What have other employees said about the management style of the person this candidate will report to or about the culture of your company? How quickly do you need someone to start? Etc. Also, be sure to find out about the process a search firm uses in order to identify and help you secure your critical hire. Ask them what steps they go through to weave their way through the hordes of candidates "out there." Do they do any research before they start their search? If so, what resources do they use? Do they develop a list of companies to target for your search? How do they qualify candidates? What questions do they ask candidates to determine what their objectives are? Etc. The bottom line is that a recruiter with a strong network of candidates is likely to have a jump-start on your search, but if they don't know how to position your opportunity correctly, sell it and go about locating additional new candidates, your results will be as limited as their effort and scope. Great Myth #5 - The only thing you can expect from a search and placement firm is the right resume. Fact - Every exceptional headhunter knows that they are ultimately graded on the quality and durability of their placed candidates, but if you find the right recruiter they should be your valued consultant on several personnel and marketplace related issues; not just a provider of bodies for interviews. For example, a knowledgeable search consultant should be seen as a resource for the most accurate compensation data available for the open position. After all, if they are screening candidates every day for you, no one else has better information. Plus, if they specialize in your niche, they should be aware of what your competitors are doing, how they are feeling about their recent successes, who they are trying to hire and what their employees are saying. More importantly, good headhunters do not like to be treated as servants. If you choose a suitable firm and are willing to pay them a fee - let them earn it. Use them as a sounding board for prompt and accurate feedback after each interview. How does the candidate perceive my opportunity? How interested is the candidate in us? Why? Why not? Then share your feelings with your recruiter about that candidate. If they are right or left of the target, tell them where to aim next. Keep in mind that the best executive recruiters are absolutely results driven. So don't be afraid to make them accountable and hold their feet to the fire by establishing a time frame by which you expect qualified candidates to be produced and presented for interviews. But, in turn, provide them with personal access and a two-way communication with you so that they can truly assist you on the most crucial aspects of hiring. When it comes to negotiating a desired candidate's compensation plan, an experienced headhunter has invaluable expertise. Unless you are personally hiring dozens of executives every year, your search partner is likely to be much more familiar with the formal, stressful, often complex task of closing a candidate on your employment opportunity. Let them assure you that your offer is equitable and acceptable by having them "trial-close" your candidate before you present the actual offer letter. They should be able to instruct you on what components of the offer are most and least important to each unique candidate. Plus, do not overlook the inevitability of "counter offers" in this ultra-competitive climate for top talent. Your recruiter should be used as your partner in eliminating surprises throughout the entire hiring process. And, the counter offer is probably the most damaging surprise that your recruiter needs to be able to help you avoid and outmaneuver so you don't lose your next coveted employee after an enormous amount of time and work on your part. The best client I ever had asked me to interview and assess every person that he considered hiring regardless of how that candidate was sourced. When his new boss asked him why he'd pay me for the candidate that I didn't recruit he responded simply by saying, "Well, we all have blind spots and Jordan knows how to help me reduce mine." The trust in that relationship took years to develop, but that's a far cry from seeing us as a resume outlet. (By the way, that same client was the VP of Sales that took his company from under $3mm to $30mm in sales revenues in less than 5 years with a software company in Denver). Like any other personal services professional (a lawyer, doctor, etc.) a good corporate recruiter needs the customer's trust. If you try to control too much of the process you're liable to wind up with limited results and short-term relationships. In SummaryWhen you consider the use of an executive search firm keep in mind the priority of the hire involved. The difference between an A player who joins your firm for the right reasons and a mediocre employee is the biggest differentiator between you and your competition. Headhunters spend their days doing three main things:
So why not let a proven professional help you judge which candidate to select? If it's truly a critical hire, why not improve your odds of hiring with excellence by looking at a competitive candidate or two even if you have found one on your own? In short, let us do what we do best. Yes, the ultimate responsibility of hiring sits squarely on your shoulders. But you can make that decision clear by utilizing a well-screened, well-chosen search consultant to do almost all of the hard work leading up to that selection. Some headhunters, not all, have reached the level of professionalism we all yearn to find in a doctor or lawyer in our times of need. Just as you would not attempt to defend yourself in court or repair your own broken bone, you shouldn't try to identify, screen, evaluate, trial close and acquire your next Vice President or even Branch Manager. So go find yourself a competent, experienced search consulting partner you can trust and sleep much better after your new hire comes on board. Helpful RemindersHelpful hints to remember when qualifying search and placement firms:
Jordan Greenberg, President of the Denver-based firm The Pinnacle Source, has been in high-level executive search since 1981. Tom Keoughan, President Toyjobs home page | clients | client resources | candidates for toy jobs | candidate resources © 2001-2008 CPR Group, Inc. Toyjobs™ |
