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Process is the cornerstone of any quality search and the cornerstone of our firm's approach to the business. It is imperative that we be in complete agreement with our clients regarding process from the outset of a search in order to pave the way to the most optimal result possible. While we have a suggested approach to process, which is outlined below, we believe it is important to act as true partners with our clients and have often refined pieces of our process and timing to suit the context of particular situations. Our essential first step is to develop a thorough understanding of our clients' organizations. We aim to speak with as many of the relevant stakeholders in a search as possible, allowing us to gain deep insight into the organization and the requirements of the position in question. Armed with this information, we build a Position Specification outlining the required experience, skills and attributes of the successful candidate. Position Specifications are submitted to clients for approval and distributed to prospective candidates and sources.
"Building the foundation" is important for the "buy
side" (assessment of candidates) of a search project. A
solid understanding of a client's organization allows us
to effectively "look into the eyes" of candidates and
gauge their true fit with the client team. This
foundation is also crucial to the "sell side" (promoting
the opportunity) of the project. We must have a clear,
solid message to deliver to the marketplace before any
call program commences. Interviewing relevant
stakeholders at the outset of an assignment helps us to
perfect this message as a team. To begin the research phase of a project, it is essential to create a thoughtful, realistic Preliminary Research Strategy in partnership with our clients. A Preliminary Research Strategy typically includes categories of agreed upon target industries. Once we have agreed on a Preliminary Research Strategy with very clear categories and criteria and a list of actual company targets, our team compiles a Detailed Research Strategy. The Detailed Research Strategy fleshes out and identifies each and every relevant prospect and source within the universe defined in the Preliminary Research Strategy. This information is then compiled in a Prospect/Source list that complements our extensive network and database.
Our firm does not typically place ads to invite
applications for positions with our clients’
organizations. We have found that the most effective
manner to conduct a search is through a defined research
strategy, which targets ideal prospects in a focused
manner. However, we are not averse to complimenting our
process with an ad strategy.
Armed with an agreed upon strategy and a list of
identified candidates and sources, we begin to contact
each and every relevant candidate and source so that “no
stone is left unturned”. We do not stop our process once
a handful of candidates have been identified; rather, we
cover the marketplace in its entirety to ensure the
recruitment of the very best talent available.
Throughout the course of the call program, we provide
clients with status reports, which include honest
feedback from the marketplace and any interesting or
relevant “value-add” issues we discover while speaking
with candidates and sources.
We conduct in-depth interviews with all relevant and
interested parties who we screen over the telephone in
the course of the call program. The interviews are
conducted through the filter of key requirements that we
develop with our clients in the Position Specification.
Benchmarking is another piece of due-diligence we often
use during the interview process that allows us to
ensure we are “on the right track”. To elaborate, if
during the early phase of our call program (first three
to four weeks) we identify a candidate(s) who is
intriguing, we might introduce that person to our client
early in the process, allowing the client to give us
feedback on how that individual compares to her/his
vision of the perfect candidate. We could then fine-tune
our interview process based on this feedback as we head
to the short-list stage. We encourage benchmarking
whenever possible.
Candidate Profiles provide our clients with our
assessment of each presented candidate against the
backdrop of skills and experience agreed upon in the
Position Specification. We also provide a personality
and motivational assessment, an outline of work history
and general comments on each candidate.
We typically present to our clients a short-list of the
three to five candidates who most closely match the
Position Specification. We offer a Candidate Comparison
Matrix at the completion of this stage of the process,
which allows our clients to quantitatively compare
candidates against the agreed-upon requirements. We also
offer our advice and views regarding the short-list to
help our clients reach their final decision.
We are extremely thorough in our approach to references.
We typically ask finalist candidates for references,
where applicable, from at least one superior, one peer,
one subordinate, and one client from each of their
historic workplaces. The objective is to ensure an
appropriate level of insight into the candidates’
performance throughout their careers and across teams.
We have a list of general questions we ask of these
referees, and we also ask them specific questions
related to the Position Specification. Additionally, we
solicit our clients’ input on any specific questions
that they would like to have answered. All of the
feedback we receive from referees is compiled in a
Reference Report.
We have much experience facilitating the negotiation of
highly complex executive employment agreements. We will
offer as much time and effort as our clients require at
this phase of the process. Our policy is not to “walk away” from an assignment once a placement is complete. We believe we have an ongoing obligation to our clients to follow-up with both our candidates and our clients at least every three months to ensure the candidate’s integration into the new organization is as seamless as possible.
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