search-consult issue 37

The International Executive Search MagazinePublished by Dillistone Systems

The International Executive Search MagazinePublished by Dillistone Systems

20

10

/ I

SS

UE

37

Family Owned Businesses - Search and Succession

Interview: Lee Ashton, VP International HR & Global Talent Acquisition,

Brown – Forman

Internal Executive Recruitment

Psychometric Testing in Executive Search

An Indian Perspective On Independent Directors

Technology In Executive Search

Family Owned Businesses - Search and Succession

USA: +1 (201) 653-0013 • Australia/Asia: +61 2 8221 8860

UK / Other Europe: +44 (0)20 7749 6100 • Germany: +49 (0)69 27 40 15 807

[email protected] • www.dillistone.com

LEARN HOW RETAINED EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRMS ARE LEVERAGING THE INTERNET

TO IDENTIFY AND RESEARCH COMPANIES, SOURCES AND POTENTIAL CANDIDATES

Most candidates placed by Retained Executive Search firms are not active job seekers. Indeed, research suggests that 80% of placed candidates are identified as a result of original research – rather than just simply searching a database of contacts. Against this backdrop, researchers and consultants are increasingly looking to the Internet to research target companies and to identify and learn about potential candidates.

During these free briefings you will learn techniques you can use immediately to:

Search press releases and news aggregators to identify andresearchseniorexecutives

Search corporate websites and business information sites for information on target companies

Use Google to find more candidates in social networks Track new appointments and resignations at your key clients

All of these techniques will be taught in a way which will enable you to use them immediately – for free!

At the end of our meeting, we’d also like to take the opportunity to introduce you to FILEFINDER 9 featuring The Research Zone – the only Executive Search Management System to integrate these advanced web searching techniques.

Email [email protected] or visit www.dillistone.com/events to book your place TODAY!

Book now to join us at our events in: London: March 3, 2010 Chicago: March 11, 2010 Hong Kong: April 13, 2010

FREE BREAKFAST BRIEFINGS

Join these events on LinkedIn

http://events.linkedin.com/Internet-Research-Techniques-Retained/pub/194456

J O S E P H M C C O O L ’ S C O L U M N

�

Joseph Daniel McCool consults globally on corporate executive recruiting and management succession. He is the author of Deciding Who Leads, recognized as “one of the best business books of 2008.” He is an online columnist for BusinessWeek, a senior contributing editor with ExecuNet and the former editor of Executive Recruiter News. Contact him at [email protected].

The Road AheadAs we usher in a New Year, there is reason for significant optimism about the

future of executive search consulting.Although we must all confront a new business reality, one still permeated by

uncertainty, volatility and significant risk management focus, many companies and executive search firms are in a better condition now than they were this time last year.

The global economic recession, that at times brought the business of executive management recruiting to a complete standstill over nearly the past year-and-a-half, has eased. More companies are adding executives rather than eliminating jobs. And an increasing number are trading up with new executive hires for existing leadership roles to strengthen their bench and create better succession options.

While it’s true that we shouldn’t expect a return to the War for Executive Talent any time soon, businesses are poised for modest growth in 2010, and they’ll need top talent to realize their objectives.

One of the challenges retained executive search consulting firms must confront in the New Year is convincing those corporations that the answers to their new and emerging management talent needs can’t all be found amid the huge pool of active executive job seekers.

Many corporations are already trolling online business networks to identify potential management hires. Savvy Human Resource officers are putting together their own wish lists of ‘Dream Team’ management candidates and building relationships with them in the event opportunity knocks. No one wants to be caught off-guard should the CEO decide to move aggressively in the direction of new business ventures and/or new markets.

Yet I suspect, given some of my research market research, that many corporations are undercounting the number of executive-level hires they will need to make in 2010.

That’s because they will be blindsided in the coming year by the sudden, unanticipated departure of key executives they have failed to develop, engage and retain. Smart executive talent acquisition, HR, executive staffing and executive talent management leaders know they will loose good people in the year ahead and are already building back-up plans.

In some cases, those organizations will indeed attempt to leverage the depth of the current active executive jobseeker market, in part because online tools make that a much easier proposition than it once was.

In others, these employers will turn to your experience, judgment and network of personal and professional connections and inquire about the potential performance premium of recruiting an employed, ‘A player’ rather than hiring someone currently ‘in transition.’

Your phone should ring more in 2010 than it has for many months and your Inbox, too, will likely grow fuller. How will you respond? How will you differentiate your firm? And what can you say about the leaders you alone can convert to active candidacy at a time when each new executive management hire is critical to organizational success?

Here’s to a healthy and prosperous 2010! I hope you’re ready for what beckons on the road ahead!

ISSUE 37 2010 search-consult

Joseph Daniel [email protected]

MANAGING DIRECTORJason [email protected]

EDITORIALPilar [email protected]

PRODUCTIONMargaret [email protected]

ADVERTISING/SUBSCRIPTIONS/REPRINTS

UK and EuropeNorth and South AmericaSouth East Asia and Australia

Yann Le [email protected]

or log on towww.search-consult.com

search-consult.comThird Floor, 50-52 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4LB, United KingdomTel: +44 (0)20 7749 6102Fax: +44 (0)20 7729 6108www.search-consult.com

For manuscript/ photographic submissions, please e-mail our Editorial department or write to theaddress above to obtain author/ photographicguidelines.

search-consult is published quarterly by Dillistone Systems Limited, Third Floor, 50-52 Paul Street, London EC2A 4LB and designed by Mr. Bloom Ltd, Sopot, Poland, www.mrbloom.com.pl. Periodical Postage PAID at Jamaica, NY. POSTMASTER: Send change of address changes to Dillistone Systems Inc., 50 Harrison Street, Suite 201A, Hoboken, NJ 07030.All statements, opinions, and expressions are the sole responsibility of the authors and the Publishers reserve the right to amend/alter articles as necessary. The Publishers cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage, however caused, of any materials supplied. Any materials supplied may not always be returned. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any format without prior written consent of the Publishers.

© Copyrights 2010 Dillistone Systems Ltd

S E A R C H -

� search-consult ISSUE 37 2010

Founded in 1870 in Kentucky, Brown-Forman employs 4,000 people and is among the top 10 largest global

spirits and wine businesses, operating in 135 countries worldwide.

According to Lee Ashton, Vice President of International HR & Global Talent Acquisition at Brown-Forman, this multi-billion dollar business has remained extremely competitive and successful because it has a “very clear strategy on building enduring brands and how we go about building enduring brands with exceptional people.”

A top priority is being able to meet the global needs of the business in terms of attaining the best talent, especially as the company’s future growth will depend in large part upon the international growth of their markets. In fact, in 2008 the markets outside the US constituted more than 50% of the company’s net sales.

“We anticipate that trend will continue,” explains Ashton as he describes how Brown-Forman is focusing on maximizing their leverage with their existing global talent by spending a great deal of time on very strong succession planning and leadership development efforts so that the company can move people very fluidly, not only across functions but across countries.

On one hand, this means that Ashton and his team have to constantly ask themselves: “where can these people work outside their normal realm of functional expertise and how can the

company develop and leverage them globally? This not only helps Brown-Forman build strong and multicultural executives, but it also provides us with very strong bench strength.”

On the other hand, Brown-Forman has to identify and secure top talent in every area.

He explains how this market leader is in the process of adopting a talent acquisition approach to hiring top talent instead of the traditional and more passive recruitment approach.

LOOKING FOR THE BESTThe main difference with this

approach is that recruiters are no longer going after the best talent that is available in the market; they are driving towards identifying and securing the best talent that exists anywhere in the world.

This can be extremely challenging since the traditional approach implies talking to candidates who have already taken the decision to leave their current employment and are currently open to potential offers. Meanwhile, the talent acquisition approach means identifying that superior talent and then trying to persuade those individuals – who are currently happy where they are - to consider joining their company.

In order to be effective, Brown-Forman is developing very strong talent acquisition capabilities, is building robust recruitment research capabilities and is working intensively to meet their talent needs.

Nevertheless, this new approach does not mean that Brown-Foreman does not need to use executive search providers. What is changing, however, are the reasons why.

WORKING TOGETHERCompanies are migrating away

from using executive recruiters to bring them the best available talent or supply them with talented individuals that the company was not aware existed.

According to Ashton, an external executive search partner is “really a key resource with whom the company can share a list of names with, that we want to target... and the search provider can in a complementary and comfortable style, get a significant number of those people to at least intellectually engage with us in some sort of dialogue about the opportunity and about joining our company.”

As a result, an executive search provider doesn’t replace the expertise which the in-house talent acquisition team provides; they can be complementary and can provide the company with extra capabilities that exceed what the in-house talent acquisition teams are able to do on their own.

Of course, this means that before the search process even begins a company has to have already identified who that superior talent is, and at the very least, know the target companies.

In fact, he advices corporate companies to make sure that the first time

Brown-Forman:

H R I N T E R V I E W

Talent AcquisitionBy Pilar Gumucio

EvolvingTowards

�ISSUE 37 2010 search-consult

their HR team talks with a hiring manager regarding an opening, the first question should not be about the qualifications needed. “It should be what companies out there are doing this in the way we have only dreamt about? If it is A, B, C, then these instantly become our target organizations.”

“We really spend a great deal of time thinking about each candidate,” Ashton explains, “And see if this person is really going to be aligned with us and if Brown-Forman will be a comfortable fit for them.”

This implies much more than reviewing the technical requirements, it means utilizing specific behavioural assessment and screening methods to help them identify which of the candidates they looked at will indeed thrive in their corporate culture.

SELECTING AN EXECUTIVE SEARCH PARTNER

The selection of an executive search partner should not be taken lightly.

Ashton explains how Brown-Forman does not place significant value on the name of the search firm because “good search is done by very smart people that work very hard and not by firms. We have relationships with individuals that are based upon their track records – and not their firms.”

“What is critical is that their search consultants be aligned with their way of thinking and assessing talent. They must understand their culture, their collaboration styles, their focus on diversity and inclusion, their decision-making styles, their vision and their strategies to build enduring brands”.

In turn, “we must feel very comfortable with their style, work ethic, drive, ability to collaborate, intelligence, high performance levels, enthusiasm, and all those sort of cultural attributes that we use to recruit one of our very own,” states the HR & Global Talent Acquisition executive.

Another important factor is that consultants have the intellectual courage

to engage and debate with them when they have a difference of opinion. That engagement and discussion must be done in a very similar and comfortable style to the client’s.

He prefers to use search partners that are very deep instead of broad. “We tend to not utilize partners that are jacks of all trades and masters of none.”

Ashton advises search providers to be able to have a clear and articulate vision of what they can do. If the search is one that he or she cannot execute brilliantly, then a good executive search partner should know when to walk away from it.

“Know your geographic capabilities,” insists the HR & Global Talent Acquisition executive. “I have so many search firms that claim to be global or have a relationship with an office in a certain city we are looking for candidates in…it is less relevant what the firm does, if the specific consultant doesn’t execute in that country then he/she should tell the client upfront.”

MANAGING THE PROCESS EFFECTIVELY

According to Ashton, if there is a failed search then it is the fault of the client, not the search provider, for not managing the search process effectively.

He insists: “In the end, you get the search results you manage. If you don’t manage that search process effectively as a partner then you will get the results you deserve.”

Ashton explains that it’s not about telling them what to do; it is about both sides really committing to achieving a successful completion.

Remember that this is a working relationship that is constantly shifting and adjusting, depending on what is learnt during the process.

As a result, it is vital that both sides be consistent in managing and executing the search process. Ashton states: “When a search partner makes a commitment to talk every Tuesday, I expect him/her to follow through. I make commitments based upon that, and it’s terrible when a search partner leaves me hanging. Maybe it’s because he/she has too many searches going on, but then the consultant should have walked away from the search at the very beginning.”

At the end of the day, the success of a company depends on being effective in attaining the best talent - and that includes obtaining the best executives, a first rate talent acquisition team and of course, superior executive search partners.

Lee Ashton

H R I N T E R V I E W S E A R C H -

www.search-consult.com

For more information visit:

Web: www.brown-forman.com

Lee Ashton is the Vice President and Director of International Human Resources and Global Talent Acquisition at Brown-Forman Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky. He is a frequent speaker nationally on issues related to talent acquisition and assessment.

Prior to joining Brown-Forman, Ashton was the Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at MillerCoors in Milwaukee, WI. He was personally responsible for recruiting executive level talent to Miller and managed all external recruiting resource relations for domestic and global recruiting. Ashton worked with the Miller Executive Committee members to create and lead a high performance Talent Acquisition organization. Prior to joining MillerCoors, Ashton was the COO of a consulting and boutique executive search firm founded by a former White House cabinet member. He was also the Chief Human Resources executive for one of the larger banks in the US and has held positions in Human Resources and Labor Relations at the Vice President level in the US and abroad.

In a dynamic and competitive busi-ness environment, companies must develop innovative recruiting prac-

tices as a means to proactively anticipate and recruit leadership talent in order to meet the strategic goals of their busi-nesses.

More and more companies are either strengthening their in-house recruiting functions or are seriously contemplating trying this option. At this point, only a few organizations have a recruiting capability that mirrors an external search firm.

Some organizations may use external or internal resources exclusively, while others use a mix of internal and external resources. For some organizations utilizing traditional executive search exclusively may be too costly, especially now during this economic climate.

The benefits of an in-house executive search function are not just about cutting costs for an organization. According to Zach Simon, Director of Global Executive Talent Acquisition for Eaton Corporation, “our number one focus is to bring top talent into the organization and our second focus is to determine the best system to accomplish that goal.”

The in-house executive search team focuses its resources and interests on a single client. If successful, the quality of hire will: improve because the in-house search team will live and breath the corporate culture, understand the ins and

outs of the business and ensure each new hire is the ideal fit regardless of whether its executing the search on its own or utilizing the capabilities of an external search firm. It will also be positioned to better manage the relationships with external search firms if the organization utilizes a mix or resources because a well run in-house operation fully understands the added value of retained executive search.

Zach Simon adds: “Because we have an intimate knowledge of the inter-workings of a retained executive search firm, external recruiters should understand and appreciate that they have an ‘internal partner’ that understands the entire executive recruiting process and the shelf life of passive candidates. The in-house model can create a dual sense of urgency with the search firm as well as the hiring managers. We will do everything we can internally so that the hiring managers are available and provide relevant and real time feedback throughout the entire search process.”

CHALLENGES TO ENSURING SUCCESS

The biggest challenge to ensure the success of an internal executive search function is to prove to the internal hiring managers that it is capable of delivering results. The team needs to quickly build credibility by demonstrating an

understanding of the business, its strategy, objectives as well as how to develop and implement search strategies that delivers the right talent at the right time.

According to Simon Mullins, Director of Executive Recruiting at Microsoft, “the first challenge must be about building credibility through success, and it is imperative that you don’t try and ‘eat the whole elephant’, but focus on smaller, targeted pilots first. Probably best to aim for the most strategic, critical talent gaps and gain success in that space, and then build credibility from there.”

Simon Mullins remarks: “We are only as good as our last search, so focusing on a few key wins will help build the all-important trust and credibility.”

“The company may mandate that departments use this function,” says Cindy Stamer, who most recently led the Executive Talent Acquisition globally for American Express, “but only if executive recruiting delivers spectacularly will the function really succeed.”

Cindy Stamer adds: “Once you get a reputation, people are going to knock on your door. Your credibility will grow over time and it is always based on the results.”

Zach Simon describes how the key to success is to build an in-house executive search model that mirrors a retained search firm rather than building an HR recruiting team. He points out that it is

TheExecutive Recruitment

By Marguerite Granat

Ins And Outs OfInternal

S E A R C H -


C O R P O R A T E R E C R U I T M E N T

critical to “create a compensation model that will motivate the recruiters to do great search work.”

A challenge in ensuring success is the company’s ability to attract executive search consultants who can quickly build credibility for the in-house function and can build a true model that mirrors a retained search firm’s execution model. In order to attract and retain the right executive recruiters to join an in-house function, the compensation package needs to include an incentive component. This compensation model may be difficult for an organization to accept because it is unique in relation to the rest of the organization. Nevertheless, it is vital in order to be able to attract and retain experienced executive search consultants.

WHAT DOES THE ORGANIZATION NEED TO KNOW?

Once the executive recruiters are engaged in the in-house recruitment function, it is critical that the company really understand how this function operates. Usually the executive recruiters work on no more than five to seven assignments simultaneously because the time and effort invested to attract top candidates who are not actively seeking opportunities requires that much focus. In addition, they will need the right support from researchers who assist the recruiters in identifying target companies, the names and titles of potential candidates, organizational structures and competitive intelligence. In a corporate environment, this may not be viewed as an acceptable workload. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that if the executive recruiter is expected to carry a higher workload, the quality of the searches may be compromised.

Another challenge is to ask Human Resources to remove some of the bureaucracy that is prevalent in most organizations. Most of the potential candidates that are contacted by an executive recruiter are not

actively seeking opportunities. When approached, these individuals are in an exploratory stage. The process that is in place for the majority of open positions will not work for this type of recruitment. Forcing a candidate to fill out a lengthy application or asking for a résumé before the individual is ready to make a commitment may backfire.

Caroline McClure, Director of Executive Recruiting at Lockheed Martin, says that few HR professionals understand what true retained executive search is all about and the value it can bring. “There needs to be recognition that the in-house search function needs to manage every aspect of the search cycle, including the final stages which is critical to the success of the search, especially extending and negotiating the offer.”

Zach Simon would agree as he emphasizes: “The in-house search function needs to be high touch, consultative and full-cycle.”

The biggest challenge an internal search function may face is the lack of support from senior management and business leaders.

Zach Simon states: “You can have the top Human Resources Executives’ agreement for this model but without the support of the business leaders

throughout the beginning stages to implementation, it will have a lower probability of success.”

In fact, all of the leaders quoted in this article emphasized numerous times that without the buy in and sponsorship from the highest ranking executives in the organization, the in-house function will have a tough time succeeding.

THE RIGHT MIX OF RESOURCESEach organization needs to determine

the right mix of internal and external resources. Maintaining the appropriate balance between searches performed by the internal group and searches outsourced to external search firms will vary based on each organization’s needs and internal capabilities. For example, when the internal team is overloaded with searches, an outside search firm can be hired to augment the internal team’s capabilities.

According to David Lord, founder of ESIS (Executive Search Information Services - a consulting service assisting organizations to improve their executive search effectiveness), before the internal team takes on an assignment, it needs to be 99% certain it can complete the search effectively.

When Zach Simon’s team takes on a search at Eaton, they sit down with the internal client to first determine the complexities of the assignment. If the probability of success is low, a recommendation is made that an external search resource might be more suitable.

Zach Simon states: “Once we decide that an external search firm has the highest probability of success, we (the internal executive recruiting function) want the results to be a win-win situation for all the parties involved.”

Another area to look for according to David Lord is whether there are obstacles that would prevent the group from conducting the search directly. An example of this is described by both Caroline McClure and Cindy Stamer whose organizations frequently have

Marguerite Granat

Executive Recruitment


C O R P O R A T E R E C R U I T M E N TS E A R C H -

strategic partnerships with the companies that would normally be targeted for talent. The off limits restrictions in this case prevents the in-house team from conducting the search directly since the potential candidates are housed in these organizations.

At Microsoft, if the function is rarely hired, such as senior lawyers, they look for specialists firms in that space. Simon Mullins emphasizes that, “search firm partnership is important - we are not wedded to doing every search ourselves just for the sake of it, and as we own the outcome regardless of the source of candidate we make it a particular objective of ours to build trusted relationships with a few key search partners. The key to these relationships is that we are looking for deep experts in a particular space. We probably operate the largest pure executive search function in the North West, so we are not interested in ‘generalists’, but want to augment our team’s expertise with specialists, regardless of the brand or size of the search firm.”

MEASURING SUCCESSDavid Lord says that the organization

measures the success of its internal search function “ultimately, by the success of the executives it recruits,” in other words the quality of hire.

The quality of hire is a subjective measure and there are various ways to approach it. One way is to look at how the business measures success and how the new hire is directly contributing to its success. For instance, if the new hire is in a business development role, what portion of new business was directly related to this person’s performance? If the leader is put in charge of a business unit with a high turnover, a measure could involve 360-degree evaluations and the subsequent rates of turnover. McClure measures the ratio of individuals who were brought in through the in-house search function who have been nominated as

high potentials and promoted versus the same measurement from new hires brought in from all other sources.

Another important measure is looking at the retention rates of candidates placed through the internal search function. Caroline McClure also compares retention rates from new hires brought in through the in-house function compared to all other sources. Feedback from the hiring team and candidates can prove to be extremely helpful. At American Express – explains Cindy Stamer - they used three different kinds of surveys: one for the hiring manager to measure the recruitment process, six months down the road a determination of the new hire’s success and a survey for the new hire to measure the on-boarding process. The time required to fill the position is another measure. The number of offers extended that are accepted will determine the internal team’s ability to negotiate and close deals.

David Lord warns recruiters to keep an eye on the completion rates; in other words, the percentage of searches conducted that are ultimately completed. The credibility of the internal search team will suffer if it takes on a search that is not completed. And cost, of course, is a measure that comes into the equation. He also takes into consideration the difference between what the organization would have paid an outside search firm and the costs incurred to conduct the searches internally.

Zach Simon reinforces this point by stating: “Your success will be dictated by the quality of candidates you present and the searches you close.”

Simon Mullins believes that, “it is less about ‘making hires’, or the volume of those hires, as much as it is about the impact your team makes on the organization. For example, bringing important market intelligence to the table, consulting and advising the client to sometimes not make the external hire, and measuring one’s team on customer satisfaction are all equally, or sometimes more, important than the volume of hires.”

INVESTING INTERNALLYIf an organization decides to invest in

an internal search capability, it needs to ensure the following:

• support from upper management is paramount,

• the internal executive recruiters are capable of executing with the same tenacity and strength as the best retained search firms,

• the internal search function is a full cycle operation managing every aspect of the search process,

• the internal function measures its success with the right metrics and continuously finds ways to improve its search capability,

• the in-house team only takes on searches it can executive flawlessly.

Ultimately, whether an organization decides to invest in an in-house capability, to use a mix of both resources or completely outsource the executive talent acquisition to external search, the bottom line is that it needs to invest its resources in the approach that will ensure that the right executive talent is engaged in order to remain competitive.

Marguerite Granat is a proven expert in executive recruiting, both in-house and external executive search. While functioning as an in-house executive recruiter, she saved an organization over $1M in outside search fees within a two-year time frame, while improving the quality of hire. Most recently, she ran a profitable retained executive search firm serving a variety of organizations and industries.

Marguerite has a unique capability to define the success factors in support of the business strategy. Her candidates quickly deliver value, integrate well, have a high level of engagement and sustained performance. She utilizes precise search methods that deliver “needle-in-the-haystack” talent, regardless of location, utilizing direct sourcing strategies, advanced internet recruiting, social media and research / name generation. She utilizes a variety of assessment tools, including performance and behavioral-based interviewing as well as the extended DISC profile.

Marguerite speaks Spanish, French and English fluently. Her multicultural and global background enhances her ability to attract diverse candidates into organizations.


For more information contact:

Email: [email protected]

S E A R C H -


C O R P O R A T E R E C R U I T M E N T

It is no argument that the Internet has, and is changing executive search. Re-member the days when researchers

in search firms would spend hours putting together scrap books with cuttings about industries, companies and people? The truth is – those days are long gone… and it’s due to the Internet.

Think about it – if you need to identify the board of directors at Citi for a search or for business development purposes – for example – how long would it take for you to put the pieces together if you had no access to the Internet? A couple of hours?

Now think about this: Since you have access to the Internet, you run a Google search for “Citi Board of Directors” and you get the results in a matter of seconds.

Such efficiency has led most executive search firms to leverage the internet to:1) Keep up with the latest news and trends

happening within their industries,2) Identify and research potential

candidates within target organizations,3) Seek and target potential clients.

Now, most will agree that getting information from the web is rather simple. You open a search engine (e.g.

Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.), enter some keywords and you will get many results. It works like magic. But… there are recruiters that specialize in gathering this sort of information from the web! They attend expert courses run by Internet researching gurus that can show them how to create their own Internet search engines to find information on specific industries/companies/people, that can show them how to do “file type” searching which enables them to find associations’ member lists and org charts, and to top this all off – that can show them the power of Boolean searching from the very beginning so that the recruiter may know how to expand and drill-down results, as desired.

Obviously, the recruiters that are certified to do this sort of research have a huge advantage over the recruiters that don’t. In theory, the former can produce more results for the client faster and more efficiently than the latter. But what if there was a leveling ground – a tool which would provide some of the popular search strings (in the click of a button) which the trained research specialists are accustomed to creating and using on an everyday basis? What if the tool went further – and was actually integrated into

your candidate database enabling you to capture such information found on the web into your database system – with no typing whatsoever? We have the solution – the Research Zone in FILEFINDER 9.

Rather than explaining the theory of how Research Zone works, our client scenarios will show specific examples of how the Research Zone works and how it benefits their businesses.

SCENARIO: IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL CANDIDATES ON SOCIAL NETWORKS

Search firm A has a list of 20 target pharmaceutical companies in which they need to identify senior executives with responsibility for Human Resources. The recruiter clicks the Research Zone button. Then selects one of the pre-loaded searches – in this case, it’s a Linkedin search – and types in the relevant job function. In the background, the Research Zone builds an Internet search which searches through Linkedin for relevant individuals at each company. In seconds – there is a return of 29 VP or Director level executives with HR responsibilities at Abbott Laboratories. The result is instant.

The recruiter pulls in some people information into their FILEFINDER

By Ashton Moran

CanMore Effectively

HowFirms

Executive Search

LeverageTheInternet


T E C H N O L O G YS E A R C H -

database and is ready to run that same search for the next target company. One click and there is a return of 49 individuals at Amgen. Quick. Accurate. Easy.

SCENARIO: SEEKING POTENTIAL CLIENTS

Search firm B would like to penetrate the IT Services / BPO industry. So it would probably be a good idea to get to know the Chief Executives at those specific firms. They know that CEOs at global businesses tend not to be on Social Networks, but they do tend to be profiled on corporate homepages. So the business development person will select the Research Zone drop-down “Company Websites Biographies Search” for the first company they would like to introduce themselves to – Accenture. In a couple of seconds, they see that William Greene is the CEO. The next firm on the list is Computer Sciences Corporation; the CEO there is Michael Laphen. Identified in a matter of seconds.

Once they were identified, some calls were made and some brochures were sent – to start nurturing and building those relationships!

SCENARIO: IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL SOURCES/CANDIDATES VIA RESIGNATIONS/APPOINTMENTS

Search firm C likes tracking alumni, resignations, and appointments in the aerospace and defense industry. So when the researcher selects one of Research Zone’s out-of-the-box searches, a list is immediately returned with news stories covering appointments and resignations, along with alumni, at companies within the industry of interest.

They then keep that intelligence within FILEFINDER for later referencing and also take the opportunity to get on the phone with those mentioned executives… They may just find the perfect candidate they are searching for…

SCENARIO: RESEARCHING CANDIDATES

Search firm D wants the latest information on a particular candidate. So

they click on the “Profile Search” in the Research Zone to bring up numerous interviews, biographies, and articles found on the web. In this case, the search consultant goes into the BusinessWeek result to get the candidate’s biography details, his or her annual compensation, stock options and board directorships.

Now the consultant knows whether the candidate may even consider the offered position because of a compensation comparison between what he’s earning now and what the consultant’s client is offering.

SCENARIO: SOURCING POTENTIAL SOURCES/CANDIDATES VIA ASSOCIATIONS

Search firm E is highly focused in finding senior engineers whom specialize in dam design. So while in the Research Zone, a recruiter selects the “Member of Association Search” and enters the keywords “Hydropower Association”. Instantly, the system searches the web and finds people whom are experts in this space.

The recruiter quickly knows that these are very relevant people whom he or she can move into Search firm E’s talent pool and connect with right away as potential candidates and sources.

AND FOR EXISTING WEB SEARCH GURUS...

The Research Zone is highly flexible – meaning that you can teach it new searches – like searching through a Middle-Eastern food publication (e.g. www.mefmag.com) to track the latest industry happenings and top players, or identifying epidemiology specialists with experience in humanitarian relief in Asia (e.g. www.devex.com), or even sourcing Canadian engineers experienced in international sustainability projects with a focus on wastewater (www.acdi-cida.gc.ca). Plug these into FILEFINDER and all your colleagues – company wide – will also have access to the robust, customized searches which you have created… giving everyone the ability to

be as productive and accurate as you are, even if they don’t know anything about how to create search strings.

WHAT SOME OF OUR CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE RESEARCH ZONE

In our conversations with FILEFINDER clients located across 58 countries, they were happy to offer their thoughts on the Research Zone. The following are representative testimonials from real search professionals on three different continents. For more case studies and testimonials, visit www.dillistone.com.

“We use LinkedIn extensively and have found the Research Zone to be very powerful to help us find people in tight niches like in gaming/hospitality/tourism and even profile candidates whom we may have in our database already but may be missing information for… This is a great addition to FILEFINDER.”

“This extremely powerful recruitment tool is designed around the requirements of a search consultant and has had a significant impact on our candidate identification processes. This, combined with other intelligent search functions has made Research Zone invaluable to our business.”

“We find the Research Zone to be a really useful and powerful tool. We generally have the Research Zone open all day and are constantly pulling people over to expand our database.”



Web: www.dillistone.com

Book your free, tailored FILEFINDER demonstration to

see how The Research Zone will integrate with your search firm’s

strategies and industries of expertise. Email [email protected] TODAY!

S E A R C H -

10 search-consult ISSUE 37 2010

T E C H N O L O G Y

Drag and drop the information you want into FILEFINDER, and click to research the next company.

No typing.

No manually building new searches.

USA: +1 (201) 653-0013 • Australia/Asia: +61 2 8221 8860UK / Other Europe: +44 (0)20 7749 6100 • Germany: +49 (0)69 27 40 15 807

[email protected] • www.dillistone.com

Executive Recruiters in 58 countries have made the right choice already...

have YOU?

To learn more, email [email protected] TODAY

and mention search-consult magazine!

How users of most Executive Search Systems

research target companies online:

Leave the database.

Open a browser.

Log in to the social network or search engine of choice.

Enter the search area.

Manually build a search.

Try to fit the browser and the database on the screen.

Manually copy/paste data between them.

Manually build a new search for the next target.

Repeat...

Howusers research target

companies online:

Open the Research Zone.

The Research Zone will search the web and present the results in its integrated

browser in less than a second, with typically just 3 clicks.

• In the USA, 90% of businesses are family-owned. They contribute towards 40% of that nation’s GNP and pay approximately half of its total wages.

• 59% of France’s Top-500 industrial companies are family-owned.

• It is estimated that 70% to 85% of all businesses worldwide are family-owned.

The numbers are impressive. However, it is also estimated that 2 out of 3 of these businesses will at some point go out of business due to internal disputes among family members.

30% of family-owned businesses reach the second generation, and only 15% reach the third and beyond. The critical moment for these businesses is invariably during the succession phase, and it is much too important to be ignored. Planning for succession and the professionalization of the business is necessary for the organization’s survival.

Many of today’s gigantic multinational corporations started out as small family businesses, overcame internal conflicts, reached the third generation and, via a solid business plan that included a family and corporate succession plan, achieved superior performance. They acquired market and institutional value, identified the best investment opportunities and

innovated, with emphasis on quality and operational efficiency. But even though any business might have been thriving with the founder leading the company, in a global economy the decision-making process needs to be different in order to achieve better results.

HOW TO PROFESSIONALIZE A FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS?

One approach would be making sure that the next generation of family members is well equipped to take over. Peter Waite, President of InterSearch’s Australian partner office and himself a second generation business leader, describes the following example: “As family businesses grow and develop we have seen in recent times the emergence of a Family Council, where all shareholders and stakeholders, as well as assets of the family, are reviewed and plans enacted for succession and generational transferring of assets. Assets include not only the operational business, usually the greatest asset, but also relate to property, shares and cash.”

He explains how the Family Council meets to review investment strategy and dividend flow, and may also devise a Family Constitution. The Constitution may outline the roles of family members, both active and passive, and the rules of engagement for family members to join

the operational businesses. Needless to say, the Family Council is a completely separate body and does not guarantee membership of the company board. As an example, the Family Constitution of a client of ours states that, should the next generation of family members wish to join the company, they may require 5+ years of external work experience and possibly a relevant trade certificate or university qualification. The position description and key performance indicators are well documented and performance is reviewed annually.

In some cases, continues Waite, the client requirement may be an interim 1-3 year appointment where the incumbent is required to mentor and up-skill a particular family member to enable a smooth transition in the future. Sometimes these difficult decisions need to be made for the benefit of the business. An executive search organization can assist by providing an independent assessment, feedback and career counselling to the individual family member, helping diffuse potentially damaging and emotional family issues.

A second approach would be hiring managers from outside the family. This “professionalization” phase should be incorporated in the long-term strategic plan of the company, allowing for the

By Patricia Epperlein*

Family-Owned

&Consultant

BusinessesThe Executive Search

S E A R C H -


I N T E R S E A R C H

family to reflect about its future and that of the company at an earlier stage. Mary Kier, Vice Chairman and Managing Director Consumer & Retail, Diversity of Cook Associates, InterSearch’s partner firm in the USA, shares with us the following story: “I have been proud to work with many family businesses to build their executive teams. I fondly remember sitting with a brother and sister who sat on the Board of a small company (under $10 million U.S.) and weaving together the details of the position specification for the CEO role. The most recent CEO, an extended family member, had abused his power and put the company in some complicated legal issues.”

She explains how these siblings needed a guiding hand and a warm heart to listen to their stories of their father building the company, the power struggles which occurred when their father passed away and even the internal grief the family endured when one branch of the family went against the other. “The brother and sister were delighted that I would assist them in so many ways, including guiding them through the interview questions and even sitting in on all candidate interviews. They hired the new CEO knowing that this person would be a caring advocate, committed to the company’s welfare nearly as much as they were.”

PREPARING FOR CHANGEDuring professionalization, the

company needs to keep on growing. But the family usually grows at a faster rate than the company, placing a lot of pressure on management to obtain higher profits. Continuity is critical, and a well thought out succession plan is not enough to guarantee success. It is important to guarantee a pipeline of successors within all management levels, not just for the CEO. And the chosen successor needs the approval and support of the owner and the other family members. Several executive search firms today have consultants specializing in family-owned businesses, and they have become an essential asset in managing the succession planning

process. When working on such projects the search consultant should take into consideration that professionalization does not necessarily mean changes in ownership status, and that it is essential to respect the company culture and to understand the particularities of a family-owned business.

It is critical to understand that family-owned businesses have unique characteristics that potentially give them a competitive advantage over other enterprises. Family-owned businesses have a long-term vision and commitment, and are not solely bound by quarterly results. For them, success is bound to personal success. They have the possibility of creating a culture where all employees feel more committed to the same cause and the organization serves to preserve family ties from one generation to the next. In such organizations, three icons are normally preserved in a successful succession phase: the Family, the concept of Ownership and the Company, and the Shareholders. These three icons should be successfully professionalized. In most cases the company structure will be composed of an Executive Management team, with a CEO and a Board of Directors – with family members and sometimes independent board members serving on it. When the company is publicly traded,

a board comprised of shareholders will also be formed. In general, most professionalized family-owned businesses adhere to the best practices of Corporate Governance, even those that are not publicly listed.

In the case of family businesses, a hired management team and CEO are usually faster at assessing problems and making decisions since there are less emotional obstacles to overcome. But the profile of these executives is decisive in the success of the business. They need to be autonomous so that they are able to implement policies that are in the best interest of the company (which may not necessarily always be the same as the family’s best interests). It is important not to adopt an attitude of “us and them”. They must incorporate all the interests involved. They need to know that the Family and Shareholders have the right to information. What is required is for the CEO to establish an organized communication and reporting flow. Hired executives need to be humble without being subservient and act from knowledge and example, avoiding the imposition of ideas.

From their side, the Family and Shareholders need to understand that the CEO and the independent Board members are there to build and improve performance. Changes will invariably occur in the transition, but the company culture needs to be respected and preserved. The family’s appropriate behavior can help legitimize the process of hiring new executives, especially since the founder/family will be actively involved in the selection process.

The rest of the management team, non-shareholders and non-family members also have to be prepared for the onboarding of the hired executives, so that the whole team is in line with company objectives. It is also important to manage the expectations of those managers who thought they would take on a higher position. Consequently, all shareholders and family members have to be prepared to give up absolute power and learn how to share it.

Patricia Epperlein

1�ISSUE 37 2010 search-consult

I N T E R S E A R C HS E A R C H -

The role of search consultants as independent advisors becomes critical during this transformation process. Walter Rach, Managing Director Food & Beverage of Cook Associates/InterSearch USA, highlights that it is important to remember that levels of control and autonomy granted to non-family member executives from the owner family vary greatly, depending on the family as well as on how advanced the transformation process really is and how much time passes by. “For example, the CEO of one of my clients was famous for his ’on again/off again’ approach regarding his involvement in the day-to-day running of the company. As a result, the turnover rate of CFOs at this company was very high because the CFOs could not adjust to this aspect of the owner’s style.”

“I discovered this through interviews with company executives,” Walter reports, “and, when I was given the opportunity to conduct the CFO search, I took great care to screen for and identify individuals who had demonstrated experience in being tolerant, understanding and flexible with dealing with mercurial executives. As a result, the new CFO I placed was aware and accepting of the owner’s method of operation and this made the owner more comfortable in working with this CFO as opposed to his predecessors.”

AWARE OF THE CHALLENGESOutside of the USA, family businesses

in many markets are still reluctant to invest in the services of a professional retained search consultant. Binita Ghosh, an Indian colleague, describes how more than 60-70% of InterSearch’s clients in India are family-run businesses, including major market players such as Avantha – Thapar (India’s No.1 paper company and the leading diversified group), Indian Seamless Metal Tubes, IFB Industries, Saraya Industries, etc. Nevertheless, family-owned businesses are hesitant to use premium search firms because they may not fully understand all the benefits, focusing on the cost as a deterrent.

As a result, InterSearch has developed

new models for business engagement. The first step to approaching family businesses is, of course, knowing how to reach them. The consultant interested in working with such organizations can join relevant family business networks or associations, partner with Universities/Colleges that focus on family business enterprise or with other management consultants or lawyers who specialize in this - when an external Management Consultant has already gained the trust of the company, it is much easier for him to introduce the search consultant to the family.

To attract more business from family run organizations, InterSearch India follows a process of Pre-talent Mapping. In this process talent is mapped and brought upfront to help the clients understand and plan according to the needs of their organization. Only then can a search consultant move forward, towards the hiring process to help structure this new business model.

The good news is that once these family-owned businesses find an advisor that they can trust, they tend to be the most loyal customers. Sebastiano Viani from InterSearch Italy describes the situation with a client, an industrial company with a turnover of €60 million: “It took many months of meetings with the CEO, the son of the founder, before he was convinced to proceed. I am delighted that our cooperation is still going strong after three years. A new management team was recruited, existing staff was assessed, qualified firms for temp services were introduced and, when the client started developing international business outside of Italy, InterSearch offices in other countries were chosen to recruit the right people because they were already familiarized with the company’s particularities.”

Other challenges unique to family-owned businesses have to do with the possible lack of formal organizational and compensation structures, no defined policies and procedures, or other factors that make designing a position

profile rather challenging for the search consultant. Few family run businesses have international or global presence, some lack customer orientation and brand recognition, which make them relatively less appealing for high qualified candidates compared to a MNC.

Also, when there are two or more shareholders, as is often the case, there might be a divergence of views concerning the profile of the position the consultant must recruit for, and about the company’s future in general.

“Many times,” - adds Binita Ghosh – “family run businesses would like to employ candidates from good management schools and from the top 20 MNC’s, but most of the time they are not in a position to match the compensation a big multinational usually offers to such managers.”

Successful family-owned businesses must be prepared to change, to grow and more importantly, to implement a succession strategy that will help this company move forward. As a search consultant, be prepared to be proactive. Communicate with your client on the opportunities that are arising, but at the same time, be prepared to discuss the challenges so that your clients can always make informed decisions.

*Contributors to this article: Binita Ghosh, InterSearch India Mary Kier, Walter Rach InterSearch USA Peter Waite, InterSearch Australia Sebastiano Viani, InterSearch Italy Harris Karaolides, InterSearch Greece

Patricia Epperlein is the Chairwoman of InterSearch Worldwide and Managing Partner of InterSearch Brazil. She can be contacted at [email protected]

InterSearch is currently represented in more than 40 countries, staffed by local professionals selected for their experience and reputation in their own markets and their ability to operate internationally.

S E A R C H -

1� search-consult ISSUE 37 2010



Web: www.intersearch.org

I N T E R S E A R C H

De Man & Partners B.V. Pietersbergweg 1P.O. Box 759431070 AX AmsterdamThe Netherlands

Dutch search company De Man & Partners wishes to join an international network.

De Man & Partners is an executive search firm offering tailor made human capital solutions on a retained basis. We have been mediating between enterprises / (semi) governmental organizations and executives since 1984.

We would like to get in touch with a representative of an international network of search companies to explore the possibilities of working together.

For more information please visit www.deman-partners.nl or contact Mr. Ton van der Weegen, Director at De Man & Partners, who can be reached on the following telephone number: 00 31 (0)20 - 640 57 57.

The workshops are delivered by Francesca Lahiguera, a search professional with more than 12 years’ experience of retained executive search research and execution. Francesca was a Principal at Heidrick & Struggles in Paris and went on to work with boutique firms in Paris and London. She now provides research and search consultancy to London-based firms specialising in technology and not-for-profit. Originally from the USA, Francesca lives in London and speaks fluent French.

Research and Candidate Development Workshop London, UK - April 21, 2010

Research and Candidate Development Workshop - this one-day workshop is for researchers and for search consultants who are new to search. The three themes covered during the day are research skills, telephone techniques and administration and project management.

Search Execution and Client Management Workshop London, UK - April 22, 2010

Search Execution and Client Management Workshop - this one-day workshop is for search consultants and researchers involved in the search execution process. The course focuses on effective and successful client management and liaison, progress reporting, candidate screening and appraisals, referencing and salary negotiation.

For more information and to book, please visit www.search-consult.com/workshops

or send an email to [email protected]

S E A R C H -


With so many organizations going through layoffs in the hopes of emerging leaner and meaner,

poor leadership communication with the remaining workforce has left a large ma-jority of those organizations stalled. In fact, employee commitment, focus and productivity seem so poor in many newly-lean organizations that their very survival could be at stake.

For example, Sharon is a senior editor for a large, nationally syndicated newspaper. Like many newspapers across the country, her paper is facing a bleak and uncertain future. After several rounds of layoffs, the only hope for the organization’s survival is to have every remaining member put forth a unified, focused effort.

During our conversation, Sharon revealed the impact the recent series of downsizings has had on her and her colleagues. The confusion, sadness and frustration were clear in her voice. She confessed worry, doubt, anger and an overall feeling of helplessness over the next hour. Finally, as Sharon ended, she let out a long sigh and said: “I just don’t know why we are doing what we are doing.”

THE ROLE OF LEADERS DURING UNCERTAIN TIMES

The statement - “I just don’t know

why we are doing what we are doing” -echoes through the hallways of many organizations today. At the core of that statement is the fundamental question of why. This question is plaguing employees, but more importantly, it is remaining largely unanswered by the company’s leadership.

To better illustrate this point, I provide a conversation I had with a consultant friend several years ago. He asked if I was a how person or a why person. As I pondered my answer, he quickly shot back his answer: “I’m a how person. I’m all about getting problems solved. Leadership decides why and when they want to do something, they figure out what needs to happen and then they turn to me to answer the how. I like that. It is simple and clear.”

It’s an intriguing question that holds even more meaning and relevance today. You see, in a world of uncertainty when businesses are shuttering daily and friends are laid off, our employees look for answers to questions they used to think they had answers for. As leaders, it falls on our shoulders to answer why and make sense out of the world in which we live. If we don’t, our followers will get stuck in the mud as they seek these important answers.

Whether through hushed chit-chat at

the water cooler, lunch gatherings trying to make sense out of recent events, or silent dialogue in their head, it is energy expended on issues not related to the organization’s strategy and survival. In these times, we can’t afford anything less than 100 percent focus and commitment from our leaner workforces to solve the challenges we face. The clock is ticking.

WHAT DO WE DO?“How do we re-engage our remaining

workforce so they can execute our strategy?” A simple question, but the solution is anything but. And if not done properly, the negative effects can paralyze entire workforces. From our own personal experiences, we’ve seen organizations die slow, painful deaths because leadership was unable to refocus their leaner workforce.

The good news is that inspiring a workforce has more to do with a logical and structured approach than it has to do with raw charisma. The key is that the following questions must be answered by leadership in this order to maximize impact.

1.Why did this happen? First and foremost, employees want to

know why recent events unfolded the way they did. Why were co-workers laid off?

Re-Engaging Your Workforce Post Layoffs

To Do Now?”

“So, What

By Brandon Smith

Are WeSupposed

E X P E R T A D V I C E


Why did the organization feel it necessary to make the decisions it did? What factors led to the decision? Contrary to conventional wisdom, employees want to know about the pressures the organization is under and the forces impacting the life of the business. If employees understand what impacts the business, they will trust you and your assessment of the future more.

2.What does the immediate future of the organization look like?

Are we going to survive? Am I safe? Employees are looking to you to share what you see on the horizon. What are possible scenarios the organization will face in the next three to six months? Are further layoffs a possibility? What is the probability of survival and what is the time horizon? This transparent, raw and honest depiction of reality is not only appreciated by employees – as tough as it may be to hear – but also sets the stage for inspiring them to confront the challenge.

3.Why do we do what we do? What is our purpose or mission? What

is our reason for being? This is where recommitment to the organization occurs. After a thorough discussion of reality, great leaders spend time reminding employees of the core essence of the organization: what it stands for, who it serves, why customers need your product/services today more than ever. This reminder of what it means to be “us” in uncertain times provides the larger purpose, focus and unifying commitment that employees crave. Don’t breeze through this discussion. Telling powerful stories of overcoming uncertainty throughout your history is fuel for the journey ahead. This process of reminding the team of who it is, lays the foundation for strategy and action to take hold.

4.What’s the plan? What do I need to do? I’m ready! We

often see leaders set the stage for action, but forget to tell the workforce specifically what it needs to do today. Trust me, if

you have taken employees this far, they are ready to take action. They want a plan and direction. What an incredible opportunity that must not be missed. First, give employees an overview of your current strategy then specify their roles in the execution of that strategy. Once that is done … get out of their way.

A CLOSING EXAMPLE: CHICK-FIL-AIf done well, a leader can take

a workforce from doubt, confusion and mistrust to commitment, focus and execution over the course of one discussion. It can be powerful, motivational and set the stage for future long-term success. To illustrate: in 1982, Chick-fil-A, a quick service restaurant chain specializing in tasty chicken sandwiches, was facing its equivalent of a perfect storm. It was suffering from crushing interest rates, high chicken prices and an economic recession that was slowing sales to a crawl. As leadership pondered its next steps in an uncertain time, it conceived its corporate purpose statement as its foundation for moving forward.

By addressing the why questions plaguing employees, Chick-fil-A leadership pointed the organization toward the future with focus and commitment. The results were nothing

less than extraordinary. Since 1982, Chick-fil-A has recorded near double digits in same store sales growth every year since (including a 12 percent increase in 2008). The organization has led all competitors in nearly every industry metric, including employee and customer loyalty and average weekly revenue per store.

Today, at nearly $3Billion in revenues, Chick-fil-A stands as an industry leader, but it hasn’t forgotten that turning point back in 1982 in which it faced an uncertain future. Nevertheless, its leadership knew how to refocus and recommit its workforce, driving the organization forward. As visitors approach the entrance to Chick-fil-A’s corporate office, nestled on the ground by the entrance door sits a small plaque inscribed with the corporate purpose statement. It was presented to Chick-fil-A leadership from the employees in 1982 as a symbol of their commitment to the future.

I wish the same ending for you and your organization as you navigate through your period of uncertainty. Make sure your company’s leadership can address the key questions listed above, communicating the answers at every level of the organization. The results of following this process effectively are increased commitment, focus and productivity from the organization, re-inspired to proactively move forward.



Web: www.coregrowthpartners.com

Brandon Smith is a Senior Lecturer in the Practice of Management Communication at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and a Founding Principal of Core Growth Partners, a consulting firm specializing in leadership development and strategic culture building. With extensive experience in both executive development and corporate growth, he has worked with clients including Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Alston + Bird, McKinsey & Co., The Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, IBM, and Bank of America. He may be reached at [email protected].

Brandon Smith

E X P E R T A D V I C ES E A R C H -

By Falk H. Miekley

Successful Searches In Healthcare:

A doctor is there to heal patients. This concept belongs to a bygone era. Hardly any other professional pro-

file has changed so fundamentally in recent years as the profile of a doctor. Apart from the basic activity of “Healer”, a doctor now has to be a carer and mentor, psychologist, biologist, chemist, administrator, adviser and manager. In fact, there are a number of new career profiles for doctors being created, such as Manager of Medical Care Centres, Executive Manager of Doctor Networks and Healthcare Manager.

Although these trends are occurring worldwide, my primary focus is in Germany where new profiles for other healthcare professionals are constantly being created to match the new opportunities and new specialisations that are emerging, such as Operation Technical Assistant (OTA), Service Assistant and Care Assistant. Other professionals in the healthcare sector are also expected to be extremely versatile as the demands on this group continue to increase, especially as the statutory regulations and framework conditions are in a permanent state of flux.

At the same time, the employment conditions in Germany are not attractive enough for many newly qualified health care professionals: long working hours, poor remuneration and dissatisfaction with the healthcare system. As a result, anyone who is offered the opportunity to go abroad to work will usually take it. This is particularly evident as the demand

for doctors, managerial staff and other healthcare specialists continues to be greater than the current supply.

Hospitals are the main stakeholders being impacted by this current trend. In fact, according to the “Hospital Barometer 2008” study, two thirds of Germany’s hospitals are already experiencing difficulties in recruiting doctors and other healthcare professionals. This is creating terrible problems and challenges, especially in hospital organisation and patient care. What’s more, the situation is expected to worsen as demographic developments, medical advances and an overall increase in the demand for healthcare services will massively accelerate growth and diversification in this sector.

As a result, there are enormous changes taking place in the healthcare sector as MHC search is broadening the scope of retained executive search and is applying the methodology previously used to identify, select and attract top talent to optimise their clients’ resources so that they are better able to confront the challenges and are better prepared for the new opportunities that are emerging within the healthcare sector.

BE PROACTIVE Having successfully worked for a

decade in executive search, in which half of those years has been focused on the healthcare sector, my main advice for an executive recruiter is to be extremely

proactive. This means much more than using your resources to simply identify the right match for a specific role; it means addressing all your client’s needs.

The first task is to perform a site analysis. This includes carrying out an analysis of external factors impacting the site - for example, residential accommodation, price level, schools and institutions of higher education. The site analysis also includes looking at internal factors, such as career development framework, research opportunities, pay structure, corporate culture, support, workload and the working environment.

The site analysis also includes looking at the appeal and attractiveness that persuade professionals to ultimately work for your client’s organisation. MHC search strongly believes search firms should support their clients by being able to enhance the attraction of the location and optimise the employer’s appeal, which also includes developing or reinforcing the employer’s brand.

Employers working in this extremely competitive market and who are looking to attract and retain the best healthcare professionals must start their recruitment efforts by first addressing these very important issues. However, many organisations lack the internal resources and the know-how to deal with these issues effectively. Others still fail to fully understand how important the environment is for the potential employees to be

AHolistic Approach

S E A R C H -


H E A L T H C A R E

attracted to the offer, and if hired – be able to thrive. Therefore, these initial steps have to be addressed first before a recruitment process can even be contemplated.

After doing the groundwork, an effective search partner will discuss issues on corporate strategy and organisational development. For example, it is quite conceivable that the results of the site analysis indicate a need to carry out an urgent strategic realignment of their company, a division or a department. You must be able to advice your client on the necessity of implementing this change.

A true partner will go beyond this, making sure their search firm has the resources to support any change process you have identified. For example, make sure to help your client with the implementation of any necessary, management development and retention/loyalty programmes. An important element in this process is providing clients with open and straightforward advice, making sure you deliver a transparent, personalised service. Anticipate their queries, appease their concerns and constantly dialogue with them so you are both achieving the same objectives.

PROVIDE IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGEA key attribute for building up your

client and candidate networks is being able to provide in-depth and comprehensive knowledge of the healthcare sector. This entails always having the latest scientific findings at your fingertips.

MHC search has created a scientific advisory council - which entails key professionals from a variety of healthcare institutions – to provide direct access to the academic world. These council members also provide their constructive feedback on individual consultancy projects and support MHC search by carrying out market studies on the current and future challenges in healthcare.

This approach highlights the importance that a specialist executive search firm is going to play in identifying strategic challenges in the healthcare sector. Intensive analyses and discussions

during these consultancy projects have already provided healthcare companies with significant insights into the entire healthcare value chain – starting at the level of district hospitals, through pharmaceutical companies to leading-edge research in university hospitals. Imagine the insights that these search firms can still provide, especially as the statutory regulations and framework conditions continue be in a permanent state of flux.

As a result, competition among executive search firms operating within the healthcare sector will intensify, especially as the demand for healthcare professionals continues to grow. As demand for specialised talent intensifies in the healthcare sector, it is reasonable to assume that the demand for a specialised, personalised and tailor-made consultancy in human resources will also follow suit. This is an area that can experience significant growth because many professionals within the healthcare sector have not fully recognised the positive results this type of service has had in being able to identify and select successfully placed candidates.

Nevertheless, it is important that organisations and search firms alike understand that a successful partnership depends on much more than searching

and identifying suitable candidates; this specialised and personalised approach broadens your scope to link all your client’s HR needs, corporate strategy and business development efforts together. Therefore, search firms must be able to demonstrate their proven track record in not just successfully filling a job spec, but in fulfilling their clients’ expectations and requirements so that the organisation can truly optimise its resources to attract, retain and develop the necessary skills required for its clients to thrive.

It implies more than the classical management consultancy approach previously used to conduct executive search. It’s about providing a holistic consulting approach that adds value in the advice, the analysis, the information and the support you provide your clients, who can then make the appropriate changes to their organisations so that they are able to effectively attract, retain and develop their talent bases. It is also about adding value to your candidates, who will then make more effective decisions as they add value in the type of services they provide their employers and their patients. In other words, make it a win-win situation for all of those involved.

Falk H. Miekley



Web: www.mhcsearch.de

Falk H. Miekley - Managing Partner of MHC search GmbH. It is a decade that Falk Miekley has been working in executive search. He has worked for three search firms, two of which are well known internationally. He has worked in many sectors, but for the past 5 years has specialised in executive search consulting projects for the healthcare practice. In 2007 Miekley founded MHC search GmbH as a strategic advisory HR consultancy that specialises in adding value to its clients within the healthcare sector.

MHC search has offices in Hamburg, Berlin and Munich. It offers holistic consultancy solutions, combining structured search techniques with human resource and management development analyses that improve a client’s organisational development as well as their branding image. The firm is specifically geared towards private and public hospital operators, university hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and service companies in the healthcare sector. Its interdisciplinary consultancy team comprises of doctors, psychologists, physicists, lawyers and economists. The uniquely established academic advisory council, with representatives from university research institutes, supports MHC search and enables it to provide a specialised, tailor made approach that adds value to their clients as well as the candidates they engage.


H E A L T H C A R ES E A R C H -

ForBy Malcolm Starkey

Added ValuePsychometric Testing:

Search ConsultantsSome executive search consultan-

cies have in-house psychometri-cians; some have regular arrange-

ments with external providers – but others don’t offer this service, on the grounds that clients don’t ask them for it. So, are they missing a trick?

Two decades ago, pre-employment testing was nothing like as pervasive as it is today. According to CIPD’s 2008 Recruitment, Retention and Turnover Survey, 41% of employers use ability tests and 35% use personality questionnaires for selection purposes. In addition, the [American] Society for Human Resources Management says that more than one-third of employers now give job candidates personality assessments and in Australia, more than 25% of companies use psychometric tools and pre-employment tests in selection processes. These are sizeable proportions of your client base and, arguably, a significant business opportunity.

ALL THOSE IN FAVOUR …Kevin Green, Chief Executive of

the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, is definitely a fan of testing. He said: “Psychometric Testing is a value-adding element of the resourcing process. It provides constructive insight into the candidate’s personality and potential fit for a particular role. All testing has proven to significantly improve the success and stickiness of the selection process. My question to in-house resourcers and

recruitment businesses is: why not do this for all roles with meaningful strategic value?”

This ‘why would you not use’ approach was echoed by John Wakeford, Managing Director of Leeds-based executive search consultancy, Hitchenor Wakeford. For him, the benefits of testing are in service-delivery to their clients. “We do have certain clients who ask if we can provide psychometric testing – but we don’t have that capacity in-house. Clearly, therefore, we need to engage with professionals who can deliver that kind of service. The benefits are that psychometric testing helps clients to get a precise job-candidate fit and it also highlights areas that they can probe in the interview.”

Undoubtedly, Hitchenor Wakeford’s use of psychometric testing to enhance the quality of their service will contribute to their clients’ perception of them as a

highly professional, long-term executive recruitment partner.

So, if those are the views of the UK’s industry body and a successful practitioner, what about the end-user clients themselves? It is certainly true that some HR staff in some large organisations (but not many in the private sector – see panel) may have been trained to administer/ interpret one of the popular psychometric questionnaires; however, end-user clients often prefer to use the recruitment consultancy’s own psychometric testing service. One such organisation is nuclear experts Sellafield Ltd, and Jackie McClintock, their Talent Management Specialist, explains why: “We have the skills in-house to carry out our own psychometric testing. Yet we clearly recognise the benefits of obtaining this service from our executive recruitment provider since we see the added value of receiving a fully integrated report, including detailed psychometric feedback, for each candidate.”

This also makes sense from the point of view of quality because people whose principal role is as HR officers tend to only conduct psychometric tests on a part-time, or even occasional, basis. Therefore, they are unlikely to have the appropriate breadth or depth of experience required to conduct these tests effectively. And when you compare these to the specialist practitioners that have the necessary skills, training and experience, the discrepancy is significant, especially for the ‘high stakes’, senior appointments.

Interestingly, few large private sector organisations employ Occupational Psychologists. An analysis of the job adverts in the British Psychological Society’s appointments pages over a number of years indicate that, whilst public sector employers (e.g. the Police, Department for Work and Pensions, the Health and Safety Executive) do employ Occupational Psychologists, by far the majority of employers in the private sector are consultancies!

S E A R C H -


T E S T I N G

Search Consultants

Going back to Kevin Green’s point about ‘stickiness’, most executive search consultants either offer a fee refund, or they undertake the task of finding a replacement in the event that their candidate leaves their client’s company after a short time in the job. That has got to hurt. So can psychometric testing reduce staff turnover?

Well, there has been surprisingly little research on how this applies to senior managers – but, anecdotally, the idea certainly stacks up. For example, there was a case study last year in Personnel Today magazine which clearly showed how a custom, on-line, pre-employment test slashed turnover rates for NCP. Also, the writer was involved in providing psychometric input to a series of Assessment Centres for Peugeot, where one of the unexpected, but nonetheless welcome, consequences was a reduction in turnover amongst sales staff from 40% to 26%. So, whilst there isn’t much evidence to answer that question, the signs are definitely promising.

WHAT’S THE DOWN SIDE?A recruitment consultant was once

heard to say that they do not offer psychometrics because testing will only tell the client who NOT to take on – and the recruitment consultant’s aim is to get the client to say ‘Yes’ to their candidates.

Now, some readers may have some sympathy with this view; however, it may be regarded as a rather short-term perspective. As was argued earlier, there is a long-term benefit in building a client’s trust by consistently providing high-quality candidates who have the right attributes and cultural fit, will remain with the company and add strategic value.

Another, perhaps more tenable, view is that the introduction of another stage in the process will slow it down – and, heaven knows, some clients take long enough to reach a decision as it is.

However, this problem has largely been circumvented by the introduction of on-line testing. This means that candidates and testers no longer need to actually meet, thus avoiding a delay whilst a meeting is

arranged - and busy executives don’t have to take time off work because they can complete the questionnaire(s) on their own time and at a place of their choosing.

Actually, psychometric testing can actually speed up decision-making:• either by confirming a problem that the

client suspected from the interview,• or by providing evidence to support a

client’s preferred candidate, in which case, it can give them the confidence to decide without further delay.

THERE IS NO EASY ANSWERRightly or wrongly, some clients

perceive psychometrics as expensive, so they will often be reluctant to agree to psychometric testing on all but the last couple of candidates. But what happens if testing reveals that all the candidates have some kind of drawback to them? This is a common situation for those psychometric test providers who regularly work with recruitment consultants - and there is no easy answer. We don’t want to put our recruitment colleagues in the situation where they have to start again, which would mean duplicated efforts, a delay in receiving their fee, or worse still, they may lose this business opportunity altogether.

On the other hand, if psychometric test providers misrepresent the negative

aspects of a candidate, we will (rightly) risk being accused of professional misconduct. All that can be done is to explain to clients the reasoning why psychometric testing is important, helping them weigh the benefits and drawbacks highlighted during the testing within the context of the job. For example, if a candidate’s weakest point is on a key competence, then sooner or later, that will become apparent as everyone involved will suffer.

Psychometric testing can also become an additional revenue stream for those consultancies that get involved in Mergers and Acquisitions. Identifying the plusses and minuses of members of management teams is, after all, one of the real strengths of psychometric testing and, what’s more, it can be used to predict how well people, who have never met before, will work together in the new organisation. So, there is a whole new application of testing in ‘Management Due Diligence’.

Therefore, to answer the question posed at the beginning of this article, executive search consultancies can really add value by ensuring they have access to psychometric testing. This will enhance service-delivery to their clients, quality and ‘stick-ability’ of candidates as well as provide opportunities for additional revenue. Definitely a win-win situation for all those involved.

Malcolm Starkey



Web: www.chestermanswann.com

Malcolm Starkey is Director of Psychology at Chesterman Swann & Co. He is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with a background in Human Resource Management. He holds a Full Level ‘B’ Statement of Competence in Occupational Testing, issued by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). He has particular experience in psychometric testing for selection and development and is an Executive Coach, being a member of the Association for Coaching and the BPS’s Special Group in Coaching Psychology.

Founded in 1990, but with a provenance that dates back to 1975, Chesterman Swann is a Human Resource Consultancy specialising in Executive Search & Selection and Occupational Psychology. It offers in-depth experience of successfully managing domestic and international assignments within a number of market sectors; as well as the design and delivery of high impact Assessment and Development solutions.

21ISSUE 37 2010 search-consult

T E S T I N GS E A R C H -

The manner in which independ-ent directors are selected and appointed have a direct bear-

ing on how independent and effective a board can be. In India, regulators need to make nomination commit-tees mandatory for selecting and ap-pointing independent directors. To maintain its image amongst global in-vestors, Indian companies would do well to voluntarily adapt global best practices for appointing independent directors without waiting for lawmak-ers to pass specific legislation on the subject.

Whereas advertising is a passive way to reach out to potential independent directors, retaining a search firm ensures that qualified candidates are directly contacted, properly engaged and thoroughly evaluated for their eligibility and possible conflicts of interest before even being recommended for an appointment as an independent director.

Besides identifying and selecting a board member, an experienced search firm can also provide valuable guidance on the right composition of the board members who have the

required experience to preside or participate in key board committees, such as an audit or a remuneration committee.

THE DEMAND IS ON THE RISEA recent study in India confirmed

that almost 90% of Indian companies appoint independent directors using referrals from CEOs, founders or Chairmen and almost 56% do not even have a nomination committee for screening, evaluating and appointing independent directors. Though this could partly be attributed to the availability of qualified independent director candidates, a major reason is Indian founders or controlling shareholders’ preference for exerting greater control over their companies by appointing their friends or associates to the board.

Clause 49 of the listing agreement, a key instrument governing stock exchange listing of Indian companies, states that a company with an executive Chairman or a promoter as Chairman should have at least 50% of its board as independent, and a company with a non-executive Chairman should have at least one-third of its board

as independent. Additionally, the clause also requires that the majority of the audit committee members be independent directors.

With over 10,000 listed companies, India ranks second behind the US in terms of having an enormous amount of listed companies. In fact, as much as 1,800 additional companies are planning to get listed within the next six months; these are set to raise a staggering US$15b from the capital market, strongly pushing up the demand for independent directors. However, over 50% of listed companies still do not comply with Clause 49’s stipulation on independent directors and, therefore, carry the risk of getting de-listed.

Recently, one of the largest corporate frauds in Indian history exposed the chinks in the effectiveness of the prevalent practice of appointing independent directors, making the Indian business community and the regulators really scrutinise its efficacy.

ARE INDIAN BOARDS REALLY INDEPENDENT?

Satyam’s demise is a prime

- AnIndian Perspective

IndependentDirectors

By Pankaj Dutt

Selecting


I N D I AS E A R C H -

Indian Perspective

example of how one of India’s leading global software companies, which had won many accolades for its corporate governance practices and was even previously acclaimed for having a board that included Harvard professors, a dean of a global business school, a renowned technocrat and a former bureaucrat, can still fall short on safeguarding shareholders’ value.

A failed merger with an affiliate company led to the revelation of a big accounting fraud at Satyam, which brought the role of its board under severe criticism. Despite the renowned names the board boasted, the reality was that its board still failed to detect any of the financial irregularities and delve deep into ascertaining the legitimacy of its controversial proposed merger before unanimously approving it.

A close look at Satyam’s board composition clearly establishes that it lacked relevant experience and

independence to discharge its duties. For example, none of the members of its audit committee were experts in dealing with financial matters. GovernanceMetrics International, a corporate governance rating service, warned its clients in a report in Dec 2006 – long before the fraud crisis had been revealed - that Satyam’s audit committee had no financial experts and that the board’s composition didn’t meet the requirements defined by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Since Satyam was also listed in the US Stock Exchange, it was subject to both Indian and US securities laws.

To draw comparisons during the same period, Satyam’s main competitor and India’s largest software company - Infosys - had an audit committee headed by an independent

Pankaj Dutt


I N D I AS E A R C H -

This series of online seminars gives the person responsible for executing each phase of the search the basic building blocks needed to insure a successful search outcome. They are aimed at the search practitioner, researcher or consultant, at a search firm or in-house search team, who are newcomers to search or seek a refresher course in a process-oriented, disciplined approach to search. Betty Wong Tomita & Gai Galitzine have been executing searches in the Americas, Europe and Asia for more than 25 years. This series of real-time online seminars is a unique opportunity to benefit from the techniques and approaches Betty and Gai have distilled from their broad knowledge of the industry. Each seminar provides an in-depth exploration of specific topics in the search process through interactive dialog and demonstrations based on extensive real life search experiences. Building Search Strategy Name Identification - How to find these people? Approaching Candidates - How do I get the most out of conversation? Pre-Screening Candidates - Is this person a candidate? Getting The Complete Picture - How do I check references?

For more information and to book please visit www.search-consult.com/webinarsEach session costs US$150 / UK£90 / €100Please call us on +1 (201) 653-0013 or +44 (0)20 7749 6102, or send an email to [email protected] payment facility as well as downloadable booking form available at www.search-consult.com/webinars

*NEW dates available online

director, who is an eminent banker. Its members included an economist and ex-managing partner of a top accounting firm. Infosys also had a nominations committee consisting of only independent directors, presiding over the selection of independent directors. Infosys’s board composition was also far more balanced and, therefore, proved effective in protecting shareholders’ interest.

As a result of Satyam’s failures and eventual demise, the Indian Government dismantled Satyam’s board and then appointed nominee directors, which was the first time in Indian corporate history that the Government had to intercede in the functioning of a public listed company.

SEARCHING FOR INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS

In the backdrop of Satyam’s fraud, independent directors’ individual liability came into the spotlight with its directors facing law suits for non-compliance and corporate misfeasance, which led to hundreds of independent directors resigning from various boards. With increasing liability, professionals have begun to refrain from assuming board responsibility, thereby making the search of independent directors even more challenging.

In fact, many organisations in India do not allow their employees to assume independent director roles in other companies. As a result, the pool of candidates has become even smaller, requiring in-depth research to identify suitable candidates.

Today searching for independent directors can be more challenging and even more complicated than finding CEOs. While companies can identify and promote internal candidates as CEOs, independent director roles can only be filled by external candidates. Greater scrutiny from shareholders

and regulators, higher accountability and potential conflicts of interest are some of the key issues which demand attention when selecting independent directors. Therefore, independent directors need extensive engagement before they decide to join a board.

Working with a capable search firm can help companies address these issues, in addition to making the search more active, transparent and wider in scope. Companies can also obtain valuable advice on remuneration and key responsibility areas (KRAs) for board members.

However, Indian companies still prefer to select independent directors from their own network, without involving a nominations committee or retaining a search firm.

Another reason there is a reluctance to use executive search firms in selecting board members is because Chairmen and CEOs in India do not engage with search firms. In India, retaining a search firm is mostly considered to be the responsibility of the HR Head. However, it is high time that these executive leaders realise the value of directly interacting with search firms and collaborating with them to identify and select independent directors.

SELECTING THE RIGHT SEARCH PARTNER

Retaining a capable search firm can prove to be a valuable partner to Chairmen and nomination committees in ensuring a high performance, independent board. When retaining a search firm to conduct an independent director search, the Chairman or nomination committee should ensure that the:

• Consultant working on the assignment has the appropriate knowledge and understanding of corporate governance norms and best practices in board appointments.

• Search firm should be reputed enough to have access to the most accomplished professionals and has the capability to engage them.

• Search firm should be able to offer guidance or advice on board composition and/or board member compensation, as and when required.

• Search firm has the capability to investigate and evaluate potential conflicts of interest that potential candidates may have due to their current or past employment, board relationships or client relationships.

To maintain the trust of global investors, India companies should partner with executive search firms to bring transparency in the selection of board members.



Web: www.ircsearchpartners.com

Pankaj Dutt is a member of the executive board of IRC Global Executive Search Partners and President of its exclusive India member firm, Welkin Partners. A qualified CPA, Pankaj has conducted several top level searches for both large and small clients, ranging from listed companies to family owned and VC funded companies. He can be reached at [email protected]

IRC Global Executive Search Partners is one of the largest retained search firms in the world with 60 offices spread across 4 continents. With a track record of over 22,000 completed assignments to date, its 300+ consultants successfully execute approximately 1,500 assignments each year, mostly for top management and board level roles.

Welkin Partners is an India based retained executive search firm whose consulting team has a proven track record for successfully closing over 120 executing search mandates for positions ranging from functional/business heads to CEOs and Board Members.

S E A R C H -


AI N D I A


How

As the economy continues to take a beating and more layoffs take place, competition for new jobs is

at an all-time high. While companies may initially view the large candidate pool as an embarrassment of riches, it also pro-vides them with a challenge.

Companies face a more difficult and certainly a more time-consuming task identifying the right person for the job, and often with greater risk that the wrong decision will be made. In these days of “doing more with less” and stricter labor laws, hiring mistakes can take a bigger toll than in the past. What, then, is the advice we can offer corporate and executive recruiters to increase their chances of success in making the right match with minimal wheel-spinning?

WHAT’S THE JOB?First and foremost, your organization

should agree on the need for a new team member and on exactly what the job description/responsibilities should be. Both the internal recruiter and the consultant must thoroughly understand what the job entails and the experience that is sought. Be as specific as possible. If a corporate lawyer is needed, what does that mean? Will the lawyer handle M&A transactions, be responsible for periodic reporting to the SEC, formulate

business ethics requirements and negotiate and draft contracts?

Make sure that the people in charge of evaluating this opportunity, reviewing the resumes and interviewing the candidates – i.e., the managing attorney, the HR department and the outside recruiter – clearly understand and are able to communicate what the prospective hire’s day-to-day tasks will be. Otherwise, problems will arise. For instance, one company couldn’t decide if it wanted a corporate governance-type lawyer or one with IP-licensing experience. Clearly these two sets of expertise produced very disparate slates and reflected confusion on the part of the employer that made it extremely difficult to sell the job and find the right person. All aspects of the job need to be discussed and agreed upon beforehand, so there is clarity among all the team members.

During the screening process, you should determine not only whether the candidate has the appropriate subject matter expertise, but also whether he or she actually performed the work rather than merely outlining what was needed to a third party. You also need to understand where and in what types of culture the candidate has worked, what the candidate liked or did not like about those cultures, what he or she looks for in a professional atmosphere and what

kinds of relationships he/she attempts to establish with management and other people in the company so you can determine if he/she will flourish in and add value to your environment. Culture, temperament and personality are key components for determining compatibility.

Robert Major, Founding Partner of Major, Lindsey & Africa, divides candidate screening criteria when hiring a General Counsel into two categories – objective and subjective. The objective criteria include years of experience, industry-specific experience, public company experience (for those companies that are already or seek to be publicly traded), in-house and/or GC experience and experience working with Boards. The subjective criteria include pro-activeness, leadership/management experience, “presence”, communication skills and the ability to be a team player.

The candidate’s previous leadership/management experience should be analyzed very carefully. You should determine exactly how many individuals the person managed in his/her previous position. Too few or too many – both can cause problems. In one case, a lawyer left a position where he had managed 50 in-house attorneys for a new position that required supervision of just a few, and those few didn’t really need to

To MakeBy Lisa S. Rothblum

with assistance from Bob Graff

ASuccessful Hire

S T R A T E G YS E A R C H -

S E A R C H -


be managed. They were extremely self sufficient. The candidate felt one of his most valuable skills (i.e., as a manager) wasn’t being utilized and the new company felt he spent too much time attempting to run things instead of contributing to the team.

If your company has a very collegial atmosphere, and considers it important for executives and employees to spend social time together, you need to ensure that all finalist candidates are given an opportunity to participate in less formal situations – having lunch with the HR director and his/her spouse, attending the company’s softball games – to help both sides see if they will fit in.

WHAT’S THE PROCESS?Often called “capability” within the

recruiting field, the manner by which a company requests, reviews, reacts to, and acts upon candidates can not only help/hinder the ability to identify the right candidate but can also determine whether the candidate’s experience is positive or negative. A company that drags its feet once too often, postpones interviews, fails to respond as and when promised, or otherwise seems too busy, distracted or disorganized will be perceived as deficient in organizational structure and indifferent to its human resources.

You should recognize candidates as important potential critics or supporters of the company, whether they ultimately work there or not. If a company is going to undertake a search – be it on its own or by working with a recruiter – its quality of communication, consistency and concern will significantly influence how a candidate feels about the company as a whole. Many a good candidate has walked away from a company that treated its candidates as if they did not matter.

But there are ways you can make a bad situation better for the candidate. One consumer products company tended to be slow in completing its interviews and processing its final offer terms. While such delays would typically

cause frustration for the candidate, the company was diligent about communicating the details of every step – e.g., who the candidate needed to meet, the reasons for delays and how long the process might take – thereby easing concerns and demonstrating that they were inclusive and respectful. On the other hand, the hiring executive at another company made candidates wait for as much as an hour past their scheduled interview time without any explanation or apology. Many ruffled feathers had to be smoothed to try to prevent candidates from withdrawing from that opportunity.

BE PREPAREDAs Ben Franklin said, “By failing to

prepare you are preparing to fail.” Hiring executives must prepare

themselves accordingly, paying close attention to the who, what and why of the process. For instance, who in the firm is going to conduct the first, second and third round interviews…and why?

Once a candidate has passed your initial screens, you need to help convince them that you are the right company for them to join. Think of this part of the process as “wooing” the candidate. Look for common denominators – like hometown, undergraduate or graduate

school, community involvement – so the candidate can establish a personal connection with at least one person on your team. It is also helpful to have the candidate meet someone who is relatively new to the firm, so he/she can see how quickly and successfully you are able to integrate newcomers. You should avoid having them meet with someone who will make them feel unwanted or unimportant. You may also be wondering about reference checks – the best way to conduct them and who should do them. However, that is a subject for a separate article.

As you can see, identifying the right candidate is not the conclusion of the recruiting process. In many ways, it is just the beginning. Careful consideration should be given to items that might seem minor, but that have a major impact on the candidate’s impressions of the company, and their decision to accept or reject your offer. The more carefully you handle each step of this process, the more likely you are to enjoy long-term success.



Web: www.mlaglobal.com

Lisa S. Rothblum is a New York-based legal recruiter, formerly with Major, Lindsey & Africa. Prior to her recruiting career, Lisa served as Senior Vice President & General Counsel at Atari, Inc. and then as one of its Executive Vice Presidents, and as Senior Vice President & General Counsel of PolyGram Holding, Inc. (now known as Universal Music Group). Earlier in her career, she was a staff attorney with the Securities & Exchange Commission. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Bob Graff is a Partner and the Global Manager of Major, Lindsey & Africa’s In-House Practice Group. Prior to joining MLA in 1998, Bob held a number of senior sales and marketing positions with companies including Enstar Communications, HBO & Company (now part of McKesson), and the Patient Focused Care Association. He can be reached at [email protected].

Founded in 1982, Major, Lindsey & Africa is the world’s largest and most experienced legal search firm. With offices throughout the U.S., London, Hong Kong and Tokyo, MLA recruiters are dedicated to understanding and meeting clients’ and candidates’ needs while maintaining the highest degree of professionalism and confidentiality. MLA was voted “Best Legal Search Firm in the U.S.” in the most recent national survey of America’s top law firms.

Lisa S. Rothblum

S T R A T E G Y

Mark Williams

Online payment facility as well as downloadable booking form available at www.search-consult.com/LinkedIn

+44 (0)20 7749 6102 [email protected]

Mastering LikedIn For Executive Recruiters - a series of webinars designed to show you how LinkedIn works, how to ensure you find who you want to and how to raise your profile in your market in order to win more business.

Mark Williams is an experienced Recruiters and now the UK’s best known independent LinkedIn Trainer. He spent 19 years in specialist recruitment in the UK operating as a Consultant, Manager and latterly Managing Director in the Sales, Financial and Supply Chain sectors. In 2008 Mark set up ETN Training, a niche training provider operating in the field of social media. Mark’s particular area of expertise is with LinkedIn. “I firmly believe that LinkedIn is one of the most exciting developments there has been in the recruitment industry for many years. It is now firmly established as a ‘must have’ tool for any recruiter yet so many are still unsure of how to use it effectively. My mission is to educate and inspire Recruiters to understand how to network effectively online”.

Creating A Powerful LinkedIn Profile - March 10, 2010

Building A Network And Using Groups; Account & Settings - March 17, 2010

Searching, Approaching And Researching Clients And Candidates - March 24, 2010

Recommendations, Running Your Own Group, Answers And RSS Feeds - March 31, 2010

Applications - April 21, 2010

Networking Online, How To Increase Your Visibility To Gain More Business - April 28, 2010

Each session costs US$130 / UK£80 / €90 / HK$1010

For more information and to book please visit www.search-consult.com/LinkedIn

Discounts

available

for multiple

bookings

FFGlobal Network allows non-integrated Executive Search networks to share data across borders without giving up local ownership. Key Benefits:

• Share information on candidate, companies, and assignments between affiliated but independent offices.

• No need to give up local database ownership or management.

• Multiple local databases may be searched simultaneously through a browser.

• Participating offices can join or leave FFGlobal Network at any time.

• Fully secure and with control over the amount and type of information which may be shared, including download permissions.

To learn how your executive search network can compete with integrated firms, contact [email protected].

Global Knowledge – Local Ownership

Global Knowledge – Local Ownership

USA: +1 (201) 653-0013 • Australia/Asia: +61 2 8221 8860 • Germany: +49 (0)69 27 40 15 807 • UK: +44 (0)20 7749 6100

search-consult issue 37

Documents

corporate executive

research companies

search press releases

research target companies

c c o o

management succession

new year

placed candidates