Over the past year, we have run a
series of articles that focus on the
role of the executive search firm in the executive hiring process. It is helpful
at this time to reiterate the key points of
those articles. This recap concentrates
on the risks clients incur and the benefits they derive from the use of executive
search firms, how the benefits impact
their operations, what criteria clients
should apply when choosing the firm
that best matches their unique needs,
the ethics involved in search and the
importance of confidentiality in the
process.
Smart Business asked John Semyan, a
partner with TNS Partners Inc., to highlight the significant points of those articles, provide fresh insights into the role
of executive search firms in the executive hiring process and explain why
clients should utilize their services.
Why do clients hire executive search firms?
One salient reason is confidentiality. It
is problematic for clients to contact
executives confidentially in other
organizations who they think might fill
their top-level positions. Executive
search firms can protect the client’s
confidentiality.
Another reason is time. Clients’ top
executives often don’t have the time or
personnel who are trained to identify,
contact and hire the best-qualified candidates for specific positions.
A third is the nature of the job. For
example, a client is expanding into a
new industry but its personnel are not
completely familiar with the requirements of an executive position the client
wants to fill. It makes sense, then, to
retain an executive search firm with
knowledge of that particular industry
and a track record of success in identifying, screening and presenting uniquely
qualified individuals.
Clients who try to do those things
themselves may be putting their companies at significant risk. For them, retaining executive search firms is simply
streamlining a critical process by utilizing a service that they don’t always
need, but one that is vital to their success and protects their confidentiality.
What is the most valuable service executive search firms provide to their clients?
Search firms are a strategic resource
that clients can use to satisfy critical
needs. For example, executive search
firms can tap into a broad body of
knowledge derived from conducting
past searches successfully, which is a
significant benefit for clients.
Remember, the top 1 percent to 2 percent of the executives in a company
make a difference. Executive search
firms provide a reservoir of knowledge
that guides a client through an imprecise
process that results in the selection of a
candidate who fits into its organization,
becomes successful in its unique environment and makes that difference.
Are there specific criteria that executive
search firms employ in their searches?
Ideally, no. An executive search is not a
‘one-size-fits-all’ process. Every search is
a new one. Consultants don’t know
when they begin an engagement which issues or parts of the knowledge and
experience and things that they do are
most critical in a particular search. The
executive a client is looking for is doing
very well in another organization. So a
critical part of a search is being able to
articulate confidentially to a potential
candidate that he or she should consider
the client’s opportunity.
Or it could be counseling with the
client. For example, the CFO’s role has
changed dramatically post-Sarbanes-Oxley. The nature of a CFO search has
changed as well. The client can tap into
the executive search firm’s expertise in
finance searches to frame or reframe the
CFO’s role and rethink its strategy and
criteria in hiring the successful candidate. Factors like this make every search
unique and render cookie-cutter approaches ineffective.
What criteria should clients apply when
partnering with an executive search firm?
One is the urgency with which a
search firm can respond. Hiring an
executive is very much a real-time
process. The client has to identify a
search firm that can combine speed and
attention to detail in the hiring process,
which is generally associated with the
aforementioned track record of success, and which focuses on the client,
not the position.
Clients should also look at factors such
as search firms’ adherence to ethics,
memberships in trade associations,
refusal to recruit from their clients, and
freshness of their candidate databases.
With all the information available to
executive search firm consultants nowadays through sources like the Internet
and trade journals, there is no need for
them to resurrect the same candidates
for every job. Clients are much better
served by search firms that treat each
new assignment as a new challenge —
which is exactly what it is for each
client.
JOHN SEMYAN is a partner with TNS Partners Inc. Reach him
at (214) 369-3565 or [email protected].
