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Executive
Search Firms defined
Executive searches can be performed by
in-house human resource departments, but employing the services of
an executive search firm is ultimately more expedient,
efficient and effective. Executive recruiters provide strict
confidentiality, an extensive network of contacts, objectivity in
candidate evaluation, and negotiation experience and expertise.
Characteristics of an
Executive Search Firm
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The Firm consistently, over time,
places high performing employees with our company, as measured
by performance appraisal scores, promotions, projects completed
and performance based bonuses, (as a % of salary). Employees
hired via the firm out perform those hired from other sources.
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The Firm fulfills searches on time,
under budget, and identifies only quality candidates within the
specifications of the job requisition, allowing us to hire the
best candidates faster and cheaper than our competitors and our
own internal recruiting system.
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Using the Firm results in a positive
ROI over using our regular internal recruiters. Its rates are
competitive within the industry.
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The Firm’s pre-screening process
identifies "turkeys" early, resulting in a rejection rate that
is 10% lower than all other recruitment resources.
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The Firm screens both clients and
candidates for culture and performs a critical values analysis.
Candidates referred by the firm have a higher acceptance rate
and lower turnover rate than candidates referred by other hiring
sources. Candidates placed by the firm fit into our corporate
culture more rapidly than the norm.
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The Firm offers a guarantee on all
placements but (almost) never needs to use it. 98% of all
candidates referred by the firm stay beyond the guarantee
period.
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The Firm continually monitors and
builds upon relationships with its candidates over time,
(Relationship Recruiting). Its candidate database is continually
updated to provide the most up to date contact, personal and
career information on each candidate.
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The Firm builds relationships within
our company, encouraging Hiring Managers and Executives to own
the hiring process and reducing the amount of involvement with
HR.
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Managers rate the quality of the
firm’s consultants and the candidates provided as excellent.
Surveys show managers rate the firm’s performance 10% above all
other recruitment sources.
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The Firm’s processes are clear and
well documented, reducing the amount of time managers and HR
must spend on recruitment. Our internal processes are improved
10% by adopting procedures used by the firm.
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The Firm maintains contact with both
the hiring manager and the candidate following placement to
ensure success. Candidates placed by the firm have a higher
satisfaction rate(25%) than those placed by other sources,
including our internal recruiters.
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The Firm has a wide contact base
within the industry and within our targeted benchmark firms and
competitors.
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The Firm has a diverse database of
candidates with international capabilities.
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The Firm utilizes technology
(on-line databases, Web tools, etc) to identify passive job
seekers and speed time to hire, resulting in our ability to hire
"star" candidates before our competitors.
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The Firm continually monitors and
adjusts its own processes and procedures to meet the changing
needs of our industry. It understands our business, products,
customers and competitors.
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The firm has a proven track record.
References from benchmark firms rate the firm at 95% or higher
for adherence to ethical standards. They have and adhere to a
"no raid" policy. The percentage of complaints and lawsuits is
lower than our own internal rates. They consistently follow
Federal and state employment laws, (EEOC, ADA, Title VII, ADEA,
etc).
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Advantages of Using an
Executive Search Firm
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Increased
resources: Large
databases of candidates and recruiting networks.
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Cost Savings: According to Gerald
McCreary of SAP, the cost of an advertisement in an industry
publication alone is $15,000. This does not include costs of
screening, interviewing and hiring.
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Increased speed: Recruiters devote
all of their time to identifying acceptable candidates. Many
search firms work directly with Hiring Managers to ID
candidates, reducing time by cutting out HR altogether.
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Guaranteed Placements: Most Firms
will offer a guarantee on candidates placed by their firm. If
the candidate quits or proves to be unacceptable to the employer
within the guarantee period (up to 1 year, depending on the firm
and position recruited), the firm will find a new candidate,
free of charge to the client.
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Continual Sourcing and Networking:
Executive Search Firms continually search for qualified
candidates and build networks within across industries,
providing a wider candidate base than may be possible with
internal resources.
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Relationship Recruiting: Ability of
executive recruiters to establish and maintain relationships
with candidates over time. Executive recruiters gain in depth
knowledge of individual candidates and learn "triggers" for each
which can be utilized to capture candidates’ interest. By
maintaining contact and monitoring candidates’ careers, passive
candidates can be identified early when they are ready to make a
move to a new job.
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Cultural Screening: Executive Search
Firms can do an in-depth screening for values and culture to
provide a more accurate match between client and candidate.
Candidates will be more honest about what they want when talking
to a third party than when trying to impress a potential
employer during an onsite interview.
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Emergency Search: Executive firms
can perform "Emergency" Searches for candidates and devote more
hours to a single search than internal recruiters who have
multiple responsibilities.
Disadvantages of
Executive Search Firms
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Commissions can be costly, up to 30%
of annual salary for high level (executive) positions.
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Potential that your own employees
may contact a recruiter they have worked with in the past when
they are ready to make a change. Most firms have a "no raid"
policy and will not actively recruit out of a client firm but
may represent an individual who approaches them first.
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Potential that the firm may employ a
recruiter who uses unethical methods to source candidates.
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The executive recruiter may
misrepresent the attributes of the candidate and/or the firm in
an effort to fill the requisition, resulting in a poor match.
This is more likely to happen when recruiters work on commission
and only get paid if the candidate is hired.
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The executive recruiter may not have
a thorough understanding of our industry, products, competitors
and customers, resulting in less qualified candidates,
particularly if the search firm is large and recruits across
several different industries.
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The recruiter may place a candidate
and then "leave" without checking in with either the client firm
or the placed candidate to see how the new arrangement is going.
Our firm stands to lose valuable feedback as to how to improve
the recruiting process or about which tactics are most
successful. Candidates may feel "abandoned" and subsequently
dissatisfied with the recruitment process. Both candidates and
hiring managers will have lower customer satisfaction rates with
the recruitment process.
Measurements
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Quality of hires, as measured by job
performance scores, # new products developed or projects
completed, amount of bonuses (as a % of salary), # of
promotions, 360 degree evaluations.
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# of offers made.
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# of offers accepted.
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Time to fill (in days).
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Length of tenure of hires.
(months/years)
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Cost per hire.
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Time (in months) for employees to
become productive ("billable").
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ROI of the use of an executive
search firm as compared to internal services.
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# of legal complaints, lawsuits as
compared to internal services.
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Customer satisfaction ratings of
both candidates and hiring managers, as compared to satisfaction
ratings for internal services.
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