When it comes to senior appointments, executive search firms can purport to offer a solution. But a firm that is either well known or reassuringly expensive does not always guarantee success. David Fielding provides some guidance to successful headhunting
Working with a search firm or headhunter can often make the difference between success and failure when appointing to a senior role but standards and approaches vary dramatically. Generally, search firms (not to be confused with agencies that spit CVs at you) strive to provide a high quality service. But in an increasingly competitive market place, what you think you are buying is not always what you get. As a HR professional, it’s your job to be on top of this and advise accordingly.
Invitation to tender
So, take your time in choosing a firm to work with. You should invite a number of firms to submit a detailed proposal setting out their relevance, understanding of your organisation and the role and how they would work with you. You should meet with the team and discuss the details of every stage. If firms don’t have the time to engage with you at this stage, then they certainly won’t have the time to deliver once you have chosen them.
Firms will often display a list of the most relevant and high profile assignments to impress you. Establish when these roles were completed and who within the team actually worked on the specific assignments. It still makes me chuckle when I see consultants ‘claiming’ work as their own when their actual role in the process was negligible.
Meet the team and test their market knowledge and what they know about your organisation. If they are weak on these two fronts, don’t hire them. Some firms will send along two or three very polished, high profile ‘names’, who will talk a great game and persuade you that this is the most important piece of work they have ever had the opportunity to pitch for. Don’t be fooled. The reality is that they will have very little to do with the assignment once it’s won. So establish who is actually going to being doing the work.
Do your own due diligence. Talk with candidates (successful and unsuccessful) they will give you an honest view about candidates care and ask to talk to a number of previous clients.
In terms of fees, historically headhunters would charge a fee of 33% of the first year’s salary. Within a recession and with increased competition you simply don’t have to pay this amount of money any more, you can always negotiate. Insist on fixed fees: it will stop unscrupulous firms trying to push the starting salary higher.
Advertising and research
Most senior roles can be filled through search alone, but there are often strong reasons why you would want to place an advert and create a bespoke microsite. Advertising is expensive and care should be taken when thinking about using more than one print media. You should always make sure that there in an online option and when it comes to branding, your organisation should have prominence.
Some search firms put very little energy into the search, hoping that candidates will see the advert and apply. Don’t use them; you are wasting your money! The ratio of researchers to consultants within a firm is very important; ideally it should be 1:2. Firms that rely on consultants to do the search themselves will often be managing a number of assignments concurrently and therefore become too busy to pick up the phone. Good quality research is really important. Some firms delegate calls to the most junior person in the team. There is nothing more irritating than taking a call from a junior headhunter who knows very little about the role, the context or about you.
Good search follows good research. Some firms will engage freelance researchers to assist and this can work well. With all aspects of the search process, you need to satisfy yourself that you are happy with how the search is going to be conducted and by whom. Be satisfied that their experience, knowledge and approach are right. Ask for regular updates on progress and insist on the seeing the details of the responses and the names on the search list. This should be seen as a partnership: an ongoing, iterative process.
Dealing with applications
When sifting the applications, agree in advance what criteria you want the headhunter to focus on and be clear what you expect the sift report to look like. Some firms will just separate the applications into As, Bs and Cs. This is fine but where’s the added value here? You should be getting reports that explain the reasons why they have made the grade and what are the areas to explore further.
Headhunters will often interview a longlist of candidates for you. There will usually be about 12 on the longlist. This can add some real value but again you need to be clear in advance what you expect because interviews can take a number of forms ranging from a comfy fireside chat to a rigorous competence-based interview. Be clear which you are getting, who is conducting them and what format the reports will be. As well as ‘reportage’ (i.e. they did this, they said that) a good headhunter should be offering opinion, insight and views. Due diligence of candidates is crucial. Insist on seeing verbal references in advance of panel interviews, formal written reference afterwards don’t really help.
Getting value for money
In summary, headhunters can add some real value, but you need to be explicit in what you are getting for your money. I recall one of my earliest IPM lectures (a lifetime ago) about selection decision validity, in that it increases proportionally with the amount and quality of data you consider. This still stands, so don’t be bamboozled and insist on rigour.
Working with a search firm or headhunter can often make the difference between success and failure when appointing to a senior role but standards and approaches vary dramatically. Generally, search firms (not to be confused with agencies that spit CVs at you) strive to provide a high quality service. But in an increasingly competitive market place, what you think you are buying is not always what you get. As a HR professional, it’s your job to be on top of this and advise accordingly.
Invitation to tender
So, take your time in choosing a firm to work with. You should invite a number of firms to submit a detailed proposal setting out their relevance, understanding of your organisation and the role and how they would work with you. You should meet with the team and discuss the details of every stage. If firms don’t have the time to engage with you at this stage, then they certainly won’t have the time to deliver once you have chosen them.
Firms will often display a list of the most relevant and high profile assignments to impress you. Establish when these roles were completed and who within the team actually worked on the specific assignments. It still makes me chuckle when I see consultants ‘claiming’ work as their own when their actual role in the process was negligible.
Meet the team and test their market knowledge and what they know about your organisation. If they are weak on these two fronts, don’t hire them. Some firms will send along two or three very polished, high profile ‘names’, who will talk a great game and persuade you that this is the most important piece of work they have ever had the opportunity to pitch for. Don’t be fooled. The reality is that they will have very little to do with the assignment once it’s won. So establish who is actually going to being doing the work.
Do your own due diligence. Talk with candidates (successful and unsuccessful) they will give you an honest view about candidates care and ask to talk to a number of previous clients.
In terms of fees, historically headhunters would charge a fee of 33% of the first year’s salary. Within a recession and with increased competition you simply don’t have to pay this amount of money any more, you can always negotiate. Insist on fixed fees: it will stop unscrupulous firms trying to push the starting salary higher.
Advertising and research
Most senior roles can be filled through search alone, but there are often strong reasons why you would want to place an advert and create a bespoke microsite. Advertising is expensive and care should be taken when thinking about using more than one print media. You should always make sure that there in an online option and when it comes to branding, your organisation should have prominence.
Some search firms put very little energy into the search, hoping that candidates will see the advert and apply. Don’t use them; you are wasting your money! The ratio of researchers to consultants within a firm is very important; ideally it should be 1:2. Firms that rely on consultants to do the search themselves will often be managing a number of assignments concurrently and therefore become too busy to pick up the phone. Good quality research is really important. Some firms delegate calls to the most junior person in the team. There is nothing more irritating than taking a call from a junior headhunter who knows very little about the role, the context or about you.
Good search follows good research. Some firms will engage freelance researchers to assist and this can work well. With all aspects of the search process, you need to satisfy yourself that you are happy with how the search is going to be conducted and by whom. Be satisfied that their experience, knowledge and approach are right. Ask for regular updates on progress and insist on the seeing the details of the responses and the names on the search list. This should be seen as a partnership: an ongoing, iterative process.
Dealing with applications
When sifting the applications, agree in advance what criteria you want the headhunter to focus on and be clear what you expect the sift report to look like. Some firms will just separate the applications into As, Bs and Cs. This is fine but where’s the added value here? You should be getting reports that explain the reasons why they have made the grade and what are the areas to explore further.
Headhunters will often interview a longlist of candidates for you. There will usually be about 12 on the longlist. This can add some real value but again you need to be clear in advance what you expect because interviews can take a number of forms ranging from a comfy fireside chat to a rigorous competence-based interview. Be clear which you are getting, who is conducting them and what format the reports will be. As well as ‘reportage’ (i.e. they did this, they said that) a good headhunter should be offering opinion, insight and views. Due diligence of candidates is crucial. Insist on seeing verbal references in advance of panel interviews, formal written reference afterwards don’t really help.
Getting value for money
In summary, headhunters can add some real value, but you need to be explicit in what you are getting for your money. I recall one of my earliest IPM lectures (a lifetime ago) about selection decision validity, in that it increases proportionally with the amount and quality of data you consider. This still stands, so don’t be bamboozled and insist on rigour.