ESSENTIALS FOR MANAGING A SUCCESSFUL EXECUTIVE SEARCH

Companies use retained executive search for their most senior positions. Retained executive search is expensive and always involves a critical hire, so making searches successful is vitally important. As the hiring manager or responsible human resources executive, your active involvement in the process is critical. Here are a few guidelines that will help you build a partnership with your search consultant and lead to a fast and positive outcome.

Candidate Specification

A clear, concise candidate specification is the single most important thing you need to make your search successful. Writing the specification is easy and is often handled by the search consultant based on your input. The hard part is making it stick, which is where many companies run into problems. It’s reasonable to fine-tune the specification as the search progresses, but major changes will require the search consultant to change directions. Redirecting a search takes time and may even cost more money.

To avoid this problem, spend time up-front thinking through exactly what you want, and make sure other key decision-makers participate in the process. Decide who will be involved in interviewing – usually the hiring manager plus appropriate peers, and perhaps board members – and make sure they understand and approve the specification. Failure to build consensus will lead to problems when you start interviewing.

Educate Your Search Consultant

The search consultant can’t be effective unless he understands your business and its culture. Educate your consultant about your company, why it is attractive, and the characteristics of people who do well in the organization. If there are obstacles to recruiting, discuss how to overcome them. If you do this in a thoughtful way, your search consultant will be much more effective.

Make the Search a Priority

You may be very busy, but the search requires your active involvement, so make it a priority. The search consultant needs answers to questions and feedback on candidates, and candidates need to be interviewed quickly. Fast responses will keep the search moving forward. Slow responses will handicap your search consultant and make candidates think you aren’t interested.

Be Realistic

Companies commonly want more than they can afford or attract, and this slows things down. To avoid the trap of unrealistic expectations, step back and try to take the candidate’s perspective. How do outsiders perceive your company? Will the job be attractive to the candidates you’ve specified? Is your compensation target correct? Your search consultant will flag concerns and help you work through these issues. If there are problems, address them immediately.

Expect to Make Tradeoffs

In the real world there are no perfect candidates. Intelligent hiring involves assessing each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, and selecting the one who is the best fit for your organization. A good search consultant will give you access to the best candidates available at the time. You will have to make tradeoffs – don’t compromise on critical skills or attributes, but be prepared to give up things that aren’t as important.

Watch for Trouble

Be on the lookout for symptoms of common problems and address them quickly. If you find yourself battling indecision, or if you have rejected five or six candidates who meet your specifications on paper, it’s time to stop and diagnose the problem. In most cases, these problems stem from changing the candidate specification, disagreement among key players, or unrealistic expectations.

The Offer

It takes tremendous effort to get to the point where you make an offer. Once there, don’t underestimate the importance of your personal involvement. The best candidates usually have multiple opportunities. Reach out personally and tell the candidate how much you want him to join, and how important he will be to your company. Have a meal or coffee, or just make a phone call. It can be the difference between acceptance and rejection.

Above all, approach your relationship with the search consultant as a partnership. If you do, and you follow the suggestions above, you’ll be on the way to a successful outcome.