Pankaj Dutt, Managing Partner,India, Alexander Hughes presents his thoughts on some key questions that had surfaced in our earlier post– Do you need a retained executive search firm for leadership hiring’s? .
Why should a business look at engaging a retained search consultant/firm ?
Senior level specialist (such as nuclear scientist or aviation expert) positions or business leadership positions (CEO, CxO etc.) require experienced and successful candidates. Candidates who may be looked at for such positions are mostly gainfully employed. These candidates don’t change jobs so easily and they do not respond to open ads to avoid becoming part of the crowd. Such candidates need to be approached and convinced about an opportunity, invariably by someone as senior as they are and by those who can discuss the opportunity based on a suitable understanding of their experience.
Since a typical cycle involving such a range of activities involving some very seasoned executives can be very long, any consultant who is not experience and not retained, will never be able to do justice to the process if engaged on a pure success fee basis. Also retaining a consultant ensures that no good candidate is left out of the process if they are passive job seeker, meaning, they would not entertain any unsolicited ad or approach to change job.
Apart from all these benefits, a retained consultant with right experience will always be able to spend more time with the candidate to assess the true capability than executives from client organization. We should not forget that these professions started as a branch of management consulting and therefore retained consultants are usually executives with proven experience who need to paid like consultant and not like candidate sourcing machines.
Should a business place all senior management positions for retained search or they can be selective?
If a senior management position has a critical impact on business or operation, a retained search would ensure the rigor or diligence which other methods of recruiting can never match.
Does it make sense to award an “exclusive” mandate to a search firm ?
Exclusivity to consultant with right experience ensures that the assignment is carried on like a project with pre-defined objectives, a comprehensive market research and right level of candidate engagement. A consultant who works on non-exclusive basis is always competing against time and hence tends to compromise on the quality.
Confidentiality of the assignment is also another factor to consider exclusivity. Additionally, retained consultant do not present same candidate to multiple clients, which contingency or staffing consultants often do.
What kind of positions should ideally be passed on for retained search ?
Again, positions which have critical impact on business or where a comprehensive market research is important to identify top performing candidates.
What is the value add of a retained search engagement vis-à-vis a contingent search engagement?
All the points mentioned above. Even the most successful of brands like Coke, Apple or American Express rely only on retained and exclusive search methods to hire on senior roles.
If I decide to go for a retained search for some of my positions, do I offer all my key positions to one firm or should I juggle between a couple of firms for various positions ? What should be the deciding criteria ?
It is always good to work with 2-3 firms with one being preferred partner. However, besides market reputation of firm, experience of consultant is most important along with the fact that consultant should not hand off the assignment to someone junior after winning it.
Should we opt for a boutique search firm operating locally or should we get a global “well established” search firm ?
Depends on the role and the gamut of search. If the search needs to expand beyond local market or a client wants to en-cash the reputation of the search firm to attract or engage candidates, then “well established firm” and if the position is very specialist in nature, a local boutique would also do the job provided its consultants are equally good or experienced.
Does the “brand” or “name” of a search firm add value to the process of search ? Should it deserve a premium?
Yes, it does but only to attract candidates into serious discussions, after that its up to consultant to convince and assess the candidate.
Note: The thoughts presented are the perspectives of Pankaj Dutt, Managing Partner, Alexander Hughes India. Alexander Hughes is one of the well-established global executive search firms founded in Europe. The firm maintains an impressive clientele comprising some of the world’s largest blue-chip companies. The company started its India operations in 2012.
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