Unlike some kinds of client/agent relationships, a very powerful symmetry exists between the goals of the search firm and the goals of the client. This symmetry may not exist in other relationships the corporation encounters. For example, a corporation's investment banker gets paid only if the deal goes through or if the company gets sold. There is a strong incentive to do the deal, even if it is not necessarily in the client's interest. Legal firms getting paid by the hour may have incentives to make more out of a case than is necessarily in the client's interest. But these asymmetries don't color the relationship with search firms. The reality is this:
- Both sides want an executive placed in the job who will ultimately be successful.
- Both sides want an executive placed in the position who has long-term potential to take on even more responsibility with the client.
- Both sides want the client to feel so satisfied that there are future search assignments given.
Start with Goals and Strategies, Not Specifications
Every partner we talked to said the same thing. First, have the search firm do the job description. Clients who draft the specifications themselves ignore the search firm's expertise at the most vital stage, which involves understanding the link between what the client wants to accomplish and the kind of person it will take to achieve those accomplishments. I asked the partners why this occurred. Some said they thought it stemmed from an attitude on the client's part that "we know this business; therefore we know what it takes to do these jobs." Others said they thought that companies worried that the search firm would set the specs too broadly so it would be easier to find qualifying candidates. Others said that, in many cases, the job already existed, so some form of description and spec sheet also already existed.
The best way to create the specs is start from scratch and begins with the goals. The company should talk with the search firm about current circumstances and what the successful incumbent should end up accomplishing. Having the search firm draft the position specifications ensures they understand the critical issues. It is also the best way to make sure they understand the relative importance of various factors.
Have the Search Firm Help You Avoid Hiring in Your Own Image
The search firm is in the best position to help you hire what you need, as opposed to what you already have. This is where the cultural balancing act we discussed in Chapter 6 takes place. When executives develop the specifications on their own, they conclude that a person who looks just like them is the right model for success. But the search firm knows who is out there, and the search firm has a broad experience base by which to judge what kind of profile it takes to achieve the goals the client wants. The search firm also brings the objectivity necessary to know whether more of the same is needed, or someone who adds a new dimension.
Be Candid about the Problems, Issues and Challenges
The smart clients are those who make sure there is full disclosure of all the issues immediately. If a job went to a search firm, it is often because there was an unsatisfactory end to the previous incumbent's tenure or that person retired and left no successor. The incumbent may have moved on before the organization matured or there may have been a battle for succession that created friction within the organization. Whatever the reasons, it is clear that any good candidate will discover this information. Since it will come out anyway, it is better to deal with it up front. Not only does this give the search firm all the information it needs to understand the kind of candidate and skills they should be looking for, but it puts them in the best position to make a full presentation.
Have All Subsequent Discoveries by the Candidates Be Positive
Clients are tempted to say, "Wait a second, I don't need to share all of this dirty laundry with a bunch of strangers. Shouldn't we just wait until we get our finalists and then bring them in on the full picture?" No one is making the case to have this kind of information be part of the job specs or the initial phone calls with prospects and sources. But the search partners need to know what is going on from the beginning. As viable candidates emerge, they need to be briefed before doing any extensive visiting with executives. People at this level will feel manipulated if they are allowed to go into interviews blind to the real issues and dynamics. Willing and appropriate candidates will be lost by the implicit assumption that they can't be trusted with the entire perspective in order to make up their minds about the situation. On the other hand, if you get the tough issues disclosed early, then you'll be setting the stage that builds toward the candidate's enthusiastic agreement to join your firm.
Invest in Having the Search Firm Get to Know You beyond the Immediate Position
Also at the top of the list was the demand that the search firm spend enough time up-front with a broad cross section of people in the firm. This ensures they have an important understanding of the cultural context. Have them visit with peers of the open position and other key positions involved with the hiring manager. The search firm partner should understand the personalities with whom the prospective executive must work, and understand the organization's quirks and peculiarities. He then can provide candidates with a more accurate description and assessment. This allows candidates to be more precise about their level of interest sooner, and consequently moves the process ahead more efficiently.
Sometimes this approach creates conflict with senior HR executives. They may perceive that their job is to insulate the managers from search firms so as not to waste the managers' time or create distraction. But the smart HR executives know when to play gatekeeper. They know that when it comes to handling the logistical parts of the search assignment, they should insist that the search partner deal through them. But where the purpose is to get a cross section of perspective on the job and the issues at the front end, the HR executives and search partner should understand they have the same goals. They both want to ensure that the search partner gets enough up-front interactions so the search firm is not looking in the wrong direction.
Help the Search Firm Sell Your Firm to Candidates
Once the search firm partner has learned the advantages of the firm, its strengths and the reason why people enjoy working there, he can sell it better. Not only can the search firm partner better answer candidates' questions, but he can extol the positive attitude transmitted by those who have been successful within the firm. Often the most important questions a search partner can ask of people beyond the hiring manager is not related to the specific job but are questions such as, "What is it that you find appealing about working at this firm?" "What characteristics make people feel that the firm will continue to be successful?" At the end of day, the most successful clients see the search firm as their partner in "selling" candidates. The best candidates are people who didn't apply for the job, but need to discover its attractions.
The Partnership during the Search
It is telling of the successful client firm that so many activities take place before the search itself technically begins. This front-end work and long-term orientation separate those who get the most out of these relationships from those who don't. Soon enough you hit the point where the goals are understood and specs written; the search firm has a broad understanding of the job and the cultural setting and it's time to start talking to people. There are five points our partners say characterize the smart clients during this active phase.
- Smart clients take joint responsibility for the success of the search. They don't sit back and expect the search firm to simply serve up people, nor is their attitude that of "next.. . next.. . next. . . show me what else you've got." Some clients feel somehow that the search firm represents all those people out there who would like the job and if they just wait long enough the search firm will bring the best ones forward. But the search firm represents you and it can only do its best job when you take an active role.
- Smart clients give the partners timely, in-depth feedback about each candidate; such feedback helps refine and retarget the search. Conversely, if the feedback is delayed, you will get the search firm continuing to look for the same profile. Saying, "We are not impressed with that one, let's see another" is the same as giving no feedback. Some clients either allow or require that the search firm partner sit in on the initial company interviews with the first one or two candidates. When the feedback comes, they have the specifics of how the interview went. This lets them calibrate whether the feedback is specific to the candidate and how she handled the interview or represented a more generic company issue.
- Smart clients do not let candidates dangle. Once someone has been identified, the client must interview the person fairly soon. It fosters a terrible impression if someone is approached after the initial interview with a search firm and is told that the client would like to see them, yet it takes four or five weeks to arrange it. The client sends the signal that either you are not a high-priority candidate or the firm is disorganized, and neither may be true.
- After the candidate has been interviewed, and the client has provided quick and candid feedback, the client should make a yes/no determination. If all candidates are kept in some sort of backup queue, the feedback is muddy and the search firm doesn't understand how many more candidates it needs to present. Without pressing to yes/no status, a search firm can believe it is closing in after having presented three or four candidates, only to have the client say, "Well, none of them are really any good." You lose much time if the search firm starts to wind down and then must gear back up.
- Finally, it is important during the active phase of the search to focus and refocus on the two or three key skills most urgently required. There is always a risk that the sorting gets done based on minor or extraneous factors. Not everyone who speaks with a candidate may understand the big picture or, in fact, be a great interviewer. The manager responsible should focus on the cultural fit and the two or three other absolutely necessary skills. It is too easy to hang on to someone who, although likable, friendly or attractive, is missing three of the four key requirements. Similarly, it is important to put minor negatives in perspective. Significant candidates should not be disqualified over secondary characteristics or a minor aspect of cultural fit. A candidate who had four great interviews, but also one that was a bit off", is likely to be better than one who had five "good but not great" interviews with no dissent-but no great enthusiasm either.
This is an area where I heard frustration in the partners' comments. They said, "We know what's out there, and we can be part of your competitive radar even when there is no search going on. We want to be used and we want to contribute."
More search firms are moving toward an industry specialization and they are out in the relevant market all the time. Smart clients bring them in periodically to talk about what is going on in the industry, what areas are hot for hiring, and what trends or key topics are emerging. They ask whether they see people moving in certain predictable patterns and whether there is a consensus on the leading edge issues. But if you don't ask and don't make arrangements to take advantage of this market intelligence, you won't get it. And that is your substantial loss.
What to Demand
Smart clients make expectations clear up front. They do their own homework on the firm to make sure it has the expertise and appropriate specialty for the task. They check out whether it has the reach or is blocked in too many significant areas. But most importantly, smart clients understand who will be executing the work. They understand the role of the search firm partner with whom they are having the dialogue. They understand the background and expertise of the research team and whether execution partners or principals will be involved and, if so, what their role is to be.
They should also set explicit ground rules on the conduct of the search. At the client firm, the person responsible for the engagement should have an absolute assurance as to how often he and the partner on the search will visit. They should have clear guidelines for how long it will take to develop the position specifications. They should agree how soon they receive background material to review after potential candidates have been interviewed by the search firm.
In all ways, expectations should be for high responsiveness and great candor on both sides. The search firms should be invited to comment on the specs and how realistic the profile and compensation dimensions are relative to the market. The role of the HR department must be spelled out clearly. When are they to be the point of contact, and when and under what circumstances should the search firm provide feedback directly to the person responsible for the engagement?
The smart firm and its search firm partner are also clear about what happens if they can't attract any of the top two or three candidates. Most firms have policies on what happens if a placed candidate either quits or fails to meet expectations within the first six months or year. Those should be understood by both sides.
How to Select a Firm
In the final analysis, this is a still a partnership where chemistry is key. Start with a search firm that knows you best, and who can tell your firm's story most effectively. You need someone who understands the cultural fit issue well and in whose judgment you have confidence. You also then need to consider the question of industry expertise. Is this a search where industry expertise is critically important, and does the person you are working within the firm bring that to the table? This is important. You want both the firm and the partner to have the appropriate base of knowledge and contacts. But you also need to understand the "off limits" cases. Search firms normally cannot solicit an executive from a company or division they have served in the last two or three years. Industry experience may be of little practical benefit if, by using that search firm, you wall yourself off from too many companies where talent is likely to be found.
While it is often important for your firm to have industry expertise, you also want to factor in how important it is to have global reach. Today, many of the leading firms have global affiliations so they can both source and identify and then contact candidates from other areas. Since the ideal situation for the client is developing a long-term relationship where you have invested a significant amount of time and energy to bring the search firm to a solid understanding of you and your issues, you want to make sure that they have the capabilities to handle your requirements on the same scale as your ambitions and opportunities.
Finally, you want to understand the degree of sophistication that the search firm brings in terms of databases and research capabilities. These days, your potential candidates could be anywhere in the world with any number of global competitors or comparable firms. You want to be sure that your partner has the ability to identify those who fit the profile regardless of where they are or where they might currently be working.
The reality is that essentially all of the major-name search firms meet these criteria. The differences between Heidrick & Struggles; Korn, Ferry; Russell Reynolds; Spencer Stuart; and Ray and Berndtson aren't in the degree of industry expertise. They all have it with some modest differences in mix and depth. The differences aren't in the area of global reach since they are all capable of operating around the world. And it isn't in the sophistication of info systems or research. In the final analysis, these firms can be differentiated by the degree of comfort the client feels about the people who will be working with you and executing your business. Choose those who understand what it takes to be successful and who understand how to work with you to make you the smartest client you can be.
Conclusion
Search firm partners really won't say so, but they actually see clients in two classes. In group one are the clients who stand back from the process. They see search firms as "name collectors." They see candidates as applicants who are trying to sell themselves to the client. But the truth is these people are limiting their opportunities and getting less out of the relationships than could be the case if they were willing to work a little harder and a little smarter.
The second group is the smart clients. Search partners see smart clients as those who treat the search firm as partners and view them as a source of competitive intelligence and long-term understanding even when there is no immediate search going on. They understand that their job is working with the search firm to find the best talent available. And that means accessing the people who aren't easy to find or aren't aggressively looking. And that their job together is to take an accurate but motivating vision of the client's opportunity forward and engage the kind of people whose talent can make that vision into a reality. These are the clients that are the most fun to work with even if they are more demanding. They are the ones that take more time but where the results make both parties feel good about the partnership.
PART FOUR
The Book of Lists
HI his next section sorts the secrets into checklists based on age and oi situation. Executives on the move understand that they are competing with and compared to their peers. The norms are different for different peer groups. No one expects a 28-year-old product manager to have the same profile as a 36-year old division manager. But if the 28-year-old lags his or her own peer group, not much else will convince a search firm that person is worth tracking.
But there is another standard against which all executive candidates are compared that is not so obvious. It is the current version of the "mythic manager." Today, with so many "how to" books on management, there is a vague sense of the ideal manager that exists in the public consciousness, even if no one person can live up to this ideal. Managers on the move may not subscribe to these managerial fads and models, but they should certainly understand them, since the people who will be interviewing them have these images as part of their standard of comparison.
Not only are these assumptions about the mythic manager unspoken, they change with time. So, before we expose you to the checklists that apply to peer groups, let's provide a longer-term perspective on the public image of the ideal manager.
