What is executive search?
Executive search is a specialised type of assignment that is aimed at attracting highly skilled senior management talent to a company / organisation. It is typically used to fill strategically important roles, including General Counsel’s, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Chief Financial Officer.
Rarely are these people just seeking a position. They need to be proactively approached and sold the positions.
Whereas contingency recruitment works for filling more junior roles in an organisation, your leadership needs to be made up of the best people and therefore executive search assignments have come into existence.
Executive search seeks out the perfect match for both the role and the company – whether the candidate is actively looking for a new position or not. This is where the term “Head-hunter” is derived from.
An organisation will develop a long-term partnership with an executive search firm and the senior individuals operating there who, in turn, acts as an external extension of their business.
How does an executive search assignment with JEX Personnel work?
Executive search involves working with a third party, such as JEX Personnel.
Executive search is relationship driven. JEX Personnel will work closely with you to understand the requirements of the role. It is a research-led approach, meaning a search firm will be paid a retainer fee upfront to carry out analyse the marketplace and benchmark for skills/roles and salaries.
A search firm will tend to have extensive knowledge of and access to board directors and senior executives across industries and functions, allowing them to build a large pool of top executive talent
The executive search approach combines five key elements:
- Establish the key search
priorities
- Determine the key skills, necessary knowledge, and primary abilities required, offering insight and fresh perspectives on how the organisation can think about their needs.
- Develop a customised brief for the position alongside a candidate specification that details the company, the role, responsibilities, goals, and key challenges for the position, as well as the experience, qualifications, and competencies required for success.
- Cover the budget for the assignment and what the chosen candidate is to be paid, offering advice and insight when needed.
- Cover search strategy
- A lot of the time such individuals could be working with your direct competitors. As such we will conduct targeted research into companies and sectors to find people with the relevant skills, experience, and qualifications.
- Develop a list of the best-qualified prospects for the role. Depending on the market, position and requirements this could be a relatively long list of a very short list of selected individuals.
- Contact prospects to identify and qualify them.
- Evaluate suitable candidates
- Approach each potential candidate to test their interest in the role, or even engaging in such a position.
- Conduct competency-based and technical interviews with candidates based on the proven skills, knowledge, abilities, and aptitudes outlined in the position specification.
- We do encourage for the client to be involved at this stage to ensure they are satisfied with this method.
- Develop a shortlist of candidates with the qualifications and interest in the position.
- Present suitable candidates
for an interview with yourselves
- Present the organisation with the most qualified candidates based on our interaction with them
- Speak to each candidate and gather their views on yourselves
- Complete the Executive
search
- One you have selected your preferred candidate we will assist in all negotiations over the compensation and other terms to help conclude the search.
- Subject to a satisfactory offer we will (or yourselves if preferred) will conduct ed thorough background checks and referencing to further assess competencies, strengths and weaknesses.
- Periodically follow up with the organisation and the candidate once the search is closed, checking in on ongoing fit and progress of the transition.
What are the benefits of executive search?
Individuals who are hired at this level are a huge investment in terms of impact, time and cost. So, goes without saying this has to be done right.
JEX Personnel can help you secure the right people to drive your business forward and impact your top and bottom line. They do this by:
Mapping the market for the correct candidate – Searches like this are candidate lead and JEX Personnel can provide you with access to a top network of otherwise inaccessible industry-leading candidates by mapping the market and benchmarking for skills/roles and salaries.
Delivering solutions – JEX Personnel is here to assist and manage such a search for your organisation and offer an objective approach to finding such individuals.
Approaching candidates on your behalf – JEX Personnel is able to make professional and qualified approaches on behalf of your company to sound out potential candidates.
Becoming a trusted advisor – This facilitates their ability to ‘sell’ the role and understand the company politics and requirements.
How much does it cost?
Because of the targeted nature of such an assignment, the confidentiality involved, the level that this search is being conducted at and the amount of work upfront it’s reasonable to assume this could be an expensive proposition. But the simple answer is that is isn’t?
As your executive search Partner, we would be working with yourselves exclusively. So, as a result, we don’t run the risk of “wasting” time and resources in more contingent searches.
We share the risk and as a result are fees are lowered to reflect this working relationship.
In addition, we do off load a majority of the fee until the assignment is completed to give our clients some assurances, we will be involved in this until the end of the search.
Final thoughts
Should you or your company has a potential requirement or interesting in learning more please contact ourselves directly for a confidential, no commitment conversation.info@JEX-personnel.com