It is not clear for most people what an executive consultant does. For most people we are a "good person for them to know" since we might be the source of an interesting job opportunity.
Our job is to be a valued counsel to our client---the person with the authority, resources and need to hire the right person for a key position in their organization. The most famous firms are known for their ability to work behind the scenes for their clients when a new CEO is needed for a Fortune 50 or 100 organization. The big firms are active globally in every industry from for profit public companies to universities. Some are public companies like Korn Ferry, Heidrick & Struggles--and C-T Partners. There are a plethora of firms that mirror the structure and operation of the global firms. Executive search firms share a common approach: they work exclusively for their client as "counsel" to help them understand their hiring need in depth before they begin to identify and qualify potential candidates who they believe fit well with the hiring need.
What have we said so far? Executive search consulting is really about understanding the client's need; the hiring organization...and then providing a service to the hiring organization that ultimately involves bringing forward a slate of qualified candidates who closely match the hiring need.
Executive search consultants work on searches on an exclusive basis for their clients. The client and search firm partner together on the project and the search consultant provides valuable counsel to the client---and often, to the candidates as well. Once the search consulting agreement is signed it is clear to the client and the search firm that they are a team working together on the project in an effort to find and hire the right candidate. It doesn't matter who identifies the potential candidate---the client and the search firm are working together: they are on the same side of the table. Sometimes the client and the search firm are not successful in finding that "right" candidate. The search firm is still paid for their consulting effort. Sometimes a client will decide that the hired candidate is not acceptable after a relatively short time on the job; 1 year or less. When this happens, because the search firm has already been paid for their service, sometimes the search firm will be asked to "re-do" the search. Most search firms will either ask for and receive a consulting continuation fee or they may elect, for client relationship management purposes, to continue the search at no charge.
What is the point of my telling you all this? I want to see more business professionals understand what a search firm really does and why we are so valuable to clients who take the time to appreciate that we are not just "headhunters" opportunistically snatching people from one organization and "placing" them with another. Executive search firms are paid for the value of their counsel and consulting effort.
Please feel free to ask a question or get in touch with me if you would like. I will be glad to be responsive.
Keith D Kulper
President
www.kulpercompany.com
Keith D Kulper, President
Keith addressing 12/7/10 meeting of the KULPER Advisory Board held at New Jersey Institute of Technology
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
References...a predictive tool for hiring
Over the past few weeks I have been asked for references several times from prospective clients of our firm. They want to know what it is going to be like to work with KULPER & COMPANY before they sign our consulting agreement. I encourage them to call our references---when that happens we almost always win the assignment.
References are ---when properly done--a very reliable predictor of future performance. When we complete references on a finalist candidate we try to achieve a 360 view of the candidate's job performance from superiors, peers and subordinates. It is amazing how consistent the stories are----and therein lies the value of the exercise.
We call the references our candidate supplies to us. In this way this all important element of the search process is totally above board since the references know that it is fine with the candidate for them to speak with our firm. Skeptics might opine, "how can you expect to get an unbiased opinion"? In response we say---"we don't...and that is very OK". When we call the reference we expect to get an immediate gush of positive opinion---"he ( or she) is a great person to work with!"....and once the reference gets that out, we begin to ask questions designed to verify accomplishments, problem solving abilities, work style and personal character. They tell us alot because they are trying to be helpful to their colleagues. It is truly uncanny how similar the stories about the finalist candidate really are....once we have spoken with a few of the references. In essence, we are cross referencing the original assessment of the finalist candidate. We learn about him or her from the perspective of people who have actually been in the trenches with that person and willingly provide valuable/ predictable insights about their own experience with the candidate. The net result of the collective stories is that they are, indeed, highly predictive of how the hired candidate does in fact behave ( and perform) in his or her new assignment.
A colleague in the search consulting business recently told me about his search process. He had worked for several internationally recognized search firms before starting his own practice and he was keen to make some process improvements when he got out there on his own. He said, " Keith, I do the interviewing of the candidates myself and then call their references, too, when we advance to that point in the search process. I find that the outcomes of our search assignments tend be long lasting and resultant client satisfaction leads us to a great deal of repeat business for my firm". Bravo!
In search consulting, two of the key elements of the value proposition of the service are:
1) hired candidate length of tenure and,
2) hired candidate record of promotion/increase in responsibility.
Getting underneath the work record "story" of finalist candidates, before the final decision to hire is reached, helps assure that the hired candidate will enjoy long job tenure and an opportunity to be promoted because he or she truly is, the "right hired candidate..
Warm regards,
Keith
References are ---when properly done--a very reliable predictor of future performance. When we complete references on a finalist candidate we try to achieve a 360 view of the candidate's job performance from superiors, peers and subordinates. It is amazing how consistent the stories are----and therein lies the value of the exercise.
We call the references our candidate supplies to us. In this way this all important element of the search process is totally above board since the references know that it is fine with the candidate for them to speak with our firm. Skeptics might opine, "how can you expect to get an unbiased opinion"? In response we say---"we don't...and that is very OK". When we call the reference we expect to get an immediate gush of positive opinion---"he ( or she) is a great person to work with!"....and once the reference gets that out, we begin to ask questions designed to verify accomplishments, problem solving abilities, work style and personal character. They tell us alot because they are trying to be helpful to their colleagues. It is truly uncanny how similar the stories about the finalist candidate really are....once we have spoken with a few of the references. In essence, we are cross referencing the original assessment of the finalist candidate. We learn about him or her from the perspective of people who have actually been in the trenches with that person and willingly provide valuable/ predictable insights about their own experience with the candidate. The net result of the collective stories is that they are, indeed, highly predictive of how the hired candidate does in fact behave ( and perform) in his or her new assignment.
A colleague in the search consulting business recently told me about his search process. He had worked for several internationally recognized search firms before starting his own practice and he was keen to make some process improvements when he got out there on his own. He said, " Keith, I do the interviewing of the candidates myself and then call their references, too, when we advance to that point in the search process. I find that the outcomes of our search assignments tend be long lasting and resultant client satisfaction leads us to a great deal of repeat business for my firm". Bravo!
In search consulting, two of the key elements of the value proposition of the service are:
1) hired candidate length of tenure and,
2) hired candidate record of promotion/increase in responsibility.
Getting underneath the work record "story" of finalist candidates, before the final decision to hire is reached, helps assure that the hired candidate will enjoy long job tenure and an opportunity to be promoted because he or she truly is, the "right hired candidate..
Warm regards,
Keith
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