search-consult Issue 35 by margaret jaouadi

2009 / ISSUE 35

The International Executive Search Magazine Published by Dillistone Systems

The 2009 Executive Consulting Conference June 2, New York

Quality Assurance In Executive Search Focus on Life Sciences NEW Technology For Executive Recruiters Setting Up In Dubai Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Great Natural Resource How To Eliminate Your Search Competition

SOME SEEK A SAFE HARBOR FROM THE STORM. OTHERS SEE THE LIGHT OF OPPORTUNITY. WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Are you looking for a search practice?

sustainability plan for your executive

Do you really know how much your firm is worth and have you identified an exit

strategy ?

Do you want to diversify your executive search firm or leverage

global expansion opportunities? Are you ready to innovate your retained search model? Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on your agenda for new

business development ?

search-consult has assembled a team of world-class advisors who can help you and your retained search firm navigate the choppy waters of today and the sea-change just over the horizon. Want to learn more? E-mail advisors@search-consult.com

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Joseph Daniel McCool consults globally on executive search firm best practices ranging from marketing and new business development to succession, global alliances and managing through challenging times. He is the author of Deciding Who Leads, recognized as “one of the best business books of the year.” A former editor of Kennedy’s Executive Recruiter News, he also writes as a contributor to ExecuNet and BusinessWeek. Contact him at Joe@DecidingWhoLeads.com.

MANAGING DIRECTOR Jason Starr jason@search-consult.com EDITORIAL Pilar Gumucio editorial@search-consult.com PRODUCTION Margaret Jaouadi margaret@search-consult.com

ADVERTISING/SUBSCRIPTIONS/REPRINTS UK and Europe North and South America South East Asia and Australia Yann Le Leyour enquiries@search-consult.com or log on to www.search-consult.com

search-consult.com Third Floor, 50-52 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4LB, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7749 6102 Fax: +44 (0)20 7729 6108 www.search-consult.com

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search-consult is published quarterly by Dillistone Systems Limited, Third Floor, 50-52 Paul Street, London EC2A 4LB and printed by Mr. Bloom Ltd, Sopot, Poland, www.mrbloom.com.pl. Periodical Postage PAID at Jamaica, NY. POSTMASTER: Send change of address changes to Dillistone Systems Inc., 50 Harrison Street, Suite 201A, Hoboken, NJ 07030. All statements, opinions, and expressions are the sole responsibility of the authors and the Publishers reserve the right to amend/alter articles as necessary. The Publishers cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage, however caused, of any materials supplied. Any materials supplied may not always be returned. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any format without prior written consent of the Publishers.

Retreat or Innovate Retreat or innovate – the choice (and the consequences) are entirely yours. Executive search consulting firms are retrenching around their core business these days, and for some, global economic challenges have already prompted some to initiate layoffs, office closings and/or the redesign of consultant compensation plans. After creating the demand for executive talent that enabled search firms to post double-digit gains in revenue for four-and-a-half years through nearly the first three quarters of 2008, client hiring organizations are also feeling the economic fallout. They too are witnessing a shift in search firm business practice, which is all too predictable. Phones are ringing off the hook in the offices of many corporate decision-makers and human resource officers with entreaties from desperate search consultants seeking that plum, practice-sustaining assignment. The single most prevalent form of new business development retained search firms engage in during times like these is fee discounting. When revealed in the course of a search consultant’s cold call or outreach to a client or prospect with whom he or she hasn’t spoken for some time, the ‘headhunter’ stereotype is yet again confirmed. So what lessons can we draw from experience? First, your consultants must stay close to their clients no matter what the economic climate. Obvious, you counter? Well, if retained search firms were good at making tough decisions and the sacrifices that come with occasionally foregoing a new search in order to truly partner with a client when the economy is booming, many would not find themselves in a cyclical ‘push-pull’ with clients that defies establishing a partnership with them. The firms now best positioned to weather the current economic tempest are those that have institutionalized periodic visits to their clients’ headquarters and remote facilities, regardless of whether there was a new search assignment on the line. They are the firms that have consistently engaged in meaningful dialogue with clients about their key business challenges. They are the firms that have developed a differentiated value proposition. And they are the firms that have taken a pause during the peaks of the business cycle to engage in strategic planning. The failure of many retained search firms to thoughtfully chart their own course and devise a plan to consistently demonstrate the value they bring means that they will now have the terms of client engagement dictated to them. The second lesson of experience for managing a search firm through the economic headwinds, therefore, is to understand your client is paying more for the outcomes of your completed search than for the process itself. Track the tenure, performance and promotion rates of executives you’ve placed and you’ll impress on clients your commitment to executives’ effective performances. The search itself is only a means to achieving that objective. A third lesson is to actually lead clients. In sobering times like these, transaction brokers are led by their clients. True consultants lead by innovating, by changing the nature of their dialogue with clients, by bringing real value to the conversation and by putting client needs at the center at all times. Sometimes that forces tough choices. So be it. True client partnership is the best shelter from the economic storm.

Joseph Daniel McCool Joe@DecidingWhoLeads.com

Joseph Daniel McCool is one of the speakers at the upcoming The 2009 Executive Search Consulting Conference taking place in New York on June 2. See the details on page 10 and 11.

ISSUE 35 2009 search-consult

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Quality Assurance Program

Improves

Candidate Experience Client Outcomes

willingness to learn and try something new is both a dangerous and potentially disruptive concept in retained executive search consulting. And one that’s often revealed in this question: “What if…?”

Richard S. (Rick) Slayton

Taking a hard look at a search firm’s performance usually boils down to an assessment of revenue growth and consultant productivity. But for Slayton Search Partners, a retained executive search firm with offices across the United States, the practice of self-evaluation has pushed it closer to achieving a zero-defect recruiting process that scorecards the client, and - in a first

search-consult ISSUE 35 2009

for the search business - the candidate experience to continually improve performance every time out. The surest way for a search firm and its consultants to raise their game, Slayton Search Partners figures, is to build on the lessons of past engagements with all the parties to the executive courtship process to optimize the course, feel and value created by each new search assignment. “The challenge of executive leadership is growing more complex and the competition for the most exceptional senior-management candidates continues to intensify,” says Slayton President Richard S. Slayton. “The biggest decisions made during the recruiting process often come down to the finer, oftenoverlooked touch points of what amounts to a mutual commitment process between hiring organizations and top leadership candidates as a search unfolds.” Leading employers - Slayton adds - recognize the buyer’s mentality in the external search process. They get the most out of their time with exceptional executive job candidates and understand that timely information flow about the status of their respective candidacy and the overall progress of the search are key to keeping top prospects actively engaged. Recognizing an opportunity to improve the candidate experience and client outcomes, Slayton Search Partners made a first-of-its-kind commitment to continual learning and performance improvement in October 2006 by initiating a formal quality assurance program of post-assignment

By Pilar Gumucio interviews with placed executives and finalist candidates. The result was the adoption of the firm’s exclusive Candidate Experience Survey, a process that runs parallel to its separate, yet equally distinctive, Client Satisfaction Survey, and the appointment

Charles Ratigan

of Charles Ratigan – who brings over 25 years of exemplary search engagement experience – as Slayton Search Partner’s first Chief Quality Officer. Following up on its commitment to regularly report the performance findings of its candidate surveys back to its clients, Slayton Search Partners recently released its latest data revealing that placed executives and finalist candidates have

given its search consultants an average 7.9 rating on a 10-point scale, with a ’10’ reflective of a flawless process. That was 1.5 percentage points higher than the average grade assigned by those candidates to the firm’s client hiring organizations. Slayton Search Partners’ research reminds us that it’s essential for hiring organizations and their candidate interviewing teams to invest more time preparing for interviews with executive job candidates. For exceptional seniormanagement candidates with plenty of career options, there really is no room for a bungled interview process… nor for wasting any of their time. “The most sought-after external leadership candidates always have a number of compelling career options and new employment offers, no matter what the state of the economy,” Slayton says. And they bring their own, truly individual ‘Buyer’s Mentality’ to the assessment of any new career opportunity,” he adds. Employers can avoid costly missteps in the process, Slayton finds, by demonstrating their preparedness for these interviews and providing candidates with regular status updates about their candidacy lest they believe the hiring organization is losing interest in them. For its part, Slayton Search Partners has set an improvement goal of an average 8.5 rating for 2008, which will move its consultants to provide top seniormanagement prospects more frequent progress reports during the course of their candidacy. The firm’s consultants are rated and compensated, in part, based on their individual ability to deliver results for clients and provide a level of personal stewardship, respect and follow-through – whatever the outcome – for the candidate experience as individuals move through the search process. That’s particularly uncommon in a business that compensates search consultants based exclusively on billings and revenue received, an approach that fails to account for the goodwill that might be generated during the assignment as a

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deposit toward future revenue and longterm growth. Because of the prevailing short-term orientation of many search firms, a quality assurance program like the one innovated by Slayton Search Partners is beyond their reach. However, firms that invest in the following assets might find it possible to improve search outcomes: • A mission statement that speaks to desired client and candidate experiences; • A culture within the firm that promotes collaboration and which endorses selfevaluation, peer review and external performance assessment; • A compensation system that recognizes both client and candidate satisfaction, and • A commitment to continual learning and performance improvement. So how have Slayton Search Partners’ clients and candidates responded to its quality assurance program? “Our clients have a tendency to thank us, not only for doing these follow-up interviews with placed executives and finalist candidates, but for raising the game of their own interviewing and candidate interactions,” says Chief Quality Officer Charles Ratigan. “One of them recently told me that “Slayton Search Partners is the only firm my company works with that has a closed-loop process.” An executive Slayton Search Partners recently placed says: “Rather than a highpressure sales pitch, Slayton provided a consultative approach which helped me properly evaluate the opportunity step-bystep.” Ratigan adds: “What we and our clients are learning from the executive candidate perspective is incredibly powerful. Their experiences serve as continual reminders that executive transition has to be a winwin proposition for the individual leader as well as his or her new employer.” Many may consider Slayton Search Partners’ approach to executive search as unconventional, as they seek to improve

their performance levels with both the client and the candidate. In fact, Slayton Search Partners strongly believes that candidate and client relationships are fundamental for them to be effective, establishing “a limitless opportunity for high-quality solutions.” Can you say the same about your search firm? Speak to your candidates and clients and see what you can do to improve their experiences and boost your firm’s results. Slayton Search Partners, Inc. is a retained executive search firm, serving some of the world’s most recognized organizations. Slayton’s limit-less® approach to executive search has made the firm the first choice of U.S. businesses and organizations who demand the best possible search results. By focusing on a structure that balances the size needed to do the job with the size needed to deliver personal attention and service, Slayton avoids restrictions that limit traditional search firms. This helps transform the relationships with our clients into a limit-less® opportunity for high-quality solutions. Slayton serves its clients from offices in major markets including Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. and is focused on select specialty and functional practice areas. Slayton’s combination of highly experienced and focused search professionals, coupled with its record for attentive personal service, has made it one of the fastest-growing and most highlyrespected search firms in the country. Richard S. (Rick) Slayton - President. In April 2008, Rick was recognized by Business Week as one of “The World’s Most Influential Headhunters.” With over 17 years of experience in executive search, Rick has successfully served Fortune 500 clients in the consumer products, industrial and financial service sectors. Rick prides himself on developing longterm relationships. On average, Rick’s client relationships are over five years in length and some stretch to 12 years. Great client experiences and repeat work are some of the hallmarks that have made Rick one of the country’s most respected search professionals. Charles Ratigan – Chief Quality Officer. Charlie has more than 25 years of experience in the executive search profession. He has assisted a variety of publicly and privately-held companies in recruiting executives to toplevel general management, key line and staff positions. Before joining Slayton, Charlie was Co-Managing Partner of the Industrial Products & Services practice for Ray & Berndtson, a global executive search firm, where he expanded the firm’s presence in the industrial sector. Previously, Charlie spent 18 years with Heidrick & Struggles, where he held a series of leadership roles within the firm, including Managing Partner of the Chicago Office.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.slaytonsearchpartners.com

ISSUE 35 2009 search-consult

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Being Successful

in Executive Search

Begins With “Who Takes Your Call”

uccess in retained executive searches in life sciences requires more than credentials and phone calls. Retained executive searches target higher echelon positions. To be successful at this level, the executive recruiter must possess exceptional communication and personal skills that create access, develop credibility and convey persuasiveness. • Access: who takes your call? • Credibility: developing a relationship where clients and candidates believe you. • Persuasiveness: the ability to change or affect both clients’ and candidates’ opinions. While these basics apply to all areas of recruitment, I have witnessed how the constants of access, credibility and persuasiveness have remained a cornerstone for successful retained executive searches in the face of an industry that has undergone major transformations. THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE SCIENCES Over the past 25 years, the biotech industry has undergone explosive growth and development. The dawn of today’s biotech industry is traced back to mid1970 when Genentech produced human proteins manufactured in bacteria. Splicing

search-consult ISSUE 35 2009

By Neil Solomon genes were tremendous scientific news and provided the springboard for the huge number of biotech companies we find just in the U.S. today. But for each major success, a far larger number of ventures failed. Drugs failed to gain approval, companies ran out of capital, companies merged and/ or continued to transform themselves into different entities. Meanwhile with new discoveries and applications of biotech, the industry has extended beyond the medical field. Today biotech encompasses four major industries: healthcare/medical, agricultural/crop production, industrial and environmental. Concurrently and perhaps predictably, the field of recruitment in the life sciences has grown exponentially. In the ‘80s, the retained executive search industry was comprised of several large firms and a variety of smaller boutiques, most of whom assumed a generalist approach covering a range of industries. At that time, consultants who considered themselves to be in healthcare were primarily working in the hospital and managed-care areas. A few dedicated firms also did a fair amount of search work for the pharmaceutical industry. While most were not even aware of the emerging biotech industry, a few of us discovered that biotech search was both potentially lucrative and exciting from a scientific perspective. Interest in biotech searches grew with publicity surrounding IPO’s and scientific successes. What was

initially created largely by entrepreneurial scientists and visionary venture capitalists has now become a multi-billion-dollar-ayear-industry. As a result of industry growth, hundreds of search firms now work in the biotech arena. They are typically manned with a cadre of MDs and PhDs focusing exclusively on life science units. But while a consultant’s scientific credentials may be impressive, the skills that are necessary for a successful search consultant do not come in an academic package. Indeed, working in a lab or treating patients hardly prepares a consultant for the skills that go into conducting and completing a search. But for the search firm, these credentials have a marquee value that sells. HOW SEARCH HAS EVOLVED? There has also been an evolution in the execution of searches. A code of conduct was established and followed, especially by the more prestigious firms. This code of conduct dictated keeping a very low profile while servicing the client and never appearing in the press identifying completed searches. These historically stealth searches are in sharp contrast to present day, where searches are often highly publicized. The pace has changed too. Previously, searches would take three or more months requiring the consultant—usually working alone or with a few assistants—to identify, contact and

IMAGINE IT An Executive Search Software System that:

automatically finds candidates on the web, based on your target company lists

finds executive biographies on the web, based on your longlist of potential candidates

tracks alumni, resignations and hires at your client companies

is so flexible that you can teach it to seek out the information you wish to find

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interview candidates. Today, searches are carried out in a compressed timeframe with a large cadre of search consultants, often chasing the same candidates for companies doing research and development in the same or, in many cases, overlapping areas. Keeping a low profile today is almost an impossible feat. In fact, frankly speaking, search firms are eager for the press to announce their successes and give them coverage. Advances in technology have also played a significant part in the evolution of the search industry. Everyone feels its impact: from instant access with cell phones and instant messaging to information being immediately available on the internet relating to clients, candidates and events. When a client asks: “How long will this take,” I alert them to the fact that there may be 25 companies chasing the same candidate. So the length of time to hire depends upon a plethora of factors, including the company’s response time. The time that lapses from the first interview to providng the offer has accelerated, especially since the candidate may have three other offers in hand. ACCESSIBILITY IS KEY In order to be successful at the executive search level it is vital to have access. The key to being able to obtain, develop and create access is to be able to maintain relationships and loyalty with candidates and companies. It is not only a challenge to keep track of candidates in the face of so many marketplace changes, but it is also a challenge to keep a tight reign on and manage relationships where you have placed the scientists and executives. In effect, you can find yourself swimming in mid-stream without a life preserver. An example of this challenge is where you presumably have a strong bond with a company, and you consider this company an important part of your portfolio of valued client companies—you recruited the CEO and managed several key management searches. Blindsided, and to your dismay, the CEO is recruited to another firm. This person now has a new allegiance with your

search-consult ISSUE 35 2009

competitor, the new recruiter. Meanwhile, the board of this portfolio company changes several of its members. Guess what?

Neil Solomon

One of the new board members enjoys a long time relationship with another search firm, so you neither get the CEO replacement search nor do you know the new CEO who has just joined the company. Understand that in the early 80s there was little of this frenetic activity. Today a search consultant faces circumstances like this on a daily basis. Another issue is loyalty. Many of the leaders whom you have worked with years ago have either hit pay dirt and retired or sit on a few boards. It is remarkable and a bit disconcerting to see how little loyalty they generally show the search consultant, who played an integral part in recruiting their management team, leading to their success and that of the company that ultimately got acquired. You see, ultimately the secret to the success of a top-flight search consultant today is not how many people or companies you may know, but “who takes your call” and allows you access to the right people and information required to execute a successful search. My personal entrance into executive searches was as a result of a career change. I was a psychologist working with families.

I understood that recruiting would tap directly into an existing skill set, especially the “persuasiveness” side that one uses as a therapist. No master’s degree program prepares you for executive search. In fact, most executive recruiters enter the field as a result of career changes, with a focus on being able to specialize in several therapeutic domains and being able to know the leaders in each. As I look back on my career, building relationships based upon first-rate work almost always results in the “who takes your call” effect. This is the selling point, or calling card, of being in the executive search business for many years. On any given search, it is the shortest distance between two points: your capacity to reach a key decision-maker or potential candidate. With the various areas in life sciences having expanded exponentially, “who takes your call” cuts through the morass. Above all else, this capability established over time - helps differentiate those long-time successful executive recruiters from the rest. For example, on the high-level searches I conduct, when I leave a client’s office, I already know at least ten individuals to contact that will start me on the road to being able to execute a successful search. Make sure you don’t underestimate the importance of who takes your call, providing you and your clients with the right information and top talent required to continue to thrive. Dr. Neil Solomon, a former psychologist, author and media figure, is an expert in biotechnology and life science executive search. In fact, his firm, the Neil Michael Group, began in the early 1980’s and for over 25 years has only served the life science community. The firm enjoys long relationships with some of the premier biotechnology and medical device companies from early stage start-ups to major publicly traded life science companies. In fact, the Neil Michael Group’s track record speaks for itself as many of their candidate placements have become leaders within the life science industry managing top tier companies from either the executive or science side of the business.To contact the author directly, email neil@nmgsearch.com or call +1 516-482-8810 x13

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.nmgssearch.com

EXPERIENCE IT NEW! is available NOW! Book your FREE, no obligation presentation TODAY! sales@dillistone.com

USA: +1 (201) 653-0013 • Australia/Asia: +61 2 8221 8860 Germany: +49 (0)69 27 40 15 807 • UK / Other Europe: +44 (0)20 7749 6100 sales@dillistone.com • www.dillistone.com

Retaining What’s Essential For Retained Executive Search Consulting Executive recruiters feeling the pressures of a challenging economic climate and searching for strategies and tactics to help position their firms for success - and sustainability - in 2009, and beyond. search-consult has assembled a slate of exceptionally experienced practitioners, consultants, clients and market observers to assess and explore key value drivers that will sustain your search practice for shortterm survival and long-term profitability. As trusted advisors to corporate management, the mandate to raise the return on investment in leadership capital is clear and compelling, yet the routes to achieve that objective are many and engender some risk for even the best-positioned search firms. This compelling one-day program will discuss topics that will help you improve your strategy, challenge your assumptions, and provide crucial options for managing your firm as well as realizing its true potential for growth. 8am REGISTRATION AND NETWORKING BREAKFAST 9am WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS Jason Starr, Publisher of search-consult magazine & President, Dillistone Group 9:10am KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW: HOW GREAT LEADERS PREVENT PROBLEMS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN Professor Michael A. Roberto, Author and Trustee Professor of Management, Bryant University Why is it that companies are so willing to pay a premium for executives who can solve problems or clean up after a catastrophe, yet fail to see the full value of one who can help them avoid a crisis in the first place? Join former Harvard professor Michael A. Roberto, author of the just-released book, Know What You Don’t Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen, for a revealing look at the new rules for evaluating executive leadership when risk management is so high on the corporate agenda. Professor Michael A. Roberto Author and Trustee Professor of Management Bryant University

10:10am TEN RULES FOR RE-ENGINEERING RETAINED EXECUTIVE SEARCH Joseph Daniel McCool, Consultant and Author, Deciding Who Leads Just how sustainable is the traditional model of retained executive search consulting? And how should firms attempt to transform client relationships? Given the pressures on most search practices and firms these days, the answers offered by author and consultant Joseph Daniel McCool will shed new light on how to elevate the process, differentiate your firm and make the value you bring far more transparent to clients. Now more than ever before, McCool will explain, it’s time to innovate and set a new consultative agenda with clients. Take your retained executive search practice to a new level and take away 10 new approaches for re-engineering what remains the Joseph Daniel McCool most critical form of management consulting. Consultant and Author Deciding Who Leads

11:10am NETWORKING BREAK 11:30am SEARCH-CONSULT LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD PRESENTATION Gerard Roche, Senior Chairman, Heidrick & Struggles Join one of the most dynamic, accomplished and respected voices of the profession for what’s sure to be a rich and riveting assessment of what it takes to build a legacy of success in executive search. Join search legend Gerry Roche for a personal and revealing look at managing ﬁrms, client relationships and candidate expectations through challenging times. Discuss your own top issues during this interactive session and solicit the views of a leader, who knows better than most, what it takes to remain true to your ﬁrm’s identity, its values and its reputation. Gerard Roche Senior Chairman Heidrick & Struggles

12:30pm NETWORKING LUNCH

1:30pm PANEL DISCUSSION: ALIGNING EXECUTIVE SEARCH WITH CORPORATE TALENT MANAGEMENT Moderator TBC Panelists: - Brent S. McCombs, Vice President, Talent, Waste Management - Cindy Pallman-David, Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition, GSI Commerce - Other panelists TBC 2:45pm NETWORKING BREAK 3pm MANAGING THROUGH CHALLENGING TIMES: A SUSTAINABILITY PLAN FOR EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRMS Robert L. Benson, President, Robert L. Benson & Associates, Inc. Strategic planning, a collaborative and equitable culture, and a compelling brand are just some of the essentials for bridging your firm through challenging times to the prosperity of the future. So what is it about your firm that makes it attractive to consultants? Can you retain high performers when market headwinds get in the way? And how can you build a winning firm with a meaningful strategy to carry it through any stage of a business cycle? Join longtime Spencer Stuart executive committee member for an overview of the issues that often stand in the way of search firm growth and performance. Robert L. Benson President Robert L. Benson & Associates, Inc.

3:45pm A BUSINESS OUTLOOK ON THE ROAD AHEAD Mark Anderson, President and Chief Economist, ExecuNet, Inc. The health and trajectory of the U.S. economy will undoubtedly frame the pressures and opportunities that lay ahead for executive search ﬁrms in 2009. Join ExecuNet President and Chief Economist Mark Anderson for a revealing look at data that offer insight and direction on shifting executive attitudes, corporate talent management priorities, emerging leadership challenges and the industries and job functions with the greatest demand for executive management talent. Benchmark your view about where the market for key business leaders is heading against 20 years’ worth of ExecuNet market trend lines. Mark Anderson President and Chief Economist ExecuNet, Inc.

4:30pm CLOSING REMARKS Jason Starr, Publisher of search-consult magazine & President, Dillistone Group 4:40pm COCKTAIL RECEPTION Agenda and speakers are subject to change

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For a detailed agenda and to book please visit www.search-consult.com/NewYork2009 search-consult Events can be contacted on the following numbers: +1 (201) 653-0013 or +44 (0)20 7749 6102 or via email: events@search-consult.com COST: Early Bird Rate US$995 / UK£675 / €769 per delegate (available until April 2, 2009)

Jill Dillistone is a search professional with more than twenty yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience of conducting research for retained executive search firms including Spencer Stuart and Russell Reynolds. She has managed pan-European research teams and has developed and delivered training courses for multi-national groups of researchers and consultants working for firms such as Heidrick & Struggles, Russell Reynolds and Whitehead Mann. She has run workshops in most countries in Europe, in the United States and in the Far East. A British national, Jill lives in France and speaks good French. Research & Candidate Development Workshop London, UK - June 2, 2009 This 1-day workshop is for less experienced researchers and consultants. The three themes covered during the day are research skills, telephone techniques and administration and project management. Search Execution & Client Management Workshop London, UK - June 3, 2009 This 1-day workshop is for professionals involved in the search execution process and focuses on effective and successful client management and liaison (including progress reporting), candidate interviewing and referencing and the preparation of candidate reports and package negotiation. Interview Skills Workshop London, UK - June 4, 2009 This 1-day workshop covers an introduction to compentency-based interviewing and an exercise in critical-incident based interviewing. The benefits of the day include the opportunity to improve your skills in candidate evaluation; practice different questioning techniques in role plays and learn about different approaches to interviewing.

For more information and to book, please visit www.search-consult.com/workshops or send an email to events@search-consult.com

82.5% retained billings Executive Search

All locations, worldwide

Spectrum is an established, well-regarded retained executive search ďŹ rm operating on behalf of its valued corporate clients, currently in the global communications, digital media and technology sectors. Our internal operating model is very different to most search ďŹ rms, enabling us to offer highly experienced search professionals a completely empowering and rewarding environment. Why might Spectrum represent the best search ďŹ rm for you?

In return, what does Spectrum require from you?

We believe for the following three key reasons:

s ! COMMITMENT TO DELIVER EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE TO CLIENTS and candidates.

s !S AN EXPERIENCED PRACTITIONER WHO PERSONALLY ORIGINATES AND delivers retained client mandates, the signiďŹ cant majority of generated fee income (82.5%) is returned to you rather than retained by the ďŹ rm. s 7E DO NOT OPERATE A TARGETED ENVIRONMENT AND NEITHER DO WE run an in-the-ofďŹ ce 9-5 culture.

s 4O MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE THE REPUTATION OF THE lRM and its team members. s 4O OPERATE WITHIN A DElNED SET OF BUSINESS ENHANCING processes, and in a supportive manner to colleagues.

s 4HE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE MORE CONTROL OVER COST OF DELIVERY AND fee income; in effect to operate your own P&L. Opportunities exist at Senior Partner level for those that generate not less than ÂŁ300k in fee income. Expressions of interest are invited FROM SEARCH PROFESSIONALS WITH MARKET OR FUNCTIONAL EXPERTISE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE 3PECTRUM S EXISTING 4-4 FOCUS To register your interest in a conďŹ dential discussion, please contact Daniel Osmer, Managing Partner, personally on +44(0)7788 416715. Email: daniel.osmer@spectrum-ehcs.com

www.spectrum-ehcs.com

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Setting Up Dubai A

s scores of International Search Firms seek to gain a presence in Dubai, we look into the thinking behind this trend and some of the pitfalls involved. Despite dramatic falls on the Dubai Stock Exchange in recent weeks, the United Arab Emirates has been widely considered to be one of the least affected by the global credit crunch. In fact, the perception among many in other parts of the world is that the UAE is an area flush with cash, willing to invest internally and externally, and which retains great potential for medium-term economic growth. Dubai, in particular, has been identified as the regional hub for this growth. Not surprisingly, these factors have led to great interest in Dubai on the part of the Executive Search sector. Whether based in the US, Europe or the Far East, a UAE presence has become a key element of many firms growth strategy. As such, many Search firms have attempted to establish themselves in Dubai over the last twelve months, and more are planning to in 2009. We have looked into the key factors influencing a Search firmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to enter Dubai, and highlighted the main two factors you will face: a business environment and the cost of hiring. A business friendly: Dubai in particular is often touted as a business friendly environment.

In some cases this is true; how can one argue with Dubaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 0% taxation. However, there are other factors that make Dubai a much harder place to do business then are often perceived. Key among these is a trade-licence: human resource companies require a licence to do business in the UAE, and they are increasingly hard to come by. In fact, in Dubai there has been a de-facto ban on new licences for the last two years. This is why many companies enter Dubai through the free-zones. These are free economic zones where companies are allowed 100% foreign ownership, as opposed to Dubai proper where the allowance is a maximum of 49%. Unfortunately, due to a rush of licence applicants over the last twelve to eighteen months, the free-zones have also begun to restrict licences to newcomers. The zones have limited space, making it hard to justify a constant flow of new licences for Executive Search firms. This current dynamic clearly makes it much harder to establish a Search firm in Dubai. Cost of hiring: Another factor that firms need to consider is the cost of employing search professionals in Dubai. Due to a limited number of qualified Consultants and Researchers on the ground in Dubai, Search firms are forced to move their own people over, or even hire people with relevant skill-sets outside

By Mark Bonnet

Dubai and relocate them. Some of the costs involved in these two latter options include a relocation package, and a significant level of support with accommodation. Deposits on rental accommodation in Dubai can be up to 12 months rent, obliging employers to loan sizeable sums to their staff. STATE OF THE UAE EXECUTIVE SEARCH MARKET: IS IT OVER OR UNDER BROKED? Many outside the UAE view the region as being under-broked in terms of Search providers. There is a tendency to view the UAE still as an emerging market where Executive Search is a relatively unknown quantity, creating an opportunity for outside firms to create a market. However, anyone inside Dubai would beg to differ. Dozens of companies have opened up in Dubai in the last few months alone. The Search sector in Dubai consists of three broad categories. There are the Global Search firms like Spencer Stuart, Korn/ Ferry, Heidrick & Struggles and Egon Zehnder that are almost all in Dubai now. These global Search firms work across almost every industry sector and employee large teams of Delivery Consultants and Researchers across offices to execute their mandates. They distinguish themselves by their ability to work across the Middle East, as they will often have at least one office elsewhere in the region. Their other key ISSUE 35 2009 search-consult

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selling point is access to candidates on an International level. As a result, these companies employ hundreds of Consultants and Researchers across the world’s major economic locations, enabling them to source a qualified candidate base in the Gulf. A second Tier of firms is the International networks and niche boutiques. Like the large global firms, they are able to benefit from an International candidate base through their affiliated offices. These firms are often structured on a franchise basis giving significant autonomy to local management. This structure allows local practices to be flexible in the way they run their operations, which suits the UAE market. Being able to be part of an international network while simultaneously being locally autonomous has attracted both multinationals and local businesses as clients, who buy-in to the regional knowledge built up by these local practices. Lastly, there are the UAE headquartered boutiques. Many of these firms have been operating in the Middle East for up to twenty years, and have an unparalleled understanding of the local market. What makes them different is that these Search firms tend to tend to have far stronger relationships with Middle Eastern businesses, including Corporates, the Islamic Banking world and the Sovereign Funds. They will usually employ Arabic speaking staff, giving them a competitive edge over outsiders. Outside of the existing Search market in Dubai there are other forms of competition to be considered. Firstly, there is a vast contingency recruitment market in UAE working across industry sectors. These firms offer companies access to local and international talent at fee rates significantly below those traditionally charged by Search firms. A lot of clients, particularly local ones, will ask themselves why they should be paying retainer fees when qualified candidates are being brought to their

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door. Many Executive Search firms who have set up in Dubai in the last two years will testify to how hard it can be to sell a retained model there. Finally and not to every Corporate’s taste, in-house direct sourcing in the region is growing rapidly, especially through-out 2008. While established western markets who have implemented the system have often focused on bottom line savings, the UAE has taken to this sourcing methodology for different reasons. Pro-active in-house sourcing has grown rapidly, allowing businesses to achieve their hiring targets and get exclusive access to a candidate in a market that is averse to paying retainer fees up front. THE CASE IS STILL STRONG Despite the above, Dubai holds great promise for the Search sector due to the rapid growth plans of many multinational and local businesses there. Relative to the rest of the world, there is still a strong business case in the Middle East for Search firms. A degree of decoupling has taken place with the family-run companies and Sovereign Funds being non-reliant on global capital markets. These institutions are still struggling to access the global talent needed to drive their investments. While many US and European banks are cutting back, Islamic Finance Institutions are aggressively seeking to hire International talent. Despite the plethora of Search firms within Dubai, very few companies have built up a serious infrastructure to execute multiple senior mandates for Middle Eastern clients. In fact, a significant number of Dubai-located Search firms are merely one-ortwo-man offices with little execution capability. Rumours abound in Dubai

about Search firms taking on large numbers of mandates and failing to deliver. Therefore, a business that invests seriously in its own product and has a good track record of delivery should be able to make good in-roads. However, Dubai’s greatest business case for the Search sector is its increasing role as a gateway to business in the rest of the Gulf and beyond. In the same way that Hong Kong represents a gateway to China, Dubai is becoming a business hub for the Middle East. From Dubai, firms can target Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, and, not least, the huge future market of Africa. Dubai’s unparalleled regional status will make it part of any ambitious Search firms’ business plan for a long time to come. As businesses become more competitive in Dubai and the rest of the region, the level of competition for Executive Search will also continue to escalate. In order to succeed, be prepared to invest in making sure your search firm has the right mix of consultants, reflecting your clients’ requirements. Make sure you prepare for the challenges that lay ahead, are able to reach local and international talent pools and take advantage of the opportunities Dubai can offer you and your clients. Mark Bonnet is a Director at the Napier Wolf Group of Companies. He is a Search Consultant and advisor to many of the world’s pre-eminent Executive Search brands. Mark has been working within Executive Search since 2001, and has recently led Napier Wolf’s expansion into the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. Napier Wolf builds and develops executive search practices globally. Its clients are tier one international search firms, local specialist boutiques and financial investors looking to build new businesses.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.napierwolf.co.uk

Limite d Places ! In today’s competitive job market, recruiters need to be informed of, and are able to, utilize all available resources to find the best passive talent on the web. To do this, you’ve got to know where they are. Nobody knows more about this than AIRS! Now we are bringing this expertise to UK recruiters with SearchLab UK. You’ll discover the secret to gaining an advantage over your competition by learning AIRS innovative sourcing methodologies to reveal the brightest talent and how to reach out to them quickly! At the end of the course, you’ll be able to do all this and more, plus be ready to test for the CIR (Certified Internet Recruiter) designation.

TRAINER

Laura Stoker

Laura Stoker, Senior Director of Training, AIRS Laura Stoker joined AIRS in August 2000 and is an international search expert and course developer. Since joining AIRS, she has trained thousands of attendees from a multitude of industries. In addition to training recruiters in North America; she has also presented AIRS courses to audiences in the UK, Europe, India, Asia and Australia. Ms. Stoker began her recruiting career as a researcher for retained executive search firms working on both international and domestic projects. Additionally, she worked as a recruiter for J.D. Edwards in Denver, Colorado, and as a technical recruiter for EMDS in Brussels, Belgium. Laura has been using AIRS techniques since she attended one of AIRS’ first classes in 1997 and now enjoys teaching a new generation of Internet recruiters. She spent a year studying at the University of Tübingen in Germany and received her degree from Colorado State University - Pueblo.

DATES: March 30, 2009 - London, UK March 31, 2009 - London, UK

What you’ll know after SearchLab UK: • The best tools to build talent communities. • How to follow links to locate passive candidates in hard-to-find places. • New ways to FlipSearch and XRay company websites, universities and organisations. • Strategy Starters to connect with your top 5 candidates within 15 minutes. Peer Search to find pools of similar candidates. • Where to find employee directories, alumni, attendance and phone lists. • Data-mining techniques for blogs and networking sites.

To attend AIRS training courses in the USA or online, please visit www.airsdirectory.com and use the promotional code HRJZQA

What you take away from SearchLab UK: • The definitive, 270-page SearchLab manual, including a glossary, Strategy Starters, tutorials and tips for implementing the concepts you learn. • Access to the legendary SearchLab Portal filled with fresh research and tactics, targeted links, recruitment news, a 5,000-document library, peer forums, directories and many more recruiting tools. • The opportunity to take the AIRS Certified Internet Recruiter (CIR) exam, the most respected and sought-after industry certification for recruiters. • Lifetime AIRS Alum membership, with quick answers to your sourcing questions, whether it’s one day or 2 years or more after your course.

For more information and to book, please visit www.search-consult.com/AIRS or send an email to events@search-consult.com

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NEW! By Jason Starr “Develop a technology which will automate the identification of senior level passive candidates based on retained search techniques”

hat was the mission which, 4 years ago, we set for the FILEFINDER development team. The background to this was a world in which, even then, information on organizations and the people responsible for running them was increasingly available through the Internet – if you knew where to look. The question we asked was - why should a search firm limit itself to the 1,000 or 10,000 or 100,000 or 1,000,000 or however many candidates it may have inside its internal database, when information on hundreds of millions of global business people may be found online? The immediate response to this type of question is “yes, but executive candidates don’t register for jobs online”. Maybe that’s changing, but it many cases it remains true. That’s why our technology wasn’t designed to merely search jobsites. Today, the websites of most organizations will feature biographies of the senior executive teams. Social Networks boast databases of “millions” and claim to include members in senior roles at global companies. Most newspapers publish content online – providing a huge global database of profiles, interviews and press releases. Google alone searches 4,500 different news

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sources, ranging from The Washington Post (USA), to Xinhau (China) and Frontline (India). What about information held in blogs? Telephone lists? Organization charts? The web provides a huge volume of information to researchers. The concept behind The Research Zone was to search all of it. And it’s now available as an integral part of FILEFINDER 9. Regular readers will know that the FILEFINDER suite is Dillistone Systems’ software system designed for executive search; Dillistone Systems is also the publisher of search-consult magazine; the writer is associated with both entities. FILEFINDER 9 is Dillistone’s latest release, available from January 1st, 2009. For users who haven’t seen earlier iterations, it is a combination of a database, a CRM system and a project management tool designed specifically to match the way executive recruiters work. The Research Zone is a new module within the system. It works by combining retained search concepts with web searching technologies. It asks the Researcher to think creatively about who he or she wants – the target companies, the job roles – and then automates the process of finding it.

So, what can it do? Let’s take some scenarios. Let’s assume that the Researcher has identified a list of 20 target companies. Within these companies, she/he needs to identify senior executives with responsibility for Human Resources. The Researcher starts with the list of companies and clicks the Research Zone button. Then selects the search – in this case, its a Social Network, and the relevant job function. From this, The Research Zone builds an Internet search which searches the selected social network for relevant individuals at each company. In this example, the system – in seconds – returns some 29 VP or Director level executives with HR responsibilities at Abbott Laboratories. A similar search at Amgen returns 49 individuals. The list is global, and many examples feature full biographies and detailed employment histories. Perhaps we are looking for a more specific search: Chief Executives at those specific firms. We know that CEOs at global businesses tend not to be on Social Networks, but they do tend to be profiled on corporate homepages. This time, therefore, we will ask the system to search via Corporate Websites for biographies. In a couple of seconds,

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results of the searches come we see that the CEO of Amgen up inside FILEFINDER – in the is Kevin Sharer – we also have internal browser. Users can a biography. The next firm on then – subject to the copyright our list is Abbott; the CEO here rules associated with some is Miles D. White. Again, this is sites – simply drag and drop identified in some 2 seconds. relevant information from the OK; let’s look for someone web into the system. more junior. Researchers at It is not available separately Healthcare firms are always and can not be linked into in demand. 2-3 seconds later other database systems. The and we have a list of online good news is, therefore, that resumes for people who meet for companies already using that criterion. FILEFINDER, they will get this Finally, another example... functionality free of charge when maybe we are tracking alumni, they upgrade to FILEFINDER resignations and appointments 9; furthermore, for clients with at key companies... again, the FILEFINDER 9’s new “Research Zone” being used to track resignations, appointments support contract, the software Research Zone can be used to and alumni of Amgen. upgrade is free of charge – clients identify developments of this will pay only for the time taken type – run the search and, 2 his annual compensation, stock options to do the work. For those companies not seconds later, our researcher has a list and board directorships. of news stories covering appointments What else can the tool be used currently using a FILEFINDER product and resignations, along with alumni, at for? Well, it is highly flexible – Clients – well, we’d welcome the chance to talk the company of interest. can teach it new searches – and so the to you about how the product can help All of the searches we’ve outlined so options are virtually limitless. Some your business revolutionise the way it far are based on identifying candidates examples we’ve toyed with include a undertakes research. through lists of Target companies. What search which brings back a map and list Jason Starr is Managing Director of Dillistone Systems, the company behind FILEFINDER and if we have the candidates, and need to of addresses / telephone numbers for publisher of search-consult magazine. research them? Again, the research all US offices of a targeted organisation; zone can be used for this. one that searches the South China www.search-consult.com Let’s go back to Kevin Sharer Morning Post for details of business For more information visit: at Amgen. Clicking on the “Profile investments in China; and another that Search” brings up numerous interviews, searches through blogs for references Web: www.dillistone.com biographies and interviews – again, in to certain organisations or executives. seconds. One is particularly interesting The Research Zone is an integral part To book your personal demonstration, – the Business Week biography details of FILEFINDER 9. This means that the send an email to sales@dillistone.com

JOIN THE WEBCAST

To register, send an email to sales@dillistone.com DATE March 11, 2009 March 11, 2009 March 12, 2009

TIME UK

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10am GMT

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2pm ET / 11am PT 1pm AEST

ISSUE 35 2009 search-consult

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Korea’s

Great Natural

Resource

orea’s economic development, often described as the miracle on the Han River, was no miracle. It was a direct result of the effective and efficient leveraging of the only natural resource Korea has always had in abundance: the will of its people. Sandwiched between Japan and China, with virtually no natural resources to speak of, Korea’s great strength has always been its people and its people’s desire to overcome whatever obstacles stood in their way. Endowed with a “cando” attitude and a seemingly inexhaustible source of energy, Korea’s populace never fails to astound. It is a natural resource the Government of Korea has come to rely on during the last 50 years of Korea’s race to modernity. When something needed getting done, government, management and the military could count on the strength of the people to “make it happen”. This includes overcoming the after effects of war, famine, national division and development. The Korean people have always “made it happen.” Rapid development was made possible by many factors, such as access to foreign capital and technology, along with favorable development policies, all coming together at the right time in the second half of the 20th century. Among those factors was Korea’s corporate culture which is constantly changing, based on the needs of the market and society’s prevailing culture. As Korea’s corporate culture evolves, executive search has come from nowhere to being an integral part of Korea’s

search-consult ISSUE 35 2009

By Steven B. McKinney ongoing miracle. More than simply being a function for allocating human resources to companies, search can now play a major role in shaping the future evolution of Korea’s corporate culture. Almost all of the top global retained search firms have operations in Korea. Most of these firms strive to provide ongoing relationships with their clients. Some of these firms - like McKinney Consulting - provide coaching, benchmarking or other talent management type services in addition to, or as a part of, their retained search practice. These retained search and talent management service providers are drivers in the evolution of the Korean corporate culture. Unfortunately, the search industry in Korea still has a long way to go. The vast majority of search firms in Korea are built on transactional contingency-based models, and thus; the retained search firms must work hard to show them the differences. We are constantly educating potential clients with contingency service experience on the full scope of what a proper retained search entails. Often enough, a company that has had a bad experience will be more receptive to try something new. We must instill confidence in our potential clients’ minds that the retained executive firm is highly reputable and the consultant working with them is extremely knowledgeable and fully understands their executive talent needs. Within this process, it is fundamental that all the parties involved understand the search process

as well as the terms and conditions of the agreement. This is a gradual process, educating one client at a time. More and more companies are being converted as competition for the best talent continues to intensify. In order to attain the best talent, companies are beginning to understand that they must be prepared to invest in a high quality service that will bring them precisely the candidates they are so eager to attain. KOREA’S CORPORATE EVOLUTION By any stretch of the imagination, Korea’s development has been amazing. Looking at some of the notable statistics, you can see just how much progress the country has made in the last 50 years. Korea ranks number #1 in the following areas: • Annual Work Hours (OECD) • Broad Band Internet Access per capita (Point Target) • Scientific Literacy (OECD) and • Worldwide Shipbuilding Completions (World Fleet Statistics) Korea ranks number #2 in the following areas: • Annual export growth (OECD) • Annual GDP growth (OECD) • Mathematical Literacy and (OECD) • International Patents Granted (WIPO) Korea ranks #3 in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s IT Industry Competitiveness Index.

Korea’s economy has become highly concentrated as a few firms, and the families that controlled those firms, had become responsible for the overwhelming amount of Korea’s production. It also drove Korea’s HR development, as “getting a good job” meant having a job that one could not lose. Korea’s young students faithfully did what was necessary to be attractive to Corporate Korea. It seemed clear that what was good for Samsung, Daewoo and Hyundai was good for Korea’s workers too. That all came to a screeching halt in 1998, when the Asian Contagion reached Korea’s shores and the social contract between workers, who had always toed the line - and companies who had always hired, but never fired was broken. It was a revolution in Korea’s corporate landscape, and its effects are still being felt today. Today Korea’s economy is much less concentrated than it once was. A more diverse economy is developing, which is definitely much healthier. Korea is now finding areas to grow that it never concentrated on in the past – like the leisure, sports and entertainment industries. Service jobs are relatively abundant, making up the bulk of all positions available in the market. The Life Sciences industry is also growing and the Industrial area is surprisingly holding its own. Perhaps the most important trend that has shaped attitudes toward careers and work, however, is the fact that Korea’s growth rate has slowed tremendously from the go-go days of pre-1998. That means that large companies just aren’t hiring like they used to. Cradle-to-grave job security is largely just a memory now – as is employee loyalty. FINDING KOREA’S NEW EXECUTIVE PROFILE For all the changes that have occurred, Korea’s new executive profile isn’t that much different. He (and now increasingly she) is family-oriented, Confucian, welleducated, status conscious, ambitious, diligent and highly conscious of “other

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people.” The more mature executive will emphasize experience and connections while the younger will highlight ability and knowledge as competitive advantages.

Steven B. McKinney

The typical candidate profile that we – as well as the other top tier retained search firms - place usually is bilingual, has some education abroad with prior multinational company experience either in a MNC in Korea or another country. Our clients are all multinational companies. During the past few years, more local companies in Korea have begun using executive search services. However, the majority have yet to reap the full benefits of retained search as most of them have chosen to use one of the hundreds of contingency firms. In the heated development days of Korea, leadership was defined by the saying “If you put your mind to it, then it will be done.” Now that Korea has matured, the economy and the companies operating there have become vastly more sophisticated and success is increasingly hard to find. When the economy is growing at 8% per year, about anything you do is going to grow and succeed. All that Koreans had to do was to look at the advanced countries for a roadmap of where all the opportunities were. In

this new environment, unfortunately, passion may not be enough as a new, more measured, more considered, more focused-on-the-numbers leadership style is emerging. Families used to exclusively manage the business, but now professional management is increasingly more prevalent. It is the job of the executive search professional to find the best leaders and reel them in. We must aid the hiring executive in choosing the best from among the current pool of candidates globally sourced. The executive search professional should focus on marrying the candidate’s ambition and skills to the company’s needs and goals. It is a balancing act that requires a great deal of understanding from all the parties involved, but when done right, nothing is as fulfilling. The executive search professional gets to play a part in molding the future image of the organization, not to mention share some bragging rights for an individual’s extraordinary success. Korea is one of the most dynamic markets in the world. One can watch as the scene changes literally before our eyes. Executive search plays its part in that dynamism. It is one of the key services that make rapid-fire global business work. It is one of the intermediaries between the global business community and the local market. As Korea becomes more and more central to the global economy, I can think of no place I’d rather be doing what I’m doing than right here. Steven B. McKinney is the Founder and President of McKinney Consulting, Inc., a retained Executive Search & Coaching firm based in Seoul, South Korea. His connection with Korea goes back more than 25 years. During this time, he has developed a refined expertise in helping multinational companies and leaders succeed in the region. Steve is also the Industrial Practice Leader for IMD International Search and Consulting. McKinney Consulting Inc. is a member of the AESC and is a partner firm of IMD International Search and Consulting. Founded in 1972, IMD International has more than 40 offices and 175 consultants worldwide.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.mckinneyconsulting.com

ISSUE 35 2009 search-consult

Global Knowledge – Local Ownership

FFGlobal Network allows non-integrated Executive Search networks to share data across borders without giving up local ownership. Key Benefits:

• Share information on candidate, companies, and assignments between affiliated but independent offices.

• No need to give up local database ownership or management. • Multiple local databases may be searched simultaneously through a browser. • Participating offices can join or leave FFGlobal Network at any time. • Fully secure, with control over the amount and type of information which may be shared, and over download permissions.

To learn how your executive search network can compete with integrated firms, contact sales@dillistone.com. USA: +1 (201) 653-0013 • Australia/Asia: +61 2 8221 8860 • Germany: +49 (0)69 27 40 15 807 • UK: +44 (0)20 7749 6100

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How We Can

Eliminate

OurSearch Competition W

e can do it without a fight. The best way to eliminate the competition is to stop it before it even emerges. The best way to accomplish this is to: - Pay your Executive Search Consultants more money; - Give your consultants more autonomy; - Become better at showing your consultants how much money really is left over after paying all the costs needed to run a firm. PAY YOUR SEARCH CONSULTANTS MORE MONEY - THE RIGHT WAY I have run TMT Inc., the partner of Glasford International in Japan, since I started this firm in 1978. We have been offering Executive Search since 1982. If I only knew, what I know now!! Paying Executive Search Consultants high fixed salaries will not be good for them or the firm. However, based on the firm’s revenue that month, it is possible to have significant financial support going to consultants - even if they have not generated personal placement revenue that month. The recruiting team is paid well, and can only maximize personal earnings when, company-wide, there is a higher-side revenue generated that month. Therefore, consultants will come to see new talent coming into the firm as essential and a positive factor instead of as direct competition. Headcount growth and monthly firm-wide sales growth

By Tom Nevins

is necessary to maximize individual earnings, even when an individual’s personal revenues are dry for a month, or even longer. Consultants and the rest of the staff can see that keeping the team together is in everyone’s best interest. From the beginning, if I had the reward system that our firm now has in place, there would not have been nearly as many spin-offs as there were. Some of those spin-offs led to even more spinoffs, and sometimes even unruly offspring. It can definitely be said that I am, perhaps “the”, grandfather of spin-off in the Japan market. There is no doubt that this has made the market more difficult and less attractive. Luckily, for the last decade, the spinning has stopped, at least with us. If the commonly known story is true, that the Executive Search industry started in 1947 at Boyden, with Mr. Korn and Mr. Ferry spinning off from Boyden, it is a rather new industry. Just a few years of such ‘spin-off behavior’ can significantly affect a given local market, and in turn, the global market. By paying a larger take to your Executive Search Consultants it may seem like in the short run an owner/ partner will make less money—often less than key producers within the firm. However, it becomes appealing when you know that you are building a larger, more stable firm. The psychological benefits and peace of mind, of enhanced trust, more effective client service and the satisfaction of watching consultants

grow and take initiative in running the firm, seems to more than compensate. They are partners before profit—a nice position to be in! But at least there are no fights, nor disagreements among the consultants or with the founding owner/ partner on how money is spent. Instead, everyone works together to promote the business. GIVE YOUR SEARCH CONSULTANTS MORE AUTONOMY Personally, I was always good at providing consultants with more autonomy. Actually, for over 25 years, even when I was the one that primarily made a placement I preferred to distribute the incentives to consultants as if I were not involved. I realize that may not be possible at smaller firms, or firms just starting out. It also is true that in the earliest years, when I was more involved in hands-on, candidate-side executing placements, the incentives the firm paid out were not that much. If you are not going to be personally involved, it is vital that you have very strong search consultants under you— ones you can depend on and ones that can even do a better job than you would. Retaining this talent, therefore, is critical. Keep in mind that one reason good Search Consultants will leave a smaller firm, or perhaps even one of the strongest, more centrally-controlled global franchises, would be if the lead partner or partners kept to themselves

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a number of the delicious, lucrative assignments - making placements without distributing the incentives, or registering the revenue on the recruiting consultants’ tabs. I have many conversations with competitors who started their own firms, stating how they hated it when their old bosses continuously looked over their shoulders. Many have even said:“If I had entered the industry in a firm like yours I probably would still be there, and would not have started out on my own.” BECOME BETTER AT SHOWING HOW MUCH MONEY IS REALLY LEFT OVER This area often amazes me, and can be quite frustrating. We think that our Search Consultants would readily understand how good ‘the system’ is, understand the various components of a pay system and be able to visualize the overhead costs. But, they don’t… There are the consultants who say: “I trust you. I never look at the details on my pay sheet”. Great! They don’t even see all the bells and whistles. So that means as senior players, they are not positively advocating the pay system. Then, there are those who only see the months when they made a placement. When they have placements, all they see is the portion that was not allocated to them. They don’t see the months they were supported when they had no placement revenue. There are Executive Search Consultants and staff who only see and remember the big company-wide total revenue months, when you celebrate with a company party. They have an inability to see all the firm’s overhead costs, such as marketing and advertising costs to make the firm more visible; paying salaries to recruiters who did not work out and never earned a yen; paying chamber of commerce fees; paying rent and utilities; paying internal recruiting costs; then, there is the database software purchase and yearly maintenance fees; there is the global network membership

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and biannual meeting and travel fees; access to helpful third party commercial data base costs; infrastructure costs, such as updating phone systems, office design and furnishings; there are the

Tom Nevins

license and insurance fees; there are travel costs; don’t forget to pay the corporate taxes, as the list goes on. Many Executive Search Consultants, who are not adding up the numbers and paying the bills, perceive the firm to make 3x the fat that is actually there. Some months the fat is gone and you are down to the bone, with the owner injecting personal funds. The best and most effective solution is to calculate and show that, on average, over a year, or over the years, only x amount per month remains after paying out consultant and staff salaries. Then, list a few large expenses so that your consultants will begin to grasp how much is really required to run the firm efficiently, and therefore, begin to get a picture of how very little really is left over. This point obviously needs periodic reminding to be effective.

all three statements explained above will largely eliminate spin-offs and therefore, eliminate new competition from emerging. It is possible to reach a place, where even your best, rainmaking Consultants can see that life is easier, and better within the firm, than working anywhere else. This is especially evident when key money-makers realize all the difficulties they would have if they tried to hire and retain top talent like themselves. They would soon realize that if they trained and developed recruiters who never worked out - or worst, spun-off or left for ‘greener pastures’ - it would hurt them even more if they were an owner, rather than just another member of a larger organization. As owners of their own firms, they would also come to realize that to avoid the trail of spin-offs - and, yes, the betrayal of trust rather prevalent in our industry they would have to pay out so much in salary and incentives that the personal earnings level they now enjoy would be impossible to sustain, especially during those months when they would have to dip into their personal wealth just to pay the bills and keep the firm running. The best way to eliminate this competition is to make sure it never comes about. It is better to divide the pie among fewer firms—each piece larger and tastier. Moreover, we would be in a better position to maintain fee levels and win retained searches, as our clients value the critical service we provide. *The above views are mine and not necessarily shared by my Glasford Partners. Tom Nevins is the Founder & President of TMT Inc/Glasford International Japan. Based in Tokyo, this firm is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Glasford International is an executive search network with partners in over 30 countries.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit:

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS Within the Executive Search industry, only a wise application of

Web: www.glasford.com www.tmt-aba.com

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Opening An Office Abroad:

Road F

or the last couple of decades, globalization has been one of the business trends talked about by executives and experts alike. Of course, this trend in recent years has intensified immensely; it is bringing new challenges to both the companies that look to open offices overseas as well as the executive search firms that aim to provide key advice throughout the process. Companies, when only functioning in a domestic market, clearly have incentives towards product diversification. However, these opportunistic strategies are not valid when dealing with global expansion. Market diversification requires a company focus on a strategic market niche: the company should have unified brands, centralized marketing and standardized policies. The company will tend to make an effort to centralize its corporate functions. When a business decides to embark on the road of globalization, the first immediate question that is asked is: who will manage the office abroad? With this key question in mind, the company must take into account that globalization is a complex process, having positive and negative implications, especially when it comes to executive talent. Not only is it complex, but as globalization gains importance and begins to be incorporated in the business strategies

Globalization By Fernando Yarto

of many small and medium-sized, often family-run, firms that are looking outside of their borders to compete, most companies are discovering that they do not have the scope to properly carry out such a critical process as that of selecting the right person responsible for their overseas office. As is often the case with smaller or mid-sized firms, the owner of the company will not always be able to control the entire execution of the project. In fact, in a majority of cases, he or she will not be able to do so because of the very need to continue to manage the business from their home office. BROADENING HORIZONS Within this context, an executive search partner can be instrumental in helping a company open an office abroad and restructure its own corporate organization to be able to do so accordingly. The principal question at hand is who will lead this expansion; however, it is important to stress that any company looking to expand its business overseas needs to be first very clear on an important distinction – internationalizing a company is not the same as globalizing a company. What companies need to aim for is globalization not internationalization. The distinction is quite simple, internationalization merely requires a firm, say in the UK, to open an office in

Ireland. While this project would have its complications, it is not the same as that same company in the UK looking to open an office in Brazil, which will then be a springboard to the rest of Latin America, or let’s say opening an office in Hong Kong, which will then be a launching point for entering the Asian market. With these two concepts in mind – globalization and the role of leadership – we can now look at how a company should approach this expansion. The company needs to be able to incorporate all the key variables of a successful international executive search process as well as identify those points of great importance and value to the company, given that having this information can make all the difference between a successful executive for the project and one that simply does not succeed in achieving the company’s primary objectives. Many companies believe that they can simply promote trusted internal executives and send them abroad. The logic is that because the roles are strategic, it is fundamental that those executives have a deep understanding of the business and the long-term implications. Nevertheless, in most cases, these promotions do not work. Although these trusted executives know the business very well, they do not know the culture or the laws where the office ISSUE 35 2009 search-consult

OPEN UP THE NEXT CHAPTER OF YOUR FIRM - A SERIES OF STRATEGIC PLANNING WEBINARS FOR EXECUTIVE SEARCH BUSINESS OWNERS, PRESIDENTS, MANAGING PARTNERS AND PRACTICE LEADERS. What will your executive search practice/firm look like three years from now? If you’re still searching for answers, take a moment to consider that your business rivals may already be planning for the future and changing the way they do business to stay competitive in a changing market for leadership talent. Now more than ever before, it’s time to lead clients or be led by them. The choice is yours to make, but it won’t come without a dose of reality, effective visioning about what’s possible, and an equal measure of risk to bring the full value of retained executive search to the corporate client. The rules of the game are changing, and those who appreciate new perspective on the threats and opportunities that lay ahead will find both in these dynamic webinar programs exploring the way forward for dynamic search consultants with the courage to break with some tired conventions.

Opportunities To Diversify Your Search Practice Whether yours is a general search practice facing mounting competition from industry specialists, a one-office operation whose clients need global reach, or just one of many firms exploring new services and industry markets, there is both risk and opportunity in diversifying your business. Join consultant and author Joseph Daniel McCool for a look at the full range of search firm diversification options. Joseph Daniel McCool Consultant and Author

ATLANTIC RIM March 3, 2009 - 10am NEW YORK; 3pm LONDON; 4pm FRANKFURT; 7pm DUBAI. PACIFIC RIM March 3, 2009 - 8pm NEW YORK; March 4, 2009 - 8am HONG KONG; 9am TOKYO; 11am SYDNEY.

Marketing And New Business Development Best Practices The ante has been raised on marketing and new business development for retained executive search consulting firms. Gone are the days when search consultants actively concealed their work for clients, replaced by a new competitive dynamic that separates transaction brokers from high-value consultants based on the quality and depth of their market messaging, thought leadership and differentiation. Join best practices consultant Joseph Daniel McCool for a look at strategies and tactics to market your firm, win new business and transform client relationships. ATLANTIC RIM March 12, 2009 - 10am NEW YORK; 3pm LONDON; 4pm FRANKFURT; 7pm DUBAI. PACIFIC RIM March 12, 2009 - 8pm NEW YORK; March 13, 2009 - 8am HONG KONG; 9am TOKYO; 11am SYDNEY.

Options For Monetizing Your Firm’s Value

Robert L. Benson, Chairman, Robert L. Benson & Associates, Inc.

Building a valuable executive search practice requires you to build a reputation for exceptional client service, a superior consulting staff and a winning culture. Top line growth and profitability are the drivers of value creation, but the owner(s)/principal(s) of any valuable firm cannot realize that value unless it can be effectively monetized. Join the former head of international operations for one of the world’s premier global search firms, who most recently served as chairman of a dynamic U.S.-based search firm, for a revealing look at the options search firm owners must assess when it comes to monetizing the value they’ve built and finding the right exit strategy. ATLANTIC RIM March 18, 2009- 10am NEW YORK; 3pm LONDON; 4pm FRANKFURT; 7pm DUBAI. PACIFIC RIM March 18, 2009 - 8pm NEW YORK; March 19, 2009 - 8am HONG KONG; 9am TOKYO; 11am SYDNEY.

COST: US$249 / UK£169 / €179 per delegate per webinar. For more information and to book, please visit www.search-consult.com/strategic, send an email to events@search-consult.com or call us on +44 (0)20 7749 6102.

will be opened; they do not have the local networks and they may not even know the language – skills that may be fundamental for the company to succeed abroad. Very clearly, a company looking to expand internationally needs to look for talent where the new office will be opened. Let’s look again at the example of our firm in the UK, and for simplicity sake let’s call them UK Partners. UK Partners decides that it wants to begin on an international expansion project. Their first target is to break into the Latin American market. They decide, based on a series of both internal and external factors, that Brazil would be the best starting point for this expansion. The company first looks at its current executives in the UK, but immediately several obstacles arise. Who speaks the language? Does anyone have the necessary business contacts in Brazil? Who really understands the culture? To send someone from the UK to Brazil, are we willing to invest in all the expatriation costs to send that executive abroad? Is there anyone currently in the firm that would be willing to relocate internationally? Within the executive search and selection processes many variables must be kept in mind, such as: the project, the country, current economic conditions, family integration and security level. PARTNERING WITH A SEARCH FIRM This is the point at which UK Partners should speak with an executive search firm about hiring en executive in Brazil for the intended position. When selecting the executive search firm, we believe it is essential that they have local offices located in the home country as well as the country where the search for executive talent will principally be carried out. The reason that we see this as an advantage is because by being present in both markets the executive search firm can properly assess and advise in all aspects of the search, which will divide into two principal focus areas: firstly, the

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candidate profile designed by the client company in the UK and the retained executive search consultant located in that home country, and secondly, the local partner consultant’s understanding of the talent market and the best targets for that talent in the Brazilian market. Within this context, it is the responsibility of the partnering consultants to properly communicate the needs of the company and how that best translates on the ground into a successful candidate. In other words, a successful search process is one that meets both the needs of UK Partners as a company as well as those of the particular economic and cultural situation in Brazil. The process, nevertheless, does not end with the successful selection of the executive. As advisors helping our clients truly globalize, we must continually go back to the concept that this is more than a cross-border search. We must remember that our client’s longterm objective is to globalize. Therefore, this is only the first step as a partnership must be established between the client and the executive search firm that provides their client with the added value of their local and global expertise. In order to properly launch an office in Brazil as a globalization project, once the executive responsible for that office

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has been selected, the executive search firm can begin to advise their client - in this case, UK Partners - as to which of its lower rung executives would be best to expatriate to Brazil to provide continuity and support in achieving the company’s objectives. The executive search firm can also help their client identify, select and bring in managers from the rest of the region that are willing to work in Brazil as a step towards creating a larger presence in Latin America. The experience and skills that are required to undertake such a complex, long-term project can only come from an executive search partner that really has a global mindset, and yet also has a strong local presence in every region, providing their clients with specific knowledge that goes beyond simply sourcing, identifying and attracting the right candidates. It is about broadening your horizons and providing your clients with the executive talent and the expertise required to be successful in truly obtaining globalization. Fernando, Managing Director, of Bao&Partners/Signium International has more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing in sectors such as real estate, telecommunications and insurance. Currently, he directs his own company that specializes in the rehabilitation, promotion and commercialization of real estate in the Madrid area. Before joining the Bao&Partners/ Signium International, Fernando was the Director of Business Development at Servicom, the first Internet company in Spain, where he was Director of Business Development and then later named General Director of Interdomain, S.A. Additionally, he has been General Director of Grupo Dorlast, Commercial & Marketing Director at Vallehermoso Telecom, S.A. and Director of Sales as well as General Director of Grupama Diagonal, S.A., among other various directive positions in marketing and sales. Bao&Partners/Signium International is an international executive search consulting firm specializing in Talent Management. Bao&Partners/ Signium International provides Consulting Services to national and multinational companies looking to recruit, grow and retain the very best leadership talent in their respective sectors. Our team of professionals in Spain (Madrid and Barcelona) and Portugal has a successful trajectory in markets worldwide, accumulating over 350 years of experience - 100 of which are in the executive search sector.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.baopartners.com

ISSUE 35 2009 search-consult

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xecutive recruiting is arguably the most important task in the world of business…” So begins the endorsement by a Wharton School management professor for the new book, Deciding Who Leads: How Executive Recruiters Drive, Direct & Disrupt the Global Search for Leadership Talent, written by search-consult contributor Joseph Daniel McCool, formerly the editor of Kennedy’s Executive Recruiter News and now a consultant on search firm marketing and new business development. Yet, if those words ring true, why do so few hiring organizations understand the full cost of a bad executive hire? Why do so many companies fail to see the value that comes from partnership with search firms and the ‘onboarding’ of recruited executives? And why are a small but growing number of corporations attempting to commoditize the business of leadership recruiting? Many companies, McCool contends, remain completely uninformed about how their brands, reputations, performance and overall ability to attract top executive talent are influenced by the quality and messaging of their external talent scouts. Recognized as “one of the 30 best business books of the year” by

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search-consult ISSUE 35 2009

Joseph Daniel McCool Soundview Executive Book Summaries and as a top pick by Business Book Review, Deciding Who Leads was written to inform the management succession decisions made by boards, ‘C-Suite’ leaders, human resource officers and corporate talent acquisition teams around the world. With demands on leaders at all-time high and executive tenure at a record low, executive search consultants are uniquely positioned to extend unprecedented influence over the business of selecting the world’s top business executives. As the book’s opening chapter, ‘The Global War for Executive Talent’ confirms, executive recruiters control the levers of global business competitiveness. But a longstanding lack of innovation and differentiation is beginning to sort the winners from the losers in retained executive search – especially in challenging times like these. Deciding Who Leads offers an authoritative and compelling look at the state of corporate management succession, best practices for selecting and engaging search firms. It also introduces tactics for differentiating the traditional search process, which the chief executive of one global search firm recently described as “a tired business model.”

“The insights shared by Joe McCool in Deciding Who Leads could not have arrived at a better time,” says Dave Opton, CEO and Founder of ExecuNet, the career and business membership network for senior executives. “Gaining a competitive advantage in a global economy starts with recruiting great leaders, and few have more influence in this process than executive recruiters.” Craigslist founder Craig Newmark says in his endorsement of the new book: “Joe McCool’s book gets right to the practical advice for the most difficult of all organizational challenges - hiring effective leaders. His expert advice proves how external leadership recruiters and Human Resources [leaders] can work together to attract, recruit, develop and retain the kind of executive management talent that’s essential for high performance organizations.” Deciding Who Leads carries a foreword by John A. Byrne, the BusinessWeek editor who wrote The Headhunters in 1986. To learn more and to download the entire first chapter of Deciding Who Leads, visit www.DecidingWhoLeads.com.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.DecidingWhoLeads.com

“One of the best business books of the year” – Soundview Executive Book Summaries

A top pick by Business Book Review As featured in The Conference Board Review, HR Executive Magazine, Executive Recruiter News, The Boston Globe and other media worldwide… Joseph Daniel McCool

Effective senior management recruiting is the lifeblood of organizational change… and an especially powerful engine for growth.” “The victors in the war for executive recruitment, development, and retention will win in the global marketplace.”

Key issues and topics explored include: • The Global War for Executive Talent • The True Cost of a Bad Executive Hire • The Intersection of Executive Search and Executive Onboarding • Best Practices for Executive Recruiting

To learn more and to download the complete first chapter of this must-read book for executive search consultants and their clients, visit www.DecidingWhoLeads.com

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