A Ten Step Checklist To Selecting An Executive Search Firm For Nonprofit Organizations & Foundations
ONE. Hire a modern staffing firm and understand how they appeal to executive candidates. The best and the brightest executive candidates are attracted to work with entities on the cutting edge of their industry. This directly applies to the staffing firms and executive recruiters that they select to work with. So if you pick a firm with a slightly dated web site – you should also expect dated candidates and screening approaches to stem from the entity. Similarly, select a firm that has a very corporate feel – and expect their strength to be in reaching corporate talent instead of social innovators. It is advisable to instead aim to select a firm that can professionally navigate easily within the different sectors candidate hail to be able to best recruit a full appropriate executive talent pool to select from.
TWO. Examine (in depth) the firm’s areas of specialization and interests. While selecting a firm your search committee should examine the areas that potential search partners are passionately involved in. In the realm of successful executive search firms, the best firms are the ones that recruit within client areas and specialties that parallel their own personal interests. Nothing beats working in the area that you are enthusiastic about. Always pay close attention to the proposed Executive Recruiter’s background and interests, as it is a clear measurement if the firm is going to successfully recruit the most exemplary executive candidate for
your organization. In the end, prior experience and a good track record can be found in many search firms, but passion for your work and industry can never be substituted.
THREE. Understand the level of personal service your organization requires. It can sometime be difficult to decide between retained search firm and contingent offerings. Generally speaking because retained firms commit to filling the position (no matter what) they are much more motivated to conduct the hard work that it takes to fill difficult positions. Conversely, contingent recruiters that try to service many different accounts at once always desire to fill the position as quickly as possible and are dis-incentivized to examine large candidate pool. Retained search services are personal services that hold their reputation on the line each time they engage with a new client. Add in the fact that only the most experiences firms are retained in nature evidences important roles such as Director, VP, Executive Director, and CEO should always be handled only by retained firms. Executive boards and search committees require experienced and seasoned leadership in order to be successfully organized during the search process. Inexperienced consultants cannot successfully do this. At the same time, it is most important to also hire a seasoned executive consultant offering new recruiting practices and technology partnerships to successfully and professional recruit with your executive message.
FOUR. The cost of making the wrong hire. Pay close attention while weighing the decision to retain a search firm or not. The act represents more than just your time, energy, and budget, but also consists of the cost (or gain) of making the wrong (or right) hire if not done properly. Just think about the difference to your organization between hiring an executive that expands your budget by 10%+, compared to an executive that decreases it by 5%? When such important outcomes are at risk, direct search costs truly are just the tip of the iceberg. This is where search firms come in, and also are why they exist. Search consultants are paid to be experts at decreasing the percentage (likelihood) chance of error in a hire. Though no entity will never be able to dismiss all chance in error in hire, they most certainly can make it more reliable. Add in the fact that all strong firms fully guarantee their work, evidences to not hire such an expert is a risky move.
FIVE. The effect of non-poaching agreements. It is important to understand that once a executive search firm is engaged by a specific client – they are generally precluded from recruiting senior management from the entity for at least a year or two, and in many cases indefinitely. Search firms will never recruit someone that the have placed (that would be unprofessional and against our code), but the act of non-poaching can become a grey area for search entities that do not operate uniformly. Before you retain a firm always discuss this issue. Ask the firm what their policy is, if they answer they tailor it to your needs, or that “it depends” – it is a large red flag, and a sign of unpolished work and poor service. In the end, make sure you know any limitations prospective search firms have, and what non-poaching agreements they offer. If they the firm is not willing to relinquish the ability to recruit from your entity in order to work with you, they most certainly are not worthy of your time.
SIX. Do not hire your friends, or firms close to the connections of your board or directors. Retaining a firm too close to the organization or that are sociable with one of the decision makers is a fatal flaw in a majority of executive search selection processes. Generally speaking, this is most popular mistake organizations and foundations make when selecting an executive search firm to use. Here is why: to be fully effective it is very important that the search consultant/firm be fully frank, have absolutely zero preconceived judgments or bias, stays 100% objective throughout the search process, and should not have been prior informed or communicated to regarding the entity in a way that sways them to predetermined conclusions, strengths, or weaknesses. Also notable, search consultants tend to be less hands on, and are much less likely to take complete control over search processes where friendships and prior knowledge already exists. To be safest, always hire outside the personal connections and acquaintances of the board, so you do not chance harming the process, create bias, risk unneeded frictions and expectations, or cause conflicts.
SEVEN. Ten critical questions to ask any search firm that you are considering retaining.
1. Why should we choose your firm?
2. How much leadership do you feel will we need from you to come to a final decision?
3. What aspects of the job description will be hardest to deliver for you?
4. Who will lead the search process on the firms behalf? Screening? Scheduling?
5. What commitment do you need from our internal hiring search committee and stakeholders to be successful in this search?
6. How long does the process take?
7. Can you give us an example of a search that was unsuccessful that you lead?
8. What candidate markets would you potentially target?
9. Do you consider your search firm modern for the year 2011, and what improvements have you made to your screening process over the past years? Why? (Look for more than just a fluffy answer about how the changes there have been over the years. Look for specific examples that show they understand job aggregators, confidentiality, modern trends, new markets, online group recruiting/social media, candidate research, and the art of networking.)
10. What modern screening approaches and specific technologies do you utilize in the executive recruitment and tracking process? (They better say more than just word, excel, LinkedIn and job boards – if not they are not worthy of consideration.)
EIGHT. When to hire an executive search consultant? There is significant cost in hiring a strong firm (traditionally a third of the salary plus expenses). Talent always comes with a cost. That being said, the return on the investment for retaining a search firm is tremendous in most all cases. That is because candidates placed from executive consultants are generally more motivated, stay in their position for longer period of time, and significantly happier employees/executives. Following are the main conditions why entities retain search consultants:
1. Time is limited to proactively search and network for the best candidates.
2. Their HR staff is not fully equipped to take on the high level search.
3. Leading the search internally would overburden the directors of the entity.
4. There are new organizational changes that require independent examination and objectivity.
5. The decision makers are split (can’t decide) on the exact type of leader they should hire or need.
6. Their private or public network/pool of candidates is not as strong as it could be.
7. The position impacts the whole organization and requires outside leadership.
8. The organization has shown weakness in the past of being able to judge candidate dependability correctly.
9. Restructuring may be needed to insure successes.
10. Conflicts of interests exist, or a need for absolute confidently is required.
NINE. The Search firm “reference” game. References are of course very important to check. It is imperative that you feel comfortable with the search firm you choose before moving forward. Large search firms will even try to push you to speak with “their references.” But, do not forget to also read the firms existing reviews on Google, Yelp, City Search, Insider Pages and other portals. Many times these reviews offer you more honest insight than “references” that in most cases are hand-selected for you. We also highly recommend speaking to and interviewing the potential firms fellow search consultants and support personnel, even if they will not be working on your search. It is very important that you ensure the firm is professional and communicative on all fronts, and thus is not dysfunctional or holding hidden weaknesses. This will also give you the opportunity to learn of potential faults or question the working style of the lead executive recruiter. No one knows the consultant better than their co-workers. You may be surprised how honest their co-workers may be with you. People, even in the sales process, will normally try to be honest.
TEN. Ten things your decision makers need to do and commit to for success (getting the most from your consultant).
1. Preparation. Make sure to finish any needed organizational development (finalize the internal structure and job responsibilities) and have a consensus before you start. Running additional avoidable searches is quite costly.
2. Stay open to talent salaries. Search consultants are experts at judging the worth of a prospective executive candidate. They will never recommend anyone out of your immediate salary range unless they also bring a substantial upside. Staying open to these candidates will offer you better perspective on the entire candidate pool, and ultimately offer insight into position finalists.
3. Communicate. Always tell the consultant(s) your expectations, your goals for the new position, and specific dreams for recruitment by offering ideas for identifying candidates, and prospective companies you have interest in seeing talent from. Consultants cannot deliver what they are not aware of.
4. Make a commitment. Get commitment from the entire search committee to: (1) speak to every candidate presented, (2) attend every interview, (3) stick to the time schedule, (4) listen to your search consultant, and (5) be a contributing member of search committee.
5. Don’t double up. Never run a separate search on your own, instead rely on the expertise of your consultant. This is why you have hired them. Otherwise this may turn off potential talent, complicate the search, confuse the process, and diminish your consultant’s effectiveness and interest in passionately helping you. It is very, very, important that all of your decision makers trust the process and your consultant. If trust does not exist, you have selected the wrong search leader.
6. Offer your contacts. Always make available and offer your rolodex, contacts, connections, ideas, network, and related information of any person you can think of that the search consultant may wish to network with on your behalf.
7. Always cast a wide net. Make sure the search process does not concentrate to heavily on one lead candidate. The sad truth is, there is no guarantee that any lead candidate will accept your final offer. That is why intelligent and talented recruiters always have multiple talent contingency plans. So make sure your organization is seriously considering more than one candidate at a time. Also make sure you pay special attention to any internal candidates that may have applied are interested in the position They will need to be given special thought, time, and consideration. Always consider how your actions (your decision) will effect their motivation, job, and future work.
8. Select one main point of contact. A streamlined process is one that has the best chance for success. It is appropriate that one main point of contact be given for scheduling, and receiving search updates. This point of contact if traditionally a member of the board, and should be someone with significant decision making power to act as an additional safeguard to further protect the organization. If questions arise regarding confidentiality, salary, or sensitive topics it is best this person have prior knowledge and tact to help protect the organization by offering correct informative information.
9. Only hire the best and stay active. Most leading search consultants offer reports or documents explaining their work and showing whom they have contacted and screened. They do this so you may see where they are in the search, and as a platform for your participation. They need you to always read this information (given reports and candidate updates) in a timely fashion so you may quickly offer client search guidance.
10. Try to enjoy the experience to help. Be yourself, smile, and do not forget your organizations role in attracting solid talent once the consultant has introduced you to your dream candidate. This is your main job. More than 80% of job offer denials are on the basis of the people and culture – not the money. You almost always have the chance to counter offer if salary is a real issue. Keep in mind, there are of course other entities (just like you!) also interested in your rock star candidates. So move in a timely fashion, professionally, and always attract more than one experienced professional for safety.
Learn More:
Nonprofit Executive Search Firm “Red Flags” To Be Aware of
The Benefits of Retaining an Nonprofit Executive Search Firm
This information has been provided by Scion Executive Search. Scion Executive Search is an exclusive search agency for nonprofit organizations, and foundations.
-WE ARE PROVEN NONPROFIT EXECUTIVE SEARCH EXPERTS
Scion Executive Search
www.scionexecutivesearch.com
(888) 487-8850
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