Executive Placements has an extensive worldwide network of search firms. Each of these search firms has been pre-screened for the requisite experience and to ensure a good track record.
On receiving notice of a vacancy, we assess a company’s needs. From this we determine which search firm would be best placed to find the ideal candidate.
The search firm must have knowledge of the industry and connections in the right locale. The capacity to judge both the hard and soft skill sets of a potential candidate is essential. Furthermore, the agent should be a good representative of the recruiting company.
Having found a firm that is suitable in all these respects, we have the firm contact you.
Read more - Relevant factors
Relevant factors when selecting a search firm
1) What position in the company needs to be filled? Whether you are looking for an interim manager or a senior one you will probably be willing to invest more resources in the search than if you were looking for lower level positions.
Read more - Positions
2) What type of a search firm is it? A traditional job agency may be satisfactory when looking for a secretary to replace the one leaving, but, to acquire a director, an executive search firm would be appropriate. Perhaps you have in mind the kind of person who is unlikely to be looking for work, and is already high in demand. Success, in such a case, may only be possible with a headhunter. The situation differs if you require someone who is uniquely specialised in a very particular area. For this, it would be best to approach a niche executive placement firm.
Read more - Type of Search Firms
3) How well does it know the industry? It is important that the firm is operative within the industry in which the vacancy occurs.
4) What kind of cost model does it work with? The client needs to consider not only his overall budget, but also the kind of cost model that would most suit him. Working on a contingency model a search firm would only require payment once a suitable client has been found and hired. But if the firm is working as a retainer then a payment will be due before the search even begins. Reasons why a retainer model may actually serve the client better have been outlined in the page on cost models.
Read more - Cost Models
5) Where: in which region does it operate best? A search firm with contacts in the relevant region would be better placed to find the most appropriate individual.
6) Has it been recommended? The reputation of a search firm will depend on its reliability, both in terms of its success rate, and in terms of its general integrity. To appear on our database each firm has had to submit two references from former clients and to remain on our database, each firm must fulfill a number of criteria across several dimensions, ensuring customer satisfaction.
7) Are its current client limits in conflict with your interests? Some search firms have been tainted with disrepute after recruiting members from the very companies for whom they have recently worked, for newer clients. Off-limit policies are now often signed so that clear parameters can be agreed to in advance. In this way, amicable relations are maintained. It is worth remembering, however, that such limits on a firm’s search capabilities may not be in your favour and may be worth inquiring about.
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Non-Executive Director: Also called an outside, independent or external director: this role involves no direct management but rather one of assessing the performance and challenging the decisions of executive directors, and management, with the interests of both the firm, and the stakeholders, in mind.
Executive Director: Also called an inside, or internal, director: such a person is usually a full time employee of the firm. The executive director has an important decision making role within specified parameters, depending on whether he is a director of finance or marketing, of operations, or of some other kind.
Interim Management: This type of management is employed temporarily to fill a management gap, manage a project, or to steer a company through some crisis or period of change. A manager brought in, in this way, would have exemplary credentials.
Senior Management: A senior manager either directs workers indirectly through supervisors or else directly. Planning, directing and monitoring staff, the senior manager usually has the authority to hire, promote or dismiss employees.
Project Management: The management of time-defined endeavours: securing and managing resources, as well as planning and organizing events to attain a pre-defined objective.
Junior Management: The lowest level of management.
The Team: Some organizations, wanting to extend into another country or locality, are looking for several individuals, or even an entire team, that can be put into place. Search firms do, on occasion take on projects of this sort.
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There are two main models of search:
Payment on Completion, a Contingency Model: a firm that works on a contingency basis is paid only when it has found an acceptable candidate. Payment may also depend on the candidate staying on past the probationary period.
The cash on delivery nature of this arrangement may well seem attractive to the prospective client but it has its flaws: working on this basis, the firm may be reluctant to accept any search that is going to present complications, or which cannot be performed promptly. They may also be unwilling to take the time necessary to find the very best candidate available
The Exclusive Contingency Agreement: A variation on the basic contingency agreement; here the client agrees to work with only one search firm, drawing, in return, a far more committed response. Since the investment of time and effort, on the consultant’s part, is now a safe investment he is liable to produce a better result.
The Engagement Fee: As in other contingent models, the main payment is still only expected once the search is complete. But, an engagement fee is sometimes added to the exclusive contingency agreement. This sum of money, paid at the onset of the search, enables the search firm to draw on additional resources in its search. For higher level placements this type of ‘contingency’ structure is strongly preferred; it has much in common with the second main model - the retainer search.
Periodic Payments, a Retainer Model: working on this model a firm will receive several payments: first, an engagement fee, known on this model as a performance retainer, then, after thirty days, a second payment and the last after sixty days. Should a suitable candidate not have been found during this time, the search firm continues its work locating one.
Payment per Stage, a Second Retainer Model: This is a variation of the basic retainer model. The search firm here too receives a performance retainer, that is a preliminary payment, but the second payment is made only once candidates have been submitted, that is, at the completion of this stage of the process. The last payment is made once the chosen candidate has begun.
Capped Fees and Flat Fees: the cost of the service, on all models, is generally calculated as a percentage of the candidate’s first year salary: this leads to difficulties when the candidate is capable of commanding an exceptionally high rate. In this kind of case, clients are unwilling to base their payment on such a percentage. With this in mind some search firms have incorporated capped fees and flat fees into their models.
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