Selecting a Search Firm

Suggestions on the Selection of an Executive Search Firm
Without question, to build a bigger and better company it is extremely important to recognize and understand the importance of hiring the best talent you can. I am sure that you are aware that greatest and most valuable assets are your people. Please review the following information. We think that it will help you make a better, and a more educated decision about the Executive Search process, and why you should hire Karel & Company.

Use Experts, Get the Best
Good management is essential to the health and welfare of all companies; excellent management is the key to success in today's highly competitive business environment. The services of outside consulting professionals are utilized by almost all prudent companies. Executive Search firms should be viewed in the same light as your other outside consultants e.g., accounting, legal, advertising, MIS, etc. Although Executive Search can be performed by in-house human resource departments, employing the services of an Executive Search firm is ultimately more expedient, efficient and effective. Executive Search firms provide strict confidentiality, an extensive network of contacts, objectivity in candidate evaluation, negotiation experience and expertise that in-house staff may not possess.

Executive Search Firms Observe Strict Confidentiality
Organizations with an opening in their executive ranks are vulnerable. Whether an existing position needs to be filled, or a newly created position becomes available by downsizing or market opportunity, the hiring process must be strictly confidential. Confidentiality can keep competitors from being tipped off about management shake-ups, new product and market initiatives, and can protect against employee, stockholder, and supplier apprehension. Search consultants value the highly sensitive information they become privy to during the search process. They are acutely aware and respectful of their client's confidentiality.

Executive Search Firms Tap Into Global Network of Contacts
Top notch executive talent is a scarce commodity, and whether the economy is strong or fluctuating, getting the best talent to come aboard can prove to be a very delicate proposition. The limited contacts of in-house human resource departments cannot compare with the wide networking ability of an Executive Search firm. Recruiting using your in-house staff, within your industry might cause embarrassment or result in ethical problems for your company. The best candidates are currently employed, and many of them will only communicate through a third party Executive Search firm. They appreciate and count on the confidentiality and professional mediation of a professional Executive Search firm. Recruiting superior candidates is an intricate matter, and sometimes best performed by a discreet professional outside of your organization.

Executive Search Firms Bring Objectivity and Current Market Information to the Table
Executive search is a time-consuming, sensitive process. Recruiters can help clients evaluate their expectations, review relevant organization structure and reporting, define a realistic profile and compensation package for the open position. Search consultants provide objective feedback on the candidates and advice to the client. As experts in research, background and reference checking, Executive Search firms can gather significant information from even reluctant reference-givers. In addition, an Executive Search firm that has spent significant time working in your industry can be an enormous source of pertinent information, not only about the key people, but also about trends, changes, and driving forces.

Executive Search is Cost Effective
The use of an Executive Search firm is an investment in improving the quality of an organization's managerial might. Beyond that, the risk of not using an Executive Search firm is far greater. For smaller companies, in which one hiring mistake can have disastrous results, using executive recruiters is sometimes more important than for larger companies. Hiring an incompetent employee who makes one bad decision can cost a company large sums of money - or even its very existence. More than ever before, executive talent is at a premium, and can make or break the fortunes of a business. Professional Executive Search firms can deliver the best.

Does Executive Search Work?
Executive Search firms are problem solvers. Clients constantly face dilemmas whereby the solution calls for just the right person (or persons). Executive Search firms are brought in specifically to fill the void. Even though Executive Search firms account for approximately 15% of all senior executive hires in any given year, the candidates that they place account for the lion’s share of the profitability of the companies who hired them. Identifying the key managers whose actions will have huge repercussions on an organizations bottom line is the main objective of an Executive Search firm. The right choice can dramatically increase a company’s value; and that value rises exponentially as you move up the management chain. The fees associated with any particular search become almost incidental considering the ultimate payback.

Summary
A successful Executive Search is a team effort between client and search firm. It is advantageous for a client to do some "homework" both independently and together with the search firm before the search process formally begins.

• Clarify who within the search firm will actually execute the search for your company.
• Develop concise job specifications and qualifications with your search firm. Agree on a job description and compensation package (we can assist).
• Agree on a general schedule and timetable, and for progress reports.
• Make a list of companies that should be looked at or excluded from the search.
• Have an arrangement with your search consultant as to what their participation will be in the negotiation of the remuneration package with the candidate.
• Review the Fee & Contract Agreement with the search firm.

To ensure success, a clear understanding of the search process and responsibilities must be discussed, and understood by all parties. Do your homework before the search is underway.

The successful partnership between a prospective client and search firm is a two-sided arrangement that requires professional respect. The approach to this association influences the speed and outcome of the entire search process. One of the most important factors of successful search is that the prospective client understand the process and their crucial role.

Four Key Points to Look For in a Candidate

1. Experience.
2. Knowledge / Skills / Abilities.
3. Personality Traits / Chemistry.
4. Values / Integrity and Ethics.

Karel & Company will perform personal and professional reference checks and will administer a personality and chemistry sorter.

How much is it costing you not to fill your critical position? Lost time, opportunities, having other executives trying to fill the void while neglecting their primary responsibilities, all this “covering action” cost lots time and money. We have been helping firms just like yours for the past nineteen years meet and fulfill their needs with the very best talented people.

That’s our forte!

"In all the assignments that were given to Karel & Company we have found them to be fast, accurate, efficient, and cost effective."

Meredith Conklin
VP of Human Resources
EA Engineering