Our Process

Most importantly, we listen to our clients’ needs. We strive to understand the organization in terms of its condition and requirements, specifically as they relate to the open position. We invest time with our clients to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the culture, goals, operational style and specific expectations for the person sought. We gain an understanding of the most recent organizational challenges to develop perspective around the future requirements and the style of person best suited to deal with current issues.

Our assessment work provides information with which to prepare a detailed Position Profile, used as a search outreach document and to ensure our mutual understanding of client requirements for the position. This profile explains the opportunity, organizational background, job responsibilities, organizational relationships, and the full range of required professional and personal qualifications.

Additionally, we ensure that we understand the organization’s culture and "style and fit" of the executive immediately superior to the sought after hire. Achieving a good fit requires understanding both sides of the match.

We source candidates by research, the Internet, direct contact, advertising (if appropriate), and our database. Over 40 years, we have developed an extensive database from which we often begin a search. We take care to represent our client professionally and with discretion. We are very proactive in our outreach, as we often find that direct recruitment is the best tool for reaching the best leaders.

We screen candidates by resume review, telephone interviews, and for those best qualified, in-person interviews. The candidates who meet the client’s criteria are subjected to reference investigations that focus on past and present supervisors and direct reports, as job performance is of prime interest.

Certain factors are constant in our assessment process. We give high importance to stability in an executive's background, properly balanced with diverse experience. While economic factors have substantially altered professionals’ long tenures and career paths, strong performers prove the quality of their judgment and performance through results. People who move at short intervals without logical explanation usually fail our scrutiny.

We also value a record of success. We look for evidence of leadership, extraordinary results, and personal and business values consistent with our client’s requirements.

We work with each client to determine an appropriate interview process. We remain flexible in approach, cognizant that process may be driven by the client’s need for timeliness, inclusivity of stakeholders and/or staff, organizational leaders’ availability, or other mitigating factors. We typically present a final slate of candidates for in person interviews, but in some cases, clients choose to review resume material for a larger number of candidates as a means of identifying finalists.

We assimilate the information gathered in our search, along with our individual candidate assessments, for client review in preparation for finalist interviews. We often participate in or facilitate finalist interviews to assist our client in the evaluation of finalists. Our priority is to ensure a comprehensive process that provides clients with the background and interaction necessary to make a well-considered decision without creating an onerous process for the client or candidates.

Once a final selection is made, we assist in preparing and/or negotiating the offer of employment. Our experience in executive compensation is often of value at this point in the search. The search itself will provide an excellent source of actual compensation practices and levels for people of the type we will be seeking. We do not consider our work complete until an offer has been negotiated and accepted.

We maintain ongoing, long-term contact with virtually all of our clients. We remain available for counsel as needed to make the new hire successful. We stay in touch.