Organization Assessment and Familiarization

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

Position and Organization Profiling

Our assessment work provides information with which to prepare detailed Position and Organization Profiles. The Profiles are used as search outreach documents and to ensure our mutual understanding of client requirements for the position. The Position Profile explains job responsibilities, organizational relationships, and the full range of required professional and personal qualifications. The Organization Profile provides pertinent background on the state of the organization. Both communicate critical information to candidates and referral sources who may know strong candidates. We prefer client approval on these documents before we distribute them.

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. At a client’s request, we sometimes utilize formal assessment tools to assist with gathering this information.

Candidate Identification

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. Our approach to sourcing will be determined after we have fully discussed the ideal candidates’ desired qualifications. Our purpose at this step is to create a long working list of candidates from which we distill a short list of qualified individuals.

Candidate Assessment

We screen candidates by resume review, telephone interviews, and for those best qualified, in-person interviews. The candidates who meet our criteria are subjected to reference investigations and confirmation of all professional credentials. Our reference contacts focus on past and present supervisors since 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. Good performers stay in a position/organization long enough to prove the quality of their judgment in taking the job and in their performance and results. People who move at short intervals without logical explanation usually fail our scrutiny.

We also value a record of success. For senior executive positions, successful experience is a must. We look for evidence of leadership, extraordinary results, and personal and business values consistent with our client’s requirements.

Presentation and Interviewing of Final Candidates

We typically present three to five final candidates, although this number can be changed at our client's direction. In some cases, our client chooses to review resume material for a larger number of candidates as a means of identifying finalists. We are flexible in this regard and give first priority to client requests.

We assimilate the information gathered in our search, along with our own assessment, into a comprehensive candidate overview for the client. We remain flexible as we work in partnership with the client to design and facilitate a final interview process that meets the client’s needs as well as those of recruited candidates. We often participate in finalist interviews and assist our client in the evaluation of finalists.

Offer & Closure

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.