The Client’s Role in the Successful Search

By Fred Medero, Managing Director

Clients often ask about factors that drive our most successful senior management search assignments. A truly collaborative partnership with our clients is key to assuring a successful search. We would like to share some guiding principles that can help our clients contribute to the search process and avoid the type of missteps that can unnecessarily complicate or prolong the mission.

First steps are critical to success

Our first meetings with a new client center on gaining a thorough understanding of the client’s business, needs, organizational structure, and operating culture. This is an important part of the central task of defining the responsibilities of and qualifications for the position. Active and open client participation and input at this stage of the search process are essential.

We like to meet with all of the personnel who will have input into the candidate vetting process and selection decision. We use a “Position Information Form” to draw a sketch of the company and its culture as well as how the position fits within the organization’s management structure and operating environment.

The client should be prepared to discuss the history of the position; how it has or will change; the formal and informal reporting and communications lines; past incumbents; what they had or lacked in terms of strengths and their track records; and what key results are necessary for being successful in the position.

We encourage clients to think carefully and creatively to distinguish between what qualifications a candidate must have and what would be nice to have. “Must haves” relate most directly to the responsibilities of the position and the culture of the organization.

Along similar lines, the client should be prepared to prioritize qualifications. Not all qualifications will have the same importance. Careful consideration up front will fashion a valid set of performance standards.

Think of qualifications in terms of a candidate’s personality characteristics and style as well as education and background. For example, the responsibilities of a position may encourage others in the organization to cooperate in sharing information. A sensitive and transparent style of communications may be essential for engendering the kind of trust needed.

“I’ll know it when I see it” is not the approach. It is important that the client organization participate and follow the process at the beginning of the search, rather than use the candidates themselves to define its needs. The process will be successful when both Kincannon & Reed and the client know the type of individual we expect to interview before interviews begin.

Don’t try to hire for the next logical position the successful candidate may one day aspire to within your organization unless you are willing to commit to a promotion. It is of course totally appropriate to look for long-term potential in a new employee, but the focus should be the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to be successful in the position. The probabilities are that the company and the people will change significantly over time in ways that cannot be anticipated or planned.

The product that emerges from these meetings and frank discussions is a “Search Profile”. This document is a sales tool that puts the client and the opportunity represented by the position squarely in front of prospective candidates for their consideration and reaction.

Be willing to think broadly on where the candidates will be found

Finding and attracting a senior management “star” performer almost always requires casting the net widely in terms of the locations from which to source candidates. The client’s natural tendency is to focus on their own industry as the source for candidates. In some instances, clients want to stay local in order to avoid or minimize relocation costs. However, we urge that clients be willing to look outside the box on both counts.

If a client is in a “perishables” sector, we urge them to think of perishables in a new way. For a produce client, the nursery and floral sectors may immediately come to mind as fitting within the category, but dairy and beverage may not be so obvious. Yet all these sectors have enough commonality to produce qualified candidates.

Some searches are more focused on the skill sets being sought than industry background. For example, financial skills, knowledge and experience in a Controller or Chief Executive Officer tend to be more transferable among industries. When the client is a public company, though, candidates normally need public company experience to meet the position responsibilities.

Relocation restrictions almost always present a large obstacle to a successful search. We make the client’s location “ground zero” when sourcing candidates, but most often it is necessary to look more broadly to bring the client a diverse field of qualified candidates.

Never negotiate against yourself

Long before an offer is made and a compensation package starts to develop, a client can work unconsciously against their own interest by eliminating potential candidates too quickly in the process.

In a recent search, a client wanted to pass over a candidate whose résumé showed years of increasing finance responsibilities and relevant experience in a multi-billion dollar corporation. The client was a considerably smaller, family owned company and the rationale for rejection was that the candidate “would be accustomed to much more sophisticated accounting and reporting systems” and thus not comfortable in an environment that required a “roll-up-your-sleeves” attitude.

Our response was: “Allow me to observe that you appear to be negotiating against yourself. You may be correct in your assessment of this gentleman, but this résumé hits on all the key “must have” elements of the Search Profile. At this point we don’t have enough information to make an informed decision. Why not let us take this candidate through the telephone and personal interview process? You can then decide based on our sharing with you what we learn to address your specific concerns.”

The client agreed, and the process revealed that the candidate liked and missed the smaller company experience of his earlier career and was keen to apply his knowledge of larger systems. The candidate was hired after due diligence and has been very successful, bringing more value than ever anticipated.

Confidentiality is sacrosanct

There is simply no faster way to kill a good search and jeopardize a candidate’s career than through leaks of confidential information. Candidates expect that their interest in a position will be kept confidential and they deserve no less than that. It is critical that the client cooperate in making confidentiality a reality.

Most successful candidates are not looking for a new position; we reached out to them. Thus, the search process must not jeopardize any candidate’s position and status with his/her current employer. During WWII, as part of the US Office of War Information's attempt to limit the possibility of people inadvertently giving useful information to enemy spies, the expression was coined – “Loose Lips Might Sink Ships”. In the search process: “Loose Lips Can Sink Candidates’ Careers”.

All discussion of the search process should be confined to those having input to the decision-making. Résumés, evaluations, interview notes, and candidate comparisons should only be circulated among those needing access. Participants in the search process should be reminded from time-to-time about the need for strict confidentiality.

It’s a small world. In most industries and sectors, the number of competitors, suppliers, and customers is limited, so a client can often pick up the phone and call an acquaintance who knows about, or who knows someone who knows about, the reputation of a candidate. An officer or board member’s casual conversation outside the workplace about the search may wind up telegraphing confidential information to an unintended audience and damage a candidate’s employment status. Any reference checking, formal or informal, should wait the offer stage and then only with a candidate’s knowledge and consent.

Be prepared for interviews and candidate evaluations

Clients get to know candidates as we present résumés, our interview notes, and candidate comparisons. Thoughtful, open, honest, and candid reactions on each candidate are essential to tell us whether we are sourcing those with the best profile and if we are asking the right questions. This enables us to make any necessary adjustments in our research, sourcing, or evaluation efforts.

The client should be prepared to answer questions such as:

• Are we showing you candidates with the right qualifications in terms of educational credentials; current and past positions held; type of experience; amount and kind of management responsibilities; years of experience?
• Are the industries and sectors the candidates have worked in relevant to your business?
• Should we be looking in more or different industries or geographic locations?
• Are we asking the right questions of candidates? Are there other areas of inquiry about the candidate’s background and experience that we should be pursuing?
• What do you like most about the field of candidates to this point?
• What is not represented in the field of candidates presented to-date?

The answers to these questions may cause the client to revisit and reconsider agreed upon qualifications and strategy. One of the most important goals of this vetting process is validation, so adjustments may be necessary and perfectly appropriate. If the client thinks that a change is necessary it’s important to do so promptly in order to avoid delay and waste of resources.

Structure and organize your internal interview processes

Once our interviews and evaluations of a candidate are complete and finalist candidates are selected, we move to the critical step of client interviews. The client’s interview approach should be consistent with all candidates to assure a level playing field among the candidates. This approach allows the potential “stars” to stand out.

Following are some tips to make the final interview process go smoothly:

• A Search Committee approach is a requisite with CEO searches and is useful in nearly any other type of search. There should be clarity on who in the company will conduct the interviews and a clear understanding how and by whom the hiring decision will be made. Centralizing the related scheduling and logistics with a specific person is best for assuring a smooth process.
• Aside from a CEO search, where the interview focus is on the Board of Directors and its Search Committee, those individuals who will be in a supervisory or peer relationship to the position, as well as appropriate human resource professionals, tend to be the most qualified interviewers. Except in extraordinary circumstances, a candidate should not be interviewed by prospective subordinates.
• Each interviewer should see every candidate. An agreed-upon set of interview questions should be used, with the interviewer being free to add some of their own questions to the mix. The interview schedule should be given priority by each interviewer and candidates should be seen in as close proximity as possible in order to allow for accurate comparisons. Interviewers should take careful notes to preserve information and impressions gained from the experience.
• At the conclusion of the schedule, all interviewers should meet as a group to compare notes, mutually discuss impressions, talk through differences, and hopefully arrive at a consensus of the one or two top candidates. The desire for additional interview rounds should be accommodated where possible.

An effective interview process will show the candidates off against each other on a level playing field. This allows each candidate’s respective substance and style to become apparent relative to the qualifications being sought.

Be prepared to sell the candidate on the company and opportunity

Although Kincannon & Reed plays an important role in selling the client organization and opportunity, the client also has a critical role in establishing credibility with candidates throughout the process.

• Resources to share with candidates about the client: The search firm needs to know what information about the client organization, products, or results can be shared with candidates and at what point in the process. The client should supply us with printed and/or electronic information that can be shared with candidates. If confidentiality agreements are necessary, be sure they are reasonable from the viewpoint of the candidates and build in a mechanism for controlling any materials that are presented.
• Be available to answer candidate questions: The client may need to be involved early in the search process to respond to difficult questions candidates may raise. For example, in a research and development search, a conference call between a potential candidate and appropriate client representatives gives the parties an early opportunity to sense the potential for a match. When a senior financial officer is being recruited, a finalist will want to conduct due diligence as a way of knowing what they are taking on and what to expect. Public companies will already have information that is accessible, but should also be prepared to address matters such as interim results. Private companies, and particularly family companies, might need to allow more than usual transparency to finalist candidates.
• Prompt feedback: Although it seems obvious, treating candidates with courtesy and respect is a critical part of establishing credibility and selling the position. We do our best to create the best impression of the client with each communication. Candidates desire feedback from our client promptly after investing several hours in a phone or face to face interview. Whether positive or negative, candidates will draw positive impressions when the client is decisive and responsive instead of dragging out the process.

Reach consensus on a leading and back-up candidate

The vetting process narrows the field to finalist candidates. Our objective is to make that final cut as difficult as possible for you to make. We want you to have good options; it is important to avoid the “all or nothing” outcome. The top individual in the field of candidates may or may not take the final offer, or he/she may be convinced to stay put based on an attractive counter package from the current employer. Keep an open mind and be prepared with a back-up candidate in mind.

Be comprehensive and realistic in structuring a compensation package

One of the key elements of a search process is defining the expected compensation range for the position. While estimates can be put together based on available data, these will be only a starting point for arriving at the final package needed to attract the preferred candidate.

Real time information on the “market” will be obtained as we gather information from qualified candidates on their current compensation. A range for the base salary and bonus component will become apparent. When it does, clients need to be open if the reality is above the original estimate.

Cover all the bases when thinking about a compensation package. Your preferred candidate’s current compensation is the most important detail that will help you create an attractive package. At the offer stage, we ask the chosen candidate to complete a list reflecting their current compensation package. The client can then address each important component in the offer and the candidate will have a clear picture of comparability. Lower local living costs may be interesting but seldom convincing to a candidate whereas higher living costs will always be compelling. Don’t overlook any significant differential in income and property tax rates.

If relocation is required, we test the candidate and his/her family’s willingness to seriously consider the opportunity early in the search process. But attitudes toward relocation can change as a candidate forms impressions of the company and the people. Clients need to be prepared to “sell” the location and the prospect of relocation to the spouse. “Yes” may only really be “maybe” until positive impressions are made and comfort levels reached. Be prepared to work with and address that reality.

It gets easier each time

Establishing a collaborative partnership with the client fits with Kincannon & Reed’s philosophy that each search is the opportunity to build and deepen our relationship with that client. Keeping these suggestions front and center throughout the search process will help to assure a successful search outcome, and each successful search builds toward that long-term relationship.

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