When companies seek to hire management or professional talent from outside their organization, they have several options; manage the time consuming process themselves or outsource the process to professionals specializing in this area.
Internal or Outsourced
Managing the recruiting process internally, the company makes an effort to find candidates through various sources such as advertising and the Internet, then screens the responses, interviews candidates and makes the final hiring selection.The perceived advantage here is that the company directly controls the process.In reality, there is very little control over who sees or replies to an advertised job posting.Thus, the disadvantages are that many qualified candidates may not notice or respond to advertisements and many unqualified responses need to be evaluated and screened out of the process.Adding to the complexity and time expenditure is the sensitive procedure of reference checking, background checks and salary negotiations.Therefore, many companies decide to outsource the recruiting process to specialists such as King Executive Search.
There are many considerations and questions to be answered when choosing the right search firm:
§Do they know my business and industry?
§Will they act and represent my company professionally?
§Are their fees and expenses appropriate?
§Will they respond timely and be service oriented?
§Will they have my company’s best interests in mind?
§Can I trust them to treat me as a priority client and dedicate senior staff to my project?
§Will they be successful in finding the best possible person for the job?
Retained Executive Search vs. Contingency Placement
Strategy
There are several differences between retained executive search and contingency placement, but the primary distinction between the two is the development of search strategy and the implementation of the search process.A retained executive search consultant is typically hired exclusively to perform the search assignment and evaluates all candidates being considered for the open position (internal and external).This allows the executive search consultant to best represent the interests of the client and uniformly assess candidates for the qualities being sought by the client.Additionally, this provides a high-level of confidentiality to both the client and candidate. Conversely, a contingency recruiter usually does not have an exclusive assignment, but rather races against all other sources in hopes ofpresentinga winning candidate.As a result, while a retained executive search consultant will never present a candidate to more than one client, contingency recruiters often present the same candidate to multiple clients at the same time.
At times contingency recruiters specialize by industry and function. Retained search consultants often specialize, but because they are driven by original research for each engagement, they are capable of applying the search process across industries and functions – especially when clients are seeking to recruit from outside their industry.
Service
Contingency placement is geared toward identifying candidates – but not necessarily the most qualified candidates who are more often found when extensive research, screening and in-person interviews are applied to the process.Contingency recruiters often work with a large number of job openings, and, using a database of known candidates, look for a match on paper and send those candidates’ resumes to the client for possible interviews.Contingency placement is often appropriate when multiple candidates are likely qualified for a position and the salary level is below $100,000.
The retained search process is tailored to situations when it is critical to hire not just any candidate, but the most qualified person available.The level of service required to fill these positions is typically higher and requires significant research, thorough screening and in-person interviews, referencing and a high degree of confidentiality through the process.
Fee Structure
Fees for the two kinds of service are similar – typically 25% to 33⅓% of the guaranteed first year compensation of the person hired.Contingency recruiters receive one lump sum payment upon the hiring, while the retained search consultant is on retainer through the search process.In addition, the retained search consultant is reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses – mainly for travel expenses for candidate interviews.Neither contingency nor retained search consultants should accept fees from individuals for the purpose of helping them find a job.
Process
The way the fee is paid has a great deal to do with how the project is executed and what kind of results can be expected.When a company retains an executive search firm to fill a particular job, it is paying for the process of conducting a search.Without being paid on retainer, a contingency recruiter has no assurances of being paid at all, therefore affecting the process and level of service.As a result, a contingency recruiter cannot afford to invest a great deal of time working on any particular engagement, because a successful outcome may often depend on factors beyond their control. When a higher level of service and the best possible candidates are mandatory, the client is best served by retained executive search.
The foundation of the King Executive Search Process is to understand the client’s requirements, develop a precise search strategy, implement targeted research, and apply our years of experience and developed skills to identify and assess candidates.Open communication with the client is critical to the process and is integrated into every step.
For additional information regarding King Executive Search, Inc. and how we can serve your needs, please contact us:
