Executive search professionals employ different skills to recruitment consultants.
Our role is not to find people who are already looking for new positions, but to pinpoint those unique individuals embedded within other firms who not only have the competencies you need, but who can share your vision, endorse your strategy and match your culture. In other words, outstanding talent with the skills and personality to lead your business to greater heights of success.
When it comes to finding senior executive for your firm, our ambition is to develop a lasting partnership with you based on trust, admiration and respect.
Each of Talent Investors’ professionals has had considerable experience working in senior positions within Blue Chip companies, professional services firms and boutique businesses, as well as in running their own ventures.
This experience at the coal-face of leading a company provides us with insights into the challenges that you might be facing – and allows us to provide an advisory service in addition to an executive search and selection service.
Talent Investors 10-step Executive Search Process
Initial Client Consultation
We understand more about your vision, strategy, culture and requirements for the role sought.
Creation of Job Specification
The Job Specification is our principal communication tool to find candidates for first round screening.
Candidate Sourcing
We source candidates from our existing database, our private networks, and various databases and resources.
Creation of the Candidate Long List
We interview high-performing candidates from these sources to create a short list.
Creation of the Candidate Short List
We present you with a short-list of 3 to 5 profiles for approval to interview.
Client & Candidate 1st Interviews
We provide you with guidance for your short-list interviews and provide feedback to both you and the candidates.
Client & Candidate 2nd Interviews
We assist you in managing the second round interviews, mediating in any subsequent feedback.
Structuring an Offer
We help you to construct a compensation package for your preferred candidate.
Negotiations
We mediate between you and the candidate to ensure a smooth transition and allay any apprehensions.
Ongoing Review
We provide an ongoing review service for both you and the candidate to ensure that the transition has been a success.
Our Executive Search Programme
We break our executive search programme into 4 key phases. These are:
Initial Client Consultation
To find the best candidate, we need an in-depth understanding of your company. This includes:
• Your industry and its macro and micro-economic situation.
• Your market position and organisational structure.
• Your vision for the company and your strategy to achieve it.
• Professional and technical information around the position to be filled.
• What you believe might be the causes of the role’s success or failure.
Since it is our goal to find a candidate whom your colleagues can respect, admire and like, we also ask to meet their supervisor(s) and peers so we can match the candidate to their perspective, style and personality.
As executive search professionals we seek out exceptional candidates who may be comfortable in their current position: their decision to move is dependent upon whether they share the vision of the company, whether they believe there is a cultural fit, and whether they admire the personalities of the recruiting firm.
Understanding these critical factors enables us to present you with candidates who are not only technically adept but who also have the passion, drive and cultural fit to make a smooth transition and add value to your business from the earliest stage.
Job Specification
Next, we prepare the Job Specification that describes your organisation, its situation, its ambition, the nature of the position, and the qualities and experience required by the ideal candidate. Once approved by you, this serves as our primary instrument to communicate the opportunity and attract candidates to the position and organisation.
We are always happy to comply this and we have an excellent track record in finding outstanding candidates while maintaining your anonymity.
Researching Candidate Sources and Names
We begin the search process by:
• Accessing our database of existing, potential candidates.
• Approaching our extensive, domestic and international network of professional contacts for possible candidates.
• Interrogating sources likely to provide leads, including a variety of online databases, business directories and association membership lists.
We also welcome your suggestions as to organisations or people that may be likely sources of potential candidates.
The Job Specification (suitably anonymised) is then sent to candidates obtained through this process. We continue the search and screening process, phone interviewing those with high-potential. The result is long-list of potential candidates for the next stage of interviewing.
Screening and Interviewing
As resumes are received from high-potential candidates, we begin our evaluation process. Through subsequent phone interviews, we reduce the pool of prospective candidates to those with sufficient potential to warrant a face-to-face interview.
During these interviews, each candidate is evaluated against the Opportunity Profile. In order to source the most proficient candidates and the most suited to your vision, strategy and culture, we also explore:
• The candidate’s level of interest in the position.
• Their compensation requirements.
• Their career goals.
• Their preferred working and cultural environment.
• The company’s geographical fit for the candidate (and his/her family). The 3 to 5 most highly qualified candidates are short-listed for introduction to you.
Interview Preparation
Interviewing senior executives for a senior position is not something that you or your colleagues are likely to do often in the course of a business year. In order for you to make a success of the interview and to get a clear understanding of the candidates’ characters and capabilities, we provide you with interviewing suggestions and guides to assist you. We are also available during the interviews, offering counsel as requested.
Client / Candidate First Interview
After the interviews are completed, we source feedback from both you and the candidates to insure that any issues are identified on both sides. As needed, we assist in any clarification or problem resolution between you.
Client / Candidate Second Interview
You may now want to interview the top one or two candidates a second time. For this stage, we recommend that peers and subordinates to the position also interview the candidate in order to gain additional input before a final decision: this resulting feedback from the supervisor and his team, as well as from the candidate, allows for a more informed hiring decision.
Reference and Background Check
Once the desired candidate is identified, we provide an in-depth reference evaluation. By requesting 12 references from each candidate (3 superior, 3 peer, 3 subordinate and 3 other), we are confident that potential strengths and weaknesses will be revealed.
The Offer and The Compensation Package
We are often asked to assist in structuring a compensation package. If requested, we may act as a facilitator to resolve issues such as relocation, severance agreements, etc.
Negotiations
After you make an offer, we seek the candidate’s reaction. If there is any hesitation in the candidate accepting the offer, we help resolve any problems that may be an obstacle. Acting as a mediator during the offer period helps prevent any breakdown in communication during the “courtship” and decreases any potential for misunderstandings between you and the candidate.
Once the offer has been accepted, we continue to liaise with the candidate in order to minimise any apprehensions or questions which may arise about the new position, and to avoid the development of any situations that might cause the candidate to change his or her mind. This has helped us to ensure we retain an enviable record in candidates staying with their new firm.
Ongoing Follow-Up
We periodically follow-up with you and the newly placed candidate during their first year. If both can say that things are going well and there haven’t been any negative surprises, then we know that we have had another successful assignment.
