Search Firms Will Work for You and Produce ROI Value

An Excerpt from: Hire Hotdogs Fire Baloney by Don Paullin

Quick Quiz
Pick the best answer: How can search firms and agencies add
value to you and your company?
A) Allow your people to do their jobs—ROI
B) Save countless hours of management time
C) Help keep you legal
D) Increase the quality of the applicant pool
E) All of the above

Answer: E) All of the above

Who’s Who and What’s What? Contingency and Retained Search Firms
Basically search firms come in two varieties: those that work on contingency fees and those that are retained. Contingency firms get paid by the company when the candidate is hired. Contingency firms usually do not get exclusive contracts and therefore compete with other contingency firms and candidates to make a placement.
Retained firms may bill the company a percent of their fee up front and then in phases, for example in thirds with the final payment being made after the candidate is placed. Retained firms typically are given exclusive contracts to select the best candidates in the world for a position. This makes sense because you are paying in phases
and want them to give you their maximum effort and attention.

The word Agency usually refers to employment agencies.
There are temporary employment agencies, temp-to-hire agencies, and leasing agencies who actually are the employer of record for a professional population and bill out professional staff, literally leasing them, billing them by the hour, or renting them out for a term. As a client, one has to determine the agency’s principals of operation and their rules of engagement, and you will understand what each firm does, exactly how they do it, and how the transaction is funded. Now that you know what is what, you can select what best fits your needs.

A “Headhunter” by any Other Name
A headhunter is a professional matchmaker who defines himself or herself in a non-ambiguous fashion. I have heard it all. The professional you interview can be a recruiter, an executive search consultant, employment match consultant, or probably half a dozen flowery monikers— in reality that person is a headhunter.

Great headhunters are your best friends when it comes to getting the best applicant pool. Having a true veteran for a headhunter helps you select the best hire, and this often is the most viable recruitment strategy. The firm that does the most for you in making you successful in your mission is the priority agency to work with.

How to Work With Search Firms
Can the search firm that dictates the search methodology as, “This is the way we do it”and displays an unwillingness to be flexible be of service? That depends upon their expertise and historic track record. Great search agencies are artisans of sorts, and they may well have insights and experience you do not. Don’t ask the unreasonable, but do thoroughly define your mission and do tell the search firm what you need that will help you. You’re the boss and writing the checks.

If a search firm asks you for an exclusive from the inception of your conversations with them, then beware of the bad wolf. Conversely, if they are doing a specific search for a key individual who exists in a very small population (example CEO), then it might be worth it. To fill your various job openings, you may have to work with a number of search firms simply because some firms are more distinctly competent or are specialists, and may for example, do engineering but not administrative or financial positions.

Define what you consider complete due diligence, and a professional search firm will do it well.

Paullin’s Point—Ask the search firm to ask the candidate to provide copies of degrees, transcripts, CPA licenses or any relevant documents. As the hiring company, letting the search firm do the leg work and heavy lifting allows for a generally more positive interaction with a candidate but still gets you the hard answers and facts you need.

Headhunter Acid Tests

Acid test one: If you don’t feel the chemistry and enjoy “the moment” or the initial conversation with the headhunter is choppy, contentious or uninformative, then they are more likely going to be a negative experience.

Acid test two: If you enjoy calling your headhunter and consider them a partner, then they are more likely to evolve as your partner in the mission.

Acid Test Three: Does the firm GUARANTEE their work?
Terms vary, but for management level personnel, I would press for a 90-day guarantee.

Acid test Four: Trust is a must…well, do you or don’t you trust the agency? How has their performance caused you to feel?

Cast Your Bread on the Water and it will Come back 10- Fold
I believe in paying search firms a fair fee and not trying to negotiate too cheap a fee. You will likely get the effort you pay for.

Use good judgment in bottom line negotiations. Pay fair and on time, and it will likely pay off in better candidates, saved time, friendships, and ROI.

Summary
Having too many search firms work an assignment is like too many boyfriends or girlfriends…it does not lead to marriage. In fact, my experience has been with contingency search, one is not enough and more than three are too many. They work for you, but it is a two-way street. Having too many firms is not fair to the firms really working for you and will discourage each firm.

Give back to your good search firms, and they will in return work for you harder. Giving back means giving them good, up-to-date, and complete information. Provide a detailed job description, an overview of the corporate culture, details on the hiring manager, and compensation and benefit package information at a minimum.

• A poor search firm means frustration
• A good search firm means good hires and saved time
• A great search firm means a partner helping contribute
great hires and ROI

National speakers Association

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