Choosing an executive search firm partner – boutique or top tier global?

You need to replace a key member of your leadership team, whether through natural attrition or otherwise, and you immediately contact one of the top tier global executive search firms. Why? Because you “always have”, that’s what the Board or CEO have always done.

Have you considered whether you are getting the true partnership this key executive search warrants? Just who is it that you partner with; is it the person who signs the proposal, or a member of their team?

Larger firms often have a team servicing particular client lines, whether that be by industry or function. What if this team has multiple assignments on at once; can you be sure that the principal consultant you engaged with in the first instance is the one working on the role, or are they perhaps focused on the high-profile, high-fee assignments already on the books?

While in many instances it is accepted that the days of the top global firms charging a third of the first year’s total fixed remuneration in fees are gone, there is still an expectation when you receive one of their proposals it will still be the most expensive. However, Resourceful Pro believe companies should be looking for more value from executive search, as well as the complementary offerings these firms have.

There are a number of ways you could do this. What if you could get far more value than just filling a role at a point in time? Or, what about only paying for the level of service your organisation requires.

While the above relates to fees, more and more clients are engaging with boutique executive search firms for different reasons.

Resourceful Pro believe in doing executive search differently, with the same end goal of identifying and attracting the best possible candidates but, critically, with reduced time and cost to hire. We also believe in giving clients ownership of valuable data they can continue to use into the future.

Clients are now cognisant of the fact that a partnership with a boutique offers transparency. You know you are partnering with the consultant you have spoken with. That consultant will share information such as a weekly update containing market intelligence, process status, application rates and gender split, because they are interested in building long term relationships with you.

Resourceful Pro empower their clients by giving them ownership of all the data we produce during a search. This has the added benefit of providing you with a warm talent pool to continue tracking as potential future employees, and enables you to make future hires at no additional cost once the initial hire is made.

It is important to note that at Resourceful Pro the research that has been carried out into your talent need has been as exhaustive as possible; ground-up research that fully investigates the market. We do not rely on pre-existing networks or proprietary databases.

The data we produce is also on a different level. It is not just quantitative data about each candidate’s skills, experience and remuneration, but also qualitative data that goes deeper into a candidate’s motivations, aspirations and perceptions.