Executive Employment Searching

The increasing globalisation of business and of employers both large and small pose significant questions about whether an organisation can leverage the same assets to attract exceptional management talent in other regions of the world.

Gregory Dohnt, partner in the TRANSEARCH International Sydney Office ' Watermark Search ' says exceptional leaders are motivated by the potential reputation enhancement, recognition from peers and opportunities for genuine wealth creation that might be promised in a career move. "Executives seek escalation of challenge. They want to see that what they tackle today on behalf of an organisation will assist them to meet even greater, more complex challenges in times to come," Dohnt says. "Good leaders think about the legacy of people they leave behind them when their time is through. Top executives seek to balance tomorrow's results with futureproofing sustainability. And most importantly of all, they want to work with other people just like themselves."

And contrary to media headlines about significantly inflated CEO pay, Randall Maple, also a TRANSEARCH International partner with Watermark Search, says money alone is typically not enough to lure a top executive away from a job in which he or she is currently well compensated, proven and highly regarded by peers. Companies, Maple contends, have to offer more in terms of "a future in an organisation of strong reputation that is not only well managed but has plans for development and growth." The proposition required to attract top talent, he adds, "needs to be not only attractive in terms of rewards but in terms of stimulation and future."

Maple observed that many employers understate the attractiveness of their senior-most career opportunities. But, ultimately, its attractiveness in the eyes of potential executive-level recruits "will inevitably be impacted also by their performance in the market place, their strategic plans for the future and evidence of innovation in the way they do business." Compensation underpins the value top employers place on people and their preparedness to be competitive. The most competitive among them, Maple adds, rank at least in the third quartile of remuneration for senior executive roles as measured by analysis of pay for the same role in a similarly sized company in the same market space.

Uday Chawla, managing partner, and Rahul Mathur, senior partner, with TRANSEARCH International in India, believe that the executive search process for world-class management talent must factor in the linkage between top executives' work and sense of self. "Clearly, jobs have become a part of self expression," Chawla and Mathur agree. "It is the opportunity to work with something close to one's heart and in one's own style which is of prime importance." This alone suggests a very personalised engagement with top management candidates.

Invariably, that engagement leads to discussions about compensation, and from the perspectives of Chawla and Mathur, it cannot be overlooked as part of the lure for a new management recruit. "Money is a complex motivator. While all executives look for optimising growth potential and alignment to personal goals in each job," the TRANSEARCH India partners agree, "often money is used as a benchmark for comparisons with peers or assessment of market value of self, and then it overrides other considerations."

Creating the right compensation framework is a necessity to engage top leaders, but their fit has much more to do with their sense of satisfaction in a new environment. "While it is a no brainer to consider good product and high growth potential markets a minimum requirement, things like innovation, cutting edge HR practices and employer branding go a long way in making a company attractive from outside," say Chawla and Mathur.

Speaking specifically to the movement of executive talent on the Indian subcontinent, they observe: "There are more business leaders willing to shed their tenured association in a large, government sheltered or otherwise market-insulated corporation to explore start-ups and test their mettle for a higher gain."

The availability of large numbers of management appointments within many executives' current environs, however, has raised the bar for companies that must really differentiate their pitch to attractive management candidates to stand out amid the crowd. Hiring companies that understand the recruitment of senior business leaders is a two-way street will be in the best position to compete in an increasingly global war for executive management talent that is now beginning to unfold.

About the Author:
Executive search firm TRANSEARCH International (http://www.transearch.com/) has representation in most of the major economic centres of the world. TRANSEARCH International executive search firm has 54 offices in 34 countries and is currently rated as the 10th largest global executive search firm by Executive Recruiter News (ERN). For more information contact the TRANSEARCH Central Office: contact at transearch dot com. TRANSEARCH executive search firm website: www.transearch.com