RecruitSmart Today
A bi-weekly source of market intelligence and insight that executive-level recruiters in the corporate and search firm environments leverage to advance best practices in executive talent management.
Shaped by the voice and perspective of our widely respected industry analyst, Joseph Daniel McCool, RecruitSmart Today delivers trend and data analysis that you can use to benchmark best practices in executive-level recruiting, retention, compensation, and other key human capital functions.
We're confident that once you realize the value of RecruitSmart Today, you'll find reason to leverage the exclusive, members-only ExecuNet resources that other executive-level recruiters are leveraging to boost their human capital advantage. Whether it's our exclusive job posting, candidate search, and networking resources, or the periodic RecruitSmart Insider intelligence briefings available only to our members, you'll soon discover how ExecuNet members are keeping pace with the issues, trends and data that are driving executive talent management.
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."
— Helen Keller,(1880-1968), American author, political activist and lecturer
ExecuNet Exclusive: Recruiter Confidence Up As Companies Fill Talent Gaps
Search Firms' Own Hiring Plans Continue To Escalate
Source: ExecuNet
After a spate of layoffs and office closings during what's been described as perhaps the most difficult period in the history of the executive search consulting business, more executive search firms are planning to add professional staff in the coming months. ExecuNet research finds that 21 percent of 153 responding executive search firms are planning to add professional staff in the first quarter, because they anticipate an increase in the number of search assignments from corporate clients. That's the largest tally of executive search firms planning to add professional staff since the third quarter of 2008 and an indicator that most search firms have entered the new year with far more optimism than they had this time last year.
The Corporate Executive Talent Management Outlook For 2010
Corporations will recruit more actively and more selectively in 2010 than they have since the dawn of what will long be remembered as "The Great Recession." The pendulum of power that a year ago gave employers a decided edge continues to swing toward equilibrium, the point at which companies and executives both have degrees of leverage in the executive recruiting market.
As 2010 unfolds, the most sought-after executives will have more career options. Companies with the best products, the best reputations and the best leaders will again seize on their competitive edge to attract the best talent. And the "New Normal" environment will stretch human resource organizations and raise expectations that corporate executive talent management practices will demonstrably elevate corporate performance.
So what should corporate executive staffing and talent management leaders expect to top the list of organizational priorities this year? Consider the following:
Identify the executives your organization can least afford to lose and engage with them in some candid dialogue about their future goals as soon as possible (that is, before they decide to leave!).
Look beyond planned executive hires for 2010 and construct back-up plans for unanticipated executive hires.
Balance human resources' transformation plans against internal and external recruiting and talent management metrics.
Establish a real partnership between the corporate executive staffing and leadership development functions.
Find ways to accelerate the recruiting process.
Your business — particularly if you lead human resources, staffing or talent management for a small to medium-sized enterprise — can't wait long for solutions to its most pressing executive management needs. Be proactive and envision vacancies before they occur so you can meet the need with agility, confidence and a real sense of urgency.
Top Executive Retention Imperatives
As the economy continues to recover, companies must prioritize the retention of high performing executives upon whose shoulders business results hinge more than ever.
The findings of ExecuNet's recent Executive Retention Report conducted with Finnegan Mackenzie — The Retention Firm, suggest that organizations that commit to work proactively to keep top leaders will be in the best position to drive the corporate agenda in 2010.
Given what we've learned about the restlessness of many senior executives these days, the report offers the following as a road map to tackle this key human capital challenge:
Align executive roles with individual executives' interests rather than their skills or experience alone. Connecting them with the work they want to do and the developmental experiences they aspire to will help you retain them as new career opportunities beckon.
Be prepared when key executives leave. Whether you plan to promote internally or recruit externally to fill a management vacancy, the human resources or talent management leader must have a plan and put it into action immediately.
Look for opportunities and support to hold business leaders accountable for the talent they recruit, develop, retain and offer up to other experiences within the enterprise. Remember, if a leader is attracting or alienating talent, there's usually a reason that offers opportunity or reason for intervention.
As companies grow, they simply can't afford to lose the momentum, productivity and morale they need to reach ambitious business objectives. That's why this is such a unique opportunity for talent management leaders to demonstrate one of their major points of impact on the business.
More Companies Let Their Recruiters Dial Into Direct Competitors For Talent
The recession may have largely abated the war for talent, but it seems the competition between direct competitors in some industries has actually intensified.
The Institute for Corporate Productivity looked at competitive recruiting practices among employer organizations and found a quarter of companies say they recruit new talent by contacting their competitors' employees directly. Over 40 percent say they actively source competitors' employees in certain positions to a moderate or higher extent.
Mostly, companies polled use external searches selectively. Overall, 58 percent say they use executive recruiters to fill certain key positions. In high-performance organizations — companies/firms that consistently outperform their competitors in market share, revenue growth, profitability and customer satisfaction — some 63 percent use external firms for filling key positions.
"These study results speak to the fact that many organizations are concerned not just with finding talent, but with finding the right talent," says institute analyst Carol Morrison. "Developing current employees for advancement is an excellent strategy, but recognizing there are times when a company can benefit from hiring externally and adding fresh perspective is a very practical and relevant sourcing approach, too."
In general, senior-leadership positions are the most likely to be targeted for external recruiting services, followed by those deemed difficult to fill and those requiring special management skill sets.
Financial Companies Changing Their Pay Practices
Financial organizations have changed the mix of pay for their top executives, moving emphasis away from short-term incentive schemes in favor of increased salary, deferred compensation schemes and modified incentive program design.
That's according to a recent Mercer survey that also found financial sector employers changing the nature of their short-term incentive (STI) schemes, with more focus on balanced, risk-adjusted performance measurement and deferral of bonus payouts over a multi-year timeframe.
In light of many companies having to seek financial aid from government and recent regulatory developments, there has been a notable impact on remuneration practices. In response to public scrutiny and government reform mandates, over 80 percent of all firms surveyed have made, or plan to make, changes to their annual bonus or short-term incentive plan design.
According to Vicki Elliott, worldwide partner and leader of Mercer's financial services human capital consulting network, "National regulators are attempting to make the sector consider risk more thoughtfully in their performance measurement and reward schemes so as not to encourage excessive risk-taking behaviors. Our data shows that the majority of participants are changing the nature of their pay structures and their short-term incentive schemes, including the way performance is measured and evaluated. The industry is moving in the right direction."
In general, the majority of companies are decreasing the proportion of the annual cash bonus in the compensation mix, while increasing base salaries and mandatory deferrals. Long-term incentives, the survey found, are treated differently across the sector, with some companies increasing and others decreasing them with greater attention being paid to including performance conditions beyond share price appreciation.
Really bad leaders (the bottom 20%) produce bad results and really great leaders (the top 20%) produce great results. And although good leaders (the middle 60%) produce better results than bad ones, they hold the organization back — especially if they have the opportunity to become great.
Now's the time for organizations to stop focusing on the bottom group and start focusing on the middle group, who can move from good to great and in doing so, make significant impact on business success.
Join Jack Zenger, a world expert in the field of leadership development, to learn:
What makes the most inspiring leaders tick
How to infuse positive emotion in the workplace
Action steps to strengthen trust between leaders and subordinates
Why inspiring leadership leads to higher employee performance
As the economy begins to show glimpses of improvement, employers are reassessing many of the stringent compensation measures they implemented last year. At the same time, they are looking ahead to a more vibrant job market and what it will take to retain and attract key talent.
Join Tom Burke from Buck Consultants in this 30-minute interactive session to learn what recent surveys reveal about future compensation trends and emerging talent retention and acquisition strategies among today's organizations.
2009 Executive Job Market Intelligence
Our 17th Annual Executive Job Market Intelligence Report captures the latest trends and developments in senior-level hiring, compensation and executive search.
The worst recession in decades is taking its toll on the executive employment market, but there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Recruiters are finding industry experts and business referrals largely by networking, according to ExecuNet's 17th annual report.
