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.
"A great ballplayer is a player who will take a chance."
— Branch Rickey(1881-1965) Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, team executive
ExecuNet Exclusive: Employers Moving More Cautiously On Executive Hiring
Slower hiring by companies — even when they have vacant leadership roles — has dampened executive recruiters' confidence in overall management hiring activity through the end of the year. In August, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 46 percent of 181 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down four points from July and the first index reading below 50 percent since October 2009. "The slippage we've seen in business confidence in recent weeks is translating into slower, more drawn out corporate decision-making about recruiting new executives," says Mark Anderson, President and Chief Economist of ExecuNet. "More companies have moved from a slow-and-steady green flag on executive hiring to a yellow caution flag, as they sort out the business implications of the broader economic indicators. The momentum we tracked in the executive employment market has certainly slowed, and executive recruiters are feeling it, and, along with most employers, closely monitoring the economy for signals of future growth opportunities."
Recruiter Confidence in the Executive Employment Market (Next Six Months)
Source: ExecuNet.com
Balancing Rewards To Engage And Retain Top Talent
As organizational concerns about talent engagement and retention escalate, cost pressures still loom; and according to a recent Mercer study of more than 1,100 mid-sized and large U.S. employers, 67 percent of organizations will be influenced equally by external competitiveness and internal affordability when making future pay decisions.
However, 24 percent of organizations report that affordability will have a greater impact on pay decisions.
Over the past 18 months, amid limited pay budgets, organizations increased their use of non-cash rewards as a means to enhance employee retention and engagement. Rewards offered more during this time period include communicating the value of total rewards to employees (27%), work-life programs (22%), formalized career paths (21%) and special project opportunities (20%).
Despite past emphasis on non-cash rewards, organizations plan to focus on money as well as career development to retain and engage the right talent. Leading reward elements perceived to have the strongest impact on employee retention and engagement are base salary increases (41%), short- and long-term variable pay (36%), and training and career development (35%). Nearly one-quarter of organizations report that programs such as work-life initiatives, employee communication campaigns and time-off plans — elements of importance during the past year and a half — will have less impact on employee retention and engagement going forward.
"Non-cash programs like career pathing, increased communication to employees and work-life initiatives are important in fostering employee retention and engagement regardless of the economic environment," says Mercer's Loree Griffith. "However, as recovery occurs, employers want to revisit pay as a means to staying competitive and retaining top-performing employees."
Index: Executive Résumé Trickery Reaches 10-Year High
The Liars Index produced by the Brookfield, Wisconsin-based executive search firm Jude M. Werra & Associates reached 21.43% for the first six months of 2010, the highest level in 10 years. The index is a reflection of the percentage of executives who in some way misrepresented their education claims on the résumés they submitted to the firm during that time.
The index's rolling average for the last two years also trended upward to 16.20%, approaching the 17.60% mark of ten years ago. The rolling average record rate was in the first half of 2000, when it reached 18.50%.
The current data parallels the increases during the 2000-2001 recessionary period, according to the firm's principal, Jude Werra. This, he says, suggests that as the national unemployment statistics rise, the percentage of puffery and outright lies about educational credentials appear to rise right along them.
What seems to escape these executives' understanding, Werra adds, is that according to its most recent index survey, 95 percent of the time employers will eliminate from consideration candidates who claim degrees they did not earn.
Of course, the wise employer will use care in avoiding a candidate who only talks a good game. Checking the education before candidates advance very far in the screening process can save great disappointment and expense later.
Risk Management An Increasing Priority For Corporations
A recent Korn/Ferry Executive Quiz survey reveals that corporate leadership attention to risk management has significantly increased as a result of the global downturn and the many high profile risk management failures in the financial services industry.
From its survey of senior executives and board members from across the globe, it was clear that companies are actively identifying and addressing their own risk management issues more than ever before.
The survey found 59 percent of executives believe the recent scrutiny on corporate reputation risk has had a positive effect on their board's view of reputation management and crisis preparedness, with only 28 percent saying the increased attention on risk management has had no effect.
"The fragile global economy and the recent high-profile collapses within the financial sector have taken their toll on organizations worldwide. As a result, it's clear that a by-product of the new environment is an increased focus and awareness by executives of the importance of risk management planning," says Steve Mader, vice chairman and managing director of Korn/Ferry board services.
More than half of the executives (58 percent) believe their company has improved the quality and timeliness of internal oversight and reporting to the Board to better assist in risk management and planning. Fifty-seven percent of senior executives surveyed said directors and executives are spending more time dealing with risk management. Twenty-six percent said there had been no change at all, while 14 percent revealed their company is actually spending less time on risk management.
You're Invited!
Check out ExecuNet's new Blog — Executive Insider — where we share publicly the types of insights, ideas and opinions that reflect what's inside ExecuNet's private executive membership. It's a blog page you can visit daily for insights about the executive job market, trends and best practices.
We invite readers to share their leadership, business and career experiences in relationship to our blog posts and let us (and other blog readers) know what's happening in their world.
Rating Management
An alarmingly high level of employees believe their managers are either somewhat or completely incompetent, and an additional 17 percent are only marginally impressed with managerial competence, according to a recent Right Management survey.
The firm's survey polled nearly 800 employees throughout North America. Right Management asked the following question:
"How would you rate your manager's performance?"
28%
22%
17%
13%
20%
Very competent
Competent
Somewhat competent
Somewhat incompetent
Incompetent
Source: Right Management
"It surprised us that as many as half of employees are less than enthused about their manager's performance," said George P. Herrmann, executive vice president Americas for Right Management. "The recent business climate has necessitated many fast and reactive changes — often quick decisions without explanations of rationale provided to employees. We interpret the results as highlighting the lack of trust between many employees and their managers."
"With the volume of change surrounding most businesses — layoffs, restructurings, changes in business strategy — most managers have had their hands full managing the business and meeting aggressive goals with fewer resources," Herrmann added. "If people don't know why things are happening — the rationale or the business case — as well as what the plan is moving forward, they are less likely to feel confident about how things are being handled."
2010 Executive Job Market Intelligence
Our 18th Annual Executive Job Market Intelligence Report captures the latest trends and developments in senior-level hiring, compensation and executive search.
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HR Consultant
Pallet Management Systems, Inc.
