Our Latest Thinking
Access dozens of thought-provoking and insightful news items from Hunt Scanlon Media’s flagship human capital archives. Each article, Q&A, trends & rankings report, and case study – along with expert commentary – provides executive search consultants and talent acquisition leaders cutting-edge and up-to-date market intelligence. Here is some of our latest thinking.
Flexibility is Essential as Recruiters Expand Their Offerings
As the executive search industry continues its shift beyond pure-play talent identification, recruiting firms have had to take a more innovative approach to working with clients. For many, this has included everything from creating expanded service offerings to offering value-based pricing models. Flexibility, above all else, reigns supreme. Perhaps the best example, and the fastest
Industry Involvement Can Give Recruiters a Big Edge
For leaders of executive search firms, involvement in the industries they serve, whether it is by holding a seat on corporate boards or other contributions, can pay dividends in more ways than one. Among other benefits, it is a way to stay up to date and intimately involved in the culture and goings on at client companies and their sectors.
Sports Recruiting Finds Its Own Field of Dreams
Over the last 25 years, sports has grown into a formidable global industry. Historically, professional sports teams operated on a relatively modest level, with league officials, team owners, managers, and coaches surrounding themselves with people they knew and trusted from their own small worlds. But that’s all changed. In recent years, teams like the Dallas
Why Effective Teams Matter More Than Ever In the Workplace
Some companies feel that the big executive recruiting firms should make greater use of their foray into accessory services to bolster their mission of identifying top talent. That might help them recoup some of the business that continues to drain off to the more nimble, relationship-oriented, service-conscious boutiques as well as sidestep certain challenges that come with their size. “As many of the larger recruiting firms continue expanding into other HR consulting services,
Client Needs, Demands Drive Change In Recruiting Sector
For boutique search firms, these are auspicious days. Double digit growth and expansion is the order of the day for many of the more specialized recruiters. As a group, industry statistics show, the boutiques are far outpacing their Big Five competition. Without question, these upstarts are doing something right. Many are now offering accessory services, and outplaying larger rivals at their own game.
Chief Talent Officer Delivers Pivotal Advice to the C-Suite
The role of chief talent officer may not always get the wider recognition it deserves, but as a trusted advisor to executives at the top of the C-suite, it has become all but indispensable. Those who hold the position tend to understand their organizations inside-out, from a strategic overview right down to the individuals who carry out the
Women Helping Women Succeed In Business . . . Here’s How to Get It Done
Women who hold senior leadership roles can do a lot to help junior women find a place in the male-dominated upper echelons of corporate America. More often than not, it can happen right where they both gather daily. Women leaders who have made an effort as official and unofficial mentors, coaches, role models, and sponsors are undeniably making a difference in bringing greater parity to the
Recruiting Firms Reaching Deeper to Meet Changing Client Demand
Boutique search firms are increasingly expanding their offerings beyond recruitment and giving clients a choice of accessory services like talent mapping, succession planning, and team building, to name a few. But some organizations are reaching even further, covering the full spectrum of a company’s talent needs, from bringing in new hires to helping employees land on their
As Technology Sector Booms, Challenges Mount for Recruiters
The booming technology sector, vibrant even when the economy was softer, shows little sign of retreat. It continues, in fact, to produce capabilities and services that few imagined just a decade ago. And while that should keep executive recruitment firms well occupied, the challenge of identifying top-flight talent to lead the tech charge is mounting. “The ubiquitous deployment of technology across the globe has made
Why Chief Digital Officers Now Reign Supreme
As data becomes increasingly critical to corporate decision-making, the chief digital officer now reigns supreme. For recruiters, this has heightened the need for digital candidates with a much deeper grasp of the overall business environment and a greater repertoire of skills than ever before. All About Data “Chief digital officers have access to an extraordinary amount of consumer data,
As Complexity Grows, Healthcare Taps Outside Talent
As expansion continues going strong and system-wide operations grow ever more complicated, the healthcare industry is facing a potential dearth of individuals ready to assume top leadership roles. This, combined with the sector’s exodus of experienced, traditional-style leaders and the current shift in power at the highest echelons of government, is making for particularly challenging
Search Firms Help Life Sciences Sector Adapt to Change
For executive recruiters working in the life sciences sector, the last decade has been one of transformation. Pressure on pricing, regulatory changes, emerging innovations, collaborations, and a move toward “patient-centricity” have all helped shape a new field of play. As an uncertain political environment begins, forecasting in the field has become increasingly challenging and talent
How Coaching Can Boost Performance and Morale
Over the last decade, organizations have increasingly moved away from employing programs to help develop specific skills in their leaders. These days, management and executive development leans more toward working directly with individual executives to improve their professional approach and maximize their effectiveness. “As it has become clear that one-on-one coaching can be instrumental in driving behavior change
Culture Fit Is Vital In Recruiting for a Family Office
These days, culture fit is a critical factor in recruiting for virtually any high level position. But when it comes to identifying someone to lead a family office, that particular requirement is heightened to the maximum. Finding the right person for this type of role calls for the most thorough of assessments. It’s a process that reaches into a family’s most personal matters, with financial
Employee Engagement Must Run Deep to Thrive
Vineet Gambhir, vice president and head of talent for Yahoo! in Asia Pacific, is a true believer in employee engagement. For the concept to succeed, however, it must be deeply woven into the fabric of a company and in turn, the mindset of its workers. Engagement, Vineet explained when we spoke recently, is not something organizations can simply turn on when
Building a Better Search Firm
When Julie Ford started Ventura Partners, she wanted to create a search firm that left behind the traditional approach that most executive recruiters employed. Her mission was to jettison the competition between partners and build an environment in which they worked together to best serve their clients. It wasn’t an outlook for everyone in a field that is slow to embrace change, but with
As Talent Raids Grow, Companies Set Out to Defend Their Turf
One fourth of American businesses have experienced a surge in talent raids, but most companies have done nothing about protecting themselves. In fact, 54 percent are virtually defenseless against corporate poaching, according to a recent co-branded study by Hunt Scanlon Media and leadership advisor Marlin Hawk. And all indications are that the problem isn’t going away
Looking to Brain Power to Improve Hiring
To achieve better outcomes in hiring, companies must take a different tack than the one they have traditionally been following. Too often hiring managers place undue emphasis on the industry knowledge that candidates bring to the table, when what they should really be focusing on is an individual’s intelligence, says Russ Riendeau. “Hire the frontal cortex, not the Rolodex”
This Recruiter’s Competitive Edge: Focus, Flexibility, & Agility
It’s no secret that the past couple years have been tough for much of the energy industry. Crude oil’s rapid price decline was a body blow to the field, and hiring as a result went down. In the oil and gas sector, upstream businesses like exploration and extraction of gas suffered. Energy services and equipment
PE Firms Seek Impact Players for the C-Suite
In many respects, private equity firms demand more of executive recruiters than most companies, private or public. Foremost, there’s a heightened sense of urgency and significance on recruiting C-level talent for their portfolio businesses, says Kathryn Kehoe, managing director at CMF Associates, a consulting firm to the middle market equity sector whose services include a well-respected search practice.
Deep Focus Is Key to Finding Life Sciences Talent
As the healthcare industry has evolved and expanded, the opportunities for search firms has likewise grown. And in such a sprawling landscape, some executive recruiters have served themselves well by avoiding the trap of trying to be all things to all people. “This was the impetus to why we built teams to exclusively focus on specific areas within the overall health
Bringing Corporate Know-How to a Specialist Search Firm
During his tenure at investment advisor Edward Jones, Matt Huffman was responsible for building and leading the firm’s corporate executive recruitment function. Working out of the Edward Jones’ headquarters in St. Louis, he executed its most senior searches, among a number of other duties. But one of the greatest rewards of his time there was the insight he gleaned
As CMO Post Evolves, Role of Recruiters Seen As Pivotal
As companies become more global and complex, marketing — and the chief marketing officer (CMO) position in particular — has taken on an increasingly crucial and strategic role in moving businesses forward. Executive recruiters, for their part, are stepping up, landing senior marketing and brand management leaders with an eye on both the top and bottom corporate line. Recruiters bring hard-won insights when searching for
Helping Transform the Higher Education Landscape
Higher education is under considerable pressure these days, with costs not surprisingly at the center of the storm. For search professionals who serve the sector, the challenges to fill top level roles have grown tougher in many ways. And the task of identifying mission-driven leaders is just the top of the iceberg. But at the
Why Employee Training Is the Catalyst for Success In Business
Training in the executive search profession has fallen off in recent years, pushing recruiting chief Jeff Kaye to make it his mission to put a strong emphasis on the task. Jeff is chief executive of Kaye / Bassman – Sanford Rose, the 10th largest search firm in the Americas, but he also heads up Next Level
Strategy Comes From the Top, But People Implement Success
Charles W.B. Wardell, has enjoyed notable success since he took over as chief executive officer at Witt / Kieffer five years ago. The Oak Brook, IL search firm has scored record revenues and profitability and seen ongoing growth in its traditional lines of business, including leadership searches for healthcare, higher education, academic medicine, and information technology clients. Chuck has also overseen the launching and building
A New Vision for Managing Talent Data
Beyond irrevocably changing the recruiting industry, technology has opened doors to innovation and opportunities that once would have been unimaginable in the field. Consider, for example, a company in which dozens upon dozens of recruitment firms sign on to share a database of senior level executives and non-executive directors, including their most-guarded contact information, who are content in their jobs but might
Why Serving Clients Is the Highest Priority
Ask Patrick Friel about Lochlin Partners, the boutique executive recruitment firm of which he is managing partner, and the conversation always seems to come back to quality of service. For all the change and upheaval that the markets and the search industry have witnessed in recent years, Pat remains firm in his belief that the basics of good service are still the best drivers of success.
CHROs Joining CFOs In Influence, Strategic Role
For all the value that those who occupy the chief human resources officer (CHRO) seat have brought to their companies over the years, it is only now that the role has begun to claim the fullest respect and attention of top leadership. It’s been a long time coming, but in today’s business climate, in which responding to change and getting off the ball first matters a great deal, CHROs
Payments and Digital Talent In Demand, But Hard to Find
The payments and digital sector has experienced impressive growth in recent years, with new players and approaches forever changing how businesses all over the world operate. As a result, there’s growing demand for leaders in the field who can help organizations take best advantage of the new technology and drive further innovation. But those roles can be tough to fill, especially as
Flexibility is Essential as Recruiters Expand Their Offerings
As the executive search industry continues its shift beyond pure-play talent identification, recruiting firms have had to take a more innovative approach to working with clients. For many, this has included everything from creating expanded service offerings to offering value-based pricing models. Flexibility, above all else, reigns supreme. Perhaps the best example, and the fastest
Industry Involvement Can Give Recruiters a Big Edge
For leaders of executive search firms, involvement in the industries they serve, whether it is by holding a seat on corporate boards or other contributions, can pay dividends in more ways than one. Among other benefits, it is a way to stay up to date and intimately involved in the culture and goings on at client companies and their sectors.
Sports Recruiting Finds Its Own Field of Dreams
Over the last 25 years, sports has grown into a formidable global industry. Historically, professional sports teams operated on a relatively modest level, with league officials, team owners, managers, and coaches surrounding themselves with people they knew and trusted from their own small worlds. But that’s all changed. In recent years, teams like the Dallas
Why Effective Teams Matter More Than Ever In the Workplace
Some companies feel that the big executive recruiting firms should make greater use of their foray into accessory services to bolster their mission of identifying top talent. That might help them recoup some of the business that continues to drain off to the more nimble, relationship-oriented, service-conscious boutiques as well as sidestep certain challenges that come with their size. “As many of the larger recruiting firms continue expanding into other HR consulting services,
Client Needs, Demands Drive Change In Recruiting Sector
For boutique search firms, these are auspicious days. Double digit growth and expansion is the order of the day for many of the more specialized recruiters. As a group, industry statistics show, the boutiques are far outpacing their Big Five competition. Without question, these upstarts are doing something right. Many are now offering accessory services, and outplaying larger rivals at their own game.
Chief Talent Officer Delivers Pivotal Advice to the C-Suite
The role of chief talent officer may not always get the wider recognition it deserves, but as a trusted advisor to executives at the top of the C-suite, it has become all but indispensable. Those who hold the position tend to understand their organizations inside-out, from a strategic overview right down to the individuals who carry out the
Women Helping Women Succeed In Business . . . Here’s How to Get It Done
Women who hold senior leadership roles can do a lot to help junior women find a place in the male-dominated upper echelons of corporate America. More often than not, it can happen right where they both gather daily. Women leaders who have made an effort as official and unofficial mentors, coaches, role models, and sponsors are undeniably making a difference in bringing greater parity to the
Recruiting Firms Reaching Deeper to Meet Changing Client Demand
Boutique search firms are increasingly expanding their offerings beyond recruitment and giving clients a choice of accessory services like talent mapping, succession planning, and team building, to name a few. But some organizations are reaching even further, covering the full spectrum of a company’s talent needs, from bringing in new hires to helping employees land on their
As Technology Sector Booms, Challenges Mount for Recruiters
The booming technology sector, vibrant even when the economy was softer, shows little sign of retreat. It continues, in fact, to produce capabilities and services that few imagined just a decade ago. And while that should keep executive recruitment firms well occupied, the challenge of identifying top-flight talent to lead the tech charge is mounting. “The ubiquitous deployment of technology across the globe has made
Why Chief Digital Officers Now Reign Supreme
As data becomes increasingly critical to corporate decision-making, the chief digital officer now reigns supreme. For recruiters, this has heightened the need for digital candidates with a much deeper grasp of the overall business environment and a greater repertoire of skills than ever before. All About Data “Chief digital officers have access to an extraordinary amount of consumer data,
As Complexity Grows, Healthcare Taps Outside Talent
As expansion continues going strong and system-wide operations grow ever more complicated, the healthcare industry is facing a potential dearth of individuals ready to assume top leadership roles. This, combined with the sector’s exodus of experienced, traditional-style leaders and the current shift in power at the highest echelons of government, is making for particularly challenging
Search Firms Help Life Sciences Sector Adapt to Change
For executive recruiters working in the life sciences sector, the last decade has been one of transformation. Pressure on pricing, regulatory changes, emerging innovations, collaborations, and a move toward “patient-centricity” have all helped shape a new field of play. As an uncertain political environment begins, forecasting in the field has become increasingly challenging and talent
How Coaching Can Boost Performance and Morale
Over the last decade, organizations have increasingly moved away from employing programs to help develop specific skills in their leaders. These days, management and executive development leans more toward working directly with individual executives to improve their professional approach and maximize their effectiveness. “As it has become clear that one-on-one coaching can be instrumental in driving behavior change
Culture Fit Is Vital In Recruiting for a Family Office
These days, culture fit is a critical factor in recruiting for virtually any high level position. But when it comes to identifying someone to lead a family office, that particular requirement is heightened to the maximum. Finding the right person for this type of role calls for the most thorough of assessments. It’s a process that reaches into a family’s most personal matters, with financial
Employee Engagement Must Run Deep to Thrive
Vineet Gambhir, vice president and head of talent for Yahoo! in Asia Pacific, is a true believer in employee engagement. For the concept to succeed, however, it must be deeply woven into the fabric of a company and in turn, the mindset of its workers. Engagement, Vineet explained when we spoke recently, is not something organizations can simply turn on when
Building a Better Search Firm
When Julie Ford started Ventura Partners, she wanted to create a search firm that left behind the traditional approach that most executive recruiters employed. Her mission was to jettison the competition between partners and build an environment in which they worked together to best serve their clients. It wasn’t an outlook for everyone in a field that is slow to embrace change, but with
As Talent Raids Grow, Companies Set Out to Defend Their Turf
One fourth of American businesses have experienced a surge in talent raids, but most companies have done nothing about protecting themselves. In fact, 54 percent are virtually defenseless against corporate poaching, according to a recent co-branded study by Hunt Scanlon Media and leadership advisor Marlin Hawk. And all indications are that the problem isn’t going away
Looking to Brain Power to Improve Hiring
To achieve better outcomes in hiring, companies must take a different tack than the one they have traditionally been following. Too often hiring managers place undue emphasis on the industry knowledge that candidates bring to the table, when what they should really be focusing on is an individual’s intelligence, says Russ Riendeau. “Hire the frontal cortex, not the Rolodex”
This Recruiter’s Competitive Edge: Focus, Flexibility, & Agility
It’s no secret that the past couple years have been tough for much of the energy industry. Crude oil’s rapid price decline was a body blow to the field, and hiring as a result went down. In the oil and gas sector, upstream businesses like exploration and extraction of gas suffered. Energy services and equipment
PE Firms Seek Impact Players for the C-Suite
In many respects, private equity firms demand more of executive recruiters than most companies, private or public. Foremost, there’s a heightened sense of urgency and significance on recruiting C-level talent for their portfolio businesses, says Kathryn Kehoe, managing director at CMF Associates, a consulting firm to the middle market equity sector whose services include a well-respected search practice.
Deep Focus Is Key to Finding Life Sciences Talent
As the healthcare industry has evolved and expanded, the opportunities for search firms has likewise grown. And in such a sprawling landscape, some executive recruiters have served themselves well by avoiding the trap of trying to be all things to all people. “This was the impetus to why we built teams to exclusively focus on specific areas within the overall health
Bringing Corporate Know-How to a Specialist Search Firm
During his tenure at investment advisor Edward Jones, Matt Huffman was responsible for building and leading the firm’s corporate executive recruitment function. Working out of the Edward Jones’ headquarters in St. Louis, he executed its most senior searches, among a number of other duties. But one of the greatest rewards of his time there was the insight he gleaned
As CMO Post Evolves, Role of Recruiters Seen As Pivotal
As companies become more global and complex, marketing — and the chief marketing officer (CMO) position in particular — has taken on an increasingly crucial and strategic role in moving businesses forward. Executive recruiters, for their part, are stepping up, landing senior marketing and brand management leaders with an eye on both the top and bottom corporate line. Recruiters bring hard-won insights when searching for
Helping Transform the Higher Education Landscape
Higher education is under considerable pressure these days, with costs not surprisingly at the center of the storm. For search professionals who serve the sector, the challenges to fill top level roles have grown tougher in many ways. And the task of identifying mission-driven leaders is just the top of the iceberg. But at the
Why Employee Training Is the Catalyst for Success In Business
Training in the executive search profession has fallen off in recent years, pushing recruiting chief Jeff Kaye to make it his mission to put a strong emphasis on the task. Jeff is chief executive of Kaye / Bassman – Sanford Rose, the 10th largest search firm in the Americas, but he also heads up Next Level
Strategy Comes From the Top, But People Implement Success
Charles W.B. Wardell, has enjoyed notable success since he took over as chief executive officer at Witt / Kieffer five years ago. The Oak Brook, IL search firm has scored record revenues and profitability and seen ongoing growth in its traditional lines of business, including leadership searches for healthcare, higher education, academic medicine, and information technology clients. Chuck has also overseen the launching and building
A New Vision for Managing Talent Data
Beyond irrevocably changing the recruiting industry, technology has opened doors to innovation and opportunities that once would have been unimaginable in the field. Consider, for example, a company in which dozens upon dozens of recruitment firms sign on to share a database of senior level executives and non-executive directors, including their most-guarded contact information, who are content in their jobs but might
Why Serving Clients Is the Highest Priority
Ask Patrick Friel about Lochlin Partners, the boutique executive recruitment firm of which he is managing partner, and the conversation always seems to come back to quality of service. For all the change and upheaval that the markets and the search industry have witnessed in recent years, Pat remains firm in his belief that the basics of good service are still the best drivers of success.
CHROs Joining CFOs In Influence, Strategic Role
For all the value that those who occupy the chief human resources officer (CHRO) seat have brought to their companies over the years, it is only now that the role has begun to claim the fullest respect and attention of top leadership. It’s been a long time coming, but in today’s business climate, in which responding to change and getting off the ball first matters a great deal, CHROs
Payments and Digital Talent In Demand, But Hard to Find
The payments and digital sector has experienced impressive growth in recent years, with new players and approaches forever changing how businesses all over the world operate. As a result, there’s growing demand for leaders in the field who can help organizations take best advantage of the new technology and drive further innovation. But those roles can be tough to fill, especially as
