Executive Search Headhunting

Executive Search and Selection Recruitment

If your requirement for new staff is urgent, is focussed on the senior end of the market or working to build a large team, then this is the type of recruitment that may produce the best results. You’ll get direct contact with the most senior staff members in the agency and by tapping into their vast networks, significant experience and professional client handling approach, you’re more likely to get the resource you require.

You’ll normally work with a Senior Manager or Director who has many years of recruiting within your sector. They will have been working with candidates who have now become senior themselves and will be ideal for your role. Recruiters at this level are most likely to have a large volume of passive candidates, those candidates who aren’t ‘on the market’ but will be open to moving and having a conversation about the ideal opportunity.

What is a retained search activity?

Retained essentially means that the commercial model ensures you are retaining or owning a portion of the search agency consultants time and resource. You’ll pay a fee that is structured to incentivise the retained consultant to focus and succeed on your recruitment activity, whilst getting the high levels of service from a consultative approach.

By using an agency, they help you identify and highlight the key parts of the role they can sell to the candidates and help you develop any areas that are missing. As consultancy is part of the retained brief, you can expect to have detailed conversations about the role, the ideal candidate and the remuneration or benefits that are on offer. Your contact will have a strong understanding of the market and your competitors and can advise on how you can become a leader in the race to recruit the best talent.

The service is normally used to recruit senior staff members, like Heads Of, or Director level candidates where a specific search and selection approach is needed. Using various techniques, software, databases and even referral sources, the net is cast as far and wide as possible to cover any interested candidates who are in the marketplace. It is always a confidential approach between all parties and at times, depending on the requirement, a non-disclosure agreement might be adopted, giving an extra layer of confidentiality.

What is the process of executive search and headhunting?

The process begins with a detailed conversation to ensure the brief is full developed and ready to go live into the market. A consultative period is covered under the ‘Engagement Stage’ of the process, and this usually attracts one third of the estimated final fee. The total estimated fee is normally an agreed percentage of the target candidate’s annual salary, normally around 20% in the UK. During the fee negotiation, it is agreed what the definition of the second stage of Shortlist is, which is now many candidates are identified and need to progress to interview. The final stage of the process is the offer to a successful candidate, and once accepted the third and final part of the fee is due. As with normal recruitment activity, there are rebates included in case of any issues with the chosen candidate.

How do you structure a digital team?

This all depends on whether you are building a team from scratch within an existing business that falls within digital transformation or whether you have some existing staff in an existing digital environment. In our experience you should ensure that you have a senior staff member installed as part of that team who will help with the process of recruiting the team. Some business can make the mistake of hiring junior staff members first, in order to get digital activity underway, only to recruit a senior hire who wants to build their own team and create their structure.

There are many different facets to building a team, from brand to direct response, from creative to technical or analytics to PR. In the first instance its essential to ensure the digital assets you create are fit for purpose, then they can be marketed effectively to deliver the service you intend. Having an all-rounder to build smaller teams might be better than hiring specialists who have been siloed into one role. As organisations grow, they can then hire specialists that focus on particular areas and help scale the organisation. The key is to plan it effectively and consider a consultant to help get the plan right from the offset.

Executive Search Recruitment Agency

The Candidate offers Executive Search as a key element to its overall service. We have many clients who have been successful in hiring and retaining senior staff and teams. Our network of senior staff is huge with our Search & Selection Director having a mature LinkedIn network in excess of the maximum 30,000 connections. They are supported by a team of managers who also share candidates and the process is managed by the resourcing team. In addition, we can help build teams or pass on less senior or urgent roles to our contingency recruitment teams. It is testament to our service when the senior staff we place use us to successfully recruit their teams.

To find out more about the Executive Search Headhunting process, visit our Executive Search and Selection Recruitment page.
You can also take a look at all of our live roles in Marketing, Digital, Data & Tech, and Creative.
For further advice for clients, we have a comprehensive guide covering many job types and industries.