No one starts an executive search expecting it to drag on. Yet some searches do.
Why? And more importantly, what can you do to reduce the risk of that happening in your next search?
Kirsten Saul, a Managing Director at PierceGray, specializes in the types of difficult searches that can run long or require creative thinking to solve. Below, you’ll find her perspective on why searches can go long, and what she does to get them across the finish line when they do.
Meet Kirsten Saul, Managing Director at PierceGray
Kirsten Saul is one of our longest-tenured Managing Directors. She has been with PierceGray for 14 years, joining the firm as employee No. 5, and has contributed to our growth for over a decade.
Over the years, she has gravitated towards the more difficult searches – searches that are in niche industries, have unique requirements, or otherwise might take more time than usual. She’s developed a sense for what makes searches go long and, more importantly, how to keep them on track.
What Causes Executive Searches to Go Long?
In Kirsten’s experience, a search can go long for one of the following reasons:
- Low urgency to fill the role
- Changing specs for the role
- A small or niche market
Low Urgency
It’s Parkinson’s law: the duration of a search will expand to meet the deadline you assign it. Searches under tight deadlines tend to go faster, while searches with no deadline have room to drag on.
A lack of urgency usually stems from situations where a company is preparing to replace an executive but is in a holding pattern. This could be because the company plans to sell in the future and isn’t sure when, or because the person currently in the role plans to retire, but not imminently. Wherever the lack of urgency comes from, it gives the company the luxury of time and the desire to wait for the best possible candidate.
When you’re investing $100,000+ in an executive search, though, we recommend going in with a plan.
Changing Specs
Spec shift in the middle of a search is another common factor, and one of the more dangerous ones.
Spec shifts often happen when the search goals aren’t clearly defined from the start, or when something new is discovered mid-search. Thorough prep and strong alignment can mitigate this from the start, but sometimes you learn that what you thought you were looking for isn’t right and something needs to change.
Avoiding spec shift starts with alignment between key stakeholders and search teams around your needs for the role and criteria for an ideal candidate. According to Kirsten:
“Misalignment in the search can lead to spec shifts where the search is underway and something changes, and by that point it’s almost like launching a new search because the specs change as we go.”
A Small or Niche Market
A small market, whether due to requiring a candidate to relocate to somewhere like central Oregon, or due to a specific set of qualities you’re looking for in a candidate, can complicate the search.
Let’s say a company in the HVAC space is looking for a new CEO. They would understandably prefer someone with direct HVAC experience; however, the market for hands-on candidates may be limited compared to candidates outside the industry who bring other valuable skills.
There’s a choice to be made here: stick to the original plan and pursue candidates exclusively within one pool, or broaden your horizons. This is a delicate needle to thread, and it’s an example of the creative problem-solving we do to find candidates who match the role, can do the job, and fit what a client is looking for.
What To Do When a Search Goes Long?
We know why searches go long; the question now is what to do when it happens.
Whether it’s a lack of urgency or market headwinds that cause the search to lose momentum, trusting your search firm to find a creative solution can get the search back on track.
When a search goes long, the only way to solve it is to adapt the strategy and think creatively. We’ve reviewed as many as 500 candidates for some searches, and work with clients to craft a story that convinces passive candidates to make an active decision to join their companies. While these searches make the job harder, they’re also far more interesting and motivating to Kirsten:
“These searches are a lot more fun and interesting, and they lead to some of the highest impact hires. It just sometimes takes a few more hurdles to get there, and the process can seem a little painful at times, but clients learn a lot with us through the process. It’s never boring.”
All you have to do is trust the process as we guide you through it.
Where a Good Search Partner Can Help
An experienced search partner who has pushed difficult searches across the finish line is the key difference. More specifically, Kirsten sees her value in the following ways.
A Translator, Not Referee
Changing specs and difficult markets can create friction, especially given how quickly PE-backed companies move. Friction leads to disagreements, which puts Kirsten in the position to set the tone by translating what she sees in the market.
Whenever possible, Kirsten brings data to ground conversations and steer the search in a logical rather than emotional direction. That data could come from previous searches to show how hard it may be to get a candidate to relocate, or from an existing search that needs to adjust its criteria.
“For me, it all comes back to data because that’s how you can illustrate the situation for clients. I try to focus on the specifics and frame everything around the data. For instance, for a specific skill set, there might be 80 potential candidates, and we’ve spoken to 60 of them and eliminated them. So to solve the search, we need to adjust our focus and think about it differently. Our clients don’t see and hear everything we do in the market, so they lean on us.”
A Creative Problem Solver
Even in the best cases, there’s much more to executive search than filtering a database of candidates. At PierceGray, we play an active role with our clients by understanding their needs and goals for the hire, and helping them tell their story to potential candidates.
When searches become difficult, we see them as problems to solve rather than engagements to complete. That may mean speaking to more than the average number of candidates, finding a new way to tell a client’s story, or thinking outside the box on the profile to search for.
While this extra effort can make certain searches more difficult, it’s one of the top reasons our Managing Directors still run new searches themselves: They enjoy the challenge.
How to Prepare for Your Executive Search
Long searches can be unpredictable. Sometimes it’s not until a search is underway that new facts emerge, your business changes, or the market proves difficult. Kirsten does have a few ways you can prepare beforehand to help keep your search on target:
- Assess your urgency: Before you begin your search, assess how urgent it is to fill the role and how that might affect your timeline and decision-making. Align your investors and board before the search begins.
- Be willing to think outside the box: It’s not that you can’t or shouldn’t have a preconceived idea of what you are looking for, but we often find that it helps to expand your horizon. There are likely candidates outside the norm of what you’d expect who would be fantastic fits.
- Have a recruiting mindset: Executive search is an exercise in encouraging passive candidates to make an active decision. By taking a recruiting mindset and selling the role early, you can improve your chances of convincing the right candidate to join your team.
We never enter a search anticipating it will take a long time, but we don’t shy away from difficult searches either.
If you have unique requirements, a niche industry, or a difficult geography, then put us to the test. Contact our team today to discuss your next search.
