Author: Dr Paul Turner is a Principal Consultant with Collingwood, a well-established Executive Search and Strategic Leadership Consultancy. With an outstanding track record of business success as an Executive responsible for multi-channel sales, customer service and HR, he moved into consultancy in 2006, since when he has worked with leading companies in the UK and internationally. Paul gained his PhD in organisational development and leadership behaviour in 2011 and publishes papers and books on leadership and related business topics, maintaining academic links with several universities and business schools. WHITE PAPER: EXECUTIVE SEARCH AND SELECTION Purpose: to identify proven methodologies, approaches and latest thinking on Executive Search and the recruitment of senior roles with the aim of refining existing approaches and techniques and thus drive improvement in the quality of Executive Search and Selection, with the end aim of helping our clients select senior candidates who are the best fit for their organisation and the specific role. Approach: to undertake a literature review of evidence-based research relating to Executive Search and Selection and compare with our practical experience, so as to identify proven and practical selection approaches which improve effectiveness and increases return on investment. Key Findings: Executive Search and Selection continues to grow, yet is a relatively emergent topic for academic research. This paper sets out 7 key elements of an effective search and selection process including the need for rigour when matching candidates to the organisation and role both in terms of ‘track record’ and personality characteristics. The use of effective onboarding or career transition practices, whilst still in the minority, was seen to be an emerging trend due to the costs and negative impacts associated with early attrition or candidate failure. 1. BACKGROUND The value of the Executive Search industry in the UK rose by 6.1% during 2015/16 (Business Grapevine, 2016) and the past year has continued to see a shift in the balance of power from employer to candidate. Yet a clear divide can be seen between hiring at Board and C-suite level which rose by 9.7%, and those roles below this level, which saw a decline of 2.6%. For the most senior levels, growth could be seen across industry sectors with the largest increases in Technology and Telecoms (30%), Retail Financial Services and Insurance (16%) and Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences (12%). Nevertheless, despite these year on year increases the C Suite search market remains dominated by Global Banking, Markets and Asset Management (26%) and Consumer (17%), Media (17%) and Healthcare (17%). It’s clear that the Executive Search market remains buoyant, driven by the need for businesses to be competitive when economies are strong and especially competitive when the economic environment is challenging. The quality of Executive Search and Selection is therefore a critical factor in helping organisations to do this. Yet while the search for top Executives/Senior Managers continues apace, the process and criteria relating to how these are selected remains 1 largely uncharted waters. The English philosopher Gilbert Ryle famously distinguished between two forms of knowing. The first involves knowing what something is and concerns factual knowledge; the second involves knowing how to do something and concerns procedural knowledge. This applies to Executive Search and Selection. There is a right way and a wrong way to select a person for a specific job. Whether it’s the recruitment of a call centre operator or an Executive there is no difference, in principle, between the respective methods; however the consequences of poor selection methods are more severe for the latter position! Yet tested knowledge and proven methods are more often applied when it’s a relatively less senior position than when it’s a C-suite candidate. CEOs (and Executives) are usually chosen based on their technical abilities; usually a specialism for a specific area of business or a single issue such as a take-over or merger. They are rarely chosen on the basis of their demonstrated talent for leadership (Hogan and Kaiser, 2008). Little rigour is used when appointing top Executive leaders. This approach is not restricted to corporate selection. Just consider the EXECUTIVES ARE USUALLY CHOSEN BASED ON THEIR failure of so many multi- TECHNICAL ABILITIES (NOT) …ON THE BASIS OF THEIR million pound salaried DEMONSTRATED TALENT FOR LEADERSHIP. footballers, all undoubtedly technically gifted yet lacking personal resilience and leadership when under pressure. In sport just think back to last year to arguably the worst and most humiliating footballing defeat in England’s history, the 2-1 defeat to Iceland. England’s team was undoubtedly technically superior but when the pressure mounted they wilted and no leaders emerged to help them get through. A great team (and the individuals within it) is just as much a product of personality and character as it is technical ability. In sport and in business the cost of getting selection wrong can be significant. At Collingwood, like you, we’ve read the stories of failing CEOs and top-management A GREAT TEAM (AND THE INDIVIDUALS WITHIN IT) IS successions that are regular JUST AS MUCH A PRODUCT OF PERSONALITY AND features in the business CHARACTER AS IT IS TECHNICAL ABILITY. press. The failure rate of new Executives is approximately 50%, largely due to an inability to lead others (Hogan and Kaiser, 2005). Two-thirds of Executive placements in the healthcare sector fail. On average, nearly 30% of Standard and Poor 500 CEOs are dismissed annually and the tenure average is approximately 5 years (The Conference Board, 2015). Closer to home in the UK the churn of top leaders appears similar to that of the United States with the average tenure in the FTSE-100 being reported as approximately 5 years (Thorburn McAllister and University of Southampton, 2012). Whilst these attrition rates may not seem too alarming, when you contextualise this research and note that there are a high number of CEOs and Executives who have exceedingly long tenure rates, then the research implications are more revealing and alarming. The indications are that a majority, or at least a sizeable minority, of organisations are getting it badly wrong with their Executive Search and Selection, 2 resulting in short tenure stays for many newly appointed Executives and an expensive and potentially fatal impact on bottom-line profits. This study sets out to research and review Executive Search and Selection practice with the aim of using the resulting insights and learning to drive improvements and therefore a tangible return on investment. 2. EXECUTIVE SEARCH AND SELECTION. THE 7 KEY ELEMENTS. Our research identified the essential drivers of successful Executive Search and Selection and from our findings a definition of (high quality best practice) Executive Search and Selection was developed and described as ‘a process consisting of an organisational evaluation including role and person requirements used to assist in identifying and reviewing a candidate pool from which a selection is made via a matching method; followed by onboarding or career transitioning and evidenced by a sought return on investment driven by organisational performance’. The following section distils this definition into 7 key phases of Executive Search and Selection namely; organisational evaluation, role requirements, person requirements, search pool, matching method, onboarding and return on investment (ROI) performance outcomes. If any of the aforementioned elements are missing or ineffective then the risk of poor selection increases. The research evidence outlined in the sections below is supported and enriched by the practical day-to-day experience and insights of Doug Mackay, Collingwood’s Managing Director. 2.1. ORGANISATIONAL EVALUATION The organisational evaluation process phase, if done well, greatly reduces the risk of failure. In Doug Mackay’s words, ‘Most clients think about the here and now requirement and do not recruit against future strategy or market forecasts. For example, where does the company want to be in 5 years' time and what are the gaps in its team, culture, product portfolio, technology, processes etc., that need to be need to be filled for the strategy to be achieved? What kind of a leader is needed to fill these gaps and deliver the longer term strategy?’ The value of evaluating the organisational context internally and externally is well evidenced in terms of aligning the leadership team’s development to business strategy thus accelerating business performance (Turner, 2016 a/b). Our research shows that organisational evaluation has a beneficial impact on the quality of Executive Search and Selection. By firstly defining and assessing the organisational environment and culture, a platform of values, beliefs and goals can be created on which to develop the role and person requirements to ensure the Executive’s knowledge, skills, abilities and personal characteristics are matched to the organisational context (Nelson, 1997). The vast majority (94%) of organisational needs considered within Executive recruitment evaluation processes are internally related with very few linking to the external environment (Sessa et al, 1998). If the external environment is not considered then this may create a future based risk, as a changing external environment is often a key predictor of the future internal