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Survey On Headhunters And Executive Search In France In 1998 Description
CHAPTER 2: THE VARIOUS "HEADHUNTING" TRADES It is interesting for a client or a candidate to know what kind of Headhunter he is dealing with. Several cases may arise with, naturally, a number of possible variants for each of them.
The two major trends to be found in the United States, probably many more than in Europe or France, are the " retainer " missions and those carried out in " contingency ". Both approaches are quite specific, and even if the goal is similar, the means, practices and inherent characteristics of the trade are completely opposite.
In the Executive Search trade, with the retainer option, the mission is under an exclusivity contract signed with the client, and the fees and expenses to be paid to the provider are stipulated in a clear agreement which also sets a specific time-table for these payments. The provider - in this case - the firm - is under no obligation other than the means to be committed in order to present a short-list of excellent candidates who may successfully satisfy the mission's needs. Of course, retainer firms offer the guaranty of resuming the search, follow-up on the hired candidate, ...
In the contingency Executive Search formula, the client/provider relationship is not as clear, less well-structured, less sure, as your provider is put in direct competition with other firms having the same work procedures; such consultants are sometimes dubbed " Bounty Hunters "; their services are paid for only when the candidate is found and placed. In France, very few Top Management Direct Approach firms really and regularly work this way. However, a few years ago, a lack of skills in the computer business opened up the path to a few firms intent on recruiting top-level specialists in SAP, People Soft, and in addition, familiar with company environments. Contingency was then commonplace upon the request both of demanding clients and of these firms. On the other hand, the level of practice did not exceed Top Middle management.
In our survey, it has been our choice only to discuss " Retainer " firms, mainly because today in France, Top Management is only exceptionally carried out on a contingency basis.
The Executive Search trade also varies somewhat depending on the size of the firm, the structures, company philosophy, the importance granted to the search function, the computer equipment and the size (in terms of economic reality) of the network, integrated or not.
We met some firms where only one or two Consultants (liberal profession profile) plied their trade with one researcher, or sometimes without any personal assistants, with the work being subcontracted on the outside.
Most firms employ 3 to 5 Consultants (small firms), with either one researcher per two Consultants or even one per Consultant in some cases.
A 6-to-12 Consultant firm (middle-sized) is already less common, and specialization becomes necessary along with strict internal rules, in order to avoid overlapping interests at the client level.
There are not very many Executive Search firms in France which employ from 13 to 18 Consultants (Large Structure Profile); in 1998 they could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Over the past ten or fifteen years, computers have enabled most firms, if not the entire profession, to organize company management , the follow-up of missions, and the management of Consultants as profit centers on one hand, and on the other to set up candidate files and large databases with frequent update systems. Computer tools and use of the Internet will undoubtedly become increasingly vital in maintaining and even drastically improving one's performance-levels with respect to deadlines and information, in order to be competitive at a European, international and global level.
The Consultant trade varies according to the type of structure, the team dedicated to the search mission, but the Consulting role is, and remains, important in the client's opinion, as shared thinking between a client and his firm can often unravel the recruitment problematic by putting it in perspective, in a different dimension, and encourages one to consider options which the manager might never have thought of.
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