2016 was the year of confidential searches for sure. We had a great year and completed some incredible needle in a haystack find executive searches.  There was a trend though. Fairly recent placements from OTHER firms who are not working out in the Client’s culture or due to performance issues. Thank goodness we didn’t place these candidate but were called in as the experts to fix the issue by conducting a highly confidential search. Basically, several times, we were asked to fix the Supercuts of Recruiting screw-up’s.

We love these searches because they need to be handled so discretely in order to have the least amount of impact on everyone involved. We love them, but there’s no doubt our Client’s came to us at a point of crisis and asking for an immediate turn around.

So as a Hiring Manager, how do you put an end to boomerang candidates and what’s our strength in helping you fix the issue?

1. When executive search is done right, the search consultant becomes just that – a consultant to a company and it’s senior Team
2. This can include providing insights into competitor talent, helping manage through underperforming executives, benchmarking internal talent and of course attracting new talent to the organization
3. The executives we recruit are high performers who are actively employed

While most are common sense, the thread that binds is that social is great for learning about candidates, LinkedIn is crazy-good for connecting BUT still commonsense expert recruiting solely will secure the best candidates on board for the long haul. Most all these points are also exactly on how NOT to conduct a confidential search. You need to hire a trust(ed) executive search consultant who can handle your confidential search through their own network so they know where, who, (and) when to lightly approach the most sought after candidate in the most delicate fashion.

This is no easy task but again, it’s what we love to do!