Executive Recruiting Blog

Strategic Executive Recruiting FAQs (Part 2 of 2)

Q: What do you mean when you say “cultural fit?”

A: Some companies take pride in being methodical and thorough. Others encourage more risk-taking. When we search for your company’s next executive or director, it is crucial that the candidate can work effectively with peers, those they report to, and those they manage. Some candidates have exceptional skills and qualifications, but their personality clashes with the personality of other key players. The candidate who fits in will be more anxious to accept your offer, will adapt more quickly and will contribute more to your company’s success. That’s why our first step is to learn about your company and the role you want your newest executive to play.

Q: What if we are not really sure what or who we need?

A:  We learn your style through face-to-face meetings, phone conversations and e-mails with senior executives and board members. We’ll help you articulate the most important set of requirements for skills and personality.

Q: What if the best talent already has a great job?

A: With more than 20 years of experience in executive recruiting, we are experts in finding candidates. While we use existing databases, as all executive search firms do, we know better than to stop there. The best candidates may not even be looking for new positions. When we approach them, we already know how their industries and specific companies are doing. We also tap social networks, our deep professional and personal contacts in your industry, and our reputation for ethical placement.

Q: Do you use paid job boards?

A: Yes and no. We have the subscriptions and access we need, but our experience has taught us what to watch for in a candidate. There is little correlation between those who talk a good game and those who accomplish great things. Charisma alone won’t get the job done. We carefully pose questions that encroach just enough on the candidate’s professional identity to make them “put some skin in the game" taking them out of the realm of anonymity that is associated the web-based recruiting.

Q: What's your turnaround time?

A: It depends, but quality always comes first. For example, unlike many other executive search firms, we vet the candidates up front. We won’t even consider candidates who don’t agree to let us check with a former boss. By checking references at the start, we avoid any last-minute collapse of the search process and having to start over. That protects your time as well.

Q: How hard or competitive is it to get the sort of person we need?

A: We can help to answer that after creating an intial 'target list' and contacting a sample of the list. You’ll receive an assessment report on each and every individual prospect we have contacted, whether they have developed into candidates or not. This will serve as a "snapshot" of the marketplace as well as targeted individual candidate/prospect information.

Q: Who will actually be helping me, day to day?

A: Throughout the process, you’ll work with Tim McIntyre, Founder and CEO of The Executive Research Group. You won’t be handed off to a less experienced staff member. That’s important, because handoffs are when important items most often get dropped or misinterpreted.

Q: What is 'advanced referencing'?

A: We consider referencing so vital that no one gets a dialogue with your team unless our principal has spoken with at least one former boss of the candidate.

Q: Exactly when is the search complete?

A: The search is complete when we have all of the following:

1. Interview team has a comprehensive and diverse slate of candidates
2. Interview team is satisfied with the final selection
3. The new executive starts working and a positive cycle of feedback begins

Strategic Executive Recruiting FAQs (Part 1 of 2)

Straight Talk About Gender Equity and Executive Recruiting

We've just released a new report, What Women Want: Straight Talk About Gender In Executive Recruiting. It summarizes survey results suggesting that, while most companies fill executive and management positions based on talent, not gender, other factors may be keeping women from moving up.

We sent the survey to HR leaders, directors, vice presidents and other executives across the financial, insurance and high tech industries. More than 500 people responded, and more than half of them were women in executive or other management roles. The What Women Want report conveys what we heard about how they view corporate practices in recruiting, nurturing and retaining women for leadership.

The report covers:

• How respondents rate their own companies as gender-diverse places to work
• Why some women have considered leaving their companies
• What they see as the primary obstacles for further improvement

More than 80 percent rated their current employer as “good” or “excellent” as a gender diverse place to work, compared to places they’ve worked in the past. Nearly the same amount (79 percent) said management views a gender-diverse talent pool as an advantage. Whereas nearly 20% fell into the “needs improvement” category. Two percent rated their companies as “poor.”

Download the report today >>

Executive Recruiter: Does Gender Diversity Still Matter?

Once again, we've sent out a survey whose results will culminate in an eBook offered on our site (this week)...our previous eBook  revealed a pathway to profitability and how to get there by leveraging gender diversity successfully.  This one will provoke some thought about rethinking gender diversity.

We've stopped receiving survey responses and intend to publish an eBook as a free download including results and analysis by Tuesday.  While it may not end up being statistically significant -- technically, it'll be interesting. Our report will share keys to executive recruiting of and succession planning for a gender diverse team.

If you're, you can view a partial survey below...Thanks!

Final Executive Recruiting Gender Diversity Survey Comments

What obstacles exist in recruiting, attracting and retaining female leaders and managers in your company or organization?

Response #

200	I observe that the talent pool is small in our industry.
201	Family
202	None, historically high level management in the company has had an overepresentation of women.
203	stereotypes and culture
204	Location
205	None
206	N/A
207	It is a male dominated environment with men holding the majority of the leadership roles.
208	none
209	In the construction industry, female leaders (those with 10+ years of experience) are not plentiful. We are recruiting at the earlier stage of their career and advancing them through the organization.
210	No obstacles exist, the dynamics of our environment and the natural support and behavior from the top, make the company a naturally successful place for females, hence no specific program or startegy is deployed - it is a cultural norm.
211	qualified women candidates with technical and management expertise who also have leadership presence.
212	Work life balance
213	There are currently a narrow number of professional opportunities and many women candidates who are qualified for the positions.
214	Pockets of old style behavior/culture who may be resistant. Lack of a good pool of females with required skill sets.
215	This is a native american owned organization, so the employment opportunity focus is on the tribal community of both genders. The development strategies make sense given the organizational focus, but may miss opportunities as a result.
216	available numbers of female leaders and managers
217	Not a priority and history
218	The obstacles are consistent with those that we face as we attempt to attract any leadership candidate whether female orminority candidates
219	Traditionally, Engineering & Construction firms are challenged to attract females. The newer generation has graduated more engineering relative to previous generations.
220	None that I can think of.
221	Not a large pipeline of highly qualified candidates.
222	lack of supply of experienced, executive level women. hard to get them on our slates.
223	The same issues that make it difficult to attract male leaders- salary, residency requirements.
224	There needs to be an overall effective family friendly environment for the female associates. There is not enough support for the single mothers.
225	Corporate culture is the only obstacle
226	competitive compensation
227	Fairly small city and may not offer opportunities for the trailing spouse.
228	I would say training, and retaining talent. It also seems that most of the talent that is staying is not female.
229	lack of a structured recruitment strategy; however, once on board, we're able to retain women leaders
230	none
231	We don't specifically recruit females. However, we have hired and will continue to hire talented female managers/executives. WE look for talent and many time it comes with the female applicants.
232	Having a significant presence of current female leaders as role models.
233	NONE
234	No obstacles. I have had an easy time attracting and hiring strong female talent.
235	Finding a job for a husband during international assignements
236	None to my knowledge.
237	Specific skill sets are hard to come by regardless of gender. We also have difficulty with finding experienced sales leaders that are female.
238	Demographics
239	This survey does not address quality or capability of women in these positions!
240	In the oil industry the culture is very male dominate. Changing the culture is a very long process, for which some women executives do not have the patience to endure.
241	none
242	work hours, travel
243	Like many companies, balancing work-life commitments is difficult and many women make decisions more toward life than their male counterparts which can be a disadvantage in a competitive, merit-based organization. Finding better ways to support work-life obligations will level the playing field.
244	We are a male dominated company.
245	Insurance industry has many women in staff and manager positions. We have developed some in Director level. Hard to recruit/find exec women in insurance industry...not many out there.
246	Work/Life balance needed is a tough sale in a manufacturing organization.
247	convincing the organization that it is an issue
248	Finding qualified and experienced candidates.
249	We have very little staff turnover, so hiring opportunities have been minimal over the past several years - especially for leadership positions.
250	High technology company therefore pool of women with CS or Engineering experience is limiting

251	Tha database and pool isn't enogh.
252	Biased views of senior leaders that women find it much harder than men to combine work nad family in an effective manner. The business case of have women in senior positions is not understood by senior leaders
253	Little ability to identify outside female candidates and bring them to leader attention
254	The entire C suite is men except for the CNO and Legal Counsel. Middle Management is filled with women. The CEO, CFO, CIO, COO are all men as is the majority of the board memebers.
255	We do not face obstacles for female advancement in our company. You earn this based on merit, it is not gender specific.
256	None conceptually, their progress is more the issue and is impacted by corporate and individual attitude.
257	none
258	Lack of females in scientific fields
259	Trailing spousal employment
260	My current organization is very much like a boy's club and only certain females are able to work in that environment.
261	We are an industrial manufafturing company - it is not an environment all females desire
262	None
263	limited acknowledgement of the need for explicit inclusion for female leaders; no encouragement or reward system for successfully hiring high caliber females.
264	Aerospace engineering has been historically male dominated, but women have made great advancements in leadership positions at NASA over the past 5 years, in particular.
265	Engineering & Hard Scientific Discipline is limited pool of females
266	Biggest challenge is in the technical/engineering functions.
267	There is still some legacy good ol boy attitudes still in the organization. Females must still interview and act a certain way not to be viewed as too aggressive or high maintenance. Getting better though.
268	None
269	Lack of opportunities
270	Work-Life balance
271	General automotive industry does not attact its fair share of females
272	To progress, women lawyers need to be able to win work as well as do it.
273	Limited resource pool available at senior management levels in the IT industry.
274	None as far as I know
275	We are a transportation company, which is very male dominated. Let's face it truck drivers tend to be men. As for the other leadersip roles, I think we do a great job. Our CFO is an African American woman, she started out at a very entry level job, to
276	None
277	None at this time
278	We have been very successful in developing interview pipelines that have gender as an area of focus. I think our brand encourage that all have an opportunity to be successful.
279	geographic location is our primary issue; sometimes the talent for many positons is not available locally and it is difficult to get candidiates to consider relocation to the midwest. The current economic uncertainty and housing crisis exacerbate these issues.
280	The main obstacle is that, as an ICT company we recruit a lot of engineers. Only a very limited % (10%) of this target group is female
281	We're an organization sponsored by women religious; there are no obstacles.
282	Identifying females with appropriate technical backgrounds. Navigating the perception of a glass ceiling re opportunities at the C level
283	financial services is not a really exciting industry and high profile women have not found us to be progressive enough
284	Not an attractive industry for women, smaller pool of women available in operations side of business
285	Pipeline
286	No obstacles. We do well here.
287	"Old line" industry; perception that this industry has no opportunities for women among those who make hiring decisions at the "feeder pool" levels. Talented people are discouraged to bid out for other positions because their direct contributions to one work unit take precedence for the immediate manager/supervisor.
288	We develop and promote employees from within. Men and women have equal opportunities for challenging assignments and advancement.
289	I dont feel there are obstacles in recruiting talent, I feel there are obstacles in senior management choosing to hire female leaders.
290	Primarily male leadership at the highest level; several female leaders in entry-level roles ... perception is that there is a limited opportunity for women
291	Rather than an obstacle, it's just not a conscious aspect of recruiting to ensure that there is gender diversity at the most senior level roles that we have recruited for. It's an afterthought.
292	Highly technical workforce, so there is a smaller pool of female employees from which to draw. Most of our female managers are in non-technical areas such as HR and Accounting.
293	because of the global nature of our company the hours can sometimes make it hard for female leaders who are mothers to balance both.
294	We do a great job in recruiting and attracting female executives in fact Nickelodeon is 60% female. MTVN also has a very high female executive leadership percentage. The only other obstacle is that some women dont want to report into other women which i find fascinating Also, sometimes females bring a "cattiness" factor to the leadership table that can be offputting. lead more from emotion than reason
295	Competitive Market

This is the final part (3 of 3) of a raw data blog post on talent acquisition via gender diversity executive recruiting efforts...we'll have the eBook on shortly -- available for download, free of charge.

Raw Responses: Executive Recruiting Gender Diversity Survey (part 2)

What obstacles exist in recruiting, attracting and retaining female leaders and managers in your company or organization?

102	The men in hiring positions!
103	Location primarily. It is hard to attract mid level candidates to this area and the talent pool for our industry in this area is very limited.
104	The general smaller talent pool of executive women in financial services.
105	Lack of other women Hard to break into the in crowd
106	Male dominated industry. The perception of the industry.
107	stigmas about the industry in which we operate and the traditional customer being a white, male contractor; lack of women in senior management; not open to flexibility in terms of work/life balance
108	The conflict of work/life balance.
109	None
110	The property and casualty industry does not attract a lot of women in the Field claims rep and auto appraisal world, so it is difficult to continue to develop the female leadership in those areas.
111	Anyone we hire will need to have the appropriate training and education for the position.
112	None - I just don't have any open position at this time
113	None come to mind.
114	none
115	for been a Manufacturing company
116	Specific business that I support is still a male-oriented industry. We will need to groom future female leaders internally to build a talent pipeline.
117	Recruiting is not the issue. Retaining is. Women leave for better opportunity, if they felt truely valued, I suppose they would not be "picking up the phone" to listen to another offer.
118	Lack of available positions due to current economic state and continuing work/life balance issues.
119	None
120	Our benefits are a challenge for younger women considering family and work opportunities.
121	None - in the healthcare industry it is heavily female oriented. Half of our senior leadership team are female.
122	None - we are very diverse and employ women at the highest levels of the organization
123	Banking is a male dominated field and there is not a conserted effort to attract, hire, promote and retain female business leaders within my company.
124	the type of manufacturing facility - a paper mill - not alot of women in this arena
125	We are in the healthcare industry and we have a large proportion of our managers are female.
126	It all depends on their qualifications
127	Unable to comment on obstacles. Organization is 80+% female. Many females in high-level leadership roles but very few females have made it to the C-Suite. however
128	Critical mass (incumbents to recruit/hire the next group).
129	We don't get many to choose from in the executive recruiting process.
130	Finding candidates with the correct skills, experience and salary for our psoitions.
131	Recruiting females for leader roles in Supply Chain has been a challenge. Our experience is that the field is dominated by males. We have focused on developing high potential females but haven't kept up with the demand. Very few females are seen at the Executive level which contributes to some of our retention issues.
132	finding a viable pipeline of mid career candidates who are women; the tendency of some external hires to hire individuals from their previous employers and they are typically white males
133	Low recruiting volume.
134	Senior female operations executives in Call Center Management and Manufacturing are a limited commodity particualarly in smaller lower labor cost markets (relocation is not always feasible)
135	Good leaders are in demand and, right now, we are at a competitive disadvantage.
136	the pay is not equitable
137	none
138	IT has traditionally been a male focused area and it is difficult to get the business leaders to see women in the leadership roles.
139	traditional recruiting techniques are less effective than targeted outreach programs
140	Industry knowledge. Dental industry is small.
141	When recruiting for senior roles we do not find women with the requisite skills. We know they exist, but we are unable to attract qualified female leaders to our organization.
142	Male dominated organizations
143	We continually look for organizational structure or leadereship situations where female leaders could be disadvantaged and correct them.
144	Manufacturing industry is not always attractive (particularly our sector of manufacturing) - as a manufacturing organization finding female employees for plant level or sales positons is difficult - it becomes difficult to build bench strength in that area. Corporate positions are easier to recruit females, but based on teh size of our company, those positions are limited.
145	In consideration of the Work & Life Balance, it will be becoming more more difficult for Female Seniors to continue their Career Development at HR Consulting Industry
146	Retail Hours and Work Week.
147	I don't see any particular obstacles.
148	Limited rooms for growth.
149	None.. We need to focus on recruiting men
150	We have a majority female population overall, but opportunities exist in our senior ranks. Due to the turnaround situation of the company, we are not doing much hiring, much less really focused talent acquisition.
151	lack of growth potential beyond hired position
152	none
153	The good ole' boy network is alive and well. Actions speak louder than words -- the culture is dominated by white males at the senior level.
154	Location and salary
155	Work environment is diverse, but management ranks are less so.
156	Work experience and knowledge of the automotive aftermarket business.
157	This is an engineering company. Women are not viewed as real contenders in this organization and the company has managed to lose most of their senior women as a result of this bias.
158	work life balance
159	Geographically, women are not traditionally placed in leadership roles or trained, educated or prepared for leadership roles. When filling mid-level positions, it is difficult to identify suitable female candidates.
160	Competition among other companies.
161	In health care 80% to 90% of all employees are female. They dominate supervision & management out of sheer numbers.
162	There is only one woman that is part of the senior team.
163	none
164	None
165	The industry is dominated by men, so it is challenging to identify a more diverse candidate pool.
166	Pool of women with the correct IT technical experience and leadership skills is very small from our observations.
167	old school, male dominated industry
168	None
169	Social Channels
170	no vacant positions
171	Lack of viable candidates in the geographical area.
172	.
173	Industry has been mainly male dominated thus difficult to find females with industry experience.
174	none our company is 76% women.
175	The financial industry still has a male dominated stereotype.
176	None to speak of. The real obstacle is a severe lack of budgetary resources in this state to hire needed personnel due to the current economic climate.
177	Less recognizable brand and number of existing female executives currently in the organization.
178	none
179	There seem no obstacles beyond availability of positions. This is a gender neutral situation.
180	in recruiting - availability of qualified talent pool
181	Currently, lack of opportunity in upper level executive management. People are retained for long periods of time.
182	Don't know where to start (as far as networks/groups to plug into)
183	We are an Indian Company (Wipro). The Indian culture is not as Gender Diverse as it could be.
184	My company is not good at attractng and retaining leaders and managers - too tactical in this up and down economy
185	This industry is heavily academically based, and gender-specific obstacles are minimal. Flexibility in work pattern and location make this industry highly attrative to those juggling work/family or a two-career family.
186	My company fully supports gender (and other types of) diversity so I don't see any significant obstacles but I would characterize the strategy as finding the right talent/skill set vs gender as the driving priority.
187	None. Talent based acquisition
188	It is a male dominated industry, and there is little opportunity for women at the executive level.
189	Access to a geographically mobile population...
190	Less than ideal percentage female representation in the external science entry level recruittment pool
191	attracting is realatively easy but we cannot keep them if we do not offer growth opportunities (whether exec or non ecec) so try to focus on retention and educating women on how to effectively use networks and to "advertise" themselves more proactively
192	Not enough positions at the senior executive level. Also we are currently downsizing and eliminating or demoting key female leaders which is unfortunate.
193	We have several female leaders/managers, however my organization is ineffective in selecting good managers in general.
194	no just getting the headcount approved
195	Size of talent pools in Asia. Need grow pipeline earlier.
196	HR has not articulated what is/what is not legal pertaining to recruitment of women for a particular position that would seem to be a gender neutral position
197	Tradition
198	In certain countries, the external female pool is too small. Cultural barriers to women advancement are much more difficult to overcome.
199	none
200	I observe that the talent pool is small in our industry.

This is part 2 of 3 of a raw data blog post on talent acquisition via gender diversity recruiting efforts...we'll have the eBook on our site Very soon, I hope.

Raw Responses: Executive Recruiting Gender Diversity Survey (part 1)

What obstacles exist in recruiting, attracting and retaining female leaders and managers in your company or organization?

Response #

1	Being in a service industry that is very highly female we see no difference between men and women in leadership.
2	none
3	There are not many women in the candidate pool as they are still underrepresented in the it field.
4	Our recruiting is gender blind
5	Well, I am in the middle of a sex transition, I have been asked to find employment elsewhere.
6	Overall experience. While we promote it here not a lot of companies do.
7	The issue here is that we are a female-dominant company, but few at the top.
8	geographic locations and re-location
9	Not enough of them in the market, available to recruit.
10	See Above, plus the "Good Ole' Boy" network of the East Coast still lives on.
11	Our industry, forestry. There are not traditionally a lot of females or minorities that choose this industry, so our pool is limited.
12	Work-life balance issues and heavy reliance on existing networks wheh recruiting/selecting leaders
13	I am VP & CIO, leading information technology department. I have a few leadship roles open, would welcome the opportunities to hire women in leadership roles. Unfortunately, recuiritng (using exec recruiting firms and internal HR recruiting) has yielded very few femail candidates.
14	I don't see any obstacles. Our CEO is female and so are the majority of our upper management. However, I would like to say that we hire leaders and key personnel based on their qualifications and abilities, not on their gender.
15	Lack of openings; lack of recognition from white males that gender diversity is an issue; lack of female interest in our industry
16	We do not deliberate seek or exclude female candidates for our executive positions. In that way we are unbiased. I find however that there are pay differences that are concerning, although I do not believe are deliberate.
17	None. We have a very even balance between male and female leaders throughout the organization.
18	We are on a a hiring freeze for external candidates. Sometimes we run into finding the right candidate with the right skill set.
19	Not many, our company is approx 70% female and that includes our CEO and a good amount of senior leadership.
20	Noone At this moment we dont have an Open Positions for this level
21	Male dominated culture
22	Need more focus on executive recruiting and available opportunities
23	old culture
24	None
25	Recruitment in higher education can take over a year. Qualified candidates leave the pool. Also there is a hiring freeze in CUNY. Salaries are too low.
26	None
27	None, We are a company of 9 women and 3 men
28	na
29	They are not networked with senior leaders and decision makers as well as men.
30	None really - we are always seeking the most qualified candidate irrespective of gender.
31	Lack of female graduates (engineering, computer science)
32	NONE
33	None
34	Market segment (manufacturing), company locations & size
35	I "hear" about diversity from our leaders, but the action/evidence is not in alignment with the words
36	Who applies
37	work life balance, amount of travel, global workforce contributing to crazy hours
38	blue-collar, non-traditional, & technical work environments
39	We are a non-profit dependent on State funding. Our salaries are not at market level.
40	availability of talent as industry is male dominant.
41	Tends to be an "old boy's club"
42	Several of of our key senior executive leaders are female. The obstacle is the availability of talent.
43	There are not obstacles at this time.
44	The company and industry I work in is made up of mostly white males in management and leadership. There are few examples of successful female leaders and mentors at the company.
45	Availability, Programs to support
46	none
47	None
48	hard to find the right talent on the market
49	None, I work for the USAF and the opportunities are there for anyone who has the drive and dedication to their job.
50	Small pool of qualified candidates
51	One of our biggest obstacles has been when we focus on gender diversity as a primary driver to finding a candidate. When we focus on finding the best abdicate, regardless of race or gender, we tend to find great candidates. We are a very diverse team with less than 20% white males and the diversity has come naturally.
52	Mobility . . . Very difficult to get any candidate to relocate
53	Low pay scales.
54	Since we are in the South Bronx, there may be occasions where local neighborhood/security concerns may be an obstacle for women considering working at our hospital in the South Bronx.
55	Male dominated senior management roles still exist and call the shots.
56	Hours of work Traditional male dominated environment
57	Unknown
58	The lack of other female leaders in the organization.
59	Old school atitutdes that still exist.
60	None.
61	None
62	I believe it starts with the available pool in the high technology field which is not that equal.
63	There is no obstacle. Leaders and managers are selected by experience and skills and performances, not gender.
64	Most hiring managers are still male. They are much more comfortable with hiring male and promoting male. Women are not taken as seriously interested in career advancement. There is no program to focus on attracting, developing and retaining diverse management.
65	none
66	Having a variety of developmental opportunities.
67	We are a high tech company that has not seen many female leaders gain the skill and experience we are seeking
68	due to the current economic climate, there aren't many of those types of positions that are available.
69	lack of agility and belwiwf that top positions are pre-reserved
70	The external talent pool isn't rich with women candidates for the more senior level roles.
71	Limited pool of qualified applicants.
72	Given that the gender diversity have not been the practice in the industry there are still a lack of alternatives in the market, mostrly related to higher positions.
73	Limited career development opportunities. Competitive compensation overall. Corporate / industry culture.
74	Work-site locations Need for security clearances Salary
75	Market competition for excellent candidates.
76	Perception barriers
77	The organization is considered a good old boys club
78	We do not have obstacles recruiting, attracting or retaining female leaders.
79	Experience in previous organizations in certain roles is lacking
80	There is no issues when recruiting, problems come during the maternity. Lifestyle it is just imposible to combine with the consulting work and there are no alternative positions for consultant women.
81	Peoples mindset
82	Backlog
83	awareness of the opportunity
84	None
85	CEO and COO of our national company are both female.
86	glass ceiling issues
87	There is a limited number of qualified or interested female candidates for leadership roles in the field of manufacturing in this region.
88	There is no recognition of the issue, much less any program to ameliorate it.
89	In my reoganization, gender is not considered as a factor for recruiting. The focus is really on who is the best candidate. My organization is science oriented, and relatively speaking, there are not a large number of women in the more technical fields.
90	Gender is not an issue or an iam when recruiting we recuite top tallent period.
91	No obstacles. Only limited by availability of talent based on the position.
92	A fledgling Diversity area that is really making changes but it too new to have an impact yet
93	No specific program to attract women. AND perhaps one is not needed.
94	relocation to this particular city; not as many female executives currently with requisite experience - need to build more
95	Fast pace organization, managing a large numer of people, and responsibilities.
96	This company has given as equal opportunities to the female gender as they have the male gender, positions are filled based on qualifications and work proven successes.
97	It is tough to attract women in some of the more technical areas of the company,
98	In certain departments that mainly consist of males, the male populationis often reluctant to consider women. The women we do interview/hire for these departments must be outstanding and much better than their male counterparts.
99	None. I just want to point out that we do not specifically target women for recruitment or promotion. Instead, we have a gender-neutral outlook that allows anyone to advance and succeed.
100	relatively low turnover of existing leaders, including females.

This is part 1 of 3 of a raw data blog post on talent acquisition via gender diversity recruiting efforts...we'll have the eBook on our site Very soon, I hope.

Executive Recruiting Survey Comments Not For the Meek

Another survey forthcoming results---I am worried about a sort of self-selection bias: most of those that wrote comments seem under pressure in their tone, and strongly opinionated.  Those that actually emailed a response  (other than opt-out'ers) seemed very oppressed, e.g., responses say something like "I don't know if I can respond to the survey" or "this needs to go to our Diversity person", or "I'm not female so I dont think you want me to participate" or "We're not allowed to answer these types of inquiries". 

Is this the prevalence of the thought police in corporate America?  or are we at the dawn of a new beginning of sort of tea party corporatists (think I just coined that phrase), as evidenced by this SVP in one of the nations top Healthcare organizations:  "It's time to stop focusing on gender and focus on results if we want to be respected as women. Stop whining. I am not in favor of such surveys."  Talent acquisition -- gender neutral, folks.

Wow. Really? I'm inspired, Really.  Sign up for our blog/contact us if you want the forthcoming executive recruiting e-book, it'll     be  i n t e r e s t i n g.

The System Versus Your Gut: Executive Recruiting Insights

Most talent decisions are made on gut instinct

Not only are there few systems out there with good data on recruitment, promotion, and job performance but also the management culture in many organizations permits an intuitive approach to hiring.

Sounds good to me, and clearly we praise those with a "good eye for talent" -- but industry data shows that many firms often choose badly. 

Statistics about washouts  among new recruits failure of newly promoted exec and other human capital challenges abound, but many firms still lack systematically embedded, empirically based selection and promotion practices. The impact of executive search and selection is often overlooked as it relates to poor performance and flawed corporate leadership.  This dynamic has far reaching consequences for an organization’s growth and success, or failure.

The Leadership Assessment Problem

With the premise that leadership failure is
grounded in the ‘mis-concepts’ of assessment
(i.e., how we choose our leaders), we offer a mini-model which helps avoid making poor hiring choices, and costly mistakes, which is dependent upon the acknowledgement of the three
assertions when in comes to talent acquisition:


1.) Exceptional leaders are made, not born.

2.) Building workforce excellence by design means recognizing that it takes time getting the right people on the team, and a concerted effort to cultivate a success oriented environment withbalanced, seasoned leaders. In other words, make executive recruiting a process, not an event.

3.) All of our advancement in technology has not
led to a corresponding increase in our ability to
assess and choose key business executives (to be continued...)

Sidestep The "Gotchas" Of Retained Executive Recruiting

Here's a question I got the other day:

Q: How do you define a successful partnership between your search firm and our organization?

A: Successful partnership starts with your executive search firm devoting its full resources to finding someone who will make major contributions for years to come.

A systematic approach to executive recruiting in finding the right person helps ensure you sidestep the "gotchas" of retained executive recruiting and find the best person, fast.

Our 8-step methodology is aimed at ensuring thorough discovery, a diverse slate of candidates, and the best fit between the hire and the hiring organization. They include:

1. Position Briefing Sheet
2. Target List Briefing Sheet
3. First Round Interviews
4. Candidate Briefing Sheets
5. Candidate Interviews
6. Expanded Candidate Briefing Sheets
7. Candidate Hire
8. Candidate Communications

In addition to coming to the table with a clear, proven method, partnership takes "ante-ing" up on both sides. When it comes to your search firm, they need to:

• Give you their full attention and take the time to understand your company and its culture
• Become an extension of you, doing the job as you would do it
• Make a direct connection with both you and the candidates
• Stick with the search until your new team member is on the job

Q: How do we know when you have successfully completed the search?

Partnership means seeing things through. It means having "skin in the game."

We're complete when we have consensus from the interview team that it has a full comprehensive and diverse slate of candidates; that it is satisfied with the final selection; the new executive starts working; and a positive cycle of feedback begins.