Lessons Learned

Retained Search

• Reap what you sow - It’s a small industry and how you operate and how you live up to your goals is quickly known in the search industry.
• Vision communicated and shared by all - for internal unity and recruiting attraction, everyone in the firm must know what the goals are and what is being done to achieve them.
• Communicate to keep - Consultants must feel that they are heard and have a say.  Partnership is about participation in decision making beyond the windfall of a capital ownership event.  Sharing the risk is a disincentive to most consultants.  Sharing operating decisions, firm directions and growth is a necessity.
• Diversify and be agile – Firms that have the ability to respond to the downturn in the economy have diversified by function specialization and related practice areas. 
• Share it or loose it - Compensation and wealth building opportunities must be fair or partners will seek greener pastures where the pay is in line with the market.

 Inhouse Recruiting

• Differences of in house and external search-brain adjustment. (A)
• Questions to ask when considering an inhouse position - Number of assignments, level of assignments, need to convey unusual story, degree of independence of recruiters, dedicated to internal assignments/clients, variation in assignment or search load, how manage and report.

 Models to consider - HR adjunct, autonomous firm, recurrent search assignments, targeted level of assignments, business area assignments.