Why ‘Lone Wolf’ Recruiting Firms Fail and Team-Based Recruiting Wins
Authored By Eric Walczykowski, Adam Boone
Most executive search firms follow a basic organizational structure that is more than a century old. But this old school model produces the worst possible results for clients.
It effectively makes each partner and their supporting organization into a separate entity, a “Lone Wolf” competing with others in the firm for new business, resources and search capacity.
A new model is completely changing the game with teamwork and collaboration.
Let’s explore how this innovative structure yields better search outcomes in a shorter timeframe.
And spoiler alert: it’s why Bespoke Partners is called in to solve search after search where other firms have failed.
Part 6:
The New Recruiting Best Practices Blog Series
TODAY:
Silos Drive Traditional Search
The traditional executive search firm features the same basic organizational strategy that was the hallmark of other professional services. It’s a model that has been around since professional services partnerships emerged more than 100 years ago during the era of industrialization.
A partner in the firm will have associates, recruiters and other professionals to execute on searches attached to them in what is basically a silo. Each partner’s siloed organization then needs to address most of the aspects of the business on its own.
They need to conduct business development and new business origination for their silo. They need to orchestrate pitching and landing searches. They need to conduct candidate research and recruiting and ultimately work the searches to conclusion.
The result? Each partner is effectively a “Lone Wolf” driving their own book of business and competing with the others for search work and resources.
There may be a certain amount of sharing of new business among silos and some level of collaboration on certain searches. But partners are not incented to behave that way overall and it happens rarely.
Why Lone Wolf Silos Hurt Client Outcomes
Firms structured in the siloed, Lone Wolf way won’t tell you this, but their model produces drastically worse results for clients.
That’s because when you sign with them for a search, you effectively are getting only the attention, skills and network resources of a tiny slice of the firm.
So you might have signed with a massive SHREK search firm, but the reality is that your search will be executed by a handful of people attached to the partner booking the search. You might as well have signed with a lone independent recruiter because that is the scope of service capability and capacity you will get.
You will see only a small portion of the talent market for the role you want to fill. You will be dependent on the reputation and recruiting capabilities of only one or two people. Your search will be competing for attention with a huge number of other searches, because partners are incented to keep booking new searches as fast as they can and their silos are scrambling and overcommitted.
The results are drastically worse than they should be. Searches take too long if they are solved at all. You will access only a tiny portion of the potential talent pool. A fraction of desirable candidates will engage. Your search gets a tiny sliver of attention from a tiny sliver of the search firm.
This approach is seriously broken. But it has given rise to a new breed of search firm that is organized an entirely different way.
Eliminating Lone Wolf Siloes
At Bespoke Partners, we’ve created a structure and culture that fosters collaboration over competition by eliminating the “Lone Wolf” silos. This approach features focus, specialization, and compensation designed to encourage teamwork and collective success.
The result are vastly superior outcomes for clients, who gain access to the broadest possible talent pools and searches that are solved in the shortest amount of time.
The key aspects of this model include:
Focus on Specialization
Aligned Incentives
Leveraging Collective Expertise
Access to the Full Talent Pool
How Our Model Beats the Lone Wolf Every Time
Tailored Solutions
Because our professionals are deeply specialized, they can provide tailored solutions that are precisely aligned to your needs. This level of customization leads to better fit, faster placements, and higher satisfaction for both clients and candidates.
Full visibility
You have visibility into the full talent market for every search, not the tiny slice known to a single partner.
Full Access
You have access to candidates based on all of our team’s reputation and relationships. This is why we have an 83% executive conversion rate. The best candidates take our calls and know we won’t waste their time. Your company is represented by a brand and professionals that candidates trust.
Devoted Recruiters
You get intensive attention on your search. Our recruiters are capped at 6 searches which means they will devote time and focus on your search and its nuances.
collective expertise
Our structured, collaborative approach is why we consistently achieve a 95% success rate and complete searches in an average of 95 days. By ensuring that the most qualified people are working on each search, we deliver results that are both reliable and exceptional. Our clients benefit from a collective expertise that’s unmatched in the executive search world.
These results are why Bespoke is brought in so often to solve the searches that other firms have failed to close.
Ready to leave behind the world of the Lone Wolf search firms?
Get in touch today to witness the power of the collaborative team structure.
Bespoke Partners Named in Top 10 of the “Top 49 Retained Executive Search” 2-Years Running by C-Suite CV Secure.
Author:
Eric Walczykowski
Chief Executive Officer
Eric is passionate about building high-performing teams that value doing their best, working together, overcoming adversity and learning.
As a proven growth executive, Eric has served as CEO, President, Board Member, Investor and Advisor for technology companies that achieved over $4.5B in successful exits.
Eric brings to Bespoke Partners significant professional services experience from Deloitte and Andersen, as well as the high-growth client executive perspective for private equity-backed technology companies.
Eric earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in Business from Fresno State University.
Author:
Adam Boone
Chief Marketing Officer
Boone has led marketing, demand generation, branding, product management, services marketing, or alliances marketing programs for numerous successful companies including Avaya-acquisition Sipera, Sequoia start-up Syndesis, Subex, CoManage, and others. He has driven joint marketing programs and go-to-market initiatives with iconic industry leaders including Microsoft, IBM, GE, AT&T, Oracle, Comcast, Cisco, Ciena and Samsung.
Boone holds an MBA in Business Strategy from the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and completed the Competitive Marketing Strategy Program at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
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