Recruiting Best Practices: Back-Channeling Provides Comprehensive Executive Vetting
Authored By Eric Walczykowski
Back-channeling is a reference technique that sparks controversy. But it is absolutely essential when you are hiring mission-critical senior executives.
This is especially true in the private equity sector, where a mis-hire can derail value creation and put the investment thesis at risk.
For private equity firms, getting the right executive in place is non-negotiable, and back-channeling plays a crucial role in ensuring that the person who interviews well is also the right person to show up for work.
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Back-Channeling for Comprehensive Vetting
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Back-Channel Early and Often
Back-channeling goes beyond the resume and the interview. It’s talking to people who worked with executives at previous companies but who the candidate has not named as formal references.
It’s about digging deeper to understand who a candidate really is—how they work, what they contribute, and whether their cultural ethos aligns with the company they’re being hired to lead.
At Bespoke Partners, we don’t just dabble in back-channeling; we’ve turned it into an art form, running an average of eight back-channels per candidate to validate their fit for the role.
Why Back-Channeling Matters
Beyond the Resume:
Resumes and interviews only tell part of the story. A candidate might present well in a formal setting, but it’s through back-channeling that we can verify their true impact, leadership style, and how they interact with others in the workplace.
Ensuring Cultural Fit:
Cultural fit is as important as technical expertise, especially in leadership roles. Back-channeling helps us confirm that the culture and ethos a candidate projects in an interview match what they’ve demonstrated in previous roles.
Validating Contributions:
It’s not enough for a candidate to claim success; back-channeling allows us to verify that their contributions were real and significant. This step is crucial in ensuring that the person we place can genuinely deliver on what they promise.
How Bespoke Partners Employs Back-Channeling
Comprehensive
Checks
We typically run eight back-channels for each candidate. These are in-depth conversations with people the candidate has worked with in the past—peers, subordinates, and even clients. We expect at least one of these to be controversial or negative, which is to be expected when someone has been in leadership and has had to make tough decisions.
Proactive Issue
Management
When a back-channel raises concerns, we don’t shy away from it. Instead, we use this information to guide further discussions with the candidate and the client, ensuring that any potential issues are fully explored before a decision is made.
Building Trust
For both companies and candidates, back-channeling is an opportunity to build trust. It ensures that by the time an offer is made, both parties are confident in the fit, preventing late-stage surprises that could derail the process.
Examples of Back-Channeling in Action
Validating Leadership Style
In one search, back-channeling revealed that a candidate who presented as a collaborative leader had, in fact, clashed with their previous team. This insight allowed us to have a candid discussion with the candidate, ultimately leading to a mutual decision that the role wasn’t the right fit.
Confirming Cultural Alignment
For another client, back-channeling confirmed that a candidate who seemed like a perfect fit on paper had consistently fostered a positive, inclusive culture in their previous roles, leading to a successful placement that has since driven significant growth for the company.
At Bespoke Partners, back-channeling isn’t just a box to tick—it’s a critical component of our process that ensures we get it right.
By back-channeling early and often, we’re able to confirm that the candidates we present are not only qualified on paper but are also the right fit for the company’s culture and strategic goals. This meticulous attention to detail is why our placements have a 95% success rate, with executives staying in their roles for at least two years.
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.
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