Choosing An Executive Search Agency
"..." Sandy felt the temperature of her coffee, "..." she set it down, "..." finished... [here goes...]
Hello, I'm Sandy Johnson. I'm a Vice President. My company wants me to find and hire a Chief Financial Officer. I've asked around. Several people at work have recommended different people.
I've been on other project teams in my company that have used executive search firms. I'm familiar with that approach. I know the three-tier system that works very well. And I have some friends at executive search firms, and they have recommended their best people.
I've become a bit skeptical, and have decided to compare executive search firms. I know some people who know Executive Search Firms very well.
That's why I'm here looking to you and your company.
I'm looking for a CFO with experience in finance, and that can also manage a team. I'm looking for a top flight individual with a proven track record. They'll have to work with everybody in the company. They'll have to manage projects. They'll have to manage people. They'll have to anticipate obstacles and deal with them. They'll have to deal with politics.
This is my first time using an executive search firm. I'm used to dealing with search firms. I've known some people who've used executive search firms looking for marketing people, or products people.
This is a very important project for my company. I want to make sure that I get the CFO that I want. I want the best and most experienced person, so I'm not wasting any time and money.
This CFO's value is over the 10-figure mark.
Over the last two years, the CFO position had not been filled internally. Now that has changed. This is a very tough position.
My company is looking to make some changes. They're looking to grow, and look for new customers. In the last few years, we've had a lot of customers fall away. Meanwhile we've been looking for CFOs both internally and externally. We've had a lot of turnover in the last few years.
I'd like to hire a part-time CFO while we look for a permanent CFO. And I want someone with a lot of experience. I want someone I feel comfortable with.
I'm handling the search internally. The executive at my level has resigned. He was promoted to a VP, and we hired an interim VP. I'd like to have someone who can fill in that position.
Now, I'm looking for a CFO to help us stabilize our business, and help us look for new customers---someone who will help us grow our business. That's why we need great leadership and the best person possible.
I really want the strongest CFO I can find. I know that there are a lot of CFO's out there. People I know have recommended a lot of CFO's. A lot of my people down in accounting recommended a lot of CFO's. I've heard people at my company talk about CFO's.
But I don't feel I have a complete list, or a full picture of what the CFO marketplace looks like. People keep recommending to me people that I have no idea about. It's like people are just throwing names out there. I know I'm being handed a lot of names that aren't really that strong. I know that some of them have other jobs, or are in the middle of buying companies.
I'm not that concerned about their salary requirements. I'm not in a position to bargain with them about salary. I'm loyal to the company and to my team. I know I won't be able to get the best and most qualified candidate because of a salary issue. I know that we'll have a hard time paying them a high salary. I know that we have to be careful with spending. I know that the company needs to be a little more careful how we spend money, because we're spending way more than we make. And we can't keep doing that. We can't just keep spending money and doing that.
I want to be on good footing with our potential candidates. I want to communicate with them frankly.
I'm not looking for a generalist. I know that the CFO needs to have a substantial amount of experience. I'm gonna have to have a lot of experience, so I need someone who's got a lot of experience, to be able to run the company. I'm looking for someone who's been through tough times... and is ready for a new challenge. This CFO will be a key player in the company, who's responsible for all of the financial activities.
I take responsibility for being financially responsible. I'll definitely be able to run a CFO search, complete the research, and make the decisions.
Conclusion
This wraps up this week's edition of What's in your inbox. This is a very long piece that is well written. It presents an interesting case study of the "Three-tier Executive Search Process" and of traditional Executive Search Processes in a Fortune 500 Company.
If you want to read more about the "Three-tier Executive Search Process" and what is required of candidates, read our article: "It's Not easy being a CFO".