Irish firms see benefits of niche recruiters

Sunday Business Post - Recruitment - April 22 2007

Companies are turning to specialist executive recruiters to fill a wider range of roles than ever before, Dermot Corrigan reports.

Hiring the best available talent to fill high-level positions is a priority for companies of all sizes across every sector. However, according to Sarah Meagher of McEvoy Associates Signium International, Irish organisations have been slow to recognise the value of niche agencies that specialise in hiring for high-level roles.

"The executive search market in Ireland is still relatively new in comparison to the UK and the US where search has been a common means of fulfilling strategic hiring requirements for many years," said Meagher.

"Here, search is often seen as a last resort when companies have tried other means to recruit and often only for higher value or executive level roles. There are still a proportion of ‘who do you know’ direct contacts made by employers here and sometimes clients will know the person in advance they wish to hire for a particular role. This does not happen as often in other countries.”

Executive search and selection is among the fastest growing HR specialisations internationally. According to the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) the global executive search market industry experienced annual growth rates of 16.5 per cent from 1996 through 2000.

The association estimated it will grow by 12 per cent in 2007, bringing total revenue among its 350 member firms to $9.78 billion worldwide.

The US represents the largest executive search market in the world, with Britain in second place and Germany in third. Five AESC members have offices in Ireland, including Amrop, Boyden, McEvoy Associates Signium International, MERC Partners and Transearch International.

Executive search and selection is a confidential process where companies ask an agency to identify, attract and ultimately hire high calibre candidates, typically to fill strategic or specialist roles.



The agency receives a brief from its client, talks to them about what they require, uses their experience and contact network to draw up a shortlist of candidates, then confidentially approaches prospective hires. If required, the agency can also help with the interviewing and negotiating process.

Companies sometimes opt for the executive search process to gain access to candidates who are not actively on the market. Eamonn O’Reilly, joint managing director with Abrivia Recruitment Specialists, said that very senior staff are generally unlikely to regularly scan recruitment advertisements.

"The best people, in my experience, are not actively looking," said O'Reilly. "The vast majority are probably happy enough in what they are doing, but most people would consider opportunities as they are presented."

Companies may decide to turn to an executive search agency to fill a position for a number of other reasons. These include a lack of sufficient response to an advertisement, shortage of available talent, requirement to gain expertise in a particular area, the need for secrecy, a company experiencing significant growth, or the implementation of a new corporate objective.

Meagher said that Irish organisations turn to executive search and selection firms to ensure that their business is not harmed by a flawed recruitment process, which throws up the wrong candidate.

"There can be nothing more frustrating for a client than a bad hire," said Meagher. "The implications of a poor hire can last years in terms of damaged morale, opportunity cost and the loss of strategic momentum."

Sheamus Considine, partner with Amrop International Executive Search, said that as the Irish economy evolves towards a stronger knowledge base, executive search was becoming increasingly more important.

"You are looking to people, even at lower levels, to make complex decisions and be able to take in and process a lot of data," said Considine. "As we move towards this knowledge worker, senior management of these organisations requires a more complex set of skills and experience."

O’Reilly said that both indigenous operations, and multinational organisations based in Ireland, are now turning to executive search companies to fill a broad range of different roles.

“The search market in Ireland is maturing,” said O’Reilly. “Up to two years ago it was the preserve of chief executives and managing directors. It is now being widened to include senior managers or anybody lower down the reporting line who can provide a competitive edge to a company."

Brian Flynn, director executive search at Fastnet Recruitment, said that executive search is particularly useful to Irish companies operating in an increasingly globalised marketplace.

“The need to identify executives with international experience and the ability to build market share is now even more pressing,” he said “Executive search may be the only realistic way to secure the right blend of skills, experience and cultural compatibility.”

Meagher said that, as growth within the Irish economy has been concentrated in particular sectors, the labour market in these areas is particularly tight. She said businesses were turning to executive search firms to fill key positions.

"We have seen companies retain us for a broader range of roles, typically unique roles with a highly specialised skill set," said Meagher. "There is still an obvious talent shortage in Ireland in some particular growth industries and markets, for example funds, construction and bio-pharma. Increased regulation and governance in these areas has also fuelled demand for specialist directors and other key functions."

O’Reilly said that the experience and contacts which executive search agencies build up over years working in particular sectors can be particularly useful in identifying the best candidates for a position.

"We have been focusing on the legal, accountancy, insurance and banking sectors for years," he said. "We know the individuals out there at the various levels in those sectors, so if a client gives us a certain brief, we would know fairly quickly where those individuals would be. You need that level of contact and intelligence that can only come with years of being in a specific sector."

The compact nature of the Irish business world means that Irish executive search agencies have to be meticulous.

"Compared to say the US or the UK, the size of the executive search market in Ireland is very small, so the need to be extremely discreet and confidential is upmost," said O'Reilly.

Considine said that high-level executives took a careful approach to prospective moves.

"A couple of years ago around the time of the dotcom boom there was a type of domino effect across the entire management sector in Ireland," he said.

"That more or less has stopped. What you find now with candidates is that they are more reflective on the opportunity, with more consideration given to work life balance and where the opportunity might lead to in terms of career progression. The commute is becoming a bigger factor, which is affecting our ability to attract people to the greater Dublin area in particular."

O’Reilly said that more and more executive search agencies were looking abroad to identify potential hires.

"Given the development in technology, it is not as cumbersome as it used to be to identify and contact candidates abroad, whether in London, the Far East, Australia or America," said O'Reilly.

The cost of an executive search is typically a percentage of the position’s annual salary. Meagher said that clients who ask an executive search agency to help find the right candidate should be aware that the task requires a thorough approach.

"The big difficulty for some companies is that search as a holistic process that can take time to deliver a successful outcome," she said. "It is a very labour intensive process and there are no shortcuts, the ground must be covered every time and every new assignment means fresh research to be commenced from scratch."

Considine said that search firms will typically form a close relationship with their client and investigated their business to ensure the right fit with recommended hires.

"To be successful you have to understand how that organisation works, how it makes decisions and what its strategic direction and vision are,” he said.

Flynn said that relationships between the client and an agency often developed over time.

“The expectation is that the executive search firm will assist the client in sourcing leaders and potential leaders that will fit the culture and needs of the company. That can ultimately make such a difference in driving the necessary performance,” he said.