Pulling All The Levers

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In today’s world, a thorough and complete executive search process is time intensive and requires new approaches, tools and recruiting skillsets in order to find the right person.

Long gone are the days when a search professional could rely on their Rolodex or just pick up the phone and start making the calls. Today’s talent acquisition landscape is ever-changing with social media and networking sites becoming the great equalizers in the world of recruiting. We work hard to stay ahead of the curve to determine what the most effective levers are to pull when finding the very best talent. We analyze, monitor and track our performance closely, with an eye for determining the most effective multi-approach methods.

Terms like passive and active candidates aren’t really useful in today’s world. Layers of electronic connectivity have made instant communication a reality. This means that someone who would be considered a “passive” candidate may suddenly become an “active” candidate based on an email or a LinkedIn message. Technology has changed the paradigm. Talented people don’t live with bad or uncertain situations anymore – and in the world of recruiting, timing is everything.

Doing your homework pays off too. Our research department is something we take great pride in. We have put extensive resources into our research methods including a state of the art database and contact management system. This allows us to quickly maximize direct sourcing of candidates through our extensive database. However, one tool or lever alone is not enough. Evaluating and using all the levers, all the time, is critical. Effective executive recruiting requires extensive research, direct target sourcing, various communication methods, social networking systems and professional referrals. All of these levers are critical.

Westport Intl is an executive search firm that utilizes every lever and works diligently to continually evaluate and utilize the most effective recruiting methods. If you are looking for a search firm that’s ahead of the curve, give us a call.  We are happy to help.

Join our talent acquisition team

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We are a successful nine year old search and recruiting firm that is growing and profitable. Our organization is comprised of three operating groups including Westport Intl, which focuses on retained searches at the executive level, while our PinPoint Solutions group concentrates on mid-level contingency recruiting. Our third group, PinPoint Talent is dedicated to partnering with our clients on a project basis to augment their talent acquisition activities.

We are seeking individuals to join our team who want to be part of a growing organization in a fast paced environment. We consider ourselves slightly different from the typical recruiting agencies. With us, our core philosophy is around building relationships with our clients. We don’t believe in the “hard sell,” whether that’s to potential clients or with potential candidates.

We also believe in developing internal talent through our Recruiter Development Program (RDP). People without recruiting experience start with our team as a researcher and progress up through various roles in both our PinPoint Solutions and PinPoint Talent groups. This isn’t a sales training program – this is a recruiter development program. We teach you how to find, recognize and assess talented individuals for companies. Many in our organization have managed talent acquisition functions for global and Fortune 500 organization. This means that you will learn from true talent acquisition experts and professionals.

This program is designed to take high achieving, self-motivated individuals and help make them true search professionals. We have a strong track record at developing talented people and teaching them true professional recruiting skills – use of search tools, assessment ability, business development skills, project management skills, etc.

What we look for in potential new team members –

  • A real interest in becoming a search professional
  • Business oriented and/or experiences
  • Track record of achievement – goal orientation and highly self-motivated
  • Career versus job mentality
  • Bachelor’s degree
  • Experience in HR, sales, recruiting or related business field is preferred

If you are interested in this unique opportunity to enhance your skill set and advance your career, send your cover letter and resume to dennis@westportintil.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

What makes a great search/talent professional?

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There is not a fully defined path for an individual in the search industry. If you look at the great search and internal talent professionals, there is no one common Bachelors, MBA program, or career path that leads to their success. Those in our industry have a divergent set of skills and experiences. Common to all great talent professionals are leadership competencies, a sense of urgency, superior project management skills, the ability to engage people at all levels, the ability to analyze data, knowledge of employment law, as well as many other customer focused skill sets. It extends much further than simple cold calling and basic sales skills.

The world of talent acquisition is increasingly more demanding and in a constant state of change due to technology and increased networking channels. I have hired and trained recruiters at all levels, have built and managed an internal talent team for Fortune 500 global organizations, and built my own Retained and Contingent firm that includes Westport Intl – PinPoint Solutions – PinPoint Talent Services. In all of these career experiences, I have learned the value of having great people on the team.

We have virtually given up on hiring professionals from other retained and contingent competitors. We need professionals who can work horizontally across our clients at every level and will provide a quality search experience. It has been extremely challenging to re-train individuals from other talent and/or search firms. Most struggle to adapt and change. Based on past successes, we have developed our own competencies and tools with which we can assess potential new hires.

Our philosophy is to develop our own talent. We continue to formulate and adapt a recruiter development program that meets the needs of our ever-changing business and our clients. It has proven successful. We have also learned that this development process is very time intensive and can take up to one year even with the best initial hire. There is no single formula or profile, but there are definitely common competencies among great talent professionals.

The Importance of Assessing Top Talent

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It should be obvious to most that the market for talent is very tight. Top talent is difficult to find because people are discovering that they have options again and are willing to explore those options. This bears contrast to 2010 when employers had a large, actively searching talent pool, and the chance to pursue their ideal choice. Some companies are responsive to this shift in the market; some are not. In either case, how you define and assess top talent, and how you use recruiting tools and processes can make all the difference.

Dynamics

  • Supply and demand for certain skill sets and people are reminiscent of the late 90’s.
  • The manner in which you attract top talent must be more high touch – candidates want to know who they are talking to, understand the role, company culture, etc. before they engage.
  • Recruiting top talent requires a dedicated search process by a professional, and use of multiple recruiting tools and multiple forms of contact. LinkedIn jobs slots, job boards, social media, etc. can help begin the right conversations, but they are a very small initial step in the process.

What does this mean?

  • Internal talent teams can’t handle the volume and effectively recruit top talent requiring high touch approaches.
  • Execution costs for third party search firms have gone up. Simply put, firms have to put more people and resources to successfully complete searches than ever before.
  • For search firms that don’t invest in people, tools, and process, or for internal talent teams that continue to operate with high requisition loads, quality and results will suffer.

What are we doing?

  • Adding additional support staff
  • Expanding our practice areas so that we have more people active day to day in certain functional areas or industrial markets
  • Continually improving our process and capabilities around existing work
  • Living one of our core mottos – limiting search volume. A search professional can only execute a thorough process with a certain volume of work.

Aerospace Industry Practice Area

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The aerospace industry has long been one of our strongest industry areas. In this area, we have maintained some of the most productive and long-lasting partnerships in our company’s history. Our aerospace clients include several industry leading aircraft systems suppliers, producing components ranging from hydraulics, fuel and braking systems, and seating and galleys. Our PinPoint Talent Services division was also created around an ongoing sourcing project with an aerospace interiors company. Currently that project is halfway through its 4th year.

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An Improving Housing Industry

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It shouldn’t be new news to anyone that the housing market has seen its ups and downs since the recession. While the past 6-7 years have shown us that there is a long ways yet to go to recover what this market once was, recent changes have also given a positive indication of growth and stability. Home building markets and home sales have improved, and recent acquisitions in the housing industry also indicated that companies are becoming more willing to takes risks again. This also means that these companies are willing to increase hiring activity and can invest in sourcing the best talent for their organizations.
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New Practice Area: Automotive

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Many staples of American industry took a hit a few years ago, but none seemed as immediately noticeable as the automotive industry. Large, instantly recognizable brands seemed fallible, and in many ways, faith was lost in those brands. Fast forward to the present day, and what we are seeing are leaner, stronger companies prepared to contend with shifts in the global market. Investment in new technologies, along with investment in the right people has led to a strong turn around and positive, long-term growth.
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