Whether you’re on the brink of scaling operations or dealing with a surprise departure, finding the right talent to lead your organization is critically important—especially where the C-suite is involved. Any delay in hiring is costly and can cripple sales, interfere with operations, challenge marketing strategy and more. Each day a leadership role goes unfilled, the organization loses opportunities it may never get back.
Put plainly: the longer it takes to fill an executive role, the more the company suffers.
The urgent and often delicate nature of filling a C-suite position is best-handled by an executive search company. For many organizations, the question of when to hire an executive search firm looms large. If your organization’s experiencing any of the following five situations, don’t wait to contact an executive search company to help with the search and hiring process.
1. You’re engaged in succession planning
Need to replace an executive who’s planning to retire? Working with a professional executive search company ensures a clandestine, discreet hiring process, so competitors won’t know your leaders are stepping down.
Even if your organization isn’t facing any impending retirements among company leaders, succession planning is important. An executive search company can help you create a succession bench of attractive candidates, to speed up the hiring process when the time comes. By creating a stable of excellent potential candidates before the need to hire arises, you set your organization up for stability and growth.
2. You’ve had an unexpected executive departure
Any delay in hiring is costly—especially at the executive level. If you’ve had an unexpected executive departure, filling the role as quickly as possible is imperative. Many organizations try to fill executive roles themselves, and by the time they realize how difficult the hiring process can be, they’ve lost months of time and revenue.
If your in-house recruiters are exhausted and the hiring committee is running out of patience, save time and headaches by hiring an executive search firm. They’ll work quickly to find a candidate who’s well-equipped to succeed and hit the ground running. They’ll also handle the nuances of negotiation and vetting, which helps your organization maintain focus. Instead of scrambling to hire an executive on unfavorable terms, a search firm will expedite the process without putting your organization in a compromising position.
3. You’re engaged in M&A activities
If you’re involved in M&A activities, or plan to be in the near future, the help of an executive search firm is invaluable. Regardless of whether you’re on the selling or buying side, you need an M&A specialist to facilitate the purchase from inception to final merge. A reputable search firm can tap into a strong network of professionals, including those who’ve been through M&A activity before. They’ll set you up with candidates who understand how to navigate the process to best outcomes, including preserving company culture and morale.
Keep in mind that any M&A activities require the utmost care in terms of confidentiality. Whether your organization is in the middle of any major transaction—like an IPO, merger or acquisition—it’s critical that both the search and hire are confidential. Professional executive search companies operate with complete discretion, so any change in executive leadership won’t be made public until it’s filled with exceptional talent.
4. You’re realigning the business
Getting ready to realign your business? Whether you’re rebranding or you’re introducing a new product or service, you need a game-changing senior executive with a steady hand. An executive search firm helps organizations find someone who understands how to structure the business for future growth and lead the stewardship of that growth. By searching for talent from within your industry—or in peripheral industries—executive search companies streamline the hiring process and find the right candidate, even if your requirements are rare or unique.
5. You’re expanding your organization
If you’re in the process of scaling your company—whether quickly or over the long-term—an executive search firm specializes in helping organizations understand exactly what kind of professional they need. They help you make sure you get the hire right the first time, relying on an extensive network of talent in your field. They vet candidates for you and facilitate everything, so your current internal stakeholders can focus on growing the business—instead of the tedious process of searching and hiring.
Hire an executive search firm
No matter which role you’re hiring for or the industry you’re in, working with an executive search company helps you find the right talent to fill essential high-level positions. If your organization’s dealing with any of the situations detailed above, working with a reliable executive search firm provides surety and the peace of mind that accompanies a candidate who’s the perfect fit.
And remember, the sooner you hire an executive search firm, the less your organization risks losing from a C-suite vacancy.
