A Message From Jeff

Dear Clients and Friends,

These first couple of months in 2007 have confirmed we are in a “hot market" for top talent. In fact, we have recently been advising all of our clients that we’ve seen a shift in the balance of power from hiring organizations to the candidates. “Star performers" are typically receiving as many as three offers simultaneously.

This makes it critical for each of us, both executive search consultants and hiring organizations, to move expeditiously to close on top talent once we have identified an executive our clients really want and feel is the right fit for the position.

This was clearly illustrated last month when our preferred candidates for three separate search assignments, in three separate markets, for three separate clients chose different offers. Part of the reason for this is that too much time elapsed in the initial screening and evaluation of additional candidates who did not ultimately make it onto the “short list." While our clients were seeing candidates 3, 4 and 5, the competition placed our #1 choices.

In today’s “hot" market for talent, time is our adversary, not our ally, and we all need to be prepared to move more quickly, as our AARP Financial client did in landing Jean Alexander as CMO in a search process that took less than five weeks in total elapsed time (from initiation of the search to accepted job offer).

It's important to act not only quickly, but succinctly and concisely. In other words, make sure you're prepared to attract top talent as a company and as the hiring person. In this way, you may avoid having to chase top talent.

As a company, be over-prepared for the candidate interview. Have one or two people the candidate must see, not eight or nine. Have a plan for how to maximize everyone's time. And be prepared to make decisions and ask the hard questions. Here are some questions that may help you prepare:

Do you know your absolute bottom line around compensation, your negotiation limits and flexibility around work-life balance, bonuses, relocations, expenses, stock options, etc.?

Do you have your business plan ready to be seen?

Can you clearly articulate where the company is going?

Is the job description clear, concise and tightly aligned with management?

Can you easily name your company’s top three values? Do you live and does your company live those values?

Do you know what the word is out there on you and your company?

What is expected of the candidate in the first 180 days, and are you both signing off on this?

What is your leadership point of view?

This will add significant value to your search and help both you and the candidate understand if you are a match.

We hope you are finding the top talent you need to support your 2007 growth initiatives and plans. We highly recommend you follow our recommendation and be prepared to act decisively once you find the person you know is the right fit for your most important open position.

Very truly yours,

Plan, Protect and Perform

There is a well-known axiom in business that “failure to plan is planning to fail." These days, it often seems as if that axiom has run head-long into the exigencies of modern business life. Despite our best efforts at planning, managing our time and productivity is an endless challenge. We typically spend our days assaulted by emails, barraged by phone calls, sliced and diced by meetings and interruptions, so that the idea of achieving our plans for a day, let alone for a longer-term project, is almost laughable. Read the article here.

New from EC: ASK OUR COACH

As part of our commitment to provide assistance and support to executives wanting to further their professional and personal brand, we have created the ASK OUR COACH service. You now have access to us by simply emailing us at askourcoach@executiveconnects.com (or click the link above). There, you can get confidential answers to career questions, such as:

“What protection and incentives can the parent company be providing to me and my senior management team upon a change of control, i.e., sale or merger?"

“What challenges do I need to be aware of at this stage of my career in moving to a client-side opportunity?"

What’s on your mind? Don’t hesitate to ASK OUR COACH.

Your Feedback to Us

“I’m very impressed that you sent this note to close the loop. While I was clearly not the right candidate for the position and had no expectations of follow-up after the initial contact I had with your firm several months ago, I can’t tell you how refreshing (and differentiating) it is to have a recruiter actually respond in this way. Believe me, you are a rare breed. Keep up the good work!"

—Marketing Strategy Consultant

“I usually don’t like working with executive search firms, either as a candidate or a client. I just haven’t felt they added much. You guys are the first firm I’ve worked with that actually earns your money. You really work to make sure the fit is right, and the transitional support is an added benefit to make sure the new hire is successful."

—Fred Kaseff, recent EC CFO recruit

Connect with EC at These Conferences

Special offer from Executive Connections: Register today and save $200!

Join Jeff Gundersen at the 12th Annual Best Practices in Retail Financial Services Symposium, March 21-23, 2007, at the Loews Lake Las Vegas, NV. Jeff will moderate a panel on “Developing and Leveraging Employees as Brand Ambassadors." Join Jeff and other industry leaders for what is known as the best banking conference of the year. Register today and save $200 off the current conference rates. To take advantage of this special offer, please call 212-803-8699 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              212-803-8699      end_of_the_skype_highlighting and mention code: EXECCONNECT.

Jeff will also be at the DMA’s 31st Annual Financial Services Conference, at the Don CeSar Beach Resort, St. Pete Beach, FL, March 25-27, 2007. A past chairman of this conference, Jeff is part of the Planning Committee this year. This is an outstanding program specifically tailored to meet the needs of today’s top financial services marketers. To view the full program and to register, visit www.dmafscannual.org.