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Top secret Waiting for the next big move

You’re probably not going to attract the cream of the crop with a classifieds ad either.

Where do you begin to find a person you can entrust an entire company to? “In today’s scenario, most CEO hunts are done through executive search firms like ours,” says S. Krishna Prakash, managing partner of EMA Partners International, a multinational company operating in 35 countries.

A company like EMA does very niche work — they do searches only at the board level (managing directors, directors) or of CEOs and functional heads (CFOs, CIOs, CHMOs). “Most of the mandates we handle are one crore plus,” he says. Translation: that’s the kind of money the people their clients are searching make.

Which means it’s all about discretion. “Often, our clients can’t even be seen to be ‘looking’,” says Prakash. “Confidentiality is valued above all else.” In fact, he says, their employee contracts come with a clause saying that they can’t even talk about negotiations with their spouses.

“An executive search company depends on their credibility for survival,” agrees Hastha Krishnan, CEO of Ma Foi Global Search Services. “Indiscretion on our part can mar careers and we’ll never live that down.”

There are other unique challenges in this business. For one, they operate within a limited universe — at that level, the list of people who fit the bill is going to be necessarily short.

“We generally have a wish-list of three or four people who can do the role,” says Prakash. “If many of them are not keen, our search can flounder.”

Trouble is that most potential candidates aren’t really keen (to start with anyway). “Often the individuals we get in touch with may not be actively looking for a change,” says Krishnan. “It’s about presenting an opportunity that might be a good fit for them.”

That’s why a lot of top level executives find themselves being wooed by these firms. “We often discuss it in jest — ‘So-and-so is behind us, what do we do?” laughs N.K. Ranganath, CEO of Grundfos Pumps, a multinational company. But it can be a double-edged sword at times, he says: “It depends on how it’s handled. Some search companies will back down gracefully if you’re not interested but others can be very pushy and refuse to take no for an answer.”

The limited options can mean that these firms look overseas for CEOs of Indian origin who want to work in India. “We call it the ‘Back to Bharat’ option,” says Krishnan laughing.

Adds Prakash, “Now that salaries in India are on a par with elsewhere in the world, we use satellite offices in the U.S. to attract the talent from there.”

But the salary is often the least of the reasons why a head honcho will shift jobs. “At the most senior levels, the money is pretty much the same,” comments Ranganath. “It’s more about how well the organisation’s culture, value system, the business plan etc. fits with the executive’s.”

That’s why research is so integral to the process. “Above all, we see ourselves as research analysts — we need to know the industry inside out to match the requirements of our client and the candidate,” says Prakash.

Just the preliminary research alone can take a couple of months — the entire process, including discussions and negotiations, can take anywhere between four to six months.

“It’s crucial that the candidate gets a detailed, accurate rundown on the company right in the beginning from the search firm,” says Sundaram Mani, managing director of Amalgamations Valeo Clutch Pvt. Ltd. “One doesn’t want to go through the whole process only to find that the position is not a good fit in the end.”

Tons of research, tricky negotiations and big, big retainers for the search firms — there’s plenty of pressure on all sides in this world of high-stakes hiring. And it’s only going to be happening more and more, says Prakash.

S. Krishna Prakash of EMA on some dos/don’ts for CEOs

Always hear out the offer — you never know when things may change in your current job.

l Be realistic and transparent about your salary expectations.

l Playing hard to get isn’t always a good idea — it may just put off the company and the search firm.

l Think a hundred times before you say yes. Backtracking can ruin your reputation.

l You’ll probably be under intense pressure from your current employers to stay on. If you’ve decided to shift jobs, leave quickly.

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