Executive headhunting in the Holy Land

Ron Magen Photo: PR
Ron Magen Photo: PR

IRC Israel CEO Ron Magen talks about the growing need to find top executives for multinationals with Israel operations.

When a large corporation or even a small startup set out to hire employees, they usually post an ad in the online wanted billboards, send a friend-bring-friend request to their current employees in the corporate e-mail, place their HR departments on recruitment alert and sometimes harness external headhunters to the recruitment effort.

But what happens when a company is looking for its new CEO or VP? How does a company go about filling an especially confidential position at the request of the shareholders or when it is critical that the company's employees and clients will not know about the upcoming reshuffling to ward off potentially harmful upheavals?

The practice is well known around the world: third party professionals who specialize in executive search are retained by the company. They embark on a long and thorough process which starts with characterizing the needs of the company and the position and ends in the negotiation of the employment terms of the selected candidate.

In the US, Europe and even in China and Latin America, a significant share of executive search for local companies is handled by third-party professionals and their careful and discreet analysis procedure.

Multinationals looking for talented senior executives in the Israeli market

Having identified similar needs in Israel, international chain IRC Global Executive Search recently announced it was launching operations in Israel. IRC is collaborating with Hunter, a company that specializes in proactive, selective headhunting of mid-level to top executives.

IRC Israel CEO Ron Magen says, "It is already an established fact that Israeli execuitives have been succeeding in overseas positions in recent years, with some of them even becoming part of the top management teams of mega-corporations such as Intel, Google and others. At the same time, an increasing number of foreign companies have started operations in Israel and are looking for local executives. This is part of Israel's becoming a dominant center in the global business arena, fueled among others by the acquisition of leading Israeli companies by foreign investors."

Magen adds, "Finding a CEO or VP for a company is a serious and professional endeavor that requires extensive ties and extensive, up-to-date knowledge of the position's requirements and the candidate. You will not find ads for these positions on the job search billboards. Even friend-bring-friend campaigns like the ones common in high tech companies will not yield the necessary results. An executive who is looking for his/her next high-rank position or a company looking for its next leader stand very little chance of finding what they are looking for in the social networks such as LinkedIn or in dedicated job search groups on Facebook. This is a task that requires surgical precision."

"The executive search process, which is used to locate the right people for the highest-ranking positions in a company (usually the CEO or VP), includes several critical stages meant to achieve the outcome that the organization is after. An unsuitable match to a senior position may be harmful, expensive and painful. This process allows us to identify the most apt candidates for leading the company. We present to the client the candidates that have the best chances in succeeding in their work, not just be accepted."

"We start out by charting the client's needs, including the corporate culture, organizational / business history, map the market and the client's position therein, analyze the competition and much more. We also analyze the job's characteristics and requirements (experience, etc.). In the second stage, we draft the recruitment strategy based on the position's profile and perform methodological research and screening of the target audiences: companies and candidates that may suit the target profile," says Magen.

"We then approach potential candidates, perform the initial interviews, face to face interviews, suitability assessments and preliminary screening based on the results. At the end of this stage, the client company is given the initial list of candidates who are interested in the vacancy and meet the requirements. This list provides the basis for subsequent shortlist of candidates who are asked to undergo various assessments in line with the nature of the position, including psychological and personality assessments and more."

In the final stage, the consultants and the recruiting companies choose the "one", namely the person they deem has the highest chances of succeeding in the position. They perform a comprehensive background check, including inquiries on the candidate's references and walk the company through the negotiation process with the candidate until the contract is signed and the candidate assumes the role."

In conclusion, says Magen, "Bear in mind this process can take several months because it is not enough to find the right person for the job but one who will stay there for the long term and prove himself in terms of the company's performance."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 28, 2016

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2016

Ron Magen Photo: PR
Ron Magen Photo: PR
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