I was fortunate enough to be taken out by the HR Manager of one of my clients this week who wanted to show his appreciation for the work we had done to help him secure the services of a top-performer. After dinner, he explained to me how he had put his neck on the line by insisting that the best way to get the person they needed was to use our services. We had not worked together before and I could see from his perspective that although he had done his research, checked our credentials etc., there was still a feeling that he was taking a bit of a leap of faith.
The issue for my HR Manager wasn’t the 25% fee that we charge (they had paid more to other agencies). The retention fee was linked to the main issue – the risk that we just didn’t deliver. He had been told in no uncertain terms that this was his responsibility to get ‘the right person’ but there was no support from the leadership team for putting all their eggs in one basket and retain the services of a headhunter that they had not used before. The fact that they would have to pay an up-front fee before we even started the assignment just heaped the pressure on the HR Manager – he had better have made the right decision!
In the face of such pressure and lack of support for his approach from the top, it would have been easy for the HR Manager to go against his better judgement and get a number of agencies to work on the assignment on a non exclusive basis. However, the HR Manager confided in me, he had already been down this road but they had not found anyone who was remotely close to being right for the role. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, it was his problem to fix but he could gain no support within the organisation for retaining the services of a headhunter.
You could say the HR Manager was backed into a corner so he came out fighting. I had already held a meeting with the HR Manager and his boss and explained how we would approach the assignment. I had stated that the search wouldn’t be easy but that I felt confident that the assignment was achievable but they needed to be realistic about timescales. Yet more heat for the HR Manager, he was under pressure to get someone on-board quickly but again he was brave enough to stick to his guns and presented the project plan that I had produced for him which showed an elapsed time not quite in keeping with the leaderships’ timescales.
Luckily for my HR Manager and, less importantly, Lauder Beaumont’s reputation, the story does have a happy ending for the HR Manager. He is now enjoying the pat on the back he deserves for choosing an approach that I am delighted to say delivered the desired outcome.
But what I discovered when talking further with the HR Manager was his real fear. Not that we wouldn’t find someone (as they had failed to do previously) but that the person they did find and hire would turn out not to be the ‘right one’. He was smart enough to realise that the congratulatory pats on the back would soon turn to awkward glances if the chap they hired turned out not to be the right person.
This was my first chance to provide any real comfort. I told him that if I had any concern it was that we would be able to attract the right individual for the role. I knew we could identify top-performers capable of doing the job but attracting them is always a challenge. What I was confident of was that the person we had identified would be fantastic in the job. The reason I could be so sure is because they followed the LBA Hiring Management System™ http://www.lauder-beaumont.com/our-approach/overview/ almost to the letter and the statistics prove that the chances of getting the right person for a role are dramatically increased if the system is utilised. I explained that this led me to have little fear about competency and fit of the person for the role. I also explained that that I feel so confident that I am prepared to offer a 12 month, 100% guarantee – Should a candidate be terminated within twelve months following commencement of employment for any reason that reflects on their competency or suitability for the role, we will immediately begin a search to find another suitable candidate for no additional fee.
I believe this guarantee is unrivalled in the industry. To provide further comfort, Lauder Beaumont now only charges 20% of the total estimated fee as a retainer and the remainder on accepted offer. I’m hoping that the leap of faith has now become a small pigeon step.
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