We're proud that our approach has yielded many long-standing client and candidate relationships. As a highly-specialized, boutique firm, we are able to offer our clients a uniquely customized retained search experience. As our CEO manages each search in a hands-on and engaged manner, you can be assured that when you retain MES, you're getting our considerable expertise, dedication, and focused attention. Additionally, we have invested in industry-leading, cutting edge technology to ensure we leave "no stone unturned" in our pursuit of top-tier talent.
We purposefully maintain a selective client list to limit "conflicts" and expand our recruiting pool. Our proprietary executive recruitment model is highly-efficient, enabling us to offer our clients competitive pricing backed by comprehensive one and two year guarantees.
Questions To Ask Before Retaining A Search Firm
1. Who manages the sourcing, vetting, recruiting, referencing, and client/candidate relationships once we've signed the agreement?
Most larger firms use seasoned business development pros (Partners) to land business only to immediately hand the actual search work to junior Associates with limited industry knowledge and expertise. The experience-level and pedigree of the lead consultant conducting your search will have a much greater impact on the outcome than the salesmanship of the Partner or the size of the firm directing it.
2. What is your search completion rate?
It is well-established that boutique firms have a considerably higher search completion rate than the large, household name firms. At MES, we're proud to maintain a 93% search completion rate since our practice's inception in 2011.
3. What are your conflicts?
By ethical code and industry-standard retained search agreement language, search firms cannot recruit from existing clients - nor those organizations that they have recently represented (typically within at least the preceding 12 months). We consistently hear from HR & Talent Acquisition leaders who have been blindsided by the limited sourcing options of larger firms. Simply put, search firms that tout a "who's who" of client organizations, have very restricted recruiting target organizations. MES strategically maintains a limited client list to provide a more expansive recruiting pool.
4. What is your average search completion time?
MES' industry immersion enables us to complete a majority of our searches in 90 days. In a majority of searches, we have identified the ultimately selected finalist candidate within the first 30 days of a search engagement.
5. Is your fee based on First Year Base Salary or First Year Targeted Total Compensation?
Understandably, this can result in a similar fee percentage varying greatly in cost. MES devotes our resources to our client engagements, not to administrative overhead, corporate "retreats", and lavish marketing budgets. This allows us to offer fees based only on First Year Base Salary - backed by comprehensive one-year guarantees, offering our clients an incomparable value.
Selecting a retained search firm requires careful consideration and a thorough vetting process. The conventional "safe bet" - firms with international name recognition - are volume & revenue driven, using their most talented leaders to land new business - leaving the actual search work to inexperienced associates.
Boutique firms have to earn their clients' business on every engagement and are therefore, much more results-oriented, prioritizing the value we offer our clients over the volume of the searches we manage.
McGovern Executive Search
1200 18th Street, NW Suite 950 -- Washington, DC 20036
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