Thrill of a chase for top recruiting dogs

In the world of executive careers, headhunters wield subtle power. JULIE MIDDLETON meets some top operators.

Sheffield Search headhunter Robyn Redford likes to use the language of the chase.

She talks about her "quarry," describing the way she prepares the ground, relying on in-depth research, her intuition and listening skills before closing in.

Her computer screen-saver reads: "Timing is everything." And in her spare time, she indulges in another strategic chase - fly-fishing.

Mrs Redford - "I like to tell things as they are" - is one of a mystique-shrouded elite who work quietly but with incredible power, seeking the best pool of candidates for six-figure senior management jobs, many of them chief executives or board members.

The number of full-time headhunters in Auckland can be counted in single figures.

In the dozens are those whose working day mixes less-glamorous recruitment - advertising for jobs - with what many prefer to call "executive search."

In a world where poor staffing decisions or news of movement at the top can drastically affect share prices, it's a delicate and sometimes stressful task, requiring close and long-term contact with client chief executives and boards, and intimate knowledge of their companies' strengths - and, possibly, their weaknesses.

Cornerstones for both parties are trust, confidentiality and strong ethics. The ethics look something like this.

* itlDon't poach from a client company.

* itlBe honest.

* itlHave integrity.

* itlTell it like it is.

* itlConsult.

* itlDon't spill secrets.

ditLike all headhunters, Mrs Redford, a former lawyer, doesn't have a public profile. She doesn't need one, as her job is driven by clients, not candidates.

But headhunting isn't about vicious stealing of an individual. It's about casting the net around a group of suitably qualified people, she says.

"It's a filtering process or a drilling down. We may start wide, but we come down to eyeballing really good candidates for the job."

The hunt starts in the research department. Information on staff and company performance from public records - always more of that available than you think - magazines, newspapers, the internet and discreet chats with well-connected people are among the slivers of information fed into databases run by professional nosey-parkers.

From brief to shortlist of names can take up to a couple of months, although the increasing speed of corporate life has put pressure on search companies to produce faster.

The shoulder-tap is usually by phone in working hours - once, says Mrs Redford, you've got past those she wryly describes as secretarial "Boadiceas."

From contact comes courtship. "We tell them a story about a company," says Mrs Redford. "The future of the company, the company's desire for that individual.

"We give them a realistic but interesting picture to get them to stop and think." Intuition kicks in: Are they interested? Wavering?

At every word, Mrs Redford is judging the responses, and she's not impressed if the first question is about pay.

" An approach isn't a job offer - it's an invitation to look at something."

Most headhunters make their money by charging a "project fee" depending on the complexity of the job.

It's definitely always five figures, says Gary Dick, a partner in TMP Executive Search, and usually equates to about one-third of the post's annual value.

But the business is becoming more competitive. As head offices move overseas and New Zealand is relegated to branch status, the number of local chief executive-level jobs is shrinking, says Mr Dick. Headhunters are increasingly filling second-tier management jobs - chief information officer, group sales and marketing manager, general manager of human resources.

Kiwis' career mobility overseas and their reputation as good generalists with solid values, ethics and people skills mean local headhunters increasingly play a referral role, he says.

Headhunters are also filling new types of top jobs, says Swann Consulting director Stephen Mockett, among them risk or assurance managers - managing risk across a business - and IT roles.

So why the mystique? Part of it is the apparent power and glamour of sharing confidences with the very influential, the sums and risk involved, and the fact that a headhunter's day at the office is never up for discussion.

"Part of it is that the power doesn't necessarily come from any brand," says Mr Mockett. But another headhunter, who prefers not be named, says: "There is an idea that it's all secret squirrel, that it's hard and difficult.

"But it isn't rocket science.

"It's about knowing your market, and not just your local market, knowing the business, knowing your client's business and having effective tools."

How to attract a headhunter

1. Be very good at what you do.

2. Be self-promoting. Attend conferences. Develop professional networks. Become known as an industry representative, and befriend the press.

3. Make a direct approach. If people have the nerve to do so, says Stephen Mockett, "then we probably are interested."

However, you will get feedback - and you should expect it if you are true leadership material.

"We sit down and tell them exactly what our views are," says Mr Mockett.

4. Be helpful to headhunters who ring you for advice and contacts, says Zena Everett, of English company Perriam and Everett.

They will think more kindly of you later if a vacancy comes up in your field.

She says: "Assume that you are being watched by employers in a life-long interview process."

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