Last month, I offered a checklist of suggestions for those searching for the right executive search firm to help with the talent acquisition needs of their organization. There, I talked about such key attributes as confidentiality, track record and grit. Those are all crucial factors that any successful firm should have.
Now, I’d like to zoom in even closer, and explain why I think boutique search firms are often the best bet for many companies. The dictionary defines “boutique” in the following way: Any small, exclusive business offering customized service.
Three Key Advantages of Boutique Search Firms
1). Customized service is a key reason why anyone would choose to hire a boutique firm. The search business, after all, operates like a lot of other professional services industries. In the legal realm, for instance, you may be familiar with the dynamic of senior, seasoned partners pitching new business, only to hand it over to mostly untested junior associates once they’ve secured the client.
That doesn’t happen in a boutique firm such as ours, where every client gets the full attention of seasoned senior professionals and even the company’s top leadership. There are no junior associates or executive recruiters in training in our practice.
But here’s another benefit to retaining a boutique firm that you might not have thought about:
2). A considerably lower chance of inherent conflicts of interest. The fact that smaller firms have fewer clients means those clients get access to larger, more diverse candidate pools, since there is a lesser chance of conflicts of interest with other client companies. The larger the search firm, the better the chance that the right passive talent happens to be currently employed by another client, rendering that person off limits to the recruiter.
3). A desire to remain focused on growth through quality, not quantity. This is a big one for us. At Torch Group, though we have experienced major growth in recent years, we have no desire to be the biggest search firm. That allows us to focus on quality over quantity of business, and to develop close relationships with a discrete number of companies that, like our partnership model, yield repeat and referral business.
That emphasis on quality over quantity also allows us to limit the number of searches each recruiter takes on and in turn, lets them dig deeper into each potential candidate, using our Signature Search Process™ and behavioral interviews to present the very best slate that fits our client’s culture.
The Benefits of a Boutique
In summary, being a small, exclusive search firm offering customized, low-volume, high-touch service, allows us to invest the necessary time up front. Our iterative, relationship-based search process leads to a full understanding of each client’s core values, leadership, communication and management styles and their unique culture and environment. In turn, this gives us the insights to properly evaluate candidates for their underlying motivations and long-term career goals as well as their cultural fit with our clients.
If a boutique search firm’s approach and philosophy sounds like it could be right for you, I invite you to email me at rontorch@torchgroup.com or give me a call at 440-519-1822 x101, and we can chat about how we might be of service as a partner in your talent acquisition needs.
By Ron Torch
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