Join Now  |  Member Login  |  Recruiters
Contact Us 800-637-3126
Market Intelligence Market Insights
 

Filed Under: Joseph Daniel Mccool

 
For more than a year now, executive search firms have taken a very cautious approach to rebuilding their own consulting and research staffs in the wake of a global recession that forced some of them to close offices and many of them to downsize their teams.

 

Published on: Monday, May 21, 2012

Are You Really Capable of Change?

Comments (0)
 
Lots of business leaders say they're ready for change. They're eager to get on with something new. But the ugly truth, particularly for executives with a painfully deficit of self-awareness, is that they're simply incapable of change.

This incapacity to see an enterprise from a new or different perspective or to pursue a new course that may require an open-mind and willingness to engage in serious discovery is debilitating. It stops companies in their tracks. It prevents them from ever reaching their full potential. It alienates more self-aware peers and subordinates, and it can also have devastating results on executive careers.

 

 
A monthly ExecuNet survey of executive recruiters finds that 61 percent of them believe employers will leverage the economic climate by selectively "trading up" with new hires for existing senior management roles over the next six months, and an additional 23 percent of employers are expected add new executive jobs to their payrolls.

 

Published on: Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Decisions that Define Leaders and Organizations

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, brand, decisions, public perceptions, trust
Comments (0)
 
Some of the toughest decisions leaders are forced to make are those regarding the future of other leaders who've compromised the trust the organization has placed in them.

In recent months, a number of scandals have unfolded in the worlds of business and higher education. These have not only captured national headlines but also led institutions to question major hiring decisions and take action against leaders whose failures in their personal lives have cast a pall over their organizations.

 

 
A monthly ExecuNet survey of executive recruiters finds most are confident the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, despite some slippage in that hiring indicator last month and a flurry of headlines about the sluggishness of the broader jobs market.

 

Published on: Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Adaptability Becoming an Even Better Predictor of Executive Success

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, business success, adaptability
Comments (4)
 
Over the past four years, nearly every company has had to confront the challenge of change in all its forms. From the need to shift to a new business model, serving new customers, doing more with less and getting creative when it comes to meeting financial commitments, the sheer pace and scale of change has been daunting.

 

 
After a bruising four-year period during which many executive search firms — like their corporate clients — were forced to downsize, these firms continue to take a slow, purposeful approach to rebuilding their own consulting and research teams.

 

Published on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Executive Job Creation Extends Positive Trend

Comments (0)
 
A monthly ExecuNet survey of executive recruiters finds that more than one quarter of them expect employers will leverage the current economic climate by adding new executive management roles over the next six months.

In March, ExecuNet's monthly Executive Job Creation Index (EJCI) reached +19, its second-highest level since June 2011. Further, the 27 percent of companies expected to add new executive management jobs was also the second highest rate registered since June 2011.

 

 
A monthly ExecuNet survey of executive recruiters finds the highest levels of confidence that the executive employment market will improve over the next six months since May 2011.

In March, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 59 percent of 123 responding executive recruiters indicated they were "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market would improve over the next six months.

 

Published on: Monday, March 26, 2012

A Critical Measure of Committed Leadership

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, team development, coaching, mentoring
Comments (0)
 
Lots of people say they're a great leader. Not all of them prove that. That's why it's especially refreshing when our interactions with ExecuNet members lead us to the kind of executive who demonstrates truly committed leadership in the form of coaching and mentoring of subordinates in his company — many of whom have their lives and careers transformed by the experience.

 

 
Executive search firms want to see more sustained corporate hiring at the management level and more consistent economic data before they rebuild their own firms by adding new consulting and research staff.

In February, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 23 percent of 130 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, a decline of five points from January.

 

Published on: Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Opening Your Mind to an Ever-Changing Business World

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, networking, business performance
Comments (0)
 
For decades, executives measured their own business influence and authority based on the size, quality and depth of their Rolodex. While the tools have changed, executives are still very much committed to building and strengthening the relationships they believe can help them perform better in their jobs and create the kind of meaningful connections that will open up new career opportunities whenever the time and conditions are right to pursue them.

 

 
A monthly ExecuNet survey of executive recruiters finds that 28 percent of companies are expected to add new executive jobs in the next six months, and only 1 percent are poised to cut top management positions during the same time.

 

Published on: Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Are You Chasing the Next Dollar or Truly Engaging Customers for the Long-Term?

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, customer satisfaction, value
Comments (0)
 
My takeaways from two recent interviews with ExecuNet members intersected by pure serendipity, but they would lead many business leaders quite purposefully to this conclusion:

If your sales teams are simply chasing the next dollar and failing to meaningfully engage your customers, they may not be your customers for much longer.

 

 
Confidence among executive recruiters dipped slightly in February but remained in positive territory as more of them expressed concern about the pace of corporate management hiring in the short-term.

In February, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 51 percent of 130 responding executive recruiters indicated they were "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market would improve in the next six months. That was down six points from January but above the important 50 percent level that historically indicates optimism for a broader expansion of the jobs market.

 

Published on: Wednesday, February 22, 2012

How HR Shared Service Units are Crushing Organizational Capability

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: joseph daniel mccool, hr, cfo, competitiveness, quality, business practices
Comments (0)
 
Large, global corporations have been doing major harm to their organizations over the past four years, and most don't yet know it.

The unbridled pursuit of cost-cutting opportunities has led many companies to create so-called shared service organizations or shared service centers, through which functions such as human resources and IT are centralized and from which their resources as internal service providers are carefully rationed to the rest of the enterprise.

 

 
While most executive recruiters hold tight to a "wait and see" approach to matching internal resources with mounting corporate client priorities, more of them are considering expanding their own consulting and research teams to do just that over the next three months.

 

 
The number of employers expecting to recruit for senior-executive roles over the next six months is higher than the number of employers planning to shed management jobs during the same time, according to the results of an ExecuNet survey in January of 157 executive recruiters.

 

Published on: Monday, February 13, 2012

Follow the Leader: Patrick Lencioni

Comments (0)
 
Business author, consultant, and speaker Patrick Lencioni has seen a lot of organizational dysfunction at play over the years. So it may come as no surprise that Lencioni advocates for disrupting corporate bureaucracy by determining what's essential to achieve and then building structure around those business objectives.

Lencioni says organizational politics often emanate from the senior leadership team, or may otherwise be condoned by that team because no one is willing to confront it. "Are we creating the kind of organizations where politics doesn't work?" Lencioni asks as something of a litmus test on bureaucracy and the politics that inevitably populate.

 

 
Confidence among executive recruiters edged up slightly in January as they projected that one in five companies will be adding executive level positions and almost six in 10 companies will selectively "trade up" their management bench strength by recruiting replacements for existing roles over the next six months. Only 1 percent of employers were expected to eliminate executive positions during the same period.

 

 
Most executive search firms are focusing on fully utilizing their existing consulting and research teams on client search assignments before moving to rebuild their own staffs.

In December, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that only 19 percent of 126 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, the same number as registered in November and October.

 

Published on: Thursday, December 29, 2011

Executive Job Creation Picked up in December

Comments (0)
 
The number of employers expecting to recruit for senior-executive roles over the next six months is higher than the number of employers planning to shed management jobs during the same time, according to the results of an ExecuNet December survey of 126 executive recruiters.

 

 
Executive recruiters enter the new year more confident in the growth potential for the executive employment market than they've been since mid-2011.

In December, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 55 percent of 126 executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up 13 points from November.

 

 
Executive search firms continue to take a cautious position when it comes to doing their own hiring, reflecting broad uncertainty about the future course of the economy and how it will impact corporate executive hiring plans.

In November, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that only 19 percent of 180 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, the same number as registered in October.

 

Published on: Monday, December 19, 2011

Follow the Leader: Tal Ben-Shahar

Comments (2)
 
Author and Harvard lecturer, Tal Ben-Shahar defines happiness as the convergence of meaning and pleasure, and it's a destination business executives and the organizations can reach if they're willing to consider what makes their existence unhappy.

 

Published on: Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Follow the Leader: Bill George (2 of 2)

Comments (1)
 
In an exclusive interview with ExecuNet, former Medtronic Chairman and CEO Bill George shares his perspectives on the intersection between authentic leadership, which he has championed, and Servant Leadership.

Recalling how the Servant Leadership model was created by AT&T executive Robert Greenleaf, George reminds today's business leaders that in order to get the most of themselves, they must first commit to serve others.

 

 
If your company doesn't have a strong retention plan, then it better have a successor lined up for the CFO position. ExecuNet's findings reveal these financial executives have one hand on the purse strings and the other on the doorknob.

 

 
Mixed economic signals of late further reinforce the notion that executive job search and career transition will continue to require a thoughtful campaign of several months to achieve success.

The findings of a new survey by ExecuNet of 180 executive recruiters, reveal that currently employed business executives should expect to spend, on average, nearly seven months to find their next career opportunity, while those currently unemployed may require an average of just over 10 months to find their next senior-management job.

 

Published on: Thursday, December 01, 2011

Executive Job Creation Regains Some Momentum

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: joseph daniel mccool, the economy, executive hiring, job creation index
Comments (0)
 
Once again, the number of companies expecting to recruit for senior-executive roles over the next six months is higher than the number of employers planning to shed management jobs during the same time, according to the results of a recent survey of 180 executive recruiters by ExecuNet.

In November, ExecuNet's benchmark Executive Job Creation Index stayed in positive territory, with companies planning to hire executives outnumbering those planning to engage in management cutbacks.

 

 
If you're a CEO, you'll want to benchmark yourself against others like you. If you're an in-role senior leader, insight into the chief executive can help you strategically focus your performance goals. For those in job search, you can better position yourself as a solution if you know the CEO's business priorities. Finally, if you recruit top talent, knowing CEOs' retention and engagement triggers can help you place your next candidate.

 

Published on: Monday, November 21, 2011

Follow the Leader: Bill George (1 of 2)

Comments (2)
 
In an exclusive interview for ExecuNet members, former Medtronic Chairman and CEO Bill George shares his perspective on getting the right management talent in the right roles, the impact of internal politics and empowering enterprise potential.

George, now a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, believes today's global business leaders have to learn how to position people to perform up to their true potential and to their key strengths.

 

 
In an exclusive interview for ExecuNet members at the 2011 World Business Forum, where ExecuNet exclusively reported, workforce management expert Tammy Erickson assesses how the economy has shaped the organizational experiences of multiple generations of employees and what it means for business productivity and performance.

The smartest companies, says Erickson, have been focused on workforce engagement in a challenging business environment because they understand how employees have been stretched — and stressed — and why they must remain engaged to preserve vital customer relationships and market share.

 

Published on: Thursday, November 03, 2011

Executive Recruiters Offer Insights to Compete in our Challenging Economy

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: joseph daniel mccool, executive recruiters, executive job search
Comments (0)
 
Mixed economic signals continue to hamper executive-level hiring in many industries, but the findings of ExecuNet's monthly survey of 145 executive recruiters reveal there are five specific steps executive job seekers can take to connect with career opportunities – even in this economy.

 

 
In October, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 37 percent of 139 executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up five points from September.

 

Published on: Monday, October 10, 2011

Recruiter Confidence Slides on Economic Volatility

Comments (1)
 
In September, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 32 percent of executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down four points from August. The percent of recruiters who were "not confident" the market would improve moved to historically high levels of 20 percent.

"Our latest data suggests savvy executives who think a career move may be in the cards as well as those already engaged actively in management job search should be cultivating their professional networks because it could be a longer process than they expect," says Mark M. Anderson, president and chief economist of ExecuNet. "The economy certainly isn't doing them any favors, but opportunity favors those who know what it takes to influence the hidden job market because the most attractive executive leadership roles aren't publicly advertised online or in print."

 

 
When it comes to rebuilding their teams, most executive search firm leaders are adopting the same approach many of their corporate clients have adopted: not before we get some real, sustained clarity on the future direction of the US economy.

In September, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 20 percent of 142 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, which was unchanged from August.

 

 
Despite slowing overall economic signals, not many companies are indicating they expect to lay off executives in the next six months, and there remain pockets of hiring at the executive level — though hiring has clearly slowed from earlier in the year. Meanwhile, recruiter confidence declined for the fourth straight month to 32 percent and reached levels not seen since late 2008-early 2009 at the bottom of the last recession. This does not bode well for a near-term improvement in executive hiring.

 

Published on: Monday, September 19, 2011

Scientists, Designers and their Role in Innovation

Comments (0)
 
As senior curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, Paola Antonelli strives to promote a deeper understanding of design's transformative and constructive influence on the world and how designers help bridge the path to the future.

Designers, as she sees them, are interpreters. They help companies sense needs and preferences and understand consumer behavior. Their work is deeply intertwined and mutually dependent on science and scientists, Antonelli said, because new discoveries and ways of unleashing their potential and connectivity with the human experience hinge on creativity, exploration, imagination and the innovation that results.

 

 
How are people motivated to be innovative and creative and energized to come up with breakthrough ideas?

From that simple but deeply resonant question, bestselling author and former White House speechwriter Daniel Pink moved delegates at the 2011 World Innovation Forum, where ExecuNet exclusively reported for attendees, to step outside the corporate hierarchy and business texts and consider what social scientists have learned about what motivates people.

As developed as today's companies and economies have become, however, today's employers remain bound by what Pink termed "the physics of behavior." It's very simple, he said. "If you reward behavior, you typically get more of it, and if you punish behavior, you get less of it," he said. It's the old carrot and stick routine.

 

Published on: Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Economic Uncertainty Weighs on Recruiter Confidence

Comments (0)
 
In August, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 36 percent of executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down six points from July.

 

Published on: Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Search Firms’ Own Hiring Plans Impacted by Economic Uncertainty

Comments (0)
 
In the face of lingering economic uncertainty, most executive search firms are working toward full utilization of their existing research and consulting teams before pursuing new hires.

In August, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 20 percent of 126 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, down just one point from July.

 

 
While much of the country is focused on the health of the broader economy, one forecast of management-level job creation suggests hiring activity for top management roles may continue through year-end despite the uncertainty that has held up other corporate spending plans.

In August, 26 percent of 126 executive recruiters polled by ExecuNet reported they expect companies to leverage the economic climate over the next six months by adding new executive-level jobs.

Also, 37 percent forecasted companies will "trade up" with new hires for existing management jobs to improve leadership bench strength. Another 27 percent indicated companies would elect not to add new management jobs, while seven percent anticipated employers would choose to avoid filling current management-level vacancies. Three percent of recruiters expect companies to further cut top jobs.

 

 
World-renowned Harvard Business School professor, consultant and best-selling author Clayton M. Christensen knows the power and potential of what he calls "disruption innovation," but he also knows that unlocking it requires the courage to ask the simple questions competitors simply fail to consider.

"What causes successful companies to fail?" Christensen inquired at the 2011 World Innovation Forum, where ExecuNet exclusively reported for attendees. The revelation, he suggested, is resident in organizations' and leaders' respective capacity to risk failure and all that is required to explore disruptive innovation and their willingness to effectively envision business failure if they do not connect with customers' real needs.

 

Published on: Friday, August 19, 2011

Non-Verbal Communication: Understanding and Mastering the Secrets of Body Language

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, communication, linda dominguez
Comments (1)
 
Sometimes, it's what someone doesn't say or the attitudes and beliefs they betray non-verbally that communicate more than words and which really mean the most.

Author and trainer, Linda R. Dominguez, a coach with the Executive Coaching and Resource Network and guest presenter for an exclusive ExecuNet webinar, says non-verbal communication constitutes as much as 65 percent of any conversation you may engage in as a business leader.

 

 
Executive recruiters — like many other business owners these days — remain cautious when it comes to investing to rebuild their firms.

In July, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 21 percent of 154 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, down just one point from June.

 

Published on: Monday, August 01, 2011

Summer Dip in Executive Hiring

Comments (0)
 
In July, 26 percent of 154 executive recruiters polled by ExecuNet reported they expect companies to leverage the economic climate over the next six months by adding new executive-level jobs. Also, 44 percent forecasted companies will "trade up" with new hires for existing management jobs to improve leadership bench strength. Another 17 percent indicated companies would elect not to add new management jobs, while 10 percent anticipated employers would choose to avoid filling current management-level vacancies. Three percent of recruiters expect companies to further cut top jobs, up from 1 percent in June.

 

Published on: Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Recruiter Confidence Dips Amid Economic Uncertainty

Comments (0)
 
In July, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 42 percent of 154 executive search firm respondents were "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down 12 points from June.

 

Published on: Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Road to Employee Engagement is a Journey, Not a Destination

Comments (0)
 
Given the economic and organizational pressures of today, many human resource leaders are talking about employee engagement, engagement surveys and getting their people back on track.

But it's especially important to recognize that arriving at some improved, future condition of employee engagement is a journey, not a destination.

 

Published on: Thursday, July 07, 2011

Economic Uncertainty Slows Otherwise Encouraging Executive Job Creation

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: joseph daniel mccool, the economy, executive hiring, executive job creation index
Comments (0)
 
Two leading indicators of projected executive job market expansion — a monthly forecast of management-level job creation and a separate reading on executive recruiter confidence — lost ground in June but continue to paint a generally positive portrait of management hiring plans over the next six months.

In June, 29 percent of 153 executive recruiters polled by ExecuNet reported they expect companies to leverage the economic climate over the next six months by adding new executive-level jobs. Also, 48 percent forecasted companies will "trade up" with new hires for existing management jobs to improve leadership bench strength. Another 15 percent indicated companies would elect not to add new management jobs, while seven percent anticipated employers would choose to avoid filling current management-level vacancies. Only 1 percent of executive recruiters expect companies to further eliminate executive jobs.

 

 
Executive search firms continue to follow a cautious course when it comes to rebuilding their teams in the long wake of the recession, an economic crisis that forced most to reduce their own headcount.

In June, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 22 percent of 153 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, down five points from May.

 

Published on: Monday, June 27, 2011

Recruiter Confidence Sags Amid Mixed Economic Signals

Comments (0)
 
ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 54 percent of 153 executive search firm respondents were "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down 12 points from May.

A string of mixed economic indicators and continued challenges related to unemployed weighed on recruiter confidence, which nonetheless remains in positive territory and which has trended very positively over most of the past 12 months.

 

 
Executive job seekers and employed managers considering a career move would be wise not to put their career planning and professional networking on the shelf this summer.

Two leading indicators of projected executive job market expansion — a monthly forecast of management-level job creation and a separate reading on recruiter confidence — suggest continued hiring activity through the summer and fall. Recruiters expect 80 percent of employers to recruit for new management roles or trade up with new hires for existing roles.

 

 
More executive search firms are planning to add consulting and research staff in the next three months to keep up with sustained corporate demand for management talent and executive recruiting services.

In May, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 27 percent of 162 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, up six points from April.

 

 
A leading indicator of where executive hiring will go this summer and fall remains decidedly positive. In May, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 66 percent of 162 executive search firm respondents were "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up one point from April.

"In some years past, we've seen a seasonal slowdown in executive hiring activity due in part to corporate interviewers and/or management job candidates taking vacations," says ExecuNet President and Chief Economist Mark Anderson.

 

 
That's how Jeff Kortes, author of No Nonsense Retention: Painless Strategies to Retain Your Best People, frames the issue of sustaining organizational performance by getting the most out of top performers and acting on bad hires before they drain productivity and morale. If your organization isn't already thinking about how to keep its best people, time is of the essence.

 

 
While two-thirds of executive recruiters are confident the executive employment market activity will increase in the coming months, most remain cautious when it comes to rebuilding the recruiting and research teams they were forced to cut during the recession.

In April, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 21 percent of 192 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, down five points from March.

 

Published on: Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Recruiters Expect 38% of Companies to Add Management Jobs

Comments (16)
 
Two leading indicators of future job market expansion — a monthly forecast of executive job creation and a separate reading on recruiter confidence — remain decidedly strong in the face of a variety of cautions about the continued growth of the broader economy.

In April, 38 percent of 192 executive recruiters who participated in an ExecuNet survey reported they expect companies to leverage the economic climate over the next six months by adding new executive-level jobs, the highest number since the monthly index was created in May 2009. An equal number forecasted that companies will "trade up" with new hires for existing management jobs. Another 17 percent indicated that companies would elect not to add new management jobs, while five percent anticipated employers would choose simply to avoid filling current management-level vacancies. Only two percent of executive recruiters expect companies to further eliminate executive jobs.

 

 
In April, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 65 percent of 192 executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up four points from March.

Two leading indicators of future executive job market expansion — a monthly reading on recruiter confidence and a separate forecast of executive job creation — remain decidedly strong in the face of a variety of cautions about the continued growth of the broader economy.

 

 
As North American employers set their sights on achieving 2011 strategic goals, they are more focused on rebuilding and upgrading their senior management teams, according to the latest Executive Job Creation Index data.

In March, ExecuNet's exclusive Executive Job Creation Index revealed that 33 percent of employers are expected to add new executive management roles over the next six months, and 50 percent are forecast to leverage the economic climate by selectively trading up with new hires for existing executive jobs. Only 2 percent of employers are expected to continue eliminating executive jobs during the same period of time according to the 155 executive recruiters who participated in the monthly ExecuNet poll. The remaining 15 percent of employers were expected either to avoid adding new management roles or choose not to fill existing leadership vacancies.

 

 
Executive recruiters are following the same cautious route to new hiring as many of their clients, despite indications that executive job creation is increasing in an economy much improved from where it was just a year ago.

In March, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 26 percent of 155 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months.

 

Published on: Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Recruiter Confidence Showing Signs Of Strength

Comments (0)
 
Two leading indicators of future executive job market expansion – a monthly reading on recruiter confidence and a separate forecast of executive job creation – remain decidedly strong in the face of a variety of cautions about the continued growth of the broader economy, based on market research by ExecuNet.

In April, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 65 percent of 192 executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up four points from March.

 

 
While executive recruiters continue to express confidence that executive hiring activity will increase over the next six months, they are also following many corporate clients' slow and steady approach when it comes to hiring new professional staff.

In February, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 28 percent of 171 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months.

 

 
Executive recruiters see four-out-of-five employers either creating new executive management roles or, to a greater extent, trading up with new hires for existing management roles to drive business performance in the next six months.

ExecuNet’s benchmark Executive Job Creation Index (EJCI) held positive for a fourteenth consecutive month in February as 169 responding executive recruiters reported they expect 51 percent of employers to leverage the current economic climate by trading up to strengthen their management and 30 percent to add new management roles. Recruiters anticipate that, over the next six months, only 14 percent of employers will choose not to add new executive positions, only 3 percent to leave existing management vacancies unfilled, and only 2 percent to eliminate executive jobs.

 

 
Executive recruiters' six-month forecast of growth of executive hiring activity softened in February but remains buoyant as client corporations continue to hire selectively for new management leadership roles and upgrade with new hires for existing roles.

In February, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 68 percent of 164 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months. That was down seven points from January but still far above the territory this index ranged in over much of the past year.

 

Published on: Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Executive Job Creation Reveals Corporate Growth Plans

Comments (0)
 
Executive recruiters are expressing more confidence in the executive employment market as they forecast management hiring activity over the next six months.

But now, for the first time in well over two years, executive recruiters are considering or are already rebuilding their recruiting and research teams to keep pace with this anticipated surge in new business.

 

Published on: Friday, February 18, 2011

More Companies Eye Growth, Create Executive Jobs

Comments (1)
 
ExecuNet's benchmark Executive Job Creation Index (EJCI) held positive for a thirteenth consecutive month in January as executive recruiters reported employers are more focused on rebuilding depleted management teams than they are in cutting existing executive jobs.

Forecast hiring among employers expected to add executive jobs in January topped those planning to eliminate or postpone filling top roles by 12 points, signaling a slow but steady rebuild of management resources as employers focus on executing their 2011 strategic growth plans, according to the poll of 188 executive recruiters.

 

 
Confidence among executive recruiters continues to climb as an increase in management recruiting activity confirms that more companies are thinking about growth in 2011, and more business leaders are poised to explore their career options.

In January, ExecuNet’s benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 75 percent of 188 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, reflecting a five-month surge in recruiter confidence in increased executive hiring activity.

 

 
Our Recruiting Community at ExecuNet has been very active, so I took some notes from their recent meeting to report back what they're hearing directly from the search firms and corporate recruiters who source our executive members.

Sure, we bring you the Recruiter Confidence Index stats every month, with the most recent finding at the highest level since mid-2008, and then our company president and chief economist does the monthly video interpretation, but I wanted to find out what the recruiters have been whispering to our recruiting services team lately:

 

 
Executive recruiters are optimistic that the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, but judging from their own hiring plans, it seems a conservative approach to rebuilding their teams is the order of the day.

In December, 21 percent of the 144 executive recruiters who participated in ExecuNet's monthly Search Firm Hiring Index poll indicated they planned to increase their professional research and consulting staff to keep pace with expected search assignment growth over the next three months. That was down four points from November.

 

Published on: Thursday, December 23, 2010

Recruiter Confidence Extends Upward Trend

Comments (1)
 
Two-thirds of executive recruiters believe that companies will hire more management talent over the next six months despite continued pressure to contain corporate headcount.

With fewer companies slashing executive-level jobs and more of them identifying skill set needs and gaps in talent that could prevent them from achieving corporate objectives in 2011, recruiters expect companies to do more management hiring if only to replace underperforming leaders with those more qualified to tackle shifting job responsibilities.

In December, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 66 percent of 144 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up five points from November and the highest confidence registered since the second quarter of 2008.

 

 
There are a lot of hardworking yet highly unsatisfied management executives walking the halls of corporate America these days.

Just don't expect them to tell you so, or anyone else, for that matter, unless you're an executive recruiter. After all, they're not working long hours and occasional nights and weekends with limited resources in search of the casual opportunity just to tell their existing employers and colleagues that they're already lining up their options for a new job elsewhere.

Employers and colleagues will find out just as soon as he or she accepts an offer of employment from another company — and then, in typical fashion, they'll scramble to pick up the pieces and search for a replacement whom, if recruited from the outside, may not be found for six to 12 months.

 

Published on: Monday, December 06, 2010

More Executive Search Firms Plan for Growth

Comments (0)
 
Executive recruiters are gaining confidence as they forecast corporate executive hiring in the coming months, and now they're also girding to add new professional staff to meet the anticipated demand for executive talent.

 

 
Executive recruiters are gaining confidence that economic growth, increased consumer spending and growing investor confidence will weigh positively on corporate business objectives — and management hiring plans — over the next six months.

In November, 61 percent of the 147 search firm respondents to ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index expressed they were either "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve during that time, based on their read of corporate hiring plans stretching well into 2011.

 

Published on: Monday, November 29, 2010

Realizing Educational Opportunities for All

Comments (0)
 
"The power and potential of an excellent education is limitless." From that guiding principle, Wendy Kopp, chief executive officer and founder of Teach For America, has created a vision for enabling the potential of children in schools around the world.

Twenty-one years into her own learning process about what it takes to provide an outstanding education, Kopp says the most salient lesson has been the inherent solvability of the problem Teach For America is trying to address. "The most motivating lesson in our work is that [educational inequity] doesn't have to be. All kids can have a decent education, and that's what fuels our work in this area," Kopp said at the 2010 World Innovation Forum, where ExecuNet exclusively reported for attendees.

 

 
Nearly one-quarter of executive recruiters are planning to hire additional consultants or recruitment researchers in the next three months, as client companies increase their recruiting activity at the executive management level, according to ExecuNet's latest Search Firm Hiring Index data.

 

 
Recruiters Confident As Small-to-Medium Sized Companies Lead Hiring

ExecuNet's benchmark Executive Job Creation Index (EJCI) held positive for a tenth consecutive month in October, as executive recruiters report employers plan to create more management jobs over the next six months.

The rate of hiring among employers expected to add executive jobs during that time outpaced those planning to eliminate or postpone filling top roles by nine points, extending a positive trend increasingly shaped by a steady increase in hiring by small-to-mid-sized companies with annual sales revenue between $11 million and $500 million.

 

Published on: Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Recruiters Gaining Confidence in Executive Hiring Plans

Comments (1)
 
Executive recruiters are gaining confidence that the broader economic recovery will move more employers to add new executive jobs to their payrolls over the next six months.

In October, 55 percent of the 164 search firm respondents to ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index expressed they were either "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve during that time, based on the growth-related hiring plans of corporate clients and prospective clients.

 

 
Every recruiter has them. Many recruiters like to share them. Still others relish the disbelieving responses to war stories about the most incredible candidate interview gaffes.

We've all learned that sometimes fact is stranger than fiction and that even highly qualified candidates can be lousy interviewees. Sometimes, the candidate just doesn't understand that a first impression is a lasting impression. Other times, it's a lack of effort, a lack of focus or outright incompetency that does them in.

 

 
Healthcare, High-Tech Lead Modest but Sustained Hiring Recovery

ExecuNet's benchmark Executive Job Creation Index (EJCI) held positive for a ninth consecutive month in September, reflecting the slow but continuing rebuild of many corporate management teams.

The rate of hiring among employers expected to add executive jobs in the next six months outpaced those planning to eliminate or postpone filling top roles by seven points, extending a positive trend but still weighed down by employer hesitancy to hire for top jobs.

The September Job Creation Index, based on an ExecuNet survey of 147 executive recruiters, reveals that executive recruiters anticipate 44 percent of companies will leverage the economic climate by selectively "trading up" management talent with new hires for existing executive roles, and 23 percent will add new leadership roles.

 

 
Report from World Business Forum, New York

Adrian Gostick remembers asking his father, who engineered small component parts for large aircraft engines, what motivated him to work for Rolls Royce for more than 20 years. "Every day," his father replied, "I felt praised and listened to."

For the younger Gostick, co-author of The Carrot Principal, and also co-author, with his business partner, Chester Elton, of The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization, those words were both personally illuminating and professionally reinvigorating.

 

Published on: Monday, October 04, 2010

Recruiters Busy but Holding Off on Hiring More of their Own Staff

Comments (0)
 
Executive recruiters report they're busy developing business and dialogue with potential management candidates, and despite some growth in hiring in industries such as healthcare and technology, most say they're not busy enough to add to their own staff.

In September, ExecuNet's Search Firm Hiring Index poll revealed that only 16 percent of 147 responding executive search firm leaders indicated their businesses were planning to add new professional consulting or research staff in the next three months, down one point from August.

 

 
Management Hiring Expected to Remain Steady until Fall Elections

Executive recruiters report the management employment marketplace is showing improvements in certain sectors of hiring activity but is also marked by lingering employer hesitancy about investing in new projects and leaders ahead of a more convincing economic recovery and the fall elections.

Signs of business reinvestment and increased executive hiring in select industry segments such as healthcare, technology and life sciences, and for management roles in sales, business development, engineering and marketing reveal no immediate indication of a "double dip" in economic growth.

In September, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index found that 50 percent of 147 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up four points from August.

 

 
Most private business owners wear two hats. One is the "Owner" hat. The other is the "CEO" hat. And Chuck Richards, CEO of Chairman's View, a business valuation consultancy, says the key to effectively passing any private, often small business from one leader to the next requires a strict ownership focus on building the transferable value of the enterprise.

First, Richards advises business owners, you must think like an owner, and to reach your goals for the eventual transition of the business, you must:
  1. Define success

  2. Assess the transferable value of the business asset

  3. Take measurable action

  4. Create better options

 

 
ExecuNet's Executive Job Creation Index (EJCI) dropped seven points in August, reflecting slower business hiring activity anticipated in the next six months. However, the rate of hiring among those who expect to add executive jobs in the next six months outpaced those planning to eliminate or postpone filling top positions by four points, reflecting a positive — if cautious — hiring trend.

The August EJCI data, based on an ExecuNet survey of 181 executive recruiters, revealed that executive recruiters anticipate 53 percent of companies will leverage the economic climate by selectively "trading up" management talent with new hires for existing executive roles, and 20 percent will add new leadership roles.

 

Published on: Tuesday, September 07, 2010

The HP Succession Debacle

Comments (0)
 
If the issues at stake for Hewlett-Packard weren't so serious for shareholders and employees alike, one might find some humor in the disastrous, but highly avoidable, set of circumstances that have unfolded since the surprise resignation of Mark Hurd and his appointment as co-president at Oracle.

In the interest of time, let's set aside the reasons for Hurd's abrupt and rather embarrassing exit from his former employer. Instead, let's consider that one man was sitting with the titles of HP chairman, CEO and president and credited with leading a successful turnaround of the company. And let's acknowledge that public company directors almost universally cite CEO succession planning as one of their top three responsibilities, if not their primary responsibility.

 

 
While economists debate the strength of the US economy and employers continue to express caution about new executive hiring, executive search firms are likewise adopting a "wait and see" approach when it comes to expanding their own recruiting and research teams, according to ExecuNet's latest Search Firm Hiring Index data.

 

 
Slower hiring by companies – even when they have vacant leadership roles – has dampened executive recruiters' confidence in overall management hiring activity through the end of the year.

In August, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 46 percent of 181 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down four points from July and the first index reading below 50 percent since October 2009.

 

 
Despite the media noise about the broader job market, there continues to be an undercurrent of executive recruiting activity that most people will never read about.

Consider the latest ExecuNet data that reveals 92 percent of executive recruiters believe there is a hidden job market, and the majority of them don't routinely advertise their new and ongoing search assignments on their website or a job board. On ExecuNet TV, ExecuNet President and Chief Economist Mark Anderson breaks the hidden job market down into three components and suggests some tactics for uncovering those opportunities.

 

 
Executive-level hiring forecast by US recruiters remained positive for the seventh consecutive month, with companies expected to add more management jobs than they plan to eliminate in the next six months, according to ExecuNet's July Executive Job Creation Index.

"As job creation continues at a slow and steady pace, the real story is in the amount of quiet hiring going on," noted ExecuNet President and Chief Economist Mark Anderson. "The hidden job market is growing. Half of the hiring reflected in the survey is to replace or upgrade existing roles to fit new corporate growth strategies and talent needs."

 

 
For years, public company directors have told me their single most critical responsibility is to ensure a smooth and effective process for CEO transition. And I've heard Bill Conaty, the former longtime head of human resources at General Electric, say great leaders help develop their own successors and succession plans; lousy leaders are intimidated by them.

So how, then, to reconcile the data from a joint survey by Heidrick & Struggles and Stanford University's Rock Center for Corporate Governance that more than half of the business executives they polled cannot immediately name a successor to their current CEO should the need arise.

 

 
Slow but steady hiring for executive management continues to move some US employers closer to their strategic goals, but lingering economic uncertainty is tempering executive recruiters' confidence that the pace of job growth will accelerate over the next six months.

In July, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 50 percent of 163 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months — down from 58 percent in June and a 2010 high of 65 percent in May.

 

 
Lots of very smart people talk about the critical nature of organizational culture as an indicator of future business performance. An equal number of business leaders talk about the importance of recruiting and developing superior executive talent to gain a competitive edge.

Yet the challenge of filtering the wrong people out of an organization when they poison the cultural well, so to speak, and keeping them out of your company in the first place, is so often overlooked.

 

Published on: Monday, July 19, 2010

Chip Heath and the Elephant

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: world innovation forum, joseph daniel mccool, innovation, change, motivation, chip heath
Comments (2)
 
Troubled times set the tone for change in business and in life. Yet, there remains some fairly depressing cultural wisdom about change that suggests it's hard to teach the proverbial old dog new tricks, said Chip Heath at the 2010 World Innovation Forum, where ExecuNet exclusively reported for attendees.

Heath, Stanford University professor and the co-author of Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, contends that mastering change is a task that forces us to recognize the two warring sides of our brains: emotional and analytical.

 

 
As US business leaders try to make sense of what, at times, seems a confusing mix of economic reports and forecasts, there is a huge economy that's booming right now, and it's also focused squarely on talent and executive management and sustaining growth.

That country is Brazil, or for observers of our increasingly multi-polar world, the country that puts the "B" in the so-called "BRIC" economies.

 

 
Executive management hiring predicted by US recruiters softened in June but extended a positive trend line, as companies expect to add more executive jobs than they plan to eliminate during the next six months, according to ExecuNet's June Executive Job Creation Index.

 

 
A recent survey by the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) finds that one-quarter of employer-identified, high-potential leaders plan to leave their company within the year. But employers need not see that statistic — and the flight of top talent — as a foregone conclusion.

The same survey finds that an additional 21 percent of employees today identify themselves as "highly disengaged," a figure which has risen nearly three-fold since 2007. The CEB finds that companies can apply the following tactics to identify, re-engage and more effectively manage high-potential employees:

 

 
While recruiter confidence in the executive employment market over the next three months hit a two-year high in June, executive search firms remain particularly cautious when it comes to adding additional staff to their own payrolls.

 

 
Executive recruiters' optimism about growth in the executive employment market over the next six months softened slightly in June, but their confidence in management hiring plans in the short-term hit a two-year high.

In June, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 58 percent of 174 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down from 65 percent in May.

But confidence about the continued growth of the executive employment market over the next three months reached a two-year high in June, hitting 51 percent.

 

Published on: Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Xerox CEO Ursula Burns on What it Takes to Drive Innovation

Comments (2)
 
Xerox CEO Ursula Burns on What it Takes to Drive InnovationWhen the very name of your company is expressed as a verb, there are lofty expectations to meet and a requirement to continually innovate. For Ursula M Burns, CEO of Xerox, the nearly $17 billion company that is issued an average of 10 new patents per day, innovation is essential for business growth and meeting the ever-increasing demands of customers.

Burns, who shared her thoughts on innovating during the World Innovation Forum, says the global economic crisis forced Xerox to cut $1 billion out of its expense base to maintain its competitive edge and reposition.

 

Published on: Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Talent Gaps Seen as Potential Growth and Performance Inhibitors

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: joseph daniel mccool, talent management
Comments (0)
 
A Harvard Business Review article cites a lack of talent on a company's management bench as one of the four primary causes of business growth stalls, with one of the root causes found in management development programs that focus only on replicating current leaders' skills.

More recently, a study conducted by the Corporate Executive Board reveals that 25 percent of employer-identified, high-potential employees plan to leave their current companies within the year, compared to only 10 percent in 2006.

 

 1 2 > Next Page

Featured Video

Recruiter Confidence Index

Recruiter Confidence Slips but Remains Positive

Executive Job Creation Index

Executive Job Creation Remains Positive
Despite Mixed Jobs Market Headlines

Dave's Blog


Lessons learned from and about six-figure leadership and executive career management

Stay Connected

Stay Connected by Email Stay Connected by RSS Stay Connected on Twitter Stay Connected on YouTube
ExecuNet on LinkedIn

Editorial Guidelines