How to hunt for a headhunter

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Annual, 1997 by Lorraine Calvacca

Good help is getting harder and harder to find. In fact, as the publishing business model morphs, industry executives are commonly employing the "needle-in-a-haystack" cliche to describe their efforts to find the perfect person for a job. That pressing need is driving more managers to include professional match makers in their search.

So-called headhunters report that, for them, the result is a significant growth in business over the last few years."There's more of an acceptance of retained executive search because good searches have been done and publishers are realizing the benefits," explains David Bentley a partner at Nordeman Grimm, Inc., a mid-size generalist firm in New York City. According to Benticy, business increased 15 percent in 1995 over the previous year--much of it repeat clients.

Jim Cornehlsen, a partner at New York City-based Lamalie Amrop International, who specializes in new media, says his company's growth reflects that ongoing trend. Lamalie's searches were up 20 percent in 1995 over the previous year as clients sought out well-rounded, multi-talented, topnotch professionals. "People are saying `Help. We need someone with the skills and breadth to generate revenue.'"

Help needed--across all disciplines

Paul Kitzke, editorial director and vice president of Washington, D.C.-based HanleyWood, Inc., agrees. For key strategic positions, he says, it's not enough simply to call on people you know. The trade publisher used an executive search firm last year to fill an editor's position and two years ago to fill a marketing director slot. "In the old days, search firms were less important because we zeroed in on, for example, an editor who could get the book out. Now editors, and others, have to think well beyond that. They have to serve as marketers and work on franchise extension, among other things." Kitzke also says using a headhunter offered a measure of objectivity about in-house contenders. Using the firm "allowed us to deal fairly and objectively with internal candidates. It eliminated emotion and subjectivity."

In fact, "a major trend," says Cornehlsen, is a growing number of requests for internal evaluations of existing staffers for immediate openings, especially in the area of succession. "Companies want to evaluate against an objective checklist of what they need in the future. Is the publishing model looking the same?"

A search firm also offers the advantage of anonymity and confidentiality, say users and recruiters alike."Some people like the distance of a search firm," comments Martha Stephens, vice president of corporate human resources for Boston-based IDG, who assisted COO Jim Casella in employing recruiters at least five times last year to fill critical upper-level spots. "Sometimes we know people in the industry, but from an ethical standpoint, it's hard to go into other companies."

Recruiters add that, given the blurring of lines between publishing disciplines and the emphasis on marketing, technology and financial savvy, they are equipped to explore outside businesses to identify potential candidates not likely to be found within the traditional sphere. "A chief value of a search is to bring talented individuals from other industries," remarks David Lord, a Harrisville, New Hampshire, executive-search consultant. In fact, most sources agree, a search firm is best employed for jobs at a level that in some ways transcends disciplines--that is, positions with revenue and policy-making responsibility.

Manage the process

Hiring these gumshoes of the employment world takes some investigative work on the publisher's part. Before going with a firm, the publisher needs to figure out whether the job in question calls for the expertise of a search firm.

"Not every job requires a search," observes John Malcom, managing director at New York City-based Accord Group Johnson, Smith & Knisely. "If, for example, you need an art director, that's usually the personal choice of the editor."

Once you've decided to use a search firm, "you've got to manage the process," cautions one industry executive, echoing a number of others. He attributes "poor results"--including one bad fit--at least in part to his taking a passive role working with the firm. Staying involved means providing the firm with a well-thought-out job description, making sure the service provider understands your company's culture, and making sure the search firm adequately spells out the search process, fee structure and time frame. It also means keeping the search moving once it's begun by being responsive to the recruiter's suggestions, inquiries and recommendations. "Sometimes, an organization feels it has handed off a problem, and doesn't have to interact or return phone calls. Good talent gets away by the inability to act or to make a decision," says consultant Lord.

"There are no shortcuts," says Dan Mills, vice president and CFO of New York City-based trade publisher Lebhar-Friedman.

The experience of Starlight Publishing president and COO Lyndell Gooch is instructive--if atypical. He recounts hiring a national personnel agency on a retainer basis to find a sales manager for a new business-to business publication. Although the Albuquerque-based company had been producing city publications for 10 years, executives had no contacts to for a sales-manager's job on a new publication. The agency promised three candidates in 30 days. The search stretched into four months and Gooch ended up placing a local ad and hiring a "capable" person with background in Yellow Pages ad sales. Even though the hire ultimately worked out, Gooch lost a significant amount of time and money in getting the person up to speed.