Premier Executive Recruitment Firm

How We Identify Exceptional Talent

Keller Executive Search is widely recognized for our bespoke recruitment method that considers the client’s business as a whole. We also look at the local or country-specific nuances that could affect the type of candidate our client is looking for. This helps us make sure that we only recommend people who are both competent and compatible with the company culture, goals, and ideals.

Here is an overview of how our consultants will lead your search:

1. Building a Success Profile

We begin every search by consulting with our client’s HR team and important stakeholders to gather information about the company’s strategy, values, and business goals. We also get to know the type of role we are recruiting for (e.g., CEO or Vice President).

We use this information to develop a clear profile for the ideal candidate that includes the required skills and experience, leadership style, and responsibilities for the position. This is important as it helps us focus our search on candidates who fit our client’s needs and culture from the start.

2. Market Mapping and Outreach

We carefully survey the market to learn where our client’s next leader may be found. We do so without limiting ourselves to the available talent in our client’s industry, using our expertise to look beyond the most obvious choices. That means we can recruit highly qualified candidates with transferable skills from adjacent sectors to advance our client’s goals if needed.

After that, we tap into our vast network and do extensive outreach to connect with potential candidates. We also use advanced recruitment technologies to streamline the process of building a talent pool for our client’s role.

Note that we often focus on passive candidates, meaning senior executives who are already employed and making a positive impact in their current environments. Our goal is to convince them to consider a new role at our client’s business.

3. Assessing Candidates

After discreetly establishing which professionals are interested in the position, we compare each one against the search parameters. This helps us objectively identify which candidates have the most potential to succeed.

We use a variety of methods to test prospects’ abilities and learn more about their career motivations, achievements, and goals for the future. These include resume reviews, background and reference checks, and personality tests. We also measure the candidates’ ability to solve challenges and handle conflict in the workplace, as well as their cultural fit.

4. Selecting Finalists

The assessment phase ends in a shortlist of thoroughly vetted, high-quality candidates that we present to the client. With it, we give summaries outlining each finalist’s employment history, skills, and accomplishments, as well as an explanation of why they could be a good match for the company.

Next, our executive search consultants meet with the client, their hiring manager, and other important stakeholders to review each candidate, offer insights from our evaluations, and explore their options. From there, we help to facilitate the last round of interviews, making sure both the client and lead candidate finish learning about each other.

5. Negotiating and Onboarding

We remain an active partner throughout the final stage of the hiring process to make sure that both parties make a well-informed decision. Although the client ultimately decides who they want to join their team, we are still available to offer advice and help with negotiating offer acceptance, compensation, and benefits.

Finally, we help with onboarding the new hire to make sure there is a smooth handover. Our team also checks in regularly with the client and the executive over the first few months of their employment to help address any problems that may arise during this time.

Why Do We Use a Tailored Executive Search Process?

Our firm’s executive recruiters are experts at finding top talent for executive positions. With a collective twenty years of first-hand experience, they are more than qualified to source your next great leader.

That being said, we were not always as well-equipped to lead executive searches as we are now. We found this out the hard way while we were still finding our feet as a new firm. At that point in our company’s history, we used a one-size-fits-all search method that overlooked the unique differences between clients. However, this changed when we realized the limitations of this approach for sourcing candidates for senior leadership roles.

As several members of our team may recall, we received a request asking for help to recruit someone for a high-level role. We took the opportunity, believing our generic approach would be enough. We were mistaken, however, as the candidate we recommended was not cut out for the client’s company culture. That mismatch led to the candidate’s untimely departure.

This setback forced us to reflect on our current method and gave us the push we needed to change it into the one we use today. We now offer bespoke executive talent solutions that are designed to accommodate each client’s unique requirements. It’s this personalized strategy and track record of successful placements that have earned us a long-standing reputation for quality, reliability, and a place among the world’s most lauded executive search firms.

Read our executive search Insights below for hiring best practices and making your business a place where people want to work.

The Advantages of Partnering with Keller Executive Search For Your Executive Recruitment Needs

Appointing the wrong leader can have severe consequences for your business, resulting in wasted resources and opportunities. Partnering with a reliable executive recruiter like us reduces this risk and provides you with a safety net should a hire go wrong. Collaborating with us can help ensure leadership success in other ways, too:

1. Cost Efficiency

At Keller Executive Search, we do not charge an upfront cost. We operate on a success-based payment model, charging an 18% fee only after we make a successful hire.

We help you save time and resources by simplifying the recruitment process and guiding you towards the right hire.

2. Access to a Global Pool of Candidates

We are an executive search firm with global reach, meaning we have access to an extensive network of candidates through our industry connections. This includes passive candidates who are not actively looking for a new position but may be open to opportunities. This is beneficial for organizations looking to fill senior and specialized roles, as a wider selection of candidates has a better chance of attracting the right person for their team.

3. Live Market Intelligence

One of our goals during every engagement is to develop a consultative relationship with our clientele. Our executive recruiters get live market data for each search to help clients understand the talent landscape, salary benchmarks, their employer brand performance, the strength of competitor talent, and more. This data can be used to attract an even better candidate than our client initially thought to recruit, or reshape the role they had in mind. In other words, they might be able to find a leader who adds more value to the business than they imagined.

In addition to live market intelligence, our consultants possess deep industry and functional expertise that they use to inform the search. They also know what type of skills and qualities candidates need to thrive in C-suite positions and other roles like VP and Director.

4. Strategic Advice and Objectivity

Our firm is a true partner in executive search, providing support and guidance throughout the hiring process. As a neutral third party, we offer unbiased feedback on candidates and can help settle internal conflicts of opinion when it comes to choosing a candidate. Our goal is to help you build diverse leadership teams that can move your organization forward.

5. Thorough Vetting

C-suite and executive-level recruiting require candidates to be thoroughly screened so that they line up exactly with the role and the client’s organization. We carefully assess every prospect as part of our executive search process, using competency-based interviews and psychometric testing to make sure leaders are the right fit for their new teams.

6. Confidentiality and Transparency

Our consultants are transparent about the recruitment process, providing regular status reports and keeping communication channels open. We always keep clients in the loop so that they know exactly what our consultants are doing, which candidate engagement methods they are using, and how candidates are being benchmarked.

Our consultants also uphold a high level of confidentiality during every search to protect the privacy of both the hiring company and the professionals being hired. We value trust, so we adhere to non-disclosure agreements and a strict “off-limits” policy when it comes to our clients’ leadership teams.

Our Promise

Keller Executive Search is committed to finding leaders who can drive innovation and deliver results in both the short and long term. To do this, we take the time to learn about your company’s culture, leadership dynamics, and goals before starting a search.

However, we know that even the most well-thought-out plans can change because of unforeseen circumstances. If a hired executive were to resign or fall short of expectations within the first 365 days of joining your company, we will offer to find a more suitable candidate through our replacement program.

Finally, we encourage all forms of customer feedback as part of our commitment to customer satisfaction. These opinions are used to shape our executive search services, making sure they stay current in today’s always-changing business environment.

Contact Keller Executive Search today and learn how we can help you find the right leader for your needs.