Only Stars Need Apply: Companies Are Hiring, But Not Just Anyone
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Picky, picky. After several years of little or no new hiring, companies are beginning to expand their staffs and replenish their management ranks. But with openings still scarce, many employers are being more selective than ever before.
"Where 10 years ago, companies maybe had five critical elements they sought in a new executive, now it's 10 or 12," says Peter Crist, chairman of Crist Associates, an executive recruiter in Hinsdale, Ill. "They want people who not only know their business and can hit a bull's eye from day one, but also have strategic skills and can advance to the next level in a pinch."
In this cautious climate, former insiders have an edge. So do candidates who have worked with one or more of a company's top executives as suppliers or customers, or at a prior employer.
But proven executives who are being approached for new jobs are often as risk averse as the companies seeking to woo them. Employers think they can get anything they want in a candidate, but "A" players won't move if they think there is inherent risk in a new situation.
Consider Coca-Cola's recent efforts to find a new chief. When the names of some prospective candidates became public, including Gillette CEO James Kilts and Mattel CEO Robert Eckert, they withdrew themselves from consideration. These candidates have declined to elaborate, but people close to the situation say they were wary not only of the management challenges at Coke but also of being cast as CEOs in search of new jobs.
"During the dot.com boom in the late 1990s, if your name wasn't in play you felt like a loser," says Mr. Crist. "But in this risk-averse environment, the last thing you want as a CEO is to have your board, investors and employees thinking that you are playing footsie with another company."
Coke last week finally reached for a former insider to be CEO, bringing E. Neville Isdell, a 35-year Coke veteran, out of retirement.
Whether employers are seeking senior executives or midlevel managers, they are doing far more due diligence, such as checking a candidate's references before agreeing to meet him or her and insisting on rounds of interviews with a variety of people. Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which went public in late 2002 and has rapidly moved into electronic trading, added three top executives to its 10-person management team in the past 12 months. Final candidates for these jobs -- head of corporate business development, chief marketing officer and general counsel -- were interviewed by all senior executives as well as by some directors.
For its business development spot, CME, which doubled its business in the last two years, hired an executive whom CEO Craig Donohue knew and had worked with as an outside consultant. Its new general counsel understands CME's situation as both a public and a highly regulated company. And it searched for its marketing chief for nine months.
"We needed to isolate someone who understood the arcane world of derivatives as well as branding, and we sorted through hundreds of people," Mr. Donohue says. "We'd rather wait and find someone who knows our products and who we're convinced can add value right away."
At U.S. Cellular, Jeff Childs, senior vice president, human resources, has been on the job for just 90 days. When he was approached for the position by CEO John Rooney, with whom he had worked at another company, there were careful deliberations on both sides of the table.
Mr. Childs, a former human-resources consultant, was interviewed by the chief financial officer, chief information officer, chief technology officer and COO as well as the CEO, but he also interviewed each of them, as well as managers he now oversees. "Top management wanted to know if I understood them, and I was anxious to find out if they were truly operating in the way they said they were," he explains.
His first priority is to add 400 to 500 new employees to U.S. Cellular's current staff of about 7,000 by the end of the year. But he cautions managers to be highly selective when recruiting. "I talk constantly about quality," he says.
At PointRoll, a small online advertising technology company in Fort Washington, Pa., founder and CEO Jules Gardner believes the days when companies recruited outstanding talent without knowing exactly how they would employ it are over. Companies that scaled back in the recession don't want to get fat again. "You don't hire someone just because they're brilliant if you don't need them for a specific job," he says. He doubled PointRoll's staff to 40 from 20 in the past six months, focusing on executives who have already built their own successful businesses. For the No. 2 COO spot, for example, he hired Chris Saridakis from rival DoubleClick. "He'd already built a half-billion-dollar business there," says Mr. Gardner. "I believe in hiring people who can run circles around me."
Other CEOs who are shopping for COOs -- often at the behest of boards concerned about building bench strength for succession choices -- are having more difficulty than they expected. "Executives with the best reputations are asking, 'Why should I leave something secure for a No. 2 spot elsewhere?' " says Mr. Crist. "They figure if they're going to move, they want to trade up to No. 1."
人才市场再度活跃 旧时风光难以再现
在招聘活动沉寂数年之后，公司已经开始增添员工，或是补充管理层的空缺。但由于招聘职位依然稀少，许多公司都比以前更加挑剔。
伊利诺伊州管理人员猎头公司Crist Associates的董事长彼得?克里斯特(Peter Crist)说，10年前，公司在寻找新管理人员方面所规定的要素可能是5个，而现在却是10个或12个。他们不但要求应聘人员熟知业务，从工作第一天起就能切中要害，还要求具备战略技能，必要时能够达到更高的层次。
在这种谨慎的气氛下，公司以前的内部人员便具有了一定的优势。曾作为供应商或客户，或在以前的公司与一位或多位公司管理人员共事过的候选人也是如此。
但被公司看好的管理人员却常常不愿冒这种风险。公司认为他们能够找到任何想找的候选人，但如果候选人认为新职位有内在风险，他们可能并不愿意就任。
可口可乐公司(Coca-Cola)最近寻找首席执行长的情况就是这样。当几位候选人的姓名公诸于众后，其中的吉列公司(Gillette Co., G)首席执行长詹姆斯?吉尔斯(James Kilts)和Mattel首席执行长罗伯特?埃克特(Robert Eckert)都选择了退出。他们没有透露具体原因，但知情人士称，他们不但担心可口可乐管理层的挑战，还担心会被视为寻找新工作的首席执行长。
克里斯特说，在上世纪90年代末互联网经济繁荣时，如果没能登上候选榜，高层管理人员就会觉得自己是一个失败者。但在目前规避风险的环境下，作为首席执行长，最不愿看到的就是让董事会、投资者和员工认为自己在与其他公司暗中往来。
上周可口可乐最终选择了一位前公司人员担任首席执行长，接替退休的内维尔?伊斯德尔(E. Neville Isdell)。
无论公司现在要找高级管理人员还是中层经理，都要进行更多的尽职调查，例如在同意面谈前核查候选人的证明人，以及坚持由不同人员进行多轮面试。芝加哥商品交易所(Chicago Mercantile Exchange)的10人管理团队在过去12个月中有3位新人加入。这些职位的最终候选人都接受了所有高级管理人员及部分主管的面试。这3个职位分别是企业业务开发部门负责人、首席营销长和首席法律顾问。
芝加哥商品交易所2002年末公开上市，迅速推出了电子交易服务，业务规模在过去两年当中扩大了一倍。新聘任的业务开发部门主管为首席执行长克雷格?多诺霍(Craig Donohue)所熟知，曾任芝加哥商品交易所的外部顾问。新任首席法律顾问了解芝加哥商品交易所既是上市公司，又是受高度监管的公司的状况。该公司寻找首席营销长已有9个月之久。
多诺霍说，公司宁愿等待，直到发现一位了解公司产品，能让公司相信他的加入能立刻增加公司价值的人选。 在U.S. Cellular，人力资源高级副总裁杰夫?蔡尔兹(Jeff Childs)上任仅有90天。当首席执行长约翰?鲁尼(John Rooney)请他来担任该职务时，他也曾反复权衡。鲁尼曾与蔡尔兹在另一家公司共事。
蔡尔兹以前是人力资源顾问，他接受了首席财务长、首席信息长、首席技术长和首席营运长的面试，但他也面试了这些人，以及他现在管理的经理。他解释说："高级管理层希望知道我是否了解他们，而我也迫切希望知道他们是否真正按其所说的那样行事。"
他的首要工作是在年底前为U.S. Cellular新招聘400至500名员工。该公司目前约有7,000人。但他要求经理们在招聘时一定要非常谨慎地选择。他说，他一直在反复强调质量。
而小型网上广告技术公司PointRoll的创建人及首席执行长朱尔斯?加德纳(Jules Gardner)认为，公司还没有完全想好如何使用就招聘顶尖人才的日子已经结束了。在衰退时不断裁员的公司不想再变得臃肿。他说，即使是人才，也不能在尚不清楚安排做何具体工作的情况下贸然聘用。他在过去半年内将PointRoll的员工从20人增加到40人，主要关注已经获得成功的管理人员。比如，对第二号人物首席营运长的空缺，他就从竞争对手DoubleClick那里挖来了克里斯?萨里达吉斯(Chris Saridakis)。加德纳说，萨里达吉斯已经在原公司把业务扩展到了50亿美元。
其他寻找首席营运长的首席执行长所遇到的困难比预想的要大。克里斯特说，具有最佳声誉的管理人员会问，为什么要离开目前的职位，去获得别处的第二号职务？他们希望如果离开，就要作第一号人物
