How to Search for an Executive

Then more responsibility a vacancy has, the more difficult it is to find a good employee, even in the middle management category, not to mention top management. Headhunting practice shows that even the ideal candidate, the Oxford University graduate, cannot necessarily be invited by the employer. The references from one company to another varies and are very individual. The employee decision cannot be fully explained by the personal qualities of a particular candidate.

 

Causes for refusal of a candidate by a company in all cases are different. For example, the adaptation to specifics of the type of business, the possibility of one candidate to combine several duties simultaneously, and conformity of the candidate to the corporate culture of the company all play a role in whether a candidate will be offered a position, regardless of his educational background. The decision of whether he will be hired or not may be made exclusively on the basis of his answers, not by means the candidate can always understand, regardless whether he was liked by the company or not. Long and productive conversations lasting 1.5 hours with shareholders can be simply a matter of interest, and may not have any influence on whether he will be hired at all. So the process of making the right choice is not only difficult for a candidate, it is also difficult for the company. This is especially true when finding a top candidate for a foreign company with a regional office in Russia.

 

Finding the right candidate is a creative process that demands time as the expatriate general director should know, not only the basis of Russian legislation, but also for the candidate to be ready to adequately perceive the Russian business surroundings; For the foreign citizen it might be infant terrible. In this sense many companies make the decision to outsource several functions (accounting, payroll, human resources, etc.) that gives them the chance not to think of the "creative process of hiring the top-manager." Other companies also make the decision to control business from the headquarters directly, and to make functions of the general director more nominal. Today a number of companies on the market even offer such services as a "management service" or "nominal director service" which grants individual, or legal entity for their appointment to certain positions, with the limited duties and access to confidential information about the business.

 

Nevertheless, those companies which try to choose the best candidate, as a rule, create the perfect conditions for working and living in Russia. Also they are ready to solve questions not only concerning employment, but are also ready to go through the difficulties of the Russian bureaucracy system.

 

By Yulia Timofeeva, head of marketing,
Outsourcing Division BDO Russia