Search Done BetterTM
In a competitive world, many search firms strive to be “different.” Since our inception, we’ve just focused on being better.
The thing we love about better is that it focuses us on clients and candidates … not competition. Better keeps us pushing for performance gains for those that entrust their key leadership needs to us. We have strong opinions about what makes a better search firm and have been relentless about building our firm around a better …
Size
In executive search, firm size matters. Too big constricts the candidate pool because the search firm’s clients are “off-limits.” Big also puts sales pressure on partners, focusing them on winning business vs. executing searches.Too small undermines key infrastructure and “muscle” to put behind searches. A committed partner without sufficient research and recruiting support is a formula for missed client expectations.
We manage our firm’s size to make us better. While we’re in the top 1% of retained search firms by size, our partner team is focused on delivering great search outcomes, and they have the resources behind them to deliver the goods.
Process
We’ve built and honed an engineered search process that is unrivaled. Search is a people business, so there is plenty of “art” to what we do … But, we’re zealots about process and metrics. The result is a more predictable and reliable outcome for our clients and candidates.We train hard and have a continuous improvement mentality. We measure everything and keep trying to beat our records on speed and quality. We love competing with ourselves.
Performance Retainer
We believe we win when our clients win. As such, we’ve adopted a performance-based retainer that requires us to hit key deliverable milestones before we receive our full fee (culminating in a successful executive hire).Most searches require fees to be paid long before the conclusion of the engagement. Not ours. It makes us better to have our financial success tied to our client’s success.
Team
Our team is comprised of experienced, focused search professionals who share our passion for being better. We give them a better environment, better support and a better opportunity.Search done right is hard work, requiring hustle, inquisitiveness and a “never rest” mentality. People content with “good” don’t like it here. View our values.
We expect a lot from our team because our clients expect a lot from us. In return, we work hard to make CarterBaldwin a better place to work. We have a fun, collaborative, team-oriented yet heavily performance-driven culture. This yields better outcomes for our clients and candidates.
Candidate Approach
In retained search the “product” is people … candidates. We constantly hear from candidates that they do not feel well treated or respected by many search firms. We have a different approach. We believe candidates are both human and our core “product.”A core value of our firm is to treat candidates the way we would want to be treated. We work hard to communicate candidly, openly and honestly with candidates throughout and after a search.
Not surprising, a significant number of our new clients come from executives we treated well when they were candidates on one of our searches … even when they didn’t get the job. We consistently hear “you guys treated me better.”
Insight from our Partners
The Single Most Important Role of a CEO
Even as I write the title, I know that it is audacious. Nobody could so precisely synthesize the unending responsibilities of a CEO into a single most important role. But we believe there is one … A simple search of the internet indicates that this is not the first time someone has attempted to crystalize [...]
The Zone of Pressure vs. the Zone of Contentment
While we certainly can’t dictate every outcome, we can align our teams and resources to maximize our chances of success. Said another way, the championship is not always won in the draft, but I like my odds better when I’ve got a team comprised of the right athletes. A crucial question I focus on when [...]
Measuring Trust
When we conduct a search for an executive who will succeed in a leadership role with one of our clients we take into consideration what we believe to be the four critical components of a successful “fit.” These elements of fit include the skill set that the executive brings to the table, the cultural match [...]