Executive Search Solutions

What we do best for our clients

We do retained executive search.  As Jim Collins, author of “Good to Great” famously called it, It’s our hedgehog.  

Is all executive search pretty much the same?  

Short answer--no.  

Long play version? NOT all search firms use the same search methodologies, processes, or technology.  There are deep differences firm to firm to firm.  Not all search firms have a similar “success” rate in completing searches.  Most importantly, not all firms have the same success rate at finding hires who onboard well, and deliver successfully in their new positions in the new company.

Hiring is hard. Hiring at the executive level? Even harder. In fact, according to Michael Watkins, author of international best-selling “First 90 Days” and former Harvard Business School Professor, more than half of all new executives will fail within the first 18 months. This failure rate isn’t just hard. It is also expensive.  That’s where BSG stand out.  Our clients often have tried the DIY (do-it-yourself) approach, or another search firm prior to coming to us.  And the stories we hear about hires-gone-wrong are painful, expensive, and pressure escalating stories.  Our clients want to get it right. Whether the first time, or after several failed attempts.   And that is where BSG accels.  Carpenters use a term, “measure twice, cut once.”  We believe that adage applies to executive talent selection too.

What’s our track record?

3 of 4 CEOs we have placed in the last 5 years are still in their positions, growing their companies.  

We think this is an amazing statistic. We also think working with us on your executive talent needs yield a higher success rate than other search firms.   When you need to get it right, BSG is your search partner, optimizing for the best probability of hiring success.

The fine print

Read on for which areas are BSG’s long suits and a few answers to “frequently asked questions” prospective clients have when considering our firm for their search needs:

• We recruit executives for companies
• We specialize in hiring a sub-genre of leaders for our clients we refer to as  “builder-leaders”  
• Our flavor of executive recruiting is often referred to as “retained executive search,” and as such we are often referred to as retained executive search consultants
• We’ve placed executives in all geographies across the US and the UK
• The companies we serve are our clients, and pay us for our services (candidates don’t... We never get paid by candidates to be presented for a position… ever)
• 90% of searches on which we’re retained are for investor backed businesses.  This is our core specialty--finding leaders for investor backed businesses.
• We do searches across the org chart, including CEO, COO, President, CFO and VP of Sales, Marketing, Operations, Technology, Engineering, Manufacturing, etc.  You get the idea--we’re what you call a “multi-specialty” firm
• We have search domain expertise & track record across a large number of industries, only SOME of which are listed here.  Ask for more on track record in areas not listed below.  Most of these industries and sector specialties align with areas that have attracted private equity and growth equity capital investments.  Some of these incude:

• Software (SaaS, enterprise on-prem, mobile, cloud)
• Hardware (IoT/Internet of Things, silicon chip-based fabless semiconductor, Internet appliances/Internet “plumbing” related, etc.)
• For profit education industry (K12, higher ed, corporate learning, etc.)
• Manufacturing
• Business services (business-process-outsourcing, etc.)
• Healthcare (services, software, etc.)
• Medical device (510K approval, Class 1-3, etc.)
• Retail
• Restaurant
• Consumer

• BSG Track record?
• 3 out of 4 CEOs we placed in the last 5 years are still in the seat, growing their businesses
• We have 20+ years in business and as students in our craft, and therefore have learned a thing or two along the way on best practices in executive search methodology.

SUMMARY

So, are we headhunters?  Not exclusively.  Are we management consultants?  Getting warmer.  Are we trusted advisors?  Directionally, hotter still.  A cliche, “start with the end in mind” applies here.  We partner with our clients through a management consulting process of discovery, documentation, validation and delivery that is deep yet efficient.