WHITE PAPER. How To Select An Executive Search Management System

Transcription

1 WHITE PAPER How To Select An Executive Search Management System Published by Dillistone Systems March 2016

2 Introduction An executive search software system that allows you to incorporate the latest cutting edge technologies to help you manage your business more efficiently, boosts your productivity and optimizes your work process is fundamental in today s competitive environment. Selecting such a system can be daunting and extremely confusing. The objective of this white paper is to help you understand how important investment in an Executive Search Management System (ESMS) is and to highlight some key areas you should be considering when purchasing it. Please note that there are two versions of this white paper. This one covers the selection of systems for use in Executive Search firms. A second white paper covers the slightly different requirements for firms wishing to purchase a system for an in-house team.

3 Should you choose Web-based or Desktop Executive Search software? KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK: It may well be that my current computers and infrastructure support my proposed solution. But what about going forward? Having the cost of software upgrades included in your package is of no use if you need to invest heavily in new hardware, operating systems or extraneous software. Do I want to allow my users to work from home or on the road and, if so, will this result in further investment to ensure that they have an appropriate setup? For executive search firms, technology should be a facilitator. It s a means, and not an end. As a result, the bulk of this white paper talks about the requirements of your business and how to ensure a smooth transition to your new system. However, if your chosen system is to underpin your business for years to come, you do need to think about technology. Most importantly, you need to make a decision about the relative merits of Web delivery versus Desktop installation. All of the major executive search software suppliers have, historically, delivered Desktop software. This essentially means that software is physically installed on the computer (typically a PC) at which the user works. Data maybe hosted onsite or in the Cloud. Today, and even more tomorrow,the vast majority of modern applications are and will be delivered as WebApps i.e., products that run through a browser, with no local installations. Key benefits of this approach include: WebApps are available instantly, anywhere. Your users can work from the office, from home, from a client site even on a transatlantic flight WebApps require no special hardware and no specific software beyond a browser. Desktop software has to be installed, on a suitable machine, with suitable hardware and suitable operating systems. As a result, ongoing cost of ownership is higher than for a WebApp. WebApps are often faster than Desktop Apps. WebApps do not require performing regular data backups or any in-house or external IT management expertise. Some suppliers offer a Desktop only solution. Others offer the ability to work through a Desktop product or a Browser App. In the near future, however, as browser technology becomes more and more advanced, it is hard to envisage a scenario under which Desktop installed software will remain relevant. Even Microsoft, in labelling Office365 its most strategic platform have acknowledged this, and already most major business software markets are dominated by browser products (with the CRM market and SalesForce being a case in point). As a result, when considering technology strategy, be sure to understand what the vendor offers today and what if any strategy it has for delivering through the Web in the longer term. Make sure to future-proof your investment to avoid inheriting obsolete technology a few years down the line. Don t get tied to a dying technology platform!

4 The Single Biggest Factor Understand where your users need information KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK: Which devices do my team members use? How will that change in future? Do I wish to allow users to access data from beyond the confines of my office? Few professions are as dependent on out of hours work as the Executive Search industry. The nature of the profession, where conversations can only be held at opportune moments, and where meetings in hotels and at airports are common, means that providing team members with a PC at the desk is not the best way of maximising productivity. Users will need to be able to access information from a variety of devices. A recent survey suggests that the average executive search professional has access to 2.9 devices 1. These may include a PC in the office, a mobile phone, an ipad and a home machine increasingly a Mac. This excludes the machines owned by third parties that a consultant may have access to as he or she goes about their daily work. The user experience on a small screened mobile device will never be the same as that on a large screen desktop, but by providing users access to data and functionality appropriate to each device, a business maximises productivity. If you or your users intend to access your systems from a Mac, it is important to understand the three different delivery models a Native Mac product, emulations and access via a Mac friendly web browser. A native Mac product is one developed specifically for the Mac environment. Although Macs are growing in popularity, they still make up less than 7.5% 2 of environments. As a result, few business suppliers develop niche applications specifically for them. The second option is emulation. This involves using a tool such as Parallels or Bootcamp to allow a Mac to run Windows applications and is not without its critics, having been described as being like putting ketchup on steak 3. The third option is to use a WebApp. Many older WebApplications were not designed for Macs, but modern HTML5 based products should give as good an experience on Safari (the default browser used on the Mac) as on Internet Explorer or Chrome. Most systems allow users to mix and match different versions of the product. Some suppliers might offer a desktop product and a mobile app; at Dillistone, we offer a combination of a desktop product, a range of Outlook plugins, a light Mobile app and a WebApp. Whichever supplier you chose, you should be able to mix and match delivery options. This is important as certain delivery environments lend themselves to certain tasks better than others. For example, a desktop product is likely to offer superior Internet Research tools than a pure browser product. A pure browser product will likely allow users more flexibility in where they work. Prior to selecting your executive search management system, use the table below to determine which devices your team members require access from. 1 search-consult survey, Summer

5 Description My users work on Windows PCs My users work on Macs My users work on machines where no download is possible (PCs in a hotel or at a client office for example) My users work on an ipad / iphone My users work on a Windows tablet / phone My users work on an Android phone or Tablet I must support this Nice to support this FileFinder for Desktop / Outlook on Desktop (Or Office 365) Full Functionality via Installed Software Full functionality only via emulation NA NA NA NA Add on FileFinder for Browser, FileFinder for Mobile and Office 365 C90% functionality available on PC via browser with no download required C90% functionality available on PC via browser with no download or emulation required Office 365 recommended. C90% functionality available on PC via browser with no download required. Office 365 recommended FileFinder Mobile app. On larger devices, further functionality may be available via Outlook Web App, via Chrome. FileFinder Mobile app. On larger devices, further functionality may be available via Outlook Web App, via Chrome. FileFinder Mobile app. On larger devices, further functionality may be available via Outlook Web App, via Chrome. * FileFinder for Desktop and FileFinder for Browser are both access points for sharing the same information. As a result, they are typically used in conjunction. The Importance of logging s KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK: On which devices do my team members access business s? Do they need to log s from those devices in their database? There is little doubt that in some roles within a search firm, management is key. Although not true for all job roles, certain users like to live in Outlook, and this can certainly have an impact on user adoption. Outlook plugins have been around for more than a decade. However, usage of these are changing rapidly as a result of a significant change made by Microsoft when it launched Office Prior to this,

6 Outlook plugins were typically delivered via a Com Object. This was a piece of software that sat inside Outlook. Office 2013 took an entirely different approach however and, while it continued to support the old technology, it introduced a new type of add-in, based on HTML5 (the technology of the Web). While the old style of Outlook plugin could only ever work on a PC, the new model is designed to work anywhere where Outlook is available including the Outlook WebApp and Outlook on the ipad. It s relatively simple for a user to tell which version of the plugin they have installed. The old fashioned COM object is typically delivered as a tall, vertical bar to the right of an . The new style HTML5 add-in is typlically delivered in a wider, flatter format above or below an (the Outlook Social Connector or the LinkedIn plugin would both be examples of the new style). According to Litmus.com 4, only 29% of s are opened and read within desktop software, with only 13% being opened inside the Outlook software product 5. More than half are now read on mobile devices, with the remainder read on some form of webmail. It is widely acknowledged that the percentage associated with desktop reading will shrink. 6 The old fashioned Outlook plugin if installed may facilitate management of the 29% of s read on the desktop. It will not and never will be able to facilitate management of s being read on the ipad or in a browser. HTML5 based plugins will work just as well in the desktop version of Outlook as they will within the Outlook webapp or Outlook on the ipad. Office365 on mobile is growing rapidly and is likely to take further market share 7, but the oldfashioned COM object solution is still supported by Microsoft and is the only solution for older versions of Outlook. As a result, a combination of both the old style and the new style of plugin will give your users the best access to management within Outlook. Description My users read s in Outlook (Desktop) My users read s on a web browser My users read on mobile devices I must support this Nice to support this FileFinder for Desktop / Outlook on Desktop (Or Office 365)* FileFinder for Outlook offers powerful functionality inside Outlook Desktop Version. NA NA Add on FileFinder for Browser, FileFinder for Mobile and Office 365 FileFinder for Outlook offers powerful functionality inside Outlook Web App, part of Office 365. FileFinder for Outlook offers powerful functionality inside Outlook Web App, part of Office 365. FileFinder for Outlook offers powerful functionality inside Outlook Web App, part of Office 365. On smaller screen devices, reduced functionality is available via FileFinder for Mobile. * FileFinder for Desktop and FileFinder for Browser are both access points for sharing the same information. As a result, they are typically used in confunction

7 User adoption the importance of making things simple The key to achieving a return on your investment is user adoption. If your users can t or won t use the system, your investment will be unsuccessful. Larger suppliers will have used specialist User Interface Designers to ensure that products are easy to learn and get the most out of. Some of the key areas to look at in terms of the product are: Can a user have multiple records open simultaneously? How are these managed (some systems are dependent on multiple pop up screens!)? How many clicks does it take to move between recently used records? How is the screen laid out, and how configurable is the screen? Some systems cram extensive information into limited space when reviewing candidates, users need to be able to see a screen full of records not less than a dozen! How much going backwards and forwards between different tools is required? Accessing your database from within your system may make consultants more efficient; accessing a browser from within your database may make researchers more efficient. How quickly can users access frequently used information? Does the system support Most Recently Used and Pinned records How many clicks are required to complete commonly used tasks? Evaluate products against the Litmus Tests described below! TAKE THE USER ADOPTION LITMUS TESTS: How many clicks does it take your chosen tool? Test 1: A key use scenario for an executive search management system is this. Look up a person who is not in your database. Create a new record, and then update Employment and Educational Information from the web. Test 2: Can your chosen tool do it as quick as FileFinder Anywhere? A key use scenario for a tool is to receive an from a person who is not in your database, create a record for him or her, add her to a Search Project, reply to the and have the content logged against the person and the Search Project. Can your chosen tool do it as quick as FileFinder Anywhere?

8 Does the system present information from multiple information silos simultaneously? How easy is it, for example, to access the database record of the company, the latest news on the company (from the web), a map and social media information? Having to click between web browsers and databases is a major efficiency loss. MRU lists facilitate quick access to information Just as important is training. Understand how your users will be trained. Will webinars be used? Live or recorded? Face to face or online? Is out of hours training available? Are recorded webinars available on demand? Different users learn in different ways and at different speeds. The more training options available, the more chance of a successful roll out. How Do You Find Your Candidates? Many executive search firms work from the starting point that the successful candidate is not necessarily going to be on the database at the outset of a search assignment. Clearly, this is very different to the mind-set of a lower level recruiter for whom the database of candidates equates to the entire candidate universe. There are essentially three types of searches you need to consider when selecting a new system: Database Search o Most search firms tend to search for candidates by attributes (industry, function, etc.). Virtually all systems designed for recruitment will offer this type of search. o Many search firms, however, take a target company view of recruiting. This means that the employment history of a person is crucial. As a result, it should be possible to identify candidates who have worked (or do work) at a certain organization and, when necessary, be able to cross reference the results of that search with a certain role (i.e. find me all of the people who work for IBM in a sales role, include current employees and previous employees that have recently left). o Search screens should be configurable. A power-user may require a search screen that an occasional user might find daunting. Allow users to have custom search screens that will reflect individual needs. Document Search o The ability to search documents has come on leaps and bounds over recent years and any system worth considering should offer this functionality. Searching is typically Boolean in nature, and so this means users can search for combinations of words i.e. find me any resume or profile reports containing the words New York or Chicago AND Japanese. o It should be possible to search all documents attached to the database people, companies, projects and searching should support Word Documents and PDF type files as a minimum (some systems only allow users to search documents by copying the document text into a big database text field). This is both manual and limiting.

9 o The results screens should offer a preview of any found documents (similar to a Google results screen), and it should be possible to jump from a list of results to EITHER the candidate record OR the appropriate document. Be aware that some systems do not fully integrate document searching with database searching, and if this is the case, these may not be combined, and the results are often only available as documents. Internet Search o The concept of searching the Internet for candidates is a relatively new one, and very few Executive Search Management Systems feature any functionality in this area. The ideal solution should be for users to be able to teach the ESMS to search key sites of interest (some companies like to search generic sites such as LinkedIn, while some will wish to target industry specific publications or websites). Searching should find results based on lists of target companies, and it should be very easy to import results into the system. To learn more about the benefits of Internet search, read about the Research Zone. o Some vendors will suggest that the ESMS is partnered with a separate online research tool. Putting aside the cost implications of this, buyers should keep in mind the efficiency loss associated with running two separate systems. A number of clients have reported that this type of integrated search tool can make researchers 25% more efficient 8. TAKE THE LITMUS TEST Test 1 For database search - Starting with a pre-defined list of industry sectors and functional areas, how many clicks does it take to identify a list of Target Companies and add them to a Search record, and then to identify current employees of those firms in relevant functional roles within your database and add them to a potential candidate list? Test 2 Can your chosen tool do it as quick as FileFinder Anywhere? For Internet Search From within a Company record, find senior executives at an organization, and add them to the database. 8

10 Database Structure In terms of database design, the biggest difference between a system designed specifically for executive search and one for lower level recruiting is the concept of People as People. Recruitment software designed for low-level recruiting will have separate databases for candidates and client contacts. In executive search, today's candidate is tomorrow's client... and next week's source. The database structure should reflect this, and in practical terms, this means: When viewing a person record, can you see what type of contact you have with that person? From a single location, can you see if that person is a candidate, a client or a source? When viewing a company record, can you track all contacts with the organization whether it be business development, sourcing or with potential candidates? A good question to ask a vendor: If I log a communication with a person (candidate, client or source) is it logged automatically against the person, company and (if applicable) project record, or are additional steps required? TAKE THE LITMUS TESTS: Test 1 I am in the record of a Search and have highlighted a candidate. I wish to send an , and have it logged against the record of the person, his or her current employer and the Search it relates to. I wish to update the candidate progress to reflect the new status of the candidate (without losing the history!). I wish the to be saved in my Outlook sent items. How many clicks? Test 2 I want to do all of the above, but for a group of candidates. All of the candidates will be rejected. One of these candidates is locked on the Search, and I also wish to release her for other searches. Most are not Company Centric and this can be a major drawback for the research driven company. Be sure to ask these questions? When a business has multiple subsidiaries, can you easily see all employees, assignments etc. from a single location? When a business is complex in nature, can you view employees by both location and division? Can you easily track reporting relationships? Can the system help with the creation of organization charts? (Be sure to ask to see this in detail; a number of systems have the ability to record org charts but they cannot be printed, exported or even resized!)

11 Configuration Options Systems vary hugely in terms of how configurable they are. At one extreme, mass market products like Act or Access provide some database or CRM functionality out of the box but need to be completely configured prior to use. At the other extreme, some products are defined specifically for the retained executive search recruiting model. In the middle, most products targeting the recruiting space will produce a recruitment software system which, in theory, may be configured to meet the needs of retained search (or graduate recruitment, or temporary staff, or ). Even a system pre-defined for executive search will require some configuration. For instance, if you work in financial services, your codes will need to reflect that. You may wish to make certain fields mandatory, while other fields may need to be greyed out. Different users will have different searching needs; some will require simple search screens, some more sophisticated options. Information on management dashboards should be different to that accessed by more junior users. Most systems will offer this functionality to a greater or lesser extent, but it is important to understand the extent to which configuration may be done by you, and the extent to which configuration needs to be done by the vendor. Be wary of scenarios where the vendor charges for configuration this suggests that you will be going back to the vendor every time your business changes, resulting in additional costs. Dashboards and Key Performance Indicators Dashboarding the use of Key Performance Indicators is one of the most important new trends in CRM, and it is an area that many products do not deliver well. The concept behind a dashboard is that it should allow the users of a system exactly what is going on in the business. For an executive search firm, this should include: Financial Forecasting (including targets and actual, plus historical comparisons) Quality Metrics (such as Search Cycle time) User Monitoring (who is doing what within the system?) Cross-Business Reviews (what is going on across the business?) Placements Rates (what proportion of our projects do we successfully complete?)

12 Research the Vendor Many buyers tend to focus too much on the product and not enough on the vendor. This can be a serious mistake. Buyers should always: Perform a credit check. This is always important, but particularly in today s environment. It is a sad fact of life that most software houses fail within 5 years, and the recruitment software industry is no different to any other. Be sure you are comfortable with the ownership and management of your shortlisted vendors. At least one executive search supplier shares management and directorships with a retained executive search firm; be sure that you are comfortable with any possible conflicts of interest. Understand the extent to which products are future proofed. A number of vendors will tell you that software upgrades are included within the support contract but will then never or rarely release these upgrades. Know how often the vendor releases new software and understand the level of functionality provided in those releases. If a vendor is only bringing out new software every 5-6 years, then your business will be left behind. As referenced earlier, it is also worth ensuring that you will not need to buy new hardware to run your free software on. A web based solution will avoid this scenario. Ask firms how much they invest in future development. A modern system such as FileFinder Anywhere will cost in the region of US$2,000,000 to develop and more to maintain. Can a supplier make that type of investment on an ongoing basis?

13 Social Media Access to social media is increasingly important to the Executive Search industry. Modern systems are able to search tools such as LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter. If your supplier does offer social media integration, however, it is very important that you check the legality of the functionality on offer. LinkedIn, for example, is very constraining in what it allows recruitment software suppliers to do with the product and regularly revokes access from suppliers who break those rules 9. If your supplier is using the LinkedIn API, you should ask them to explain how and to justify its use legally. Although LinkedIn is perhaps the most controlling, other tools have similar Ts and Cs Xing, for example, specifically outlaws automated scraping of data. Don t allow your use of systems to put you at legal risk! Hosting in the Cloud or Locally? Traditionally, software systems were purchased outright and installed on a dedicated server by the client. Whilst many firms continue to find this the most appropriate route to go down, there is an increasing tendency towards hosted solutions (typically known as a SaaS or ASP solution). There is also a third, hybrid model, which allows users to buy the product whilst also paying for a hosting service. Generally speaking, the outright purchase model is chosen by larger firms or firms with an existing server in place. The SaaS/ASP model is chosen by smaller firms those primarily focussed on short term cost and those that wish to avoid the headaches associated with hosting a server. The hybrid model offers the benefits of both approaches. SaaS is made up of access to software, access to support and access to hosting. Support and Hosting are both services which are delivered over time, and so paying a subscription fee makes perfect sense. However, subscribing to a software product is akin to renting a television in the short term it may be beneficial, but in the longer term will undoubtedly cost more. 9

14 $80,000 $70,000 $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 Cumulative Hybrid Purchase Costs Cumulative ASP Cost $20,000 $10,000 $0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 The Hybrid approach of purchasing the software and subscribing to the hosting and support services can over a five year period prove to be as much as 50% cheaper than the ASP model which still provides all of the benefits associated with a cloud hosted database. Ongoing Support The purchase and implementation of a system are means to an end. What matters is how the product performs for you, and a key part of that is user support. All vendors claim to offer market leading support. The key question, however, is how support is accessed. For some firms, support is only available via an online contact form. Your user will visit a website, fill in a form, and wait, with no option of calling the support desk directly. Several hours later when the user is working on something else they will receive a call back. Frankly, this type of support is often adequate for minor enquiries. However, if you need urgent assistance to complete a time-critical task, for example, you need to be able to talk to your vendor immediately. Pre-sale, ask for the support telephone number and test it!

15 References Take them, but check what you are getting. Many large search firms will have heavily customized systems managed by in-house development teams. Is that comparable with what you are purchasing? Is that comparable to your in-house support infrastructure? Does the vendor have clients who are comparable to you in size, location, sector and specialization? You will find dozens of testimonials for FileFinder here: Further Action Investing in software for your executive search team is a key decision taken for today and tomorrow. To request your FREE demonstration of FileFinder, specialist software for Executive Recruiters, sales@dillistone.com or call one of our Regional Offices listed below: AMERICAS: +1 (201) ASIA PACIFIC: +61 (0) EMEA: +44 (0)