猎头工作不为人知的一面

Suspense and drama play as big a part in the executive appointments process as they do in the average thriller, with every chapter ending on a cliffhanger, right up to the denouement.

高管任命的过程充满悬念和戏剧性，不亚于一部惊险小说。通常而言，惊险小说的每一章都会留一个悬念，直到最后才揭晓谜底。

For some, the experience will end in tragedy, for one a triumph, but for most, it will be a roller-coaster ride full of mystery, action – and long silences.

对一些人来说，这个过程将以悲剧收常胜利者只有一个，但对大多数人来说，这个过程就好像坐过山车，充满神秘感、动感十足，还会出现长时间的静默。

Those silences create the tension, a phenomenon that headhunter Simon Bartholomew, board practice partner at The Miles Partnership, recognises in his work: “It can be a series of cliffhangers, if that’s the right word – because people get to a certain stage in the process and then they are left hanging.

一次次静默时刻营造了一种紧张气氛。这种现象迈尔斯合伙公司(The Miles Partnership)从事董事猎聘业务的合伙人西蒙·巴塞洛缪(Simon Bartholomew)在工作中已经发现了。巴塞洛缪说：“这个过程可能悬念不断——如果这可以叫做悬念的话，因为到某个阶段，候选人就被悬在那儿了。

“Candidates go through periods where they don’t really know what’s happening and I can’t tell them – either because I don’t know myself or because I’m not able to tell them.

“候选人在某些阶段并不知道发生了什么。我也无法告诉他们，要么是因为我自己也不知道，要么是因为我不能告诉他们。

I was visiting Mr Bartholomew because he had offered to reveal some of the secrets of his trade – finding the right people to fill senior roles. We use the example of a typical search for a divisional finance director in a large company.

我去拜访巴塞洛缪，是因为他说愿意为我们揭开其所在行业的一些秘密。巴塞洛缪的工作是为企业高管职位物色合适人眩我们以“为一家大型公司物色部门财务总监的典型过程为例。

His first insight is how cautious client companies can be, especially when the chief executive is involved in drawing up a job specification: “If the client is being risk averse, it will show in the specification and they will say ‘well I want someone who’s been a finance director before’.

巴塞洛缪的第一条洞见就是，客户公司可能会非常谨慎，特别是当首席执行官都参与了职位介绍的撰写时。巴塞洛缪说：“如果客户是风险规避型的，这一点会在职位介绍中显示出来，客户还会说‘嗯，我们想要一个以前担任过财务总监的人’。

“If you’re talking about a division worth ￡200m upwards, then that’s not a problem – you just talk to people who have been finance directors of smaller divisions. But much smaller and it’s a challenge. The smallest one I did recently was for a ￡10m company. Where do you find a finance director of a company smaller than that?

“如果这个部门的价值在两亿英镑以上，那就没问题，我们只需要在一些所管理部门规模较小的部门财务总监中物色。但如果这个部门的价值远低于两亿英镑，那就有问题了。我最近接手的一个这样的例子，是为一家价值1000万英镑的公司物色财务总监。在比这还小的公司里担任部门财务总监的人上哪儿找去？

He says another constant struggle between headhunter and client concerns how specific the initial brief is: “We always say that the wider the brief, the better the chance of getting the right quality person.

巴塞洛缪说，猎头和客户之间另外一个经常发生分歧的问题就是，初始的职位介绍应该具体到什么程度。巴塞洛缪说：“我们总是说，职位介绍中的要求越宽泛，找到合适人选的几率就越高。

“I’ve just placed a retail finance director. The company said they wanted someone in fashion retailing. And that’s what they got – an outstanding candidate. But they did reduce their marketplace with such a narrow search.

“我刚刚物色到一个零售财务总监。那家公司说他们想要有服装业经验的人。而他们招到的就是这样一个人——一个非常优秀的候选人。但在选择面那么窄的情况下，他们的选择确实也减少了。

“At least that new person comes in knowing the sector. But I have placed somebody in a big pharmaceutical company who had been working in consumer goods. Yes, the client had a bit of a struggle at first, but within six months it was like they’d been there all the time. So we know it can be done but there is resistance to wider searches.

“至少那位新人了解那个行业。但我也曾为一家大型制药公司物色过一个一直在消费品行业工作的人。诚然，新人刚入职时有一些磕磕绊绊，但不到六个月之后，新人已俨然是那一行里的资深人士了。所以，我们知道这是可行的，但一些客户对扩大选择面还是比较抗拒。“

Is succession planning a factor when drawing up the brief, given that many chief executives have a financial background?

鉴于很多首席执行官都有财务工作的背景，在设计职位介绍的时候，为首席执行官储备人才是不是一个考虑的因素？

“I think finance directors fall into two categories: those that have the inherent capability of becoming a chief executive and those who, frankly, would be best advised to stay as chief finance officers.

“我认为财务总监分为两类：一类是有潜力成为首席执行官的，而另一类，老实说，最好就一直担任首席财务官。

He says quality is now a key factor: “We have been involved in replacing people who have just not been good enough. That’s been a theme through the recession.

巴塞洛缪表示，如今资质是一个关键因素。他说：“我们一直在帮助企业物色新人，替换那些做得不够好的人。这是贯穿整个衰退期的主题。

The headhunter’s brief for a divisional finance director post typically includes input from the divisional chief executive and the group finance director. A candidate must impress both: “It would be an unwise candidate who discounted that there are two people making a decision here and if either of them is unhappy it won’t work, says Mr Bartholomew.

猎头对某个部门财务总监职位的候选人概述，往往需要听取业务部门首席执行官和集团财务总监两个人的意见。候选人必须给两个人都留下好印象。巴塞洛缪说：“做决定的有两个人，而这两个人中无论哪一个不满意，这事就成不了。候选人如果忽视这一点，就是不明智的。

“A candidate will probably meet the divisional chief executive first, because it’s their team they would be joining. Then you might at the last stage meet the group finance director – but he will have a power of veto and that’s not something everybody appreciates.

“候选人首先见到的可能是业务部门的首席执行官，因为候选人要加入的是他们的团队。到了最后阶段，候选人可能会见到集团财务总监，但他将拥有一票否决权，这点不是每个人都了解的。

Once the brief is agreed, the headhunter gets to work.

候选人概述获得客户认可之后，猎头就开始忙碌了。

Mr Bartholomew says this can be frustrating for the client, as there will be a period of silence while the search gets under way: “We get really busy and the client won’t hear much from us.

巴塞洛缪说，在他们物色人选的同时，可能会有一段时间没什么动静，这可能让会客户感到失望。巴塞洛缪说：“我们会变得非常忙碌，可能也不会给客户很多反溃“

“Our job is to analyse the market – looking at people we know and can identify from our research that are potential candidates.

“我们的工作就是分析市场，查看我们所知的人选，通过研究确认潜在的候选人。

There are two phases. “One is a very structured process. If the client is in the pharmaceutical industry and wants somebody from that sector and it’s a ￡500m division, we will look up all the finance directors in a set geography that are running smaller businesses with a view to approaching them to step up.

有两个阶段。“第一个是非常程式化的阶段。如果客户来自制药行业，想在行业内物色，并且职位所在部门价值5亿英镑，那么，我们将找出固定区域内所有5亿英镑以下部门的部门财务总监，以期联系他们、并询问他们是否对这个职位有兴趣。

“It’s time consuming, particularly if we’re doing a global search.

“这个阶段很耗时，特别是当我们需要在全球范围内物色时。

“But we’re also looking at the ‘leftfield’. Is there a deputy finance director at something big who you might persuade your client to consider? We’re also talking to very senior people in the sector and asking whether they know anyone who would be good. Our job is to challenge the client where we can – perhaps by suggesting rising stars from other sectors.

“但我们也会查看设定范围以外的人眩比如，有没有一家大型公司的财务副总监，也许我们能够说服客户考虑？我们也会询问一些非常资深的业内人士，请他们推荐。我们的工作就是尽量争取让客户考虑设定范围以外的选择，或许会向客户推荐其他行业的一些新秀。

For unadvertised posts, anyone seeking a move is advised to ensure they appear on headhunters’ databases or, if not, have first class networks in order to appear on the initial long list.

对不公开登招聘广告的职位而言，我们给那些有跳槽打算的人一个建议：确保你的简历已被猎头公司数据库收录，否则的话就要确保你有广泛的人脉，从而能够出现在猎头最初的候选人长名单上。

This research phase can take up to five weeks – and in many cases, the best potential candidates will have been alerted.

这个研究阶段可能会持续五周，很多情况下，最佳的潜在候选人这时已经进入我们的视线。

“Clients are often in a hurry. Finance directors are a critical appointment and the client might say, ‘just get on with it – if you find somebody good, pick up the phone and find out whether they’re interested’. So we might have already spoken to some people on the list because we know they look right. So we have 15 or 20 names and seven might have said they’re interested.

“客户通常比较着急。财务总监是个关键职位，客户可能会说，‘往下走就行了——如果你们觉得谁不错，就打电话过去，问问他们对这个职位有没有兴趣’。因此，我们可能已经与名单上的一些人谈过，因为我们知道他们看上去是合适的。因此，我们会圈定15至20个候选人，而其中可能有7个人已经表示对这个职位感兴趣。

“We might know quite a lot before we call them: we know roughly what their background is and that they should be interested in the role because it represents a next logical step for them.

“在打电话之前，我们可能已经挺了解他们了：我们大概知道他们的背景，他们也应该会对这个职位感兴趣，因为对他们来说下一步这样走是合理的。

When the call comes, Mr Bartholomew urges candidates to say clearly if the time is inconvenient and if so, to make alternative arrangements. At this stage, any interested candidates need to impress the headhunter: “From this point, they’re being assessed – you can’t escape from that.

巴塞洛缪建议，在接到电话的时候，候选人如果不方便接听，最好能明确告知，并另作安排。在这个阶段，任何候选人都需要给猎头留下好印象。巴塞洛缪说：“对他们的评估从这时起已经开始——这是逃避不了的。

“That’s why I say don’t take the call