"Is Bigger Better?"

The big firms have carefully fostered the legend:

A big firm has more offices, more recruiters, more coverage. A lot of clients have decided that this is an expensive myth. With the exception of some international assignments, there is little argument for all the multinational offices, and there is very little synergy even among a big firm's national offices.

Factors which make the case for using a smaller search firm.

Modern information technology and the Internet now allows any technically sophisticated search firm to retrieve data from public and proprietary databases with the same, if not better, degree of success as the big firms. Search firms hemmed in by large inflexible systems have no advantage over the electronically nimble, whose data often is better and more relevant.

Fostering relationships over an extended period of time with a client is counter to the strategy of most large firms, where the emphasis is on generating revenue. The best smaller search firms can and do take the time to get to know the client company thoroughly and develop a "vendor mentality" where customer service is paramount. Smaller firms work with fewer clients and tend to value those clients and the relationships which develop with key personnel.

Quality of the professional staffs at smaller firms is comparable to that found in the big firms. Many consultants in quality smaller firms come from the large firms where they were often the better performers. Most consultants have impressive credentials and accomplishments regardless of firm size. The consultants from smaller firms tend to be more entrepreneurial and better able to react to a crisis in the search process, whereas the average member of a big firm tends to be more process driven, allowing the system to respond to search problems.

Blockage is a major problem clients face in dealing with a big firm. When a client is looking for a senior, specialized executive, the universe can become very narrow, very quickly. If a search firm is blocked from accessing even a few targeted executives because a company is a client of another of the firm's recruiters, it cannot deliver the best executives to the client. "As clients become more sophisticated about the search process, they realize that it is not size but perseverance, intelligence, and a sense of urgency that make the search process work. Most quality search firms do basically the same thing. What really matters is how the work and the firm are managed. Size is irrelevant.

- Excerpted from Executive Recruiters News