How we work

Preparation
Much of our work is done before clients contact us with assignments - information gathering, building up our potential candidate relationships, updating our databases and developing our knowledge about the market and about multi-cultural business research.

We are also involved with a number of organisations in the area to ensure that we are always at the forefront of knowledge about international and cross-cultural management.

Proposal
After preliminary discussions with the client and an assessment of the basic search requirements, we present a proposal for the assignment. This includes an analysis of the feasibility of and any limitations to the search assignment.

Assignment brief
Working in a team with our client, we analyse the company's needs for the position to be filled and discuss the organisation, its culture and its sector context in depth. From these analyses we produce the detailed specification and assignment brief, including possible target organisations and sector and remuneration parameters.

The assignment brief is an extensive document which sets out not only the specifications and requirements for the position being recruited but also a description of the strategic positioning of our client and how the recruitment in question fits into that strategy. We believe that we can only do our job properly if we truly understand the client's business and how the search we conduct will add value to it.

Research
We query our databases both for people and organisations, in line with the client brief. We also talk to key contacts and trawl a wide range of information sources, both printed and electronic, to identify possible candidate sources. Where appropriate we brief our partner companies in the INAC global network.

Client information
Most clients like to be kept fully informed throughout the process and we believe that our activity should be as transparent and open as possible. As well as maintaining regular personal, telephone and e-mail contact, with the client's agreement, we create a special protected area of our website dedicated to the assignment, where all relevant documentation and progress tracking information are regularly updated so that the client can check what is happening at any time and from any place.

First list
Our researchers call specifically targeted people and organisations to identify potentially available and suitable candidates. During this period the client is kept fully informed and will be asked for feedback on the final "long" list.

Short list
The most interesting potential candidates are interviewed and assessed by consultants, who produce evaluation reports and from these a short list of around five candidates for presentation to the client.

In many cases we propose a final case study exercise for shortlist candidates. This allows us and the client to have a feel of how the candidate will actually perform as well as assessing communications and analytical skills.

A key criterion is always a good match between the candidate and the client organisation's culture. We take special care to ensure that shortlisted candidates will adapt to the client organisation's business and human culture.

Client selection
Short lists reports are discussed with the client in order to decide which candidates should go to interview with the company. We make interview and travel arrangements between the shortlist candidates and the client.

The final interview can take several forms, including presentation of case studies or other tailored exercises for candidates. We are always available to support the client in this process, according to their needs and wishes.

Following the interviews the consultant obtains feedback from both client and candidates.

Once the client has selected the final candidate, the consultant follows up references, qualifications and seeks comments from appropriate sources. The reference report and comments are sent to the client for review.

We can, where requested, help the client in framing and negotiating the remuneration package and contract.

Completion
We contact all the sources who were helpful to us during the search, to thank them. We also debrief shortlist candidates who were not selected.

We ask for feedback on our assignment performance from both client and selected candidate to ensure that we are always constantly aware of any shortcomings and how we can improve.

Follow-up
The consultant who coordinated the search assignment supports the client and the selected candidate during the induction phase to ensure that new employee and employer remain satisfied wth their choice.

Follow-up feedback is sought from both parties after three, six and twelve months to confirm that the relationship - and hence our search - are successful in the long term.