Judy Boreham,
Managing Director at Diversified Search,
and Eileen Finn, Founder of Eileen Finn Associates, are Co-Vice Presidents of the IACPR’s Global Conference Planning
Committee. Long-time members of the IACPR (each over ten years), they are in
close touch with our membership – chief human resources officers, corporate
talent acquisition executives and retained search partners – to understand the
issues in acquiring, developing and retaining top leadership teams. Here they
talk about how the IACPR delivers our content-rich conferences and the real
value members receive.
Eileen Finn:
I started attending the IACPR Global
Conferences about 10 years ago, and still, each time, I come back with a deeper
knowledge of building leadership teams. The Planning Committee spends many
hours learning what the audience wants to discuss and who the best thought
leaders are, so the conferences deliver major strategic thinking and
practical execution tips.
Judy Boreham: This is a really unique organization. There is no other
association where corporate decision makers and retained search heads share a
common platform, in an environment of complete trust and sharing. With the
strictest of non-solicitation policies that we enforce for all attendees and
sponsors.
In this market, C-level
talent becomes exceptionally critical to help companies keep competitive and
thrive. At the same time, executives are expecting more from employers –
exacerbated by the generational shifts we are seeing throughout the corporate
world.
The IACPR Conferences are the best
in their class. The people in the room are those who are making changes to the
senior talent market – the people who are regularly quoted on cutting edge issues –
and they have come together at the IACPR Conference to share their insights.
This Conference is always at the top of the
list; it has the best content and the best attendees, and everybody gets
so much out of it.
Eileen Finn: One of the key areas we are focusing on is the
frustration that many senior candidates feel throughout the recruitment
process. There is too little feedback or communication between candidate and
corporation – and in this environment, with talent shortages at the leadership
levels at such a premium – companies can’t afford to alienate their sources of
future leaders.
Candidate dissatisfaction has
a profound impact on an employer’s brand – and changes the perception of that
company in the marketplace. Any company that doesn’t recognize that anything
and everything is out there on the worldwide Web is fooling itself.
Judy Boreham: Both
companies and candidates have become much more risk averse. For companies, this
means they are looking for more consensus – and will invite a larger group of
people to vet the candidates at the interview stage. This slows everything
down. Then candidates are taking much longer to make critical career
decisions. All this adds to the
tensions.
I have a client that knows
there is an active blog out there about the company, and not a particularly
favorable blog. They have responded proactively, using the information to make
needed changes. But this has to happen quickly and honestly. The smart
companies are addressing it head on.
Eileen Finn: Diversity
is an area in particular where “walking the talk” is critical. Candidates are
looking for integrity and a sound history in diversity initiatives. It’s an
area where too little too late is very hard to overcome – and without diversity
at the executive level, a company can quickly become out of tune with what is
really happening with its customer base. And then lose out to the competitor
who has kept diversity initiatives at the fore front and ongoing as it builds
its leadership team.
Judy Boreham: These are just a few of the challenges that companies are
struggling with today – and that the IACPR Spring Conference 2013 will be
addressing. Believe me, the Conference never disappoints.
Eileen Finn:
Not only do we have a content-rich
agenda. but one of the major byproducts of getting all these outstanding senior
people in the room is the collegiality and sharing among the attendees and the
networking opportunities that occur. The friendships you forge here are for
life – so many successful alliances have resulted from the IACPR.
Find Out More
at www.iacpr.org!
