For those of you who have not seen it, there was a recent news brief in BusinessWeek profiling how Heidrick & Struggles is looking to compete in the future. The vision of CEO Kevin Kelly is that the war on talent won’t be won with executive hiring, but instead with executive consulting:
“Over the next five years, Heidrick & Struggles will change its strategy dramatically. While executive search is currently more than 95% of Heidrick's business, search will shrink to 50%. Leadership advisory services will expand to roughly 40%, and developing new technology tools for consultants and clients will become the remaining 10%. With a debt-free balance sheet and $183 million in cash as of the last quarter, Kelly is looking to acquire companies with expertise in topics ranging from executive retention to succession. He is also providing additional training for his consultants cross-selling their new services and investing in closed technology networks for top executives.”
This falls very much in line with the insights I have been hearing from recruiters and HR professionals. It’s about finding work not finding a job, and to compete in the new economy, you need to be nimble enough to adapt to the new market conditions. You need to rent your expertise, not sell it. Start looking for new opportunities that make maximum use of your expertise, and deliver maximum return. You need to find a way to become a strategic partner that offers real value to companies, not just another employee (C-level or not).
Take a lesson from one of the big recruiters. Rethink your search strategy. It’s about finding meaningful work, not necessarily finding a job.
