ConnectedSearch is a retained executive search service run by senior team members, providing deep market coverage, wider commercial insights and objective assessment techniques supported by a market leading guarantee.
Executive Search
Our retained executive search service, ConnectedSearch, offers peace of mind in terms of the resources applied to fully cover the relevant candidate markets, objectively assess the role and the candidate fit, provide transparency, and a 12 month guarantee.
Our intuitive online candidate delivery platform grants you complete visibility into the recruitment and selection process, providing you with all the information you need to make the most informed hiring decisions.
The Process
1. Engagement
A senior industry specialist will work closely with your team to understand your organisation, the role and the selection criteria. Your key stakeholders will complete an objective job assessment.
2. Sourcing
Using a proven methodology, multiple channels will be used to identify the target list which will be shared and calibrated as needed.
3. Screening
Initial outreach and conversations are critical and need to be credible and appropriately paced. These are supported by a detailed (ore-agreed) Candidate Briefing Pack.
4. McQuaig Assessment
Candidates who are a potential fit will complete an assessment to match them against the pre-completed job profile. Only candidates that are aligned will be progressed.
5. Candidate Profiling
Candidates with then complete:
- A full interview with the CG consultant
- A review of their experience against pre-agreed competencies
- A video introduction (optional)
6. Candidate Presentation
Shortlisted candidates will be presented via our digital platform providing:
- Complete consultant's interview notes
- Candidate's competency responses
- McQuaig assessment results
7. Your Feedback
All stakeholders can provide feedback through the platform to create an objective score. Specific individuals or competencies can be weighted to reflect the importance of their influence if needed.
8. Offer, Resignation Management & Referencing
The sensitive process of managing the offer, supporting the candidate's resignation and taking references and completing any required background checks will be handled by the consultant.
9. InductionPlus
Whilst the consultant will keep in contact with the placed candidate, we assign an experienced, independent HR professional, to manage line manager and candidate feedback for the first 3 months.
The Platform
Access to our ConnectedSearch online platform gives you the following:
McQuaig Assessment
The McQuaig assessment tools offer us a 2 stage process:
Job Survey
Key stakeholders in the role complete the survey to identify the 'behavioural map' against which candidates will be assessed. Most importantly, significant disconnects in expectations are identified at this point, and a recalibration exercise is conducted in order to save wasted time later in the process.
Candidate Fit
Candidates complete the assessment and are then mapped against the job survey. Only candidates that are a 'match' or 'strong match' are presented.
Along with the test outputs, the assessment provides interview and
referencing guides for each specific candidate.
We can also provide the assessments as an independent service and apply them to your own search.
Candidate Summary
Our experienced consultant will complete a detailed interview with the candidate and provide in depth notes that cover the following:
• Career overview including reasons for job moves
• Motivations and drivers
• Significant achievements
• Notes on fit to key competencies/technical skills
• Insights into personality, communication skills and likely cultural fit
• Current remuneration breakdown, notice period and expectations
During the job scoping exercise, you can specify if you wish to add any questions that you would like included.
Key Competency Review
As part of the discovery process, we will work with you to define the key competencies that you wish to assess the candidate against. These can be your own or drawn from our competency database.
Depending on the preferred process, either:
• The candidate can provide written responses directly to each competency
• Our consultant can interview the candidate and record the answers
• You can select different stakeholders to assess the candidate using different questions to assess each competency to build a complete picture
Video Introduction
A video introduction can give a quick insight into the character and style of a candidate.
The video is optional and can be integrated at any stage in the process. For the purposes of objectivity, and in the interests of avoiding conscious and unconscious bias, we suggest not using it as an early stage assessment tool.
Candidate Suitability Score
At the outset of the process, you can select whether you wish certain stakeholder feedback and/or specific competencies to hold a higher importance in the final assessment.
This weighting exercise then contributes to the 'suitability score' which is ranked based on aggregated team feedback.
All stakeholders will be able to see the aggregated score but not individual scores so as not to influence their thinking.
InductionPlus
While the consultant involved in the search will maintain a connection and relationship with the candidate, we have identified that the follow-up process can often lack an independent and robust engagement.
To ensure that the post-placement process supports the best interests of all parties, we developed InductionPlus in conjunction with our ConnectedConsult division. The key elements of this are:
• An independent HR professional is assigned to engage the line manager and the candidate independently for the first 3 months of employment
• Any concerns or disconnects are highlighted with both parties and, where needed, mediation is initiated
• Any major concerns are escalated to a pre-agreed party (usually your HR stakeholder)
• Summary feedback is provided at the end of the process, including insights on how your own induction framework might be improved
The bookends of the McQuaig assessments and the InductionPlus service are the foundation of why our search service offers a market leading 12 month free replacement guarantee.
InductionPlus is also available as an independent service if you want to
apply it to your own search.
Recruitment Service Level Comparison
| ConnectedSearch (Retained Search) | ConnectedRecruit (Exclusive Contingent Recruitment) | |
|---|---|---|
| Internal & external database search | ✔ | ✔ |
| Advertising | ✔ | ✔ |
| Consultant in-person or VC candidate interview | ✔ | ✔ |
| Summary consultant interview notes | ✖ | ✖ |
| Detailed consultant interview notes | ✔ | ✔ |
| Active referral generation | ✔ | ✔ |
| Active headhunting | ✔ | ✔ |
| Completion of market map to engage all talent within the market | ✔ | ✖ |
| Commercial/structural insights on competitors | ✔ | ✖ |
| Online platform allowing all stakeholders to rate candidates and give weighted feedback | ✔ | ✖ |
| Assessment tools to provide objective insights | ✔ | ✖ |
| Core competency assessment | ✔ | ✖ |
| Comprehensive referencing | ✔ | ✔ |
| External background checks | ✔ | ✖ |
| Regular post placement check-in process by consultant | ✔ | ✔ |
| InductionPlus (3 months’ professionally guided induction support by a HR professional) | ✔ | ✖ |
| 14-week guarantee | ✖ | ✔ |
| 12-month guarantee | ✔ | ✖ |
Partnering With McQuaig
People often hire based on skills and experience, but what happens when the new hire doesn't work out? In most cases, it's not due to a lack of skills or experience, but rather a poor cultural fit within the organisation.
Focusing solely on skills won't guarantee a successful hire. That's why we go beyond skills and assess both the job opening and the candidate's behaviors using psychometric profiling. This approach allows us to compare the candidate's behaviors against specific data points to determine their cultural fit.
The result is a much stronger alignment between what you're looking for in a new hire and the candidate's actual behavior. This means we only spend time interviewing candidates who will be a great fit for your company culture.
McQuaig: The Gold Standard in Psychometric Testing
McQuaig was established over 50 years ago and has become the gold standard in psychometric testing to align candidates with your organizational fit. Our proven methods help you identify the right candidates who will not only possess the necessary skills and experience but also seamlessly integrate into your company culture.
With McQuaig, you can be confident that you're making informed hiring decisions that will lead to long-term success.
Mathew Gollop
Managing Director & Head of ConnectedSearch
Mathew has been in the search industry since 1997 and in Asia (with ConnectedGroup) since 2001. In addition to leading the business, Mathew engages with clients to discuss their operational and market strategy from CEO’s office down through the business. He aligns ConnectedGroup’s service offering across all functions and often operates as an account manager for key clients.
Mathew developed and launched the ConnectedSearch offering as a way of delivering executive search supported by ConnectedGroup's core values. He plays a key engagement role, supporting all search processes at the outset and personally delivering on a number of impactful projects each year.
In addition Mathew has helped define and shape ConnectedGroup's social purpose and his team support the not for profit community in Hong Kong, connecting talent to help amplify worthy causes.
Favourite Quote
'Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better'
Maya Angelou
What our clients say
CG took the time and made the effort to listen to what we were looking for and understand our constraints and priorities. I was particularly impressed with the calibration approach to fine tune the candidate search.
Local NGO
Hired a Program Manager
[CG] are my true business partners for this hiring. They well understood my needs and provided high quality profiles which meet my expectation. They did an excellent job in keeping the candidates motivated.
Watch & Jewellery Group
Hired a Senior HR Professional
Strong knowledge of the market. Profile provided was relevant on both the budget front and skillset. Turnaround speed and candidate management experience was superb.
Global Investment Bank
Hired a Retail Industry Market Specialist
