Executive Search as a Service: ESaaS: is an annual executive talent partnership rather than a series of separate search assignments.
Instead of commissioning a search firm every time a senior vacancy appears, the organisation has standing access to executive search capacity, market intelligence and advisory support for a recurring fee.
We are developing ESaaS at re:find for organisations that hire enough senior people to need an ongoing capability, but don't need the complexity of an enterprise RPO.
What does ESaaS include?
The exact scope should depend on the organisation, but a typical partnership can combine:
- a defined number or level of executive searches
- priority search capacity
- ongoing talent mapping
- salary and package benchmarking
- external succession intelligence
- quarterly talent reviews
- access to talent advisory support
- market insight around upcoming leadership requirements
The important difference is that the relationship exists before the vacancy.
How is it different from traditional executive search?
Traditional search is transactional in structure even when the relationship is excellent. A role becomes live, a fee is agreed and a search begins.
ESaaS moves some of that work upstream.
The search partner can understand the organisation's leadership agenda, map likely future requirements and build market knowledge before an urgent vacancy appears.
For the client, it also replaces multiple percentage-of-salary search fees with a more predictable commercial model.
Is ESaaS an RPO?
No.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing normally involves taking responsibility for a significant part of an organisation's recruitment operation, often across higher-volume hiring. It can include technology, recruiters, process management and service levels across hundreds or thousands of hires.
ESaaS is deliberately narrower.
It focuses on executive and senior leadership talent. It should feel more like an external executive talent team than an outsourced recruitment department.
Who is it for?
I think the sweet spot is a mid-market organisation with recurring senior hiring needs but not enough volume to build a substantial executive search capability internally.
It may also suit a business going through growth, acquisition, leadership succession or organisational change where several senior appointments are likely over a 12 to 24 month period.
Why include advisory?
Because not every anticipated vacancy should become a search.
An ongoing partner should be able to help test succession, benchmark roles, look at external talent and advise on the requirement before recruitment starts.
That is what makes ESaaS more interesting to me than simply selling a bundle of discounted searches.
The aim is a better executive talent capability, not cheaper recruitment.