The fundamental value of a retained executive search advisor should not be based on the ability to “recruit”, but rather on the quality of assessing the client’s organizational, cultural, and business needs as well as the ideal candidate’s management, functional, and leadership competencies to deliver the desired results. Trained in competency-based assessment, Meridian Management Advisors recognizes the imperfect art and science of assessing individuals. Therefore, the Founder strongly believes that the most important element of proper diligence is ultimately defined by being thorough and working hard to uncover nuances and critical truths, rather than by perfecting assessment philosophies or methodologies. More importantly, this requires a collective effort by an engaged search committee that will dedicate time and effort to closely evaluate an executive interpersonal and cultural fit as well as management and functional competencies.
In every engagement, Meridian Management Advisors will commit to:
- Time and effort – There is no short cut to getting to know an individual and in addition to substantive conversations handled only by the Founder from initial sourcing to preliminary screening, all presented executives are interviewed in-person for up to two hours, unless it is truly impractical and with client’s agreement.
- Presentation – A detailed, documented, and thorough assessment relative to the functional and management needs of the engagement, as well as the desired business/functional/organizational objectives that the individual is expected to achieve is provided prior to direct client/search committee interaction.
- Verification – It is critically important to validate all facts, figures, and perceptions gathered during the assessment process and Meridian Management Advisors accomplishes this by conducting detailed and thorough references as well as collaborating with client’s organization on utilizing 3rd party, independent assessment tools (when available) to minimize individual and situational biases as well as to identify personal and professional attributes that are often difficult to decipher or extrapolate in conversations.