Armstrong Craven helps organisations attract global talent by supporting business decisions through executive search services

To find out more about Armstrong Craven's capabilities please visit www.armstrongcraven.com

A refreshing approach to Executive Search

Armstrong Craven has pioneered the application of executive Search methodologies to create a flexible Search services that gives you greater confidence, clarity and information to successfully resource your businesses in today's ever changing environment.

Our consultative and research driven approach helps clients make better resourcing decisions across a broad range of talent requirements. From board level to specialist technical skills, we locate and attract the people who will put you ahead of the competition and stay with your business. Our services are flexible, as are our fees, to ensure they reflect your specific resourcing needs either for the here and now or for the long term future.

Consult and Collaborate

We want to understand your business and your resourcing needs inside out, not just for the present but also for the future. We're continually building and communicating with an engaged talent pool the world over, talking not just about immediate moves but also about future possibilities. We talk to them about markets and companies, giving us insights which will give you the edge. With such deep pools of talent we can deliver shortlists in less time with added value, and more cost effectively than traditional search. In short, we deliver a modern, partnership-based Search offering for a fast changing world.

We excel in finding rare talent and handling projects other Search firms shy away from, thanks to our understanding of the skills and qualities needed, search strategies and a peerless network of company and individual contacts. When shortlist candidates are agreed, we benchmark them against the market to ensure clients are making informed resourcing decisions.

We work as a strategic partner across the entire resourcing spectrum – from scouring the world for top-calibre candidates and shortlisting against exacting criteria, to carrying out due diligence, supporting succession planning and delivering the services you need, when and how you need them.

Sharing knowledge, adding value

Our process of search through research accumulates a huge amount of valuable intelligence on markets, companies and people. Unlike most firms, we believe it is critical to share this insight with our clients, adding its value to their strategic planning and decision-making around resourcing issues. Each project undertaken increases the richness of the data and builds their knowledge of the talent market. This ultimately helps businesses to create more effective recruitment and people strategies.

Executive Search

Find the best candidates, at a better cost, without compromising on quality of service. Our search approach identifies the right people, anywhere in the world. Here's how it works:

• We work with the client to really define their goals and the service level required from end-to-end recruitment or just a part of the recruitment process.
• Wide-ranging information sources, market knowledge, networks and customised telephone research are used to locate candidates.
• Once identified, people are engaged in a dialogue to interest them in a position or motivate them to recommend candidates.
• Candidates are comprehensively screened by telephone unless a face-to-face interview is specifically requested by the client – this produces a strong shortlist more rapidly.
• Shortlists are benchmarked against the market to put them in the context of the available talent pool. We pride ourselves that our shortlists contain candidates that go beyond the usual suspects.
• If required we provide additional candidate assessment services.
• Final interviews are conducted by the client.
• We assist with the offer and manage the on-boarding process as required.

Our fees can be charged on time taken to deliver a shortlist, or as a fixed fee to guarantee a successful placement to reflect the bespoke solution agreed.

We share all the research and insight gained through each project. This includes details of people who you could contact and employ in the future without incurring further fees. It also gives you valuable information that could inform future communications and recruitment campaigns. In short, we give you the tools to manage your own talent acquisition process, but we're always there as a supportive partner when you need us.

Talent Pipelining

Developing a pipeline of talent can be critical in overcoming skill shortages, effective resource management and growth strategy, keeping you one step ahead. Our pipelining services gives an overview of the competitive talent landscape, and delivers candidates to hire immediately or in the future.

• Locates individuals of relevance by name, job title and location.
• Gathers profiles on best-in-class talent.
• Provides a talent map of people to engage in roles now or in the future.
• Gives insights into talent that currently resides with competitors.
• Provides a better understanding of people you want to hire.
• Creates a ready bank of people to engage in roles now or in the future.

Candidate Referencing

Choosing the wrong person for business critical roles can be costly in many ways. To insure your investment it is wise to check the background of that individual thoroughly before the final offer. We can carry out forensic referencing checks as the recruitment process reaches its conclusion:

• Verification of credentials and background checks.
• Taking full references from named referees.
• Tracking down and taking references from unnamed referees who have experience of the candidate's capabilities and working style and past results.
• Evaluation of positive/negative market sentiment surrounding the individual and any news stories associated with them in previous management roles (from online and social media).
• Presenting a full picture of the person being hired.

Succession Planning

Succession planning is crucial to mitigate the impact of change and the inevitable loss – expected or otherwise – of key individuals over time. We help organisations prepare for change by

• Conducting research to understand what skills will be needed in future years.
• Agreeing and identifying where key talent resides in your organisation and others.
• Pinpointing future leaders and advising on the development of internal talent.
• Assessing whether internal talent exists to fill gaps when they arise.
• Knowing your competitors for the talent you need, inside and outside your sector.
• Building profiles 'ahead of need' of people in the external market so you know who are your best-fit prospective employees.
• Proactively engaging with those people ahead of need to motivate them to join you, establish a relationship and make them less likely to go elsewhere.