NHS in-house search aims to ‘make life uncomfortable’ for agencies
19 December 2013
The head of the NHS’s burgeoning in-house executive search service says he aims to “make life uncomfortable” for the external search firms he is competing with, as he outlines plans to recruiter.co.uk.
Thu, 19 Dec 2013The head of the NHS’s burgeoning in-house executive search service says he aims to “make life uncomfortable” for the external search firms he is competing with, as he outlines plans to recruiter.co.uk.
Martin Hancock arrived at the NHS Leadership Academy in January 2012 to set up NHS Executive Search. “There was nothing in place,” he says, “it was me and a laptop and a phone and occasional borrowed admin support from elsewhere.”
Previously an agency search professional with Penna, he completed a dozen searches in year one, now has two experienced consultants and one support colleague in his team, and as of autumn tells recruiter.co.uk: “The value of the work we have done so far, had it been completed by a commercial search business, is around £670k.” He adds: “For every pound spent on us, we save around £1.70 net for the taxpayer.”
He says: “It’s quite clear that commercial search firms could be providing a better service – that’s based on the views of NHS trusts we work with, that’s not our pejorative view.
“Our motivations are entirely aligned with the organisations we’re supporting – after all we are their colleagues, and that is fundamentally not the case with commercial search firms. All search firms will talk about the partner approach, but we don’t even need to have that conversation.”
The goal, Hancock adds, would be to “get to the stage in the not-too-distant future where, if a job comes up, we already have all the information here about who is technically competent to do it, their career aspirations and objectives, their readiness to take on a new post”.
Currently, NHS Executive Search is centrally funded, but Hancock says that at some point they “will explore how we move towards a self-sufficient model”. With he and colleagues having taken pay cuts to join, and not earning commission, attracting top talent is on his mind. “I know there are people out there in the market who are interested, but can’t take the financial hit; we’re looking at how we address this,” he says.
He suggests that in time the organisation should continue to grow and “could take a third of the market” but adds: “I don’t want to build a massive engine for its own sake. I’d like to think we could make life uncomfortable for the search firms – and they already know we are here, but we need to be larger.”
Despite Hancock’s assertion, some search firms recruiter.co.uk contacted were not aware of it. Those that were, however, were sure there was still a place for outside agencies.
Christopher Coe, partner and head of European life sciences at CTPartners, argues: “In general, the in-house approach has proved to be more successful for lower-level appointments and a challenge when it comes to senior hires.” He adds that the size and fragmented nature of the NHS is “perhaps the biggest challenge” NHS Executive Search will come up against.
Meanwhile Andrea Bainger, associate partner and head of public sector at Green Park, says she is “surprised the NHS Leadership Academy has developed an in-house search team given the backdrop of severe public sector cuts and the abolition [in 2012] of the Appointments Commission”.
Lewis Maleh, founder of agency Bentley Lewis, tells us: “Ultimately, if it saves the NHS money… and they are able to apply the same rigorous search and selection techniques as an external firm, then it will prove to be a success.
“A successful in-house search team at the NHS will of course reduce the amount they spend with external search firms. However, I think there will still be a place for external firms and enough work to keep firms busy,” he concludes.
Martin Hancock arrived at the NHS Leadership Academy in January 2012 to set up NHS Executive Search. “There was nothing in place,” he says, “it was me and a laptop and a phone and occasional borrowed admin support from elsewhere.”
Previously an agency search professional with Penna, he completed a dozen searches in year one, now has two experienced consultants and one support colleague in his team, and as of autumn tells recruiter.co.uk: “The value of the work we have done so far, had it been completed by a commercial search business, is around £670k.” He adds: “For every pound spent on us, we save around £1.70 net for the taxpayer.”
He says: “It’s quite clear that commercial search firms could be providing a better service – that’s based on the views of NHS trusts we work with, that’s not our pejorative view.
“Our motivations are entirely aligned with the organisations we’re supporting – after all we are their colleagues, and that is fundamentally not the case with commercial search firms. All search firms will talk about the partner approach, but we don’t even need to have that conversation.”
The goal, Hancock adds, would be to “get to the stage in the not-too-distant future where, if a job comes up, we already have all the information here about who is technically competent to do it, their career aspirations and objectives, their readiness to take on a new post”.
Currently, NHS Executive Search is centrally funded, but Hancock says that at some point they “will explore how we move towards a self-sufficient model”. With he and colleagues having taken pay cuts to join, and not earning commission, attracting top talent is on his mind. “I know there are people out there in the market who are interested, but can’t take the financial hit; we’re looking at how we address this,” he says.
He suggests that in time the organisation should continue to grow and “could take a third of the market” but adds: “I don’t want to build a massive engine for its own sake. I’d like to think we could make life uncomfortable for the search firms – and they already know we are here, but we need to be larger.”
Despite Hancock’s assertion, some search firms recruiter.co.uk contacted were not aware of it. Those that were, however, were sure there was still a place for outside agencies.
Christopher Coe, partner and head of European life sciences at CTPartners, argues: “In general, the in-house approach has proved to be more successful for lower-level appointments and a challenge when it comes to senior hires.” He adds that the size and fragmented nature of the NHS is “perhaps the biggest challenge” NHS Executive Search will come up against.
Meanwhile Andrea Bainger, associate partner and head of public sector at Green Park, says she is “surprised the NHS Leadership Academy has developed an in-house search team given the backdrop of severe public sector cuts and the abolition [in 2012] of the Appointments Commission”.
Lewis Maleh, founder of agency Bentley Lewis, tells us: “Ultimately, if it saves the NHS money… and they are able to apply the same rigorous search and selection techniques as an external firm, then it will prove to be a success.
“A successful in-house search team at the NHS will of course reduce the amount they spend with external search firms. However, I think there will still be a place for external firms and enough work to keep firms busy,” he concludes.
- Click for more executive search news and views from recruiter.co.uk, or for the news reported yesterday that a fifth of recent NHS redundancies have since been rehired by the service.
