Local recruiters needed to dig the dirt
20 January 2016
Local recruiters needed to dig the dirt
Mon, 25 Jan 2016 | By Sarah Marquet
“They have to speak the language to get the gossip out,” Pedersen told Recruiter.
Citing a general manager search in Albania for a multinational client, Pedersen said the candidate looked good both in person and on paper. He had an MBA from the West, and was already a manager of a Western multinational.
But when local researchers looked into his background, they found he had been involved in a visa scam and had killed someone.
“You really need to be on the street and speak the local language to get those kinds of stories… Some people have done unsavoury things under communist rule and you won’t find that in English newspapers but you will find some kind of article in local media that you can dig out if you speak the local language.
“My belief is the ideal situation is a local country manager and then you can add expats at practice group level.”
The company puts particular emphasis on making sure the right person is leading operations in each country, which also presents a challenge.
In Finland, the firm was unable to successfully recruit the right local lead and had to pull its on-the-ground presence. It now operates there with a split-fee agreement with a Finnish firm.
In its 15 years, the headhunter has only pulled out of two other countries: Bosnia, because the market was too small to justify the cost, and politically fraught Iran. However, the firm hopes to restart operations in Iran in the future.
FROM FEBRUARY 2016'S RECRUITER MAGAZINE
In emerging markets, having a local team conduct reference checks is the only way to pick up someone’s sordid past, says Poul Pedersen, founder and managing partner of global executive search firm Pedersen & Partners. The company specialises in emerging markets.“They have to speak the language to get the gossip out,” Pedersen told Recruiter.
Citing a general manager search in Albania for a multinational client, Pedersen said the candidate looked good both in person and on paper. He had an MBA from the West, and was already a manager of a Western multinational.
But when local researchers looked into his background, they found he had been involved in a visa scam and had killed someone.
“You really need to be on the street and speak the local language to get those kinds of stories… Some people have done unsavoury things under communist rule and you won’t find that in English newspapers but you will find some kind of article in local media that you can dig out if you speak the local language.
“My belief is the ideal situation is a local country manager and then you can add expats at practice group level.”
The company puts particular emphasis on making sure the right person is leading operations in each country, which also presents a challenge.
In Finland, the firm was unable to successfully recruit the right local lead and had to pull its on-the-ground presence. It now operates there with a split-fee agreement with a Finnish firm.
In its 15 years, the headhunter has only pulled out of two other countries: Bosnia, because the market was too small to justify the cost, and politically fraught Iran. However, the firm hopes to restart operations in Iran in the future.
