Primary Asset Consulting

Executive Search

PAC identifies and attracts the right people who can move seamlessly into an organisation and make a positive impact from their first day.

PAC identifies, evaluates, screens, profiles, interviews and recruits the most talented business and thought leaders globally.

PAC has extensive experience, global reach and intimate industry knowledge.

PAC works closely with its clients to define requirements, find the best candidates and assist with decision making, negotiation and integration.

PAC’s team of professionals takes pride in its work and delivers every time.

And PAC guarantees the process.

Expertise

Effective executive search and recruitment requires hands-on experience in the markets we serve. PAC partners and principal consultants have extensive backgrounds and specific expertise across a range of industries, sectors and functional areas.

Executive Search / Recruitment

PAC offers to its clients advice on leadership issues and undertakes specialist executive-search services including retained senior-executive search, retained executive-recruitment, interim executive management and contract executives.

PAC works in partnership with its clients to secure the right candidate always.

Executive Governance

PAC provides advice to boards and senior executives on matters of governance including the appointment of directors and the vitally important matter of planned CEO succession, both long-term planned succession and emergency succession.

Lift Outs

Lift outs consist of hiring whole teams of professionals who have been working together as a high-functioning unit within an organisation. It is a quick route to establishing a strong presence in a new market or area and is increasingly a common practice.

The rewards include fast tracking organisational capability rather than the slower process of acquiring individual talent. Team members hit the ground running and make an impact from the first day. A successful lift out delivers an effective operational team experienced at working together successfully.

A lift out strategy is a high risk/high reward one that requires skilled and experienced management. The risks include the recruited people not fitting with a company's existing culture, complex legal obstacles including non-compete and poaching issues and the unsettling of current employees.

PAC knows the real challenges of making lift outs work and that a lift out must be meticulously managed to ensure successful delivery of its many benefits.

PAC offers a total lift-out management solution that includes the approach and courtship, negotiation, operational integration of the team leader and the team and the cultural melding of the team into its new environment.

Team Builds

PAC has extensive experience in building and populating entire executive and leadership teams from five to 20 hires across virtually any functional capability.

Our Approach

A Detailed Step-By-Step Approach

The following indicative methodology illustrates PAC’s thorough, logical and objective approach to its search and selection process. This process does not vary, regardless of business lines, geography or salary range.

Appraisal of position and its environment, profile and position requirements

  • Evaluation of the position and the corporate environment. Completion of a competency based interviewing framework.
  • Definition of required personal and functional requirements, determination of mandatory and desirable skills and qualifications.
  • Identification of core competencies required to undertake the position.
  • Definition of performance objectives: short, medium and long term.

Assignment specification (internal "Roadmap")

  • Preparation of an Assignment Specification which provides a complete understanding of the requirements and includes a company profile and position and person description including core competencies required to achieve targeted KPIs and objectives.

Research/Search

  • Thorough search of ready bank of candidates on file and senior executive networks from relevant recent assignments.
  • Thorough search of industry to identify suitable candidates who currently are employed by client-competitor firms.
  • Utilisation of advanced on-line search-optimisation tools.
  • Daily updating of Candidate Library with industry executive movements and organisational changes.
  • Research and active search within business/industries where suitable and transferable skills/competencies are available.
  • Network search for referrals from within the industry.
  • Thorough market-mapping which is developed through detailed research conducted on a range of companies (across industry sectors and geographics in many cases) to provide appropriate-level search targets.

Long List

  • Establishment of a long list of qualified individuals deemed capable and suitable to contact.
  • Presentation of research and the long list to establish target contacts.

Candidate approach

  • Direct, discreet contact with each potential candidate to discuss the opportunity.
  • General description of position and company without client disclosure (if necessary) is offered while gauging reaction and assessing the candidate’s background and suitability.
  • If mutual interest and suitability are established then an initial interview with PAC is arranged.

Selection Phase I – Interviews

Targeted selection, "past behaviour predicts future behaviour" and competency based questioning techniques are used to assess a candidate's suitability for the role including:

  • Professional qualifications and relevant industry experience.
  • Organisational culture assessment.
  • Career objectives and goals.
  • Behaviour to determine personality characteristics.
  • Key achievements.
  • Competencies in line with the position.
  • Employment requirements and conditions.
  • Salary components, start date and availability.
  • Short listing of appropriate candidates for client interviews.

Selection Phase 2 – Candidate introduction and interviews

  • Recommendation of suitable candidates for interview with client. Preparation and provision of a candidate biography on short-listed candidates.
  • Introduction of selected candidates to client by way of formal candidate interviews.
  • Discussion with client of its impressions.
  • Second and third interviews including panel interviews.
  • Optional group discussions
  • Optional business presentations, business plans or examples of previous work/achievements.
  • Assistance to client in selecting the most suitable candidate by discussing the available facts and observations.

Selection Phase 3 – Psychological profiling (optional)

  • Comprehensive psychological assessment.
  • IQ testing (numerical, verbal and abstract reasoning).
  • EI, Change Management/Behavioural – personality profiling and ability and aptitude assessments.

Selection Phase 4 - Reference checking

  • Standard operating procedure for PAC is to conduct two comprehensive reference checks regarding professional and personal qualifications, capabilities, competencies, management style, suitability and any specific issues raised through the interview process. PAC prefers to conduct its reference checks face-to-face to ensure a greater level of accuracy.

Selection Phase 5 - Arrangement of additional meetings between candidate, client and other parties involved in the final hiring decision

  • Final advice in selecting the most suitable candidate.
  • Discussion with client to establish final position objectives, KPIs, targets, responsibilities and the induction of the successful candidate into the business.

Offer to successful candidate / obtaining candidate commitment

  • Advice to successful candidate on the offer, negotiation of contract and co-ordination of letter of offer.
  • Negotiation of start date.
  • Assistance in the resignation process.
  • Regular follow-up between resignation and start date.

Benefits

  • PAC’s experienced professionals get results. Our processes are robust.
  • PAC’s search methodology is rigorous, innovative, agile and we are research led.
  • PAC puts integrity first, completes quality research and has outstanding contract negotiation skills.
  • PAC provides thorough and detailed market mapping, long lists based on comprehensive competitor analysis.
  • PAC works with a select number of clients and its off-limits list remains small, providing a more comprehensive access to candidates.
  • PAC completes searches to execution in more than 98% of assignments.