• ART Expanded Executive Hiring Diagnostic Tool for CxO Searches

Specializing in the recruitment of all the key disciplines necessary for running a firm -- General Management, Sales and Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing Operations, R&D, Engineering, IT, Human Resources, and Legal Administration -- ART recruiters are uniquely able to understand their clients' management structures, business cultures, and business objectives.

We know how all the pieces fit together between departments, and between HQ and distant business units - across regions, cultures and languages.

Also, because we recruit in over 100 countries on six continents, we know, appreciate and understand the challenges of firms that want to run successful businesses outside of their home countries. We understand easily how to find "human bridges" between departments, business sectors and global locations and cultures.

Moreover, and far more importantly, as we have been in business since 1987, we have learned that ultimately what really defines a company is neither their location nor their industry, but rather their unique company business culture and their unique style of doing business. Over the years, we as recruiters have learned a lot about why some companies succeed and why some fail; so when we seek candidates, what we especially look for is compatibility in style. Team members with similar outlook on how to run their business effectively are people who are most likely to be happy in their jobs, most likely to work hard and creatively, and most likely to succeed. Understanding all these variables, we then set out to identify the type of person and experiences needed to run a client's business operation.

In the sometimes hurried pace of the global economy, too often companies expect that the main purpose of a CEO, President, Managing Director, General Manager, or Country Manager is to merely run an existing business. Alternatively, some companies expect an incoming CEO, President, Managing Director, General Manager, or Country Manager to be a magician - someone who as if by magic can single-handedly turn around a failing business or who can single-handedly bring money to a business with limited real world prospects.

At ART, every day we recruit competent business managers and yes, many of our candidates do have track records as "rainmakers" - that is, managers who can, through their experience and management style and contacts, bring great improvements to their new companies. However, the reality is that no company can rely on one person alone to do it all. In our experience, the best CEO's, GM's and MD's are those who are able to tell company management what is possible and what is not and who have the vision and creativity to put together and motivate a corporate team to do their best.

When ART does a general management search, we start by asking our client to describe the departmental management team below that officer. What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? Who might need to be replaced or who might need to be moved to a more suitable role in the company? By understanding "the bench" we can then better focus on finding the "team captain." Sometimes it might be necessary for the GM to be more of a sales and marketing type. Sometimes a finance, operations, or technical experience would fit best. Sometimes there is a need for a mix of career experiences. That's no problem for ART, since we recruit current CEO's, Managing Directors, General Managers, and Country Managers with all these backgrounds, as well as functional department managers who could step up to fuller general management roles.

Most importantly is that we need to see a candidate's track record of success in business models that are comparable to and suitable to our client's business style. By seeking these candidates, we are all much more likely to be happy to see long term comfort and success in a placement - candidate, employer and recruiter alike. Knowing how to find such characteristics in General Management candidates comes from our experience as recruiters. It also comes from a desire to build long term careers for our candidates at our client companies.

This is the difference between ART and our competition. We are not just filling vacancies. We are helping make our clients better companies. Companies whose management wants their firm to be the best in their field. Companies that lead. Companies that last. How best for companies to achieve this success? By hiring ART candidates who are empowered to be the best that they can be!

Below is a partial list of the varieties of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), President, Managing Director and General Manager candidates that ART recruits:

The Multinational - level CEO or COO.

The supreme cool-headed diplomat, general, and politician whose conversational aside could make the Dow Jones tumble. Could come out of a business, sales, finance, technical, or operations background, but most commonly has held titles in multiple disciplines. Are you ready for this job? Do you want this job? These days, some of the most accomplished MNC-level CEO's prefer to start their own companies. We can handle either option.

The President who is really a business-unit CEO or COO,

With near-total autonomy, and full control of functions such as Product Development, Operations, Finance, Sales and Marketing and Supply Chain. This type of President may be in charge of a large corporation's division, operating unit, new startup venture, joint venture or other entity. The business unit may even issue its own stock. Full Profit and Loss responsibility is the norm. An unusual type: the corporate animal that thinks and acts like an entrepreneur.

The Turnaround CEO or COO.

Sometimes a company experiences sluggishness in its product development, its manufacturing efficiency, financial stability or sales and marketing competitiveness. In some cases, all or some of these issues can begin to be addressed by the bringing in of an outsider to serve as CEO, COO, General Manager or President.

The Family-Owned or Closely Held Private Company CEO, President or General Manager.

Since our founding, we have served family-owned and closely held private companies all over the world, including some founded in the 1700's and with current revenue in the billions. What do they have in common? An immense sense of pride, because often the owning family's name is the name of the company, and with that name comes deep memories of the long path from the company founding through decades of challenges and successes.

Such firms often need people who can share in that pride and who are prepared to dedicate their efforts to building upon that history. In smaller firms, often the management team relies heavily on personal trust and loyalty - concepts that used to be normal in successful businesses but nowadays are rarities. When we work with family-owned client companies, we specifically look for candidates with the right skillsets and with the right attitudes to fit in and build their firms.

The CEO or COO of a Small or Medium-Sized Firm.

This type of CEO should be capable of creating a management and staff ethos that "small is fine" but that "we can all do better by growing and need to grow in order to survive." This person is able to operate in shirtsleeves on the manufacturing floor and convince Wall Street that his or her company is capable of real success.

The Private Equity or VC Firm's Portfolio Company CEO, President or General Manager.

The goal here is not entirely different from that of most other kinds of business heads: run a business efficiently and profitably. The difference here, however, is the critical understanding of two factors: being accountable for OPM ("other people's money") and always being aware of a very prominent time-clock that requires success within a specific time period. This kind of General Manager might have been hired to fix an under-performing business or to reshape it into something more valuable. This kind of General Manager or CEO understands that the ultimate objective of this business is to sell it at an appreciated value or perhaps to launch an IPO.

The CEO or COO of the Startup Firm.

This highly flexible type of entrepreneur may be the business' founder or may be a skilled outside G.M. brought in to establish accountability, viability and growth of the firm's kernel of a product or service. This person must be able to convince venture capital firms, banks and other investors that the firm knows what it is doing with other people's money. This person must be able to inject capable managers at the right places and time without making the R&D gurus and grunts feel they have lost total control of their baby.

A startup firm may require two or more different generations of CEO's as it passes from the R&D (and possibly financially hungry) stage to a pilot-run stage to a sales and marketing stage to a thriving company stage where the startup, now out of the red, needs a person who knows how to make the company a $50-100M+ firm. Some Startup CEO's are amazingly able to go from the garage stage to the Inc. 1000 or Fortune 500 stage, while others are limited due to their personal career focus or employment experiences. ART has candidates at each of these levels in a large range of technologies and services.

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