Is Your Firm on the Right Human Resources or Legal Track For Success?

• Corporate Human Resources roles, based at the company's headquarters
• Plant, Country, or Regional Human Resources roles in countries or locations other than that of the parent company's headquarters

In the sometimes hurried pace of the global economy, too often companies expect that the main purpose of a Human Resources Head is to just make sure that HR functions run smoothly enough so that senior management never has to hear bad news. But often, HR departments are given the most difficult and challenging problems that no other department wants to be burdened with. In too many companies, then, HR is seen as the department that is "best seen and not heard," because when HR speaks, it might be that other department managers will have their shortcomings revealed to senior management.

At ART, we have a much higher expectation of our candidates and our clients. When we take on an HR search, what we want to hear from our client is that the Human Resources person that they are seeking has to be a key member of the management team. To us, this means that we need to find a competent organizational head, planner and communicator who can bravely speak in a straightforward way to senior management as well as to staff about the challenges and opportunities that need to be addressed. For us, Human Resources Heads are key to an effective organization, no matter what industry or market. If HR is given only a minor role as opposed to a key role at the table of managers, in our experience, such firms are typically minimizing their effectiveness.

Human Resources has a unique role in a company. It doesn't just cover one departmental function or location. It covers all functions, all departments, all sites. A competent HR Head sees problems in Manufacturing before the COO might see them or admit to them. S/he sees problems in Sales and Marketing before the VP Sales sees them or admits to them. S/he sees problems in Finance before the CFO sees them or admits to them. Human Resources, if handled correctly, has its finger on the pulse of the most critical and only living and breathing component of a corporation: its staff. If a company does not want to listen to its HR department or if it does not empower its HR department to speak up when possible problems are seen, then in many ways that company puts a hood over its corporate head and leaves itself meandering in the dark. In such situations, problems happen "all of a sudden." Customers drop off "all of a sudden." Company productivity in a distant factory drops precipitously "to everyone's shock." But to a competent HR Head, these matters were all too visible. Too bad that HQ wasn't listening or did not want to hear.

A company could have a breakthrough product that in theory a lot of customers would flock to. A company could have all of its financing lined up precisely to meet its goals. A company could have a sales department that should be capable of building a business. But if the people behind product development, sales, finance, marketing, IT, operations and supply chain are not well developed and treated, a company can and inevitably will fail. Such things occur in famous large firms, well-touted medium sized firms and ambitious startup firms. Ironically, the often ignored and scarcely funded HR component is often the company department that can best chart a path for the firm's survival and growth.

At ART, we need to see a candidate's track record of success in business models and styles that are comparable to and suitable to our client's business style. A person who is successful, for example, at a multi-billion dollar multinational might find the resources and expectations of a great and fast-growing medium sized firm as incompatible. By seeking candidate-client matches where both parties make their assumptions about HR and business possibilities and limitations from a practical and realistic standpoint, 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 Human Resources 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!

Regional Human Resources Recruitment Profiles include the following:

• United States & Canada:

• Europe/ Middle East/ Africa:

• Latin America: 

• Asia-Pacific:
  

ART's Legal Administration Executive Search Practice


FOCUS: Only on Corporate Law, primarily serving industrial, high-tech and service sector corporations, for roles at corporate headquarters or regional centers at home and abroad. Some roles involve legal specializations, while other roles might be generalist roles, or they might be more purely Administration Management roles that might encompass oversight of departments such as Human Resources, Finance, Legal, etc.

Regional Recruitment Profiles include the following:

• Europe:
  

• Asia-Pacific:

• Latin America:  

• Middle East & Africa:

• United States & Canada: