Approach
At Sterling Strand, we believe that hiring, like all business decisions, should be a science, not an art. It should start with a goal in mind, that’s then translated into a process, steeped in research, and executed with as many data points as possible. Here’s how it works:
1. Define the Problem
When we meet, we’ll insist that you tell us not what the role is, but why you think you need to hire someone. This ensures we have an understanding of your business problem that this hire is meant to solve. Once we are aligned here, we document it in a job description and advise on an attractive, accurate and market relevant title (or we’ll propose a/b testing a few titles).
2. Design an Assessment
We take the problem you are solving and translate it into a set of competencies and ideal skills the person should have to solve it. Then, we create interview questions that test those things, and assign them to your interview team based on their roles and types of topics they will care about. We will also provide guidance as needed on good/bad answers.
3. Map the Market
We make a list of all the companies that have solved similar problems and find the people who solved them. We go-to-market in an incredibly high quality way, leading with your brand, not ours, and entice people with what you and the role have to offer vs. the value of being in our “network.” This gets us a much faster, higher quality, more relevant and diverse talent pool than any other firm. Just ask our clients.
4. Calibrate
Once we start getting candidates into play (two weeks from our go-to-market date), we want you to get calibrated. To us, a high quality search means you meet 5-20 of the candidates (10-12 is the sweet spot) that we have prescreened and recommended. Of those, 4-6 make it to the final stage. Of those, you have a finalist and a backup
— all within 3 months — this is why our average time to fill is 93 days.
5. Track & Measure
If we’re not approaching success within 90 days (or observing obstacles sooner), we stop and reset. We share our data on the market, your data on who you’ve met (pass through rates, rejection/withdrawal reasons), and we find patterns, diagnose and unblock together.
This is why our searches don’t fail.
6. Close
Once we have a finalist identified, it’s closing time. We’ll discuss the “psychology” of closing and propose a strategy and action plan to get the person over the line and land in a place you feel comfortable with.