Airport Business - 38

MANAGEMENT MATTERS
diluted forms. When asking John Clark,
vice president of SSP America about his
thoughts regarding RPOs, Clark said,
"I think of it as implementing a process
to find the people that check the boxes.
It's a disconnected process limited to
merely finding the candidates that meet
the general qualifications for the client
to review."
To that point, Jon Mathiasen's
reaction was "...when you speak of
executive-level jobs, I would have a
difficult time supporting a recruitment
process outsourcing firm for executives.
There needs to be a more personal and
hands-on approach to that level of search."
In contrast, executive search is a
process that is highly engaged, detailed
and produces success each time. That's
certainly something that Ron Smith
believes in. His firm "...had 100 percent
placement rate with my process and never
had to replace anyone."
RPO was started to focus on
processes and metrics to make the

recruitment cycle more efficient with
less candidate and client engagement. We
now have iterations of the RPO format
that do not necessarily live up to the
efficiency on which RPO was created.
Firms that use RPO methods
can process dozens upon dozens of
recruitments a year like a factory assembly
line. The process doesn't change from
one recruitment to another, nor does
it entail much client or candidate
engagement. RPO, in its current form,
largely relies on email and electronic
forms and automated interview software
to complete the vetting and interview
process for the recruitment firm. It leaves
the candidate feeling like a number in a
pool of unknowns while the client waits
and waits for candidates only to have to
sift through all the material at the end to
understand the differences each candidate
brings to the position. When you really
think about it, client and candidate
engagement were part of the winning
formula for executive search. Now the

new iteration of RPOs is not only less
efficient because the process takes as long
as a full-cycle executive search but the
"right fit" selection falters as well.

Executive Search in the
Aviation Industry
Recruitment of executive leaders in
the aviation industry, and in particular
the airport industry, utilizes both the
"true executive search" and "RPO"
methodologies. While some organizations
prefer to keep recruitment "in house,"
many are finding that outsourcing the
recruitment to an executive search firm
provides the time-tested and high-quality
version of a true executive search process.
The result of using this process is proven
by our 100 percent success rate and other
firms using this process also have very few
"do-overs" in their portfolios.
The RPO process used in our
industry entails using email, candidateled pre-recorded interviews, limited client
and candidate engagement and ensuring
that parts of the administrative aspects
such as reference checks are shepherded
by the candidate themselves. This type
of process results in clients and candidates
alike with a perception that they're just
one of many. It's also produced several
"do-overs" of recruitment cycles because
a candidate departed within a year's time.
The question an organization must ask
is whether they desire the quality of an
executive search versus the quantity
formula in the RPO approach.
To bring a greater perspective on
executive search and RPO in the aviation
industry, I asked each of the leaders I
interviewed about their thoughts around
solicitation and selection of executive
search f irms. The three leaders I
interviewed, unknowing to one another
had similar responses, including:

RON SMITH

AviationPros.com/10017697

38 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / MAY 2019

I think a focus on someone who
understands the industry, people and
identifying key strengths and weaknesses
is important. The firm and person should
also have a good network of resources
at their disposal. It's also important that
the executive recruiter spend lots of
time with the client to understand the
position and organization, and then with
the candidates to make sure they're the
right fit.
http://www.rampmasters.com http://www.AviationPros.com/10017697
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