ETHICS: Basics all parties must recognize, practice and live by (Part 1)

“You can win big battles by winning small victories at a time” - Manuel Corazzari

In the close to 50 years of the existence of Executive Search as a management consulting service in the Philippines, many good things have taken place. As a B2B service, it has established its niche in the local business environment and added value to countless Filipino-owned as well as multinational business corporations.

However, through the years, the industry has also unfortunately seen the proliferation of malpractices. It’s undeniable – especially given that the industry has one of the lowest barriers to new entrants – that, it has been relatively easy for fly-by-night and indiscriminate individuals to overnight declare themselves as executive search consultants or “bona fide head-hunters”. 

Even until today, many long-time entities or so-called ‘search firms’ do not even abide by a Code of Ethics. Many do not bother to prepare such a document given their selective understanding of what it takes to become a truly competent and ethical search entity. As a result, very few client companies that use the services of third party search entities are also not educated on those responsibilities. Consequently, many client companies tend to view a search firm as an “agency” that can be expected to produce resumes of executive talents as possible candidates for their various management-level vacancies within a 24-hour turn-around time!  This is plainly ridiculous.

An ethical and comprehensive search process to generate a qualified shortlist of candidates -  for one specific senior level requirement – takes a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks’ time. An ethical search firm will not short cut its proven processes to “flood” a client company with resumes of executive talents. It abides by the Data Privacy Law which means that any personal information of a prospective executive talent is released to a client company only upon the candidate’s consent. This process requires both time and diligent action.

Executive talents must realize that the search firm that contacts them to explore a career option must act as their business partners, namely properly protective of their careers once an executive search process is underway. Not many so-called search firms realize that both the paying client company and candidate are their stakeholders, parties with whom they must ensure mutually beneficial collaboration and true business partnering. The responsible search firm will have thoroughly oriented both parties with their own set of obligations in order to render successful conclusion of the search process.

At the present time, getting rid of malpractices is not easy. The challenge now requires dedicated and high integrity search bona fides to educate, Educate, EDUCATE the many sectors of people involved in the executive search process. Making sure ethics are observed in fact requires all stakeholders to stay vigilant about what the proper processes vs. doing things expediently, in other words ditching time-tested processes.

In fact, in my opinion, aside from pro bono conferences on Ethics that are usually sponsored by ethics-bound search firms, one of the practical ways to help educate is more granular, namely through the daily grind. Through each and every step of the standard executive search process, all stakeholders must be vigilant about the right thing to do and to say. Living and breathing and practising globally-accepted Code of Ethics of respectable search firms. In every step of the process. As it happens.

The goal is to point out any malpractice that Stakeholders encounter every day. With each and every search assignment, each Stakeholder must ensure that he/she calls out to the other what is not right or unethical. The battles are in the details, daily. The way to win the bigger war called proliferation of malpractices is by conquering and winning the details during daily battles.