How Are We Different?

The Anchor approach is one that will introduce better candidates than our competitors. We do that by focusing our energy entirely on the idea of bringing passive talent to the table.

We begin by acknowledging that the best talent in this or any market are generally going to be well taken care of, not just on the compensation front, but with their development and growth goals being met. This small population is passive in the extreme, with no reason to entertain recruiting calls from outside parties. 

As a general rule, these individuals are not going to be responsive to outreach from a corporate recruiting function. They may have preconceived notions about your company, their previous moves were likely made through personal connections, and/or they likely see it as an unnecessary risk in their small world of professional colleagues and peers. But above all, because they have no reason to look.

If these individuals are willing to engage at all, it will be on narrow terms. Our experience is that professional services leaders are more mobile in their mindset than those in most other industries, given the profusion of opportunities for professional advancement in this world. It's about the story. We target the most well-regarded senior partners and leaders, and specifically those to whom we can show material improvement, in terms of career (level, responsibility, mandate future growth prospects), brand, platform, company culture, and sometimes other factors like compensation. We find that a majority will be willing to come to the table to discuss that story given certain parameters, chief among them discretion.

Our network allows us to enjoy warm introductions from mutual friends who can attest to our industry knowledge, discretion, and relationships with key client leadership. Once connected, our first goal is to screen them for suitability on every front, but the overriding goal is to bring them to the table for a discussion with the senior leadership of our clients.

We ask our clients for two things, the first of which is their understanding: acknowledging that these individuals can't be seen as being interested in the role at this early stage. Nor can they be approached this way in early conversation. The second thing we ask for is an active investment of their time in these discussions. When the client sees the importance of engaging each of these passive candidates in an informal way at the outset, their investment will pay off through exposure to the best talent in the market.

Anchor's role is to engage with the best passive talent, tell the compelling story (if it exists), and create a safe space where they can learn more about the opportunity from the client leadership. And do so without feeling they may be wasting that leader's time. We specialize in brokering these under-the-radar conversations, whether it be over coffee or lunch, or in Covid times by videoconference or phone. And by advising our clients in the background of the key points of emphasis that will strike a cord for them. Compensation is usually an afterthought; their interest will build (or not) based on the vision, strategy, culture, investment plan, and other soft factors of an opportunity that will manifest in these early conversations.

Often, these conversations may not yield an interested candidate. But our approach depends on this investment from our clients, and in the end we have a high quality slate of options from which to choose.