Where does the name hunton lewis come from?
We have carried a whole search and testing on 50 different names and brand names, having 20 “testers” worldwide give us their feedback. The objective was to have a name that sounded right in a multicultural environment. We still have the main 2 letters "hl" that were popularised with H&L (Hartmann & Lotz) and better enable our transition to the new branding / positioning
What will this new name change for us as a customer?
hunton lewis / Hartmann & Lotz France has gained major credibility in the past 5 years being clever enough to focus on the right technological markets and the right customers within these techno markets to anticipate the datacenter transformation and SaaS/Cloud Computing era. Now hunton lewis is in an ideal position to better meet the market transformation and the business expectations our current and future customers have.
Together with finding top talents, the hl team will enhance their methodologies in particular:
- keep on being trained on the financial and techno trends of their customers and markets
- be 100% focused on proactive headhunting (no advertisement): it gives better, faster and more qualitative results. We know how to attract top profiles, we have a methodology for this.
- be result oriented on the short AND long term: when a role is opened we know we have only a few weeks / days to fill a critical gap. Once done, we have to follow up the candidate in the months / years to come to make sure the win-win situation between candidate and company is a reality.
- be report oriented: sending written daily / weekly reports to better meet traceability and corporate rules / governance in terms of execution of work.
hunton lewis is an ideal fit for international and / or US-based companies that need an executive search agency who:
1 - understands the market
2 - respects corporate guidance and rules and executes locally
3 - is result and sales oriented.
What will it change for me as a candidate?
hunton lewis will keep focusing on:
- strong support of candidates: consulting and counseling, oral status careers, resume and CV improvements and use of dedicated tests and trainings such as our Candidate Interview Q&A (CIQA©) method, registered at INPI*, that has proved its efficiency in the past 5 years.
- provide real time information trough our new website and use of the professional social networks to better convey the information in a networked environment.
hunton lewis will stick to the Triple Win Approach ie success for the Candidate + Company + hunton lewis.
- Go / No Go feedbacks: even if there is a No Go from hl or the customer after a first number of x meetings, hunton lewis commits to giving an answer to the candidate and giving him or her the necessary explanations.
Also because we consider being frank will enable good candidates to progress, we will keep having our Nothing But The Truth approach (NBTT), telling the candidates what their strengths AND weaknesses are. Like a sports champion in training, hunton lewis maintains that top candidates need to understand where their lacks are to improve.
Don't you think the motto "Talent Finder, Business Impacter" is a bit tough?
We believe it expresses well what we have to do for our clients AND our candidates. Our candidates need an agency that will help them grow and if they want to grow they will need to join the companies that are definitely business and talent oriented. So if we want to open doors for top candidates, our customers need to trust the fact that we will impact on THEIR business. We understand how tough it can be sometimes but we know how to be a real business impacter. We are there to impact on sales, let there be no misunderstanding on this.
What kind of roles will you fill in for your customers?
We remain a pure player on the IT BtoB market. And more than ever, we commit our energy to the recruitments of top managers, senior sales profiles, pre sales and consultants, professional services resources but also marketing, legal or finance roles.
How do you cope with ethics?
Ethics and business can work hand in hand together. We have stuck to several principles that have made our reputation:
- NBTT (Nothing But The Truth) approach: we tell our customers AND our candidates the simple truth. We believe that even if it is more difficult to be transparent when something has not gone well, it is always better on the long run. It pays off for a real trustworthy relationship. Also, telling good lies can be very complex and we are a bit too lazy to spend time altering reality!
- Equal Opportunity Provider: we firmly believe in recruitment selection being performed irrespective of sexual orientation, marital status, disability, colour, religion, age, ethnic origin or nationality. The main two elements that we will keep looking for in any candidate are 1 - competencies and 2 - enthusiasm. Full stop.
- Active Customer Hands Off (ACHO) approach: though it can seem very obvious, we remind everyone that we are not supposed to approach a candidate who is already employed within an active customer of us.
- Confidentiality: our customers and candidates are always very open and frank with us, they put their trust in each hl consultant. We stick to the utmost respect of confidentiality for any information provided to us. We will not share a confidential information without having checked previously that our customer or candidate agrees on this. It particularly means we will NOT send a resume to a customer without having the prior green light from the owner of this document.
As a client, why pay a retainer?
This has been a long debate over the years but gradually companies agree on this. Recruiting top profiles is strategic and critical. The more critical and strategic a problem is, the more you need committed parties that will work together to address the topic. Just like when building a house you need to rely on an architect you will need to trust. You cannot decide to have 2 architects working on the same objectives and pay the one who will succeed having the construction erected as fast as possible. Everybody understands it can prove very risky in the end for the very foundations of the house.It really works the same with Executive Search.
Paying a retainer is a concrete proof of mutual trust. It is also and most of all an insurance on the risk a company is willing to take. "I want to make sure my house will be built solidly on the long term, meeting timing constraints, I chose the right partner / architect. If I do not want to commit, no problem but I shall be ready to accept the risk."
THE real question for a Recruiting Company is: “am I willing to take the risk for MY business?”. Under 80% of risk of non success, a company can chose not to pay a retainer (but it is already very risky). But above this line, no one would seriously take the risk. Exactly like when choosing an architect for a house.
The only thing a company needs to do is taking time to find the GOOD hiring partner who will commit on results and success. References on the partner will be key. Once done, the company will be a lot more at peace and be sure the partner will impact on its business.
How do you address international roles?
We cover Southern Europe from France (whether for VP SEMEA or pure Sales Southern Europe roles). For EMEA roles we will carry on working with our UK and German partners from the Hartmann & Lotz Europe network. We plan on new partnerships to be announced in the near future.
* INPI : Institut National de la Propriete Intellectuelle / Intellectual Property Office in France in charge of patents, trademarks and industrial design rights