Company
Profile
Kinkead is a retained search firm, focusing on a single discipline
- marketing management. At the heart of our work is the search for
classical training and breakthrough results in marketing executives,
and we have a strong bias for candidates coming out of one of the
large US marketing powerhouses (currently or formerly in their careers).
We profile marketing management within these companies, track their
alumni carefully, and believe that for most marketing searches,
the strongest candidates will have spent some time with one of these
organizations.
Company
Bio
Clients
vary in size; all are well managed and market driven, and operate
in consumer or industrial markets, or both. The firm works with
just a few longstanding clients, such that repeat business has represented
80% of revenues since 1993. We build our client relationships on
trust and good work, and we build them for life. Assignments
include searches for the chief marketing officer and direct reports.
As a practical matter, this means our work begins at the director
or group product manager level (total compensation from $120,000).
Mission - To help clients identify, build and
retain marketing leadership capable of taking them to new levels
of performance, lasting results and profound change.
Consultants
are hired for their judgment, and to effect a result. As advisor
and business partner to our clients, our first job is to take
a closer look at the assignment, and the objectives and assumptions
involved. We bring the insight of an outside consultant to the
table, but also deep understanding of marketing, current marketing
methodology, and often the industry.
In initial discussions with clients, we listen carefully, make
observations and recommend change as appropriate. And to ensure
the best result, we anticipate surprises or potential search roadblocks,
and candidates' likely reaction to the opportunity as structured.
Integrity
and Tenure - Delivering strong leaders only matters if
they stay and continue to add value, so tenure may be the true
measure of a search consultant's worth. Executive retention has
everything to do with candidate assessment in the hiring process,
and there are some built-in retention traps that we monitor carefully.
On the company's part, enthusiasm and urgency to fill a key job
often lead to underweighting long term fit when assessing candidates.
And many organizations overestimate their ability to continue
to challenge and hold very strong people over time. On the other
hand, candidates tend to underweight their own future needs, thinking
they can create their own opportunities in the organization. Egos
are at work here. In the end, executives stay when their evolving
challenge needs are met. Our job is to assess those needs and
our client's ability to meet them, and we do it well, with retention
rates of 92% after 5 years, 88% after 8 years.
As Partners - We have a deep and long involvement
with just a few clients, and this ensures the win-win benefits
of a true business partnership. The deeper dialog always adds
value beyond the assignment at hand. We enjoy the same level of
trust and confidence as a hand-picked associate, and are expected
to challenge client thinking and the status quo.
Our
Size - With few clients, we can stay abreast of developments
and issues of most concern to management, and can invest in and
build databases and research libraries around each client.
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David
Kinkead
Managing Partner
Need
BIO
"Consultants
are hired for their judgment, and to effect a result."
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