In a recent Friday Q&A email, we asked members of the InnoLead community if they’ve used executive recruiters to help bring in innovation team members. Along with advice on how to search for talent, members from a range of different industries gave recommendations of specific recruiters they’d worked with.
Have a question that you’d like to ask our community? Send it to editor@innovationleader.com, or see if it’s already been answered on our FAQ Page.
Anonymous Shoutouts
- Nick Brill, Ogden Berndtson (Recommended by an employee of Dana Farber)
- Wert & Company (Recommended by an executive from the apparel industry)
- Patricia Brennan & Alex Pavlou of Bamboo Crowd NYC (Recommended by an employee of a major food and beverage company)
Look on Your Own
A member from the technology industry said they had not used a recruiter, but offered advice for finding the right person for an innovation position without a recruiter.
- Look for people that have earned external trust and regard across market influencer relationships.
- Look for people that have challenged the status quo, while earning internal and external ecosystem trust, and who delivered results well beyond all expectations.
- Look for people that embrace diversity in all its forms—gender, ethnicity, and viewpoints…
- Find people who, like I did, invest in continuous enlightenment as core to meaning in life and work.
- Find different strengths that can blend together without dulling the knife of external importance.
Yes and No
Another member of the technology industry says that there can be a combination of both external recruiting and organic talent development.
“[There’s] a lot of complexity. Increasingly I believe and have experienced that ANYONE can participate in the innovation process—at different stages and perhaps times—if a corporation pursues comprehensive innovation across a balanced innovation portfolio and aims at creating a culture of innovation. In that case, looking for the right behavioral skills and attitudes among ALL staff might be an important complement (or even pre-cursor) to getting in a few individuals considered innovation talent in a different context.
Finally, if somebody is looking for the C-suite innovation leader for their company and doesn’t just want to anoint or promote another corporate leader, then checking with existing innovation agencies about people they have worked with and would recommend might be a start. Corporate Chief Innovation Officers have a fairly short shelf-life and based on industry and innovation focus, agencies might be able to recommend former customers from within or outside the industry.”
