An Exclusive Interview With Harvard Group International – Executive & Professional Recruitment

Harvard Group International was founded in 1997 with a primary focus on automotive manufacturers and tier-one suppliers. From its beginning, the culture has been one of providing help and advisory services to clients and candidates alike. As the firm grew, the practice evolved more of a generalist focus, covering almost every industry segment across finance & investment, medical, technology, consumer, and more, to manufacturers and suppliers; US and International. With that history, HGI has helped many of the largest corporations in the world as well as private businesses and start-ups. The key to success is grounded in the firm's process of thoroughly understanding the clients' needs as well as hiring managers' preferences to enable effective 'digging' into likely sources; and identifying accomplished candidates that require actual recruiting before presentation to clients. Along the years, HGI has become known for professional courtesy, confidentiality, and focused urgency. The associates and directors of the firm have reviewed many thousands of resumes, placing thousands of candidates across a broad spectrum of titles, roles, and diversity.

Harvard Group International, Executive & Professional Recruiters

Harvard Group International has been a significant player in the industry. Could you provide an overview of the organization’s evolution and its core mission? 

From a foundation of Executive & Professional Recruiting, today’s HGI provides help and value to clients seeking team additions for most departments and job levels, while also regularly serving the role of an easily available source of advice and sounding-board council to business executives.

How has HGI adapted its approach over the years to meet the evolving needs of its diverse clientele?

Over HGI’s three decades of successful service, we have evolved into a generalist firm, helping clients across a broad spectrum of industries, while maintaining and continuing to represent our original values and culture that built the basis of the firm’s reputation for success and professionalism.

What are the core values and principles that guide HGI’s operations, and how do they influence your services and client interactions?

Be a source of help as well as value to any and all who seek our advice and assistance. We take to heart our role as consultant, engaged by our clients because we can bring notably more than just posting ad’s and filtering resultant resumes. In that is included a deep understanding of where to find and how to land the person who best fits our client’s needs as well as culture. 

Built on our founder’s background and the early years of our firm’s success, HGI works diligently to effectively understand the required credentials of candidates our client seeks, to include the order of preference of these credentials, as held by the hiring manager. Usually an iterative process, we ask well considered questions to assure full understanding by the HGI team assigned to the project. With that agreed, we dig into likely sources to identify and recruit those stand out candidates exhibiting the proven skills and experience specified and preferred. We do not depend on ‘post and hope’ techniques. HGI delivers candidates who can differentiate themselves relative to their peers, based on their career history.

How does HGI ensure high performance and client satisfaction across different industries and functions?

In Executive & Professional Recruiting, the key defining qualification check is the same across all industry sectors. That is never forgetting accomplishment as being proof of ability. Therefore, we determine to what degree can the candidate convince our client regarding this reality, relative to their personal career success. This skill HGI employs is often effective in finding ‘early rising stars’ who can bring more than just self-confidence to their new employer, our client. Thus, Succession Planning projects are regular for HGI, building our client’s bench strength.

What strategies are used to ensure successful outcomes?

Communicate often and to the point. Most important is to listen very well and request clarification to confirm the project specification, i.e., the target’s definition. Then confirm to the client what we understand their needs and priorities to be. More than half the time, HGI helps the client better define and express the points of qualification sought relative to the field of top performers likely available.

What are the most common challenges you encounter, and how does HGI address them?

Best qualified candidates, that align with our clients’ needs, are not plentiful or “standing around” waiting to be found. Therefore, well-considered identification of sources is undertaken as the project launches, as well as continues throughout the process, since recruiting likely candidates often identifies additional sources. An equally important part of HGI’s process and culture is highly professional and considerate relationship with each candidate, on behalf of HGI as well as on behalf of our client. 

How does HGI stay ahead of industry trends and maintain its competitive edge?

In two ways. First, over the past near 30 years, HGI has evolved the firm’s process applied to fit the needs of our clients and the means of finding candidates. While our process has evolved, our founding culture, grounded in person-to-person consideration and respect, has only strengthened.

Second, by remembering and applying the reality that ‘desire for the job’ is more of a facilitation to the process than it is a qualification.

What is HGI’s approach to building long-term relationships with clients, and how do you ensure continued success and satisfaction?

There are two key aspects to HGI’s long-term business relationships. First, we bring both long history as well as priority to succeed on their behalf, while representing good value. Second, we are frequently able to help more than just the candidate our client hires. As long as we remain aware that the fundamental basis of our role is to provide help to all involved in the project, and deliver that with a high level of professionalism, HGI’s business relationships grow longer term.

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