Sheldon Baker07.09.10
Brian Stuesser, president of Global Recruiters of Madison and founder of WholePlanetJobs.com and the Natural Products Division, bought the Global Recruiters Network (GRN) in 2009. During the past four years (2006-2009), Global Recruiters of Madison was awarded Office of the Year within the 185-plus GRN office network. During that time, Mr. Stuesser has been a top-10 global recruiter out of 600-plus GRN recruiter group. A perennial GRN Peak Performer, Million Dollar Producer, former Rookie of the Year, 3-time Central Region Search Consultant of the Year and National Search Consultant of the Year, Brian and his team are dedicated to developing long-term strategic alliances with client companies and candidates, and strictly adhere to their guiding principles of honesty, integrity and confidentiality. He and his team have successfully completed search assignments in general management, sales, marketing, R&D, quality and regulatory affairs. Their clientele includes privately-held and publicly-traded emerging and high-growth companies ranging in annual sales volume from $5 million to nearly $1 billion. Mr. Stuesser received a BBA-Marketing degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Mr. Stuesser, his wife Theresa and their two daughters are very health-conscious and enjoy organic gardening, camping and exploring the beautiful city of Madison, WI, and its family-oriented culture.
I was recently introduced to Brian by an industry associate and felt his employment insights would be of interest to readers of Health E-Insights.
Health E-Insights: Do people often refer to you as a headhunter?
Mr. Stuesser: Yes they do, but it's almost as if some people are unsure of just what to call me. Somehow, the term headhunter has negative connotations around it, but it doesn't bother me in the least. My favorite professional reference, however, is human capitalist, which I think is fairly accurate. I see myself as much more of a consultant to top companies in the natural products industry, and one of the services my firm offers is identifying and assisting in the landing of true difference makers through channel-specific recruitment. In other words, people who would not otherwise be part of the candidate pool as their heads are down, they're most likely working for a competitor, and they're oblivious to the classifieds. We do in excess of 90% repeat business, so I think the value our firm offers beyond headhunting is fairly well received. We truly are experts in the world of search for the natural products industry.
Health E-Insights: You do both job placement and corporate search?
Mr. Stuesser: All of our work is permanent placement. No outplacement or contract work. Roughly 50% of our business is fully retained executive search, generally at the director level and above. The other 50% of our business takes on the form of contingency or engaged search, typically at the manager level or below. We typically only represent or place people who have a proven track record of leadership, otherwise our client companies don't feel good about paying us a fee for our services. Again, regardless of the type of search, all of our work is permanent placement.
Health E-Insights: Are natural products industry companies hiring?
Mr. Stuesser: Since I launched WholePlanetJobs.com in 2005, I have not seen more activity than we're seeing in 2010. Last year was a record year for our firm, which now includes six people, all dedicated to the natural products market. This year is trending as our best year ever. We owe much of our success to the pioneers in the natural products industry. As it is for so many others, it's not just a job for us, it's a way of being.
Health E-Insights: Is it true that many key positions are never advertised publicly?
Mr. Stuesser: That is absolutely true, especially for the higher level, more strategic positions that we fill. In fact, we're being asked with greater frequency to have candidates execute NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) before we disclose the name of our client companies. They don't want their competitors knowing where they're headed directionally, and they don't want their phones ringing off the hook once the word hits the street. Actually, many of the positions we've filled over the past 12 months fall into a category that we call “top grading,” so by nature these searches are highly confidential. We also have many client companies who outsource the entire recruiting process to us because they've come to appreciate the level of candidates we reach, and the speed of "time to fill” saves lots of time and people power. Time is money, and filtering through 500 resumes of mostly unqualified candidates to identify the two or three that might be able to do the job with proper training takes a lot of time. There's no guarantee they fall into the "A" category. We shortcut the process, generally, representing only the top 5-10% of industry professionals. It’s what we call the true difference makers.
Health E-Insights: What do you like best about your job?
Mr. Stuesser: There are so many aspects of my job that appeal to me, but the two that stand out the most are the ability to facilitate strategic alliances and true win-win partnerships between best in class talent and industry leading companies, as well as working with a nationwide network of people who share my passion for making the world a healthier, happier place to live. The gratitude I feel as I'm now seeing people celebrate their five-year anniversaries with companies I placed them at is icing on the cake.
For more information and interview consideration, contact Sheldon Baker at sbaker@bakerdillon.com or visit his website at www.bakerdillon.com.
