Executive Search

Dear Samuel: Negotiating Executive Employment Offers in the era of COVID-19

March 20, 2020 by Samuel Dergel Leave a Comment

Dear Samuel,

I have been with a large, well known company for a while in various finance and operations roles. I am ready to take on the CFO role at a smaller, growing company. I recently received an offer. The company looks like a good choice for me to start my CFO career path.

I’m in middle of negotiating my agreement and package. When I received the offer, things were still in the pre-COVID-19 state. With a pandemic being declared and the business world being uncertain, I have one major concern and I would like your advice.

There is a severance package attached to the opportunity that is fair (after we’ve negotiated a few things). The issue is that it kicks in on start date. I’m going to resign from my well know blue chip employer and going to a much smaller growing company. With the new world of uncertainty of COVID-19 and a business world that is changing from day to day, what happens if I resign today and when I start in a few weeks the situation at my new employer-in-waiting changes so drastically that they tell me they don’t need me anymore?

Living on the Edge, Massachusetts

Dear On the Edge,

Your question shows that you have a sharp mind.

Usually, your concern is not an issue. You’ve likely done your due diligence, like the prospects of your potential new employer and feel that there is a good fit for you to go in and make a difference while you tackle new responsibilities and challenges. Waiting a few weeks is usually not an issue.

Businesses are now facing challenges they have never had to face before. And, when taking a look at the speed and depth of this natural disaster and the impact it has on business, who can really say that companies with limited cash and resources will pull through this crisis?

I have never seen anyone ask a potential employer to cover the risk between resignation date and start date. I have never seen the need to either. Until today.

I recommend that you go to your potential new employer and express your concern to them. If they have been reasonable with you throughout your negotiation process, I expect that they will be reasonable as well.

I do not recommend that you go to them with a proposed solution. Ask them to solve the problem. If the method that they come back with is fair and deals with your concern, accept it.

I also recommend that you get into your new company as soon as possible. I actually had one new CFO start at a client on Monday March 16, 2020. Their first day in the office was bedlam, but the leadership and ownership were grateful to have a steady hand on deck to help them deal with the stormy seas.

Close the deal and get on board. Your new employer needs you even more than they did a month ago.

Good luck and keep me informed,

Samuel

Dear Readers,

Dear Samuel is a feature of our Leadership Blog that deals with questions executives have about their leadership roles and career situations. If you have any questions that you would like Samuel Dergel to address, please send your questions to dearsamuel@dergelsearch.com.

Please note that all questions asked will be treated in the strictest of confidence and all identifying material in questions asked will be edited to respect the privacy of all participants and companies.

Employers: Your Opportunity during the Panic

March 16, 2020 by Samuel Dergel Leave a Comment

I do not take the current pandemic situation lightly. And neither do you.

It can be hard to realize that while this is a challenging time, both from a personal as well as a business perspective, I can tell you that employers like you have a significant opportunity.

No doubt the current situation has you worried and concerned, both about your business and your people. You have some very difficult decisions to make, many times very quickly, sometimes with not enough information.

Now is the time to build your team for the future. The current situation is temporary, and the rebound will be very strong.

The executive talent market over the last years has been a challenge. Until recently, business has been very good. The ability to attract and hire the best talent possible was a challenge because, let’s face it, things were going well – so why would great talent want to leave?

I promise you that in the current situation, executive talent is now more open to listening to other career opportunities. With many executives are beginning to work at home, and situations at their employers are challenging, they will be more responsive to opportunities they are called for.

You have a lot to focus on now. But do not miss the opportunity at hand to build your star leadership team for the future.

I urge you to get cracking now. Waiting for the rebound will leave you behind the curve and in tough competition, and ultimately will delay your rebound.

You do not have to do this by yourself. Choose to work with an executive recruiter who understands your business and how to pitch the opportunity and has the reach to get star talent to the table (or video conference) for interviews. Now.

Samuel Dergel is Principal and Founder at DERGEL Executive Search.

State of your Supply Chain in the COVID-19 age

March 6, 2020 by DERGEL Executive Search Leave a Comment

The spiraling human impact of the COVID-19 virus has many of us rethinking our personal exposure to proper hygiene and to examine our travel plans into potential “hot zones”. For Supply Chain professionals, it is a time to examine how our supply chains have fared with the disruption caused by COVID-19 and to potentially revamp our underlying Supply Chain Management practices.

While “Black Swan” events such as COVID-19 might be dismissed as rare, lessons we have learnt from previous “Black Swan” events such as 9/11, SARS, Eyiafjallajokull, Asian tsunamis and earthquakes, have desensitized many of us in building robust supply chains. We continue to pursue single-source procurement strategies, consolidate distribution centers, outsource logistics, even though such actions build more risk into the supply chain. We have yet to embrace the resilient supply chain, one that has continuous improvement as one of its core principles and one that is dynamically restructuring itself at breakneck speed in times of need.

The impact of the spread of the COVID-19 virus will keep stressing our long, thin, Tier-one-supplier focused chains. We need supply chain professionals that understand visibilty, nimbleness and, above all, resilience.

What are you doing to keep your supply chain resilient?

A Step Closer to Armageddon

August 9, 2019 by DERGEL Executive Search Leave a Comment

This week’s attention-grabbing headline screamed out news of the Apocalypse: FedEx Ends Ground-Delivery Deal With Amazon.

Who would have thought 10 years ago that the retailer-logistics relationship between Amazon and FedEx would one day see an end? The FedEx distribution powerhouse and the ever-growing ecommerce juggernaut called Amazon, together operated a juggernaut of global proportions. Who could forget the days where an online Amazon purchase would end with an at-home door delivery within a couple of days? Who would have dreamed that this relationship would end?

This saga had its genesis during Christmas 2013, over 5 years ago, when the combination of a surge in Christmas delivery orders and poor weather across the U.S., prevented FedEx, among others, from meeting the delivery commitment made by ecommerce giants like Amazon. While the logistics organizations change their staffing and operating practices to avoid a repeat performance during subsequent peak shipping periods, the faith in the reliability of the supply chain was broken. A fresh approach was deemed to be needed.

With the growth of its truck fleet in 2014 and the launch of its Prime Air service in the fall of 2015, Amazon has targeted its transportation partners with its own asset-heavy infrastructure, looking to leverage service disruption, i.e. same-day and 2-hour delivery, with laser-focused last-mile delivery practices. FedEx, along with UPS and USPS, have been observing and learning from this Amazon shift in supply chain management, all wary of the potential for this new Amazon model to further erode their traditional ecommerce support role.

While FedEx might be the latest service provider to feel Amazon’s focus on integrating distribution in-house, it is obvious that others are in Amazon’s cross-hairs. Look out UPS, USPS, your turn’s coming up.

As a business executive with oversight of your company’s supply chain, you need to be vigilant of the strategic moves being made by other, key players in the chain. Risk management and risk containment are key practices in today’s world and the Amazon-FedEx scenario should serve as a reminder that relationships can change, suppliers can become buyers and partners can become competitors.

Dear Samuel: Help! I’ve been Ghosted

July 23, 2019 by Samuel Dergel Leave a Comment

Dear Samuel,

Here is my question: What happens when an executive recruiter “ghosts” you as an executive candidate?

There are tons of articles due to a robust job market that candidates are “ghosting” recruiters during the sourcing and/or after job offers phases. But how do you deal with a top-rated recruiter who “ghosts” executive candidates? This happened a few times to me and I find it frustrating, especially at the executive level.

Thank you,

Chuck in Chicago

Dear Chuck,

Wow.

First, on behalf of all the executive recruiters out there that care, I’m sorry that someone treated you this way.

Why do people Ghost others? This is a relevant question across the spectrum today, both in our personal lives as well as the business world we live in.

From my perspective, there are three reasons why people Ghost.

They are uncomfortable with sharing bad news, or
They have no news, or
They don’t care enough to follow up.

Executive recruiters are humans, and as humans, we are not perfect.

However, “top-rated” recruiters stay “top-rated” knowing that a candidate can be a client at some point in time in the future. All executives that they deal with need to be treated with respect, courtesy and care.

If I was in your shoes, I would take the Ghosting as a sign that the client is not interested in you. You need to look at it as it is their loss, and that they were not the right fit for you. See it as a gift.

Your next role is out there with an employer that appreciates what you are bringing to the table and sees your value. They also have made the decision to work with an executive recruiter that reflects their values.

And as you need to hire for your new employer, you’ll make sure that you’ll only work with “top-rated” recruiters that care.

Wishing you the best as you continue your career for people that treat you right,

Samuel

Dear Readers,

Samuel

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