When the question is executives, José Caetano Silva, Partner of Talent Search, advises hiring an executive search (ES) company that understands the area for the professional is to be recruited, as this is the only way to assess their technical competence. Then – he adds - it is necessary to ensure that the consultancy selected has access to the organisation where the professional in question works “since if it is a company that is a client of the ES company itself, this will not be possible”, he explains.

At this stage, it is important that the recruiting company that is recruiting is able to sell the project, but without ever losing sight of reality. If expectations are created that cannot be satisfied a posteriori, the candidate may feel cheated, and leave the organisation.

Retention requires daily work

After attracting professionals to the organisation, retaining them implies hard work – which should be daily – in order to ensure that the expectations that led them to be recruited are maintained.

“Last day management” – the attempt at retention on the day an employee resigns – is totally inadvisable. As a rule, “last day management” implies the application of a salary increase and the promise that everything less positive will not be repeated. With these measures the company may manage to maintain the professional, but it will have trouble in retaining him or her. Particularly if the next day everything is back to the same.

José Caetano Silva is totally against what is known as the “phenomenon of counter-proposals”, considering that executives should be maintained naturally and not through “manufactured” situations, or for artificial reasons.

“For example, a promotion should not be accelerated, just because an employee was invited to take up a higher position in another company. This is the market operating. It must be understood that, due to the pyramid structure of the company, executives cannot be maintained for ever. The company should be prepared for any departures”, he explains.