Our 2023 Global Family Office Compensation Benchmark Report shows that most Family Offices have less than five employees worldwide. Therefore, more often than not, Family Offices lack a dedicated team that can carry out the recruitment process for them. On the other hand, it is very common for Family Offices to look to fill their open positions by reaching out to their social and business networks in order to gain referrals. This can have success, however, from our experience, this practice comes with huge risks and often costly mistakes. In a small and intimate team like a Family Office, it is important to get hiring right. This has prompted many Family Offices to turn to an external recruiter to help them fill an open position instead of doing it themselves.
There are many reasons why working with an external recruiter is better than doing it internally, especially in the Family Office environment. We came across a lot of Family Office clients that underestimated the time, cost and resources associated with the recruitment process. A thorough recruitment process is very time-consuming, it takes time to develop an appropriate job description, advertise the jobs, and review and screen candidates. Family Offices would often be swamped with thousands of applications when they attempt to advertise the role on various job search platforms. We believe that delegating these tasks to an expert can speed up the recruitment process and allow the Family Office to focus on its core functions. For a small entity with an average of five employees, it may take weeks alone to go through the applications, let alone screening them and conducting interviews afterwards. This will also mean that the Principal or executives of the Family Office will have to put aside their operational duties to focus on recruitment. This can hinder the overall performance of the Family Office. Contrarily, professional recruiters do this every day and know what to look for and how to find it in their network. Instead of going through thousands of applications, a professional recruiter will only present their clients with profiles they deem appropriate, significantly reducing the time Family Offices need to spend on a new hire.
Recruitment is a costly process. While it pays to work with an external recruiter, we believe the benefits outweigh the cost, making it a more cost-effective way to hire.
What can professional recruiters assist Family Offices with?
- They support all stages in the recruitment process, including the interview process and background checks.
- Beyond sourcing, screening and shortlisting candidates, they will be able to assist their clients with creating job descriptions, allowing the role to be as appealing to job seekers as possible.
- They will also conduct background and reference checks for the Family Office, which is costly to perform without sufficient resources.
- The presence of a seasoned and professional recruiter will also speed up the process, which will minimise the financial impact of a vacant position in the Family Office.
Family Offices may also lack the knowledge and resources to fulfil their recruitment needs. Roles in Family Offices are often highly specialised and of a wide range, it could range from support roles such as the personal assistant to senior investment roles such as a Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Principals often find themselves competing for high-calibre talents against other wealth management firms. In a competitive market as such, the best candidate may be a passive candidate working in a Private Equity firm that Family Office principals could not come across on their own. A professional recruiter, especially a specialist recruiter has access to a more concentrated pool of candidates and these passive candidates. They have the resources and network to source the best talent available. Most importantly, experienced recruiters know how to communicate with candidates to determine whether they are the right fit. As entities that handle the wealth and sensitive matters for the ultra-rich, cultural fit in an employee is vital for Family Offices. Seasoned recruiters are able to talk to candidates about their backgrounds while detecting red flags and asking the right questions to decide whether the candidate can be a great fit for their client.
Finding the right people to add to your Family Office is tough, and a recruiter will be able to solve these problems for you. Agreus is an established full-service resources and recruitment consultancy dedicated to working exclusively with Family Offices for more than a decade. We have successfully placed entry-level through to executive-level professionals within investments, legal, accountancy and finance and operational roles in Family Offices. We have become an established global presence in the United Kingdom, Europe, United States of America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. For a more tailored conversation about hiring for your Family Office, please do not hesitate to get in touch.