Leadership Jumping Ship: Attracting and Retaining the Best Performers at Professional Services Firms

​Summary

In September 2016, Russell Reynolds Associates surveyed 333 senior executives at professional services firms across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific to explore:

• the reasons they accept or decline offers of employment at other firms and
• their perceptions of recruiting processes.

The respondents are employed by a wide range of professional services firms, public and private, large and small, which are focused on strategy consulting, technology advisory, operations and other services.

Key findings include:

• Top performers are highly sought after: 80% of respondents receive four or more calls per year for external opportunities, and 19% receive more than 15 such calls per year.
• Both women and men consider a more interesting or challenging role the most important factor by far when accepting a career move, outweighing 10 other factors, including compensation.
• Women are interviewing for jobs and accepting offers at a higher rate than men.
• Executives aged 40 and above place more emphasis on innovative culture than younger executives when evaluating a future role and employer.
• Compensation is twice as critical to executives in the Americas as it is to those in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

We are pleased to share our findings and insights to help companies attract the best talent in the marketplace. The report first explores gender-based differences, followed by insights related to seniority and age. We conclude with geographical variances. We welcome the opportunity to share additional details regarding the report and to discuss strategies to help you navigate this competitive talent market.

Recruiting top talent in professional services has become hypercompetitive

Female executives are in high demand and making moves

Candidates want to "step up" — new challenges and expanded opportunities drive career moves

Gender matters: understanding differences in attitudes

Insights related to seniority and age

A more challenging role is universally most important for executives considering a job change

Additional Authors

Miki Carlton is the firm’s global knowledge leader for the technology sector. She is based in Palo Alto.

Katie Dewey is a knowledge analyst in the technology sector. She is based in Palo Alto.

George Head is a knowledge analyst in the technology sector. He is based in London.

FOOTNOTES

1. Survey response options were "not important," "somewhat important," "important," and "critical."
2. Survey response options were "not important," "somewhat important," "important," and "critical."
3. Survey response options were "not important," "somewhat important," "important," and "critical."
4. The term "partner" refers to a leader in professional services firms and includes partners, managing directors, vice presidents, etc.
5. "Pre-partner" includes managers, senior managers, directors, principals, consultants, etc., who are below partner level.