Mindful Attention to Relationships
Wentworth Executive Recruiting makes the client/candidate connection
Every person has a story. The owners of Wentworth Executive Recruiting depend on those stories to gird their employment search processes. Knowing a little about the Wentworths’ own stories gives insight into the wealth of knowledge they bring to the industry.
Carol Ann Wentworth, CEO, and Eric Wentworth, operations and marketing, started Wentworth Executive Recruiting in 2016 to serve the renewable energy, cleantech, construction, technology, marketing and sales industries in the San Francisco Bay area as well as nationally. They describe their company as a boutique, retained executive search firm that combines big search firm capabilities with a mindful personal approach.
Background Check
Founding this executive recruiting company seemed to be the inevitable path for Carol Ann.
From 1984 to 1993, she owned and operated a modeling and talent agency that identified and placed talent in the modeling industry across the globe. The years following her entry into the world of recruitment included a variety of senior and executive positions where she showcased her interpersonal, networking and management skills.
Carol Ann developed an interest in the construction industry at a very young age. She was exposed to the trade through her family; her father was a luxury homebuilder and her uncles were builders and engineers. She was able to incorporate her appreciation for construction into her work during her first executive search role when she was assigned to work with engineers. “I began on this path 30 years ago,” she says. “And, quite frankly, I love to connect people and see people succeed.”
Eric has been entrenched in marketing and advertising most of his life. His extensive experience is marked by an impressive portfolio of work that includes roles as creative director, chief creative officer, and president of his own marketing and communications company.
Both collectively and individually the couple have owned several businesses and estimate they’ve hired about 100 people altogether. So, they know what the mindset of an owner is and how it differs from that of an employee.
Mindful Approach
Carol Ann and Eric harnessed their knowledge, industry expertise and love for connecting people to develop their company’s unique executive search method—a mindful approach to talent search.
This methodology is not a checklist of things to do or a haphazard way of finding potential employees. Instead, it’s an intentional process consisting of multiple elements, with the ultimate objective of establishing long-term placements that benefit both the client and the candidate.
The client-focused portion of their approach has many facets. First, the Wentworths are selective about the clients they take on. They want to ensure that they are in one accord with their clients, so they look for common values.
“The No.1 thing for me is authenticity and really being genuine to the core,” Carol Ann says. “We interview the clients just as much as they interview us because we need to be aligned with each other’s expectations regarding integrity. That’s critical to us.”
They consider factors that many other recruitment firms may not even notice. Carol Ann continues, “I always like to say, ‘We hear what they are not saying’ because we observe. We look around the room; we look around the offices. What do the people look like? Do they look happy? Are they stressed? Is it busy? Is it loud? Is it a place that has great energy?”
Once the client connections are made, the Wentworth Executive Recruiting team works to cultivate each client relationship by closely collaborating to assess their specific hiring needs. This means not only determining the skill sets required for each position, but also traits that are important to the organization that impact culture; attributes like demeanor, manners and attitude are elements identified through their process and are factored into a candidate’s profile.
Assessments don’t occur simply on an as-needed basis. They happen as part of a comprehensive analysis of a client’s business forecast. “We are a retained search firm, which means our clients only use us to find their ‘critical hires.’ This enables us to perform as partners with our clients,” Eric says. “We work with them to create a strategic plan for their future growth through hiring.”
Additionally, these recruiting leaders prepare job descriptions that help them identify and attract the best talent. They also join their clients at trade shows and conventions to act as their hiring “ambassadors.”
Since technology plays a significant part in finding the right individuals, their firm invests thousands of dollars on advanced search software. This allows them to access hundreds of job boards and discover a variety of potential candidates—those actively looking for a job and the passive jobseekers who are open to a new opportunity but not seriously searching for a new opportunity.
The Wentworths also invest their resources to produce and post custom videos that provide information about job opportunities. “These videos are part of a marketing program we conduct to support every search and they are aired on all major social media—LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram—our own website, and on select job board sites,” Eric explains.
Finding the diamond in the rough is no simple task. The team spends hours studying resumes, reviewing profiles and attending networking events to meet candidates. They contact personal references as part of the background research to determine the candidates’ veracity and work history. At times, they administer personality tests with the prospective employees to see if there is a good “cultural fit” with their clients’ teams.
Although much can be gleaned from all of that research, Carol Ann and Eric also take time to talk with applicants to get to the core of what’s motivating their search for employment, to determine career goals and to learn about various traits and principles an individual possesses. The face-to-face meetings allow the Wentworths to go beneath the surface to discover what makes a person tick.
Carol Ann explains the motivation behind this labor of love: “Genuinely, in my heart, what drives me is seeing people’s lives changed when they find a career that will empower them, make them better and enhance the very best in them.”
Throughout the process, Wentworth Executive Recruiting develops relationships with its clients and top candidates that provide a holistic understanding of them and helps the recruiters find the intersection where the values and objectives of both parties meet.
“Our goal is to create win-win relationships with our clients and the talent we find for them,” Carol Ann says. “We know that a ‘bad hire’ can cost as much as one-third of that person’s annual salary, so our extraordinarily high retention rate of 94 percent saves money for our clients. We also know that the future success of our clients depends largely on the quality of the people they hire.”
Better than a Birdie
Clients like Craig Rossi, President of Rossi Builders in San Francisco, appreciate the work of this dedicated team of recruiters. “Our construction firm specializes in luxury office tenant improvements—not an easy niche in which to find top talent. But Wentworth Executive Recruiting has consistently brought us exceptional people who now make up an important percentage of our team. We appreciate their attention to detail and thorough vetting process.”
His praise of the company doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say, “Wentworth’s results are like a 275-yard drive right down the middle of the fairway. Since [2015], Wentworth has teamed with Rossi Builders with terrific results. We look forward to playing the next hole.”
Benjamin Martinez is another client pleased with Wentworth’s contributions to his organization.
Benjamin is the owner of RLM Enterprises Inc., a commercial painting company in American Canyon, California. “We have worked with Wentworth Executive Recruiting for our last four hires and currently on another. Their attention to detail and tailored service is exceptional.” Benjamin continues, “Wentworth has helped RLM grow our business with qualified personnel, reaching new clients and growing our customer list. I think they are the best recruiting firm in the Bay Area.”
The accolades the Wentworths receive confirm that all the time, energy and resources they invest in each search helps companies employ the people who are the building blocks for their organizations’ success. These recruiting experts acknowledge, “We are proud that we can make a significant impact on both the career trajectory of the people we place and also the future success of our clients’ businesses.”