Higher education is at a turning point. Declining enrollment, increased competition, shifting funding models, and the growing demand for inclusive, visionary leadership are reshaping the landscape. The stakes couldn’t be higher — leadership decisions impact everything from campus culture to student success and institutional reputation.
In this environment, how a search is conducted matters just as much as the result. At the heart of every successful executive search are two essential pillars: exceptional candidate care and client care.
Understanding the Pillars of Executive Search
Defining Client Care
For colleges and universities, client care isn’t just about filling a position — it’s about building a true partnership. It’s about understanding your institution’s mission, culture, and long-term goals. Exceptional client care includes:
- Stakeholder Engagement: Organizing listening sessions with trustees, faculty, staff, and students to capture a full spectrum of campus voices and concerns.
- Transparent Communication: Providing regular updates and unfiltered market feedback so search committees and leadership always feel well-informed.
- Custom Consultation: Advising on compensation packages in line with peer institutions, crafting inclusive job descriptions, and preparing search committees with guidance on eliminating bias.
- Alignment With Academic Timelines: Respecting campus cycles, accreditation reviews, and critical events to ensure the search process fits your institution’s unique context.
Defining Candidate Care
Candidate care is about treating every applicant — provost, dean, or industry leader — with genuine respect, empathy, and transparency. In higher education, this means:
- Tailored Outreach: Personalizing communications that honor the candidate’s unique experience and motivations for considering a campus-based leadership role.
- Clear Expectations: Outlining the full process, timeline, and selection criteria up front, so candidates can navigate the search with confidence.
- Thoughtful Feedback: Providing timely, specific feedback after interviews or assessments, regardless of the outcome, so candidates feel respected and valued.
- Holistic Support: Offering relocation guidance, introductions to campus stakeholders, and ensuring family needs are considered, especially for cross-country or international hires.
The Cost of Overlooking Care in Higher Education
Without a dual focus on candidates and clients, searches can falter, leading to failed placements, reputational risks, and significant resource loss. In higher education, the consequences are amplified:
- Failed Placements: When a new leader departs within a year or two, momentum is lost, faculty morale suffers, and campuses are forced back to square one.
- Reputational Damage: News travels fast throughout academic networks. Poor candidate experiences or processes that seem transactional can deter future applicants and make peer institutions wary.
- Wasted Resources: Executive search in higher ed is a significant investment of time, money, and campus goodwill. A misaligned search wastes these valuable assets and can have lasting repercussions.
The CBIZ Difference
At CBIZ, we know that leadership shapes the future of every institution. That’s why we go beyond the basics, building genuine partnerships with our clients and candidates. We take the time to understand your campus culture, listen to your needs, and act as advocates for everyone involved. From the first conversation to onboarding and beyond, we ensure a transparent, supportive process that sets your institution up for long-term success.
Contact CBIZ Talent Solutions today and experience the difference that exceptional candidate and client care can make for your next executive search.
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