The advantages include:

1. Specialization.

Boutique retained search firms tend to focus on specific functional or niche areas, allowing them to develop a deep understanding of the clients’ needs, and the skills and qualities required of successful candidates.

2. Customization.

Boutique firms are often more flexible and can customize their services to meet the unique needs of their clients. They can offer a more personalized approach to
each search, taking the time to learn and understand the company culture and understand the specific requirements of a role.

3. Relationship-building.

Because boutique firms tend to work with a smaller number of clients, they have more time to develop relationships with these clients. This can lead to a better
understanding of the organization’s needs and goals, as well as a broader understanding of the functional role that the new hire (CPO) will lead.

4. Access to top talent.

Boutique firms often have strong networks in their specific niche, allowing them to identify and recruit top talent that may not be visible to larger firms.

5. Rapid same-day communication.

Boutique firms can provide a higher level of service than larger firms. This includes same-day responses to any questions or other communications.

• A search firm’s understanding of the specific skills, qualifications, and experience required for a particular job enables the firm to identify and attract the most suitable candidates. By having a clear understanding of actual job content, a recruiter can accurately screen and evaluate candidates based on their core competencies and qualifications, ensuring that they have the necessary skills and experience to effectively perform the job.
• The recruiter can evaluate the strengths and weaknesses across a candidate’s core competencies. This will give the hiring manager a thorough and realistic understanding of the candidate being hired.
• The overall knowledge of job content is essential for creating an accurate and compelling job description. A well-written job description that accurately reflects the requirements and challenges of the job being recruited for is more likely to attract high-quality candidates who are a good fit for the position.
• Having a clear understanding of the job requirements allows recruiters to communicate effectively with hiring managers, in order to ensure that everyone at the organization is aligned on the skills that the candidate will need to lead a successful transformation.
• The search firm can help the hiring manager rank the importance of these core competencies and balance the weaknesses and strengths of the slate of candidates and the impact for the organization hiring the procurement/supply chain executive.
• A firm leading a procurement leadership search needs to have detailed knowledge on categories of spend, strategic sourcing, the process side of procurement, and the role of analytics in procurement. Such granular knowledge will enable the recruiter to do a deep dive into the candidate’s actual skill set as a procurement/supply chain executive.

Completing a talent assessment of the entire procurement team allows the hiring manager to appoint a new Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) who will excel in areas in which there may be gaps of knowledge and functional expertise.

1. Identifying skill gaps.

A talent assessment can help identify any gaps in skills and expertise that might exist within the current procurement team. If there is a gap of knowledge in a particular category of spend or process, then the new CPO will need to excel in that area of knowledge.

2. Set benchmarks.

This gap or needs analysis can assist the leadership team in learning what the level of skills other successful organizations will need to achieve a best-in-class state. This will clarify the type of leader the organization will need to hire.

3. Road map for transformation.

The new CPO and hiring manager can align the type of measures needed to achieve a procurement transformation.

4. Establish realistic expectations.

If the new hire has realistic expectations about the existing organization’s current state, there is a better likelihood for employee retention once the new CPO takes the role.

History of Lutzer Global Inc.

Steven Lutzer is the Founder and President of Lutzer Global Inc., a national boutique retained search firm with a specialization in procurement, strategic sourcing, and end-to-end supply chain management. The firm is recognized nationally as one of the leading search firms for procurement leadership searches within the the academic, higher ed, healthcare and research sectors. The firm also conducts searches nationally within the private sector with a particular expertise in indirect procurement and supply chain transformation.

Lutzer Global assists organizations in talent assessment of the procurement organization and roadmaps for procurement/supply chain organizational transformation.

As a practitioner in supply chain for over 20 years, Steven brings very extensive content knowledge in procurement and end-to-end supply chain.

Steven has managed Chief Procurement Officer and VP and Executive Director level searches for renowned clients which include Harvard University, Yale University, Mayo Clinic, City of Hope, Baylor College of Medicine, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

He taught previously global and intercultural negotiations at UCLA Extension.

Steven has a B.S. in Business Administration from University of Buffalo and was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the national honor society for business schools. He has a M.B.A. with a concentration in health care administration from Baruch College.