Kohler Co.

Tanya Lulloff

Tanya Lulloff is the global director-HR at Kohler Co. She is a high-energy human resources executive with proven expertise in formulating and executing HR strategies that drive performance and support a global enterprise businesses objective. 

Could you share the roles and responsibilities as a global director and perhaps talk about the trends and challenges specific to executive search, while sharing your insights on some latest market developments

Like many multinational organizations, we have talent, culture and diversity, and stewardship along with a sharp focus on compliance. These are essential levers to help organizations progress smoothly and provide a healthy and robust employee experience. As a leader in HR, I recognize that executive search has always been challenging. Even though I have been in this space for multiple decades, I believe it continues to get more complex with each passing day. There are certainly many more options today as a company in terms of selecting an executive search partner. Today, social media and global communication platforms have enabled candidates to have more exposure through their own networking.

Amid this evolving market scenario, the strong executive search players have evolved and integrated with HR assessments, a heavy network of critical professional organizational leadership in various work streams across different segments. They not only provide talent acquisition but also have expertise in specific elements and grow their networks for which our company pays a premium to access that data. For this purpose, companies seek a white glove service from the search executive partners. They have much more candidate experiential elements that are not visible throughout the various types of recruitment that a company would do. They travel a lot, so getting their time, and attention even on a roll largely depends on the search executive partners.

How do you see the evolution of both executive search and succession planning?

Succession planning needs years of advance thinking to ascertain when and where the news of vacancies will come in. There will be chances that someone qualifies for more than one role. In those cases companies who do not have a solid talent acquisition pipeline need to reach out to these executive search partners to take a deeper dive into the market trends. In these scenarios, executive search partners follow a well-organized process to ensure the organizations are taking the best decisions regarding talent selection. We also use it to compare our talents and if they have developed any new base for the requirements of the role. These are such critical data that we would need more time to research or access.

“ Like many multinational organizations, we have talent, culture and diversity, and stewardship along with a sharp focus on compliance. These are essential levers to help organizations progress smoothly and provide a healthy and robust employee experience “

Over the years, our executive search partner has evolved and offers more than just the transaction of discovering talent and presenting it to us. Now, they carefully examine the roles and qualities of the talent and familiarize themselves within their network, and this helps them gain tremendous insights into the niche market or talent space based on the trends and developments across various other companies.

Database is an important role and it’s one of the valuable assets we have today. On that note, is there any technology that you use in your upcoming project or something that you’re working on?

Executive search transcends any talent acquisition or candidate management tools that recruiters and HR professionals use. In terms of binding talent, LinkedIn is an essential and a handy networking tool.. I’m sure the executive search partners have many other tools and technology. When it comes down to it, personal connection is vital that the executive search continues to hone throughout their career. For instance, when organizations like the one I’m with declare that we must understand the state of the market, the executive search partner prepares robust candidate pipelines and delivers them to us.

Could you share some thoughts on where the industry is heading towards and what changes can we expect in the future?

The silver lining during the pandemic was that companies outside the tech space that traditionally were more onsite have opened the doors for great talent to work from anywhere. They managed to foster a connection and belonging within their employees. Employees now have more relocation alternatives than ever before, and they can also work remotely for any firm. Companies are gradually coming to terms with the fact that that employees don’t need to relocate individuals for every position, providing talents to evaluate their opportunities with companies they might not have previously opted for. It’s also going to make the competitive space amongst companies more challenging.

What is your piece of advice to your peers and aspiring individuals in this space?

I think less is more when it comes to executive search partnerships, which can help across strategic partners with each segment of the organization instead of using a niche provider that may not have an understanding of your organization. It becomes more efficient by making the executive search partners more of an ambassador for your company and it makes them feel more of an extension of your company versus a transactional supplier. They’ll assist in a more intimate way and have a better process in terms of evaluating candidates that are proposed.

In many cases, the executive search process is an art of collaborative effort more than science. The type of talent you can attract is mainly dependent on the capability of the search consultant you’re working with, regardless of what company they may be with, which comes down to that individual level.

At the same time, there are more opportunities for talent in the present environment, which is great for people looking to advance in their careers. The challenge arises for companies to retain skills with their unique employee experiences. Previously, it was easier to retain employees in many ways when there was a more constricted opportunity environment where they would have to relocate again, perhaps with their families and partners. In this new era of remote work, companies must emphasize retention and develop the right culture and experiences for that executive in today’s work culture.