When their efforts to hire from within are exhausted, L+M Development Partners, a New York-based real estate development company, typically retains the services of an external recruiting firm. In the past, they had worked with recruiters who were fixated on making the placement and securing their fee, which sometimes resulted in a bombardment of resumes from poorly-qualified candidates that HR and the hiring managers were expected to comb through.

L+M was looking for a recruiting partner that would make an effort to understand their business and culture in order to source qualified candidates and, ultimately, fill open roles faster. They also wanted a partner that would have success in filling high-turnover roles within the property management arm of their business.

L+M first retained Genuine Search Group to fill an open accounting position and was impressed by the company’s speed, efficiency and the quality of the hire. In the following year, GSG filled 11 additional roles for L+M across its accounting, IT, construction and property management teams.

One reason L&M kept returning to GSG was the firm’s ability to go beyond job description specifications to identify best-fit candidates based on soft skills.
“They know how I manage a team, what I expect from a team, and what type of personality will be a fit,” said John Campa, L+M’s VP-Accounting, who initially introduced GSG to the company after a successful engagement filling a previous open role.

L+M’s former VP-Human Resources, Susanne Gallagher, was struck by GSG’s ability to find highly-qualified and interested candidates for openings within the property management business, which were sometimes challenging to fill because of the location.

She was also impressed by GSG’s attention to providing timely feedback, scheduling and keeping her posted on progress when they worked directly with hiring managers. Other recruiters she’s engaged have been far less detail-oriented.

“It’s not just about filling the spot,” said Gallagher, who continues to work with Genuine Search Group at her current employer. “It’s about filling it with the right person and placing value on their relationship with me as the client.”

After successfully filling a junior-level accounting role as a starting-off point, Genuine Search Group made 11 additional placements for L+M over the course of their first year working together, including a leadership role within the construction team. Results of the ongoing partnership include:

ACCESS TO A ROBUST CANDIDATE PIPELINE: L+M has been impressed by the breadth and depth of GSG’s network of contacts in accounting, property management and other functional areas. “When we first reach out to them, they generally have a minimum of one or two candidates that they can get over to us right away,” Campa said.

REDUCTIONS IN TIME-TO-HIRE: Prior to engaging GSG to fill accounting roles, positions sometimes remained open for months. GSG typically fills them within one month of receiving the job description. “They’ve been very successful at finding candidates for otherwise tough positions,” Campa said.

MORE EFFICIENT HIRING PROCESS: Instead of bombarding L+M with resumes the way some recruiting firms have done, GSG only presents qualified, vetted candidates. “They take the time to drill down on what’s important to you and really listen to what you’re looking for beyond what’s on the written job description,” Gallagher said. “They pay attention to the soft skills you’re looking for and what’s going to work culturally.”