FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

"Our company is committed to increasing the number of females and minorities in our senior management levels. Is WB&B prepared to meet the requirements of our Affirmative Action applicant flow plan by supplying the information (i.e. race and sex of all interested candidates) contacted on our behalf?"

Yes. Your commitment to increase the number of females and minorities in your senior management levels is and has been our commitment for 25 years. We welcome the opportunity to partner with you because we know that our credibility is the reason top hidden performers respond to us. We'll be glad to share information with you about the network that helps us identify others and work with you to achieve your Diversity goals.

"If you charge on a percentage basis, what do you base it on?"

We do not charge on a percentage basis. We were the first search firm in the nation to establish a true partnership with our clients through assessing fixed flat sums, unchanging regardless of successful candidates' compensation(s). In individual searches or in cluster searches, WB&B and the corporate client agree to a flat sum. An advance initiates the intense phase of identifying, evaluating and qualifying candidates; a second payment is performance driven and depends upon client satisfaction at benchmark candidate introduction within three weeks of initiation of assignment; a third payment occurs upon identification of finalists. Uniquely, WB&B's fees are, in essence, known in advance and paid upon milestones of performance controlled by the client.

What are Diversity Tracking Models?

It is a strategic rather than tactical approach to building pipelines or pools of prequalified professionals available for short and long-term opportunities. WB&B identifies, evaluates, and induces hidden diverse talent to consider an enlightened employer for potential opportunity. Our most frequent mandate is to provide a steady flow of high-quality approved professionals in selected functions over a course of 6-8 months. WB&B only charge for he time to build this pool of Hireables. Our clients can hire immediately for open positions and /or "bank" individuals for future opportunity. WB&B's client may hire many persons as they desire without incurring any individual agency fees or percentages of salary.

For example in 1994, a major client engaged WB&B to conduct a Diversity Tracking Model over a one year period which resulted in 44 approved Hireables who were reflective of diversity and high performance. Over time, the company hired 27 diverse individuals, vastly reducing their usual cost per hire as compared with search and other recruitment resources. Each client's Model - - their prequalified, approved pool of Diverse Hireables - - is PROPRIETARY. Moreover, WB&B maintains and reports on the status of all individuals in the Model on a regular basis for a full year after it is approved and in-place.

"What has been your completion rate in the past year and how do you figure it?"

a) In DTM's, our completion rate has been 100%. Through the Strategic Sourcing Initiative, WB&B has created an "executive banking system" (a term coined by client Toys R Us) to fill "buckets of functions on job families" (a Phrase coined by AT&T) before positions open. This approach has been applied in corporate functions including '92, '93, '94, '95, and '96 in Operations, Information Systems, Treasury, Finance, Accounting Controllership, Human Resources, Mid and Senior Management, MIS, IT, etc. (Some of our work has indeed been esoteric i.e. finding diverse PhD's in physics and nuclear engineering for Westinghouse and the Department of Defense).

b) For single and cluster searches we have a 90% completion rate (if one is referring to filling a specific slot). The 10% supposedly no completed is based on unusual circumstances. For example, in three searches we conducted over the past years, for a CFO (mid-sized Company), a Benefits Chief for a transportation entity, and a Corporate Communications Vice President for a technology company; in each of these respective cases there were reasons other than candidate quality that a specific position was outsourced; and the other, a company attorney took over the function. WB&B was credited with providing these clients with excellent approved Finalist candidates for each search.

"What is your time to market?"

Three to four weeks from initiation of the assignment. WB&B is the only firm in the Nation that guarantees to introduce competitive, highly-credentialed, top performers, inclusive of Diversity, within three to four weeks from initiation of assignment. This ensures calibration for personal chemistry and cultural fit early in the process. We call this our Benchmarking stage. It is our usual, though not obligatory, practice for the WB&B led consultant to attend the initial benchmarking interviews with the client hiring manager and/or human resources manager to get a more accurate reading of the ¡°right fit.¡± In sensitive assignments, WB&B may hold these benchmarking interviews in its own offices in New York City or in a neutral forum. This refinement process is invaluable as a navigational tool for the reminder of the search. Historically for 25 years, 40% of finalist candidates originate in one of the benchmark interviews. We began this benchmarking step early in our history of diversity recruitment. We started bringing candidates to our clients to create a comfort zone-hiring managers who had little experience interviewing non-traditional candidates. We found the ensuing discussions brought invaluable insight to the personal chemistry fit necessary for an individual to flourish in the company (or departmental) environment. This was crucial in light of the novel fact that WB&B in these first pioneering years of diversity was the only executive search organization in the country affording an Unconditional TWO_YEAR Guarantee to its clients. This guarantee still stands.

"How high will expenses be and how do you calculate them?"

Clients are billed only for pass through out-of-pocket expenses expended on its behalf with no mark-up. These cover long-distance telephone, Fed-Ex; videoconferencing, candidate related travel and essential other activities associated with the assignment. Traditionally, as a rule of thumb, the expenses have been 3-5% of the search fees: when appropriate we place a cap on expenses at the start of the process.

"What guarantees are you offering?"

WB&B is and has been for 25 years the only firm on a national and international level to extend to its clients Unconditional TWO_YEAR Guarantee for any and all reasons leading to the successful candidate leaving the company for job, medical, health or even family related reasons. The Wall Street Journal in its labor column some years back quipped, "WB&B gives a two-year guarantee if its candidates leave, die, or go crazy" WB&B also gives its clients a legal certificate upon completion of the search that applies to the above guarantee.

"What is the Military Strategic Sourcing Model?"

In many respects, if one were to substitute the world "Military" instead of the word Diversity as used above in the phrase Diversity Tracking Model, the definition would be applicable to the Military Strategic Sourcing Model (MSSM). WB&B in connection with The Center for Military and Private Sector Initiatives (The Center) has a close working relationship with the Department of Defense, Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) and the Transition Assistance Program. These groups have a strategic mission to enhance the quality of transitioning military employment. Moreover, WB&B has strong working relationships and access to these groups and has developed a unique process to build pools of military talent for American business application.

For example, one major petroleum company is expanding its stations from to. Simultaneously, it is upgrading the quality requirements for station manager career advancement to solve the 30% retention problem it faces. The Company is restructuring its operations into a greater retail focus where the gas pump will become only a portion of offerings to the public. Restaurants and other product offerings will become their main focus. WB&B will identify, evaluate and recruit well-trained, motivated enlisted people having the appropriate military occupational specialties (MOS) as a major new asset to satisfy this client quality providing a quality candidate flow they've been unable to find or "mine."

"Who specifically is going to do the research?"

All searches and Strategic Sourcing Initiatives are conducted in teams composed of at least one WB&B principal supported by WB&B consultants (as required) and (always) the research team. Traditionally, one to two senior members and researchers form a team for each search. If they choose, the client may select the Principal/Consultant with whom they are most comfortable. In all cases, a Project Leader is identified to head up the engagement and no candidates are presented to the client not evaluated in person by this individual.