Ezekia Adds Former Salesforce Exec to Board
March 25, 2024 – Recruitment software providers Ezekia has elected Simon O’Kane to its board of directors. “It is great to have Simon on board,” said Joseph Blass founder and CEO of Ezekia. “Of course, we will benefit from his vast experience in the software sector however, boards are not only about facts and numbers, but about personalities too, and Simon has a great approach towards the business that he works with, and we are looking forward to an exciting journey together.” Mr. O’Kane currently serves as chief revenue officer of Yokoy. In this position, he is responsible for sales, marketing, customer success and professional services. Mr. O’Kane previously held senior positions in leading software companies such as Salesforce and Asana.
“I was impressed with what Ezekia has achieved to date and I see even more potential for its existing and new services in the years to come,” said Mr. O’Kane. “I am also impressed with the way the company balances rigorous governance with efficient and nimble management.”
Ezekia is a provider of software for search firms. The company offers full business development and assignment management tools as well as internal and external reporting, GDPR compliance, and invoicing. Ezekia is fully cloud based and can work from mobile or Mac devices as well.
Using Data for Executive Search
When it comes to data management, search firms are unique. Every business, in any sector, stores data on people such as customers, potential business contacts and on their own employees. Unlike most businesses, however, recruiters also store large number of candidate records. And unlike most of the recruitment sector, executive search firms’ data on candidates interchanges with their data on customers, because as we all know, executive candidates may be business contacts and vice versa.
Twenty years ago, a search firm’s data was one of their most prized assets. A bigger database suggested that the firm was well connected and therefore the larger the firm and the larger the database, the more value the search firm brought to their clients. However, in recent years, this axiom is being called into question.
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“LinkedIn changed the data landscape, but in my opinion it’s not in size of the database, but quality,” said Mr. Blass. “To get quality, one needs tools like BoardEx – whose two million records are a lot more targeted than LinkedIn’s 700 million. A good database also needs maintaining, and with a bad CRM, even the best of databases will quickly deteriorate.”
Over the past decade seismic changes have occurred that should influence search firms’ attitude towards data. First, with the advent of readily available public data on the internet and specifically with those 700 million professionals on LinkedIn, finding people became supposedly easier. Secondly, privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA made holding data a potential legal liability.
A very pertinent question over the past few years has been the ownership of the data. “With the executive search world becoming more fragmented, it is easier for partnerships to break up or for consultants to leave their firms and set up shop on their own. If the ‘ownership’ of the data is not clear, a firm may be building up its database, only to find that a few years down the line, this information will be available to former partners who now might be viewed as a competitor,” said Mr. Blass.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor; Lily Fauver, Senior Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
