Harvey Hohauser & Associates Appoints VP of Executive Search
February 15, 2022 – Troy, MI-based executive search firm Harvey Hohauser & Associates (HH&A) has expanded with the addition of Sam Frank as vice president of executive search. “The timing was right, and Sam is a perfect fit for our culture,” said Eric Hohauser, president of HH&A. “HH&A partnered with his third-generation family business, Leo Frank and Sons, a diamond wholesaler, to recruit a key sales executive which became instrumental in their continuity plan and positioned Leo Frank and Sons to be sold. Sam now applies his 30 years of business acumen and expertise to benefit HH&A and our clients.”
Mr. Frank is founder and CEO of Brilliance Credit based in Troy, MI, and served as president (from 2007 to 2013) and vice president (from 2000 to 2007) at Leo Frank and Sons Inc. He has EOS management experience for entrepreneurial approach and development with leadership.
Family Business
Harvey Hohauser founded Harvey Hohauser & Associates in 1986. He is the bridge between the first two decades of client relationships and the next generation of leadership. A proponent of well-planned succession, Mr. Hohauser keeps an active role as a teacher and a mentor. Over the past three decades he has worked with thousands of owners, investors, and candidates, creating a deep network. HH&A is now led by Mr. Hohauser’s sons Todd and Eric, who serve as CEO and president, respectively.
Harvey Hohauser & Associates has a 96 percent candidate retention rate wherein candidates have remained in the placed position for over one year. In addition, 85 percent of the firm’s candidates in the last five years were placed at or below the initial established salary range requested with its clients, according to the firm.
“For a small family owned business, it’s a difficult decision to bring in someone to run your company and find the right person that fits your culture,” said Deb Behring, president of JB Cutting Edge. “Harvey Hohauser & Associates helped us make that decision and guided us through a process that resulted in the perfect fit for our business and culture.”
Recruiting for Family-Owned Businesses
With all of the unique challenges that running a family office pose, it is imperative that families attract and retain the right executives for key leadership roles in their organizations. Doing so enables them to achieve their long-term goals and objectives and to support family sustainability, said the search firm. Without a proven process, however, many such searches fail, says a new report by the Family Office Association, a global community of ultra-high net worth families and their single family offices. And that failure, in the end, can be extremely costly to the family both financially and in terms of sustainability.
“A clear business mandate combined with the authority and resources to achieve the mandate are essential,” said Linda C. Mack, founder and president of executive search firm Mack International, another specialist serving the family office sector. “A nebulous mandate or frequently changing objectives will cause a high level of frustration that may lead an individual to consider leaving. Lack of authority or resources commensurate with accountability also create a retention risk.”
“Retaining a high performing executive requires providing learning and growth opportunities,” said Ms. Mack. “While this can be a challenge for family offices, it is important to invest the time to create development opportunities that will keep the executive stimulated and enthused. Many family offices, for example, have placed executives on boards or have involved them in strategic philanthropic initiatives. The key is to understand what motivates the executive personally and professionally, and to be creative about developing initiatives to successfully engage them,” she noted.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
