Remote Healthcare: The pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth, transforming it from a convenience to a necessity. On-demand telehealth services have become increasingly popular as consumers prioritize accessibility and convenience. Providers offering seamless virtual care experiences are gaining a competitive edge, driving the expansion of telehealth platforms and services.
Big Tech: Major players like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft are disrupting the healthcare industry by leveraging their vast resources and tech capabilities. They are investing in (and acquiring) digital health initiatives, telemedicine services, and innovative healthcare delivery models to improve access, affordability, and convenience for consumers. Beyond consumer-facing initiatives, these companies are also actively supporting health systems with data and AI solutions; they are working to enable health systems to harness vast amounts of data for insights into patient care, population health management, and operational efficiency.
How competitive is it to find and close top candidates in the healthcare sector?
Mullarkey: The current executive search landscape continues to be very competitive for top talent. The number of new search starts this quarter is greater than what the market was seeing at this same time last year. What’s driven that uptick? I’d say it’s largely due to two factors:
1. Things have stabilized after the 2023 turmoil. Boards and executive teams have now made strategic plans based on the new reality and are executing on that plan, which in many cases will include bringing in new executive talent.
2. There has also been quite a bit of executive turnover in the past 12 months. Some boards have elected to make the changes, and in other instances, high valuations and uncertainty have led to some execs electing to jump into new roles.
We’re finding that once a top-tier candidate starts looking at opportunities, the process can move quickly for them. I often hear that candidates are surprised at the quantity and quality of opportunities. As a result, companies must act swiftly as we’re often running into multiple offer scenarios.
We’re also finding that executives are quite cautious and discerning when it comes to selecting opportunities. Candidates look for well financed businesses still at reasonable valuation levels. They prefer environments where they already have established connections (working with people they trust). We’re also seeing more and more executives wanting to pursue mission-driven opportunities, which plays well for healthcare and health tech. Some have asked if compensation has been impacted by the downturn. Cash compensation remains competitive, but we are seeing some downward adjustments in equity packages (depending on the runway and path to profitability that a company might have). Overall, executive recruitment demands strategic agility, network leverage, and attractive compensation to navigate a competitive and dynamic landscape.
What types of themes do you see in research, candidate due diligence, or overall search process?
Beach: In general, from search kick-off to signed offer letter, our search cycle tends to run 80-100 days on average. We have partners at SPMB who are experts in particular roles/functions within the healthcare sector, and each of our deep talent networks helps us match executives to a business problem quickly. As specialists, each of us can coach founders and hiring managers on score-card, research hunting grounds, and areas to probe into across the process, enabling the search to run more efficiently and, oftentimes, more quickly.
Regardless of function, many themes hold true. The most consistent theme is that the search process has become more candidate-centric. Board members have been involved in selling candidates earlier on in the interview process than we have seen in past years. This helps as candidates are conducting an unprecedented level of due diligence to reflect a down market. Candidates want the company story and upside from multiple points of view. We are coaching many founders to leverage their interview process as a core reflection of their company brand. Healthcare companies live by a special set of values; we want to be sure candidates are exposed to all of them early on.
