Forbes magazine recently named D. Hilton Associates one of America’s best executive recruiting firms. D. Hilton Associates is the first-ever firm specializing in the credit union industry to be named to the list.
The methodology to establish the list was extensive. Forbes surveyed 25,000 recruiters along with 5,000 job candidates and HR executives who worked with recruitment agencies during the last three years. More than 18,000 nominations were used in the final analysis. Firms could not nominate themselves.
David Hilton, Ph.D., who founded D. Hilton Associates in 1985 said, “We are honored to be recognized by Forbes. We believe this is an indication of credit union Boards of Directors and CEOs realizing the value in working with a firm that truly understands and appreciates what it means to run a modern-day credit union in the crowded consumer financial services space.”
With thirty-five years of experience in the executive search sphere, Hilton noted the significant shift in the type of executive candidates in the market today. “Traditional leadership competencies will always be important, but leadership-under-crisis is opening the door for a new kind of executive. Today we must generate multiple touchpoints to understand the depth and breadth of a candidate’s ability to address financial safety and soundness issues while promoting the culture and brand of an organization.”
Hilton is especially proud of his staff’s ability to retool its methodologies this year to address COVID-19. Hilton said, “Classic recruiting methodologies have always relied on in-person interaction. This created unintended consequences in a form-over-essence bias.” D. Hilton, however, embraced videoconferencing, virtual interviewing, and leadership profiling more than a decade ago and easily helped transition credit unions to utilizing remote methods to select executives. “Ten years ago, we faced a lot of resistance to these techniques. We overnighted laptops and iPads to directors, but today it’s second nature and a key part of our process,” said Hilton.
Hilton sees a difference in the COVID 19 crisis relative to the financial recession of 2008-09. “During the Great Recession, executives deferred their target retirement dates because of steep retirement plan losses. So far this year, the markets are holding up and executives are not changing their plans,” Hilton said. The result is that 2020 is on pace to be a normal transition year for executive leadership and D. Hilton’s CEO search practice is busier than ever.
John Andrews, Executive Vice President of D. Hilton Associates said, “There’s no question that credit union executives will work harder this year than ever before with little to show for it in terms of financial success.” Andrews believes what makes this year special is how well CEOs kept their employees safe and supported members with financial hardships while protecting their balance sheets. Andrews said, “Credit unions were born to do this and that’s why it’s crucial we keep the pipeline of executive talent flowing into the industry.”
Hilton touts his business model, which follows the executive life cycle, as the key to success. D. Hilton also provides executive and staff compensation benchmarking, supplemental executive retirement plan design and administration, variable pay/performance management, and strategic research. The firm has partnered with nearly 2,700 credit unions since 1985. “I believe we generate a tremendous peace of mind for our clients in that we are so familiar with all aspects of credit union operations, and not just simply recruiters,” Hilton said.