What a Wonderful Week!

Its a wonderful week!

Imagine—eight senior executive clients landed or received offers in the latest week! Due to our careful attention to client confidentiality, we cannot tell you their names, of course, but we can tell you more about their results.

They landed with titles including CEO, Head of Transformation, Vice President (three execs), Senior Director, Transportation and Logistics Manager, and Director.

Their industries span the Transportation, Information Technology & Services (two execs), Restaurants, Food & Beverage, Health Care, Energy (two execs), and (HR-oriented) SAAS sectors.

Their compensation is impressive, too, here listed without the additional benefits and perks they have also negotiated: $437,000 (all in), $312,000 (all in), $235,000 +$47,000 bonus, $200,000 + 20% bonus, $185,000 plus $122,000 bonus and 11,000 shares of stock, $222,600 plus more than 100,000 share options, and a fifty-percent increase (to a base of $135,000 plus several bonus layers). And their perks include relocation packages, an expat package, a company car, a car allowance, etc.

So, yes, it was a good week, but that is not unusual for Barrett Group clients.

So far in 2023 more than 100 executives have landed and/or received offers that they are still negotiating. Some 29% of these positions are in the C-suite. Another 21% are at the VP or Head of Function level. Directors and Senior Directors comprise a further 31% while the remainder are Managers (10%) or too difficult to easily categorize (9%).

While base compensation (excluding performance bonuses, sign-on bonuses, stocks, options, or other equity, relocation packages, etc.) ranges considerably, approximately 73% earn $150,000 or more, 50% earn more than $175,000, 20% $250,000 or more, and 11% $300,000 or more. Of course, this vastly understates their total compensation that generally includes sizable performance bonuses, stock options, equity, etc.—especially once the Barrett Group has weighed in with our three decades of experience in negotiating executive compensation.

All too often executives fail to realize the need to invest in their careers—their most valuable pre-retirement asset—so that they are caught off guard either by an organizational change or by staying in a job so long they feel a creeping sense of lethargy or over-the-hill-itis. Sheer naiveté plays a role, too. Many professionals still think the only way to find a new executive position is through the on-line job postings or executive recruiters.

We know better.

Fully 75% of our clients land in positions that have never been advertised. This is largely because they are too new. We call this the “unpublished market.”

Here’s how one successful client came to realize the need for change as excerpted from her Success Study:

“I had zero anticipation of being at my company as long as I had been. I wasn’t unhappy in my job, but I like to be challenged. And I had taken it upon myself to understand every single department in the organization over the years and then…I hit the ceiling,” said Jocelyn. “I didn’t see myself continuing on as I was for another 15 years until retirement.”

The decision to change careers did not come lightly to Jocelyn, though. She did her job well, she was well paid to do it, and she questioned the sense of rocking the boat.

“It’s hard to get serious about changing jobs when you’re in a very lucrative position that you’re comfortable with. I did a lot of second-guessing. Do I really want to do this or is this a mid-life crisis?” said Jocelyn.

Jocelyn also felt naive about how to approach a job change after so long with the same company. She knew she would need help. She did some research and pulled the trigger when she came across The Barrett Group (TBG). TBG, she felt, offered the range of services she needed to make the necessary mental shift and prepare for a major career transition.

So what happened?

Ultimately, Jocelyn landed a key role at a medical device company, describing the experience as follows,

“I was excited by the prospect because the new role would incorporate all my previous expertise in leading teams, developing marketing strategies, maintaining manufacturing relationship, and many other of my talents.” [Jocelyn Hirschfeld, Vice President – Read More]

So, if you have been hiding under the bed because of all the negative economic news or otherwise ignoring the need to invest in your career, and if you want more income, more challenge, better quality of life, or all three, then consider the choice that literally thousands of satisfied executives have made over the last three decades. Consider the Barrett Group. 

You could have a wonderful week, too. We make it our job to help you find yours.

Peter Irish, CEO
The Barrett Group