Employment Resource Group, Inc.

Known as ERG, Employment Resource Group, Inc. runs executive searches from Appleton, Wisconsin. Its experience, it says, spans more than twenty years of work with employers in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the country, and it describes its approach as building relationships first and looking for people only once it understands a client's business. The firm sets its mission in the pursuit of excellence for itself, its clients and its candidates, and it presents a search as a partnership in which the success of the company and the success of the new hire both matter.

Starting a search from the client's culture

ERG's account of its method is that a search begins with the company, not the candidate list. Before it looks for anyone, the firm says it wants to understand the client's business, its culture and the way a new hire will have an immediate effect. Only then does it select candidates who can deliver the outcomes the client needs and fit into the existing team. The firm argues that a senior hire can change the way a company works, for better or worse, so the match of skills and culture is treated as the central question.

Each search is customized to the role. The firm points to a placement retention rate of 97 per cent as evidence that its hires tend to stay, and it describes its work as transforming companies one carefully chosen hire at a time.

A long-range talent plan through Pinnacle Talent

ERG's sister brand, Pinnacle Talent, concentrates on strategy and retention. The site says it focuses on planning for the long term, so that a business does not simply fill vacancies as they arise. Its questions to clients include whether a company has a talent plan built around growth, whether there are skill gaps that need closing, and whether there is any misalignment between people and culture that needs attention.

The firm says it works with clients on everything from building a long-range talent plan into their overall strategy to deciding how to keep the people they already employ. Because the two brands sit side by side, a client can start with a single leadership search and move into planning later if the need arises.

Executive search for Midwest employers and beyond

The core service is executive search, which covers senior roles for businesses in Wisconsin and in other states. ERG describes the search as a careful process that suits organizations which cannot afford a poor fit at the top. Its site describes the firm as award-winning and lists a career center for candidates who want to find their next role through the firm.

Leadership hires that suit the company's values

The firm's stated aim is to help people and companies understand what collaborative success looks like for them. It describes its role as matching the two so that the individual can thrive in the job and the company can reach the goals it set.

Culture, candidates and long-term fit

ERG's description of its work centers on three words: listen, build relationships and deliver talent. The firm uses these to explain how it approaches each search, from the first conversation through to the placement and beyond. Its clients are companies in the Midwest and further afield that look for leaders matched to their culture and plans.

Employment Resource Group, Inc., known as ERG, is an executive search firm based in Appleton, Wisconsin. It has worked for over two decades with businesses in Wisconsin and across the country, and describes its approach as building relationships and understanding a client before it starts looking for people.

What Employment Resource Group, Inc. offers

• Executive search: nationwide searches for senior hires who fit a client's culture.
• Client discovery: time spent learning a company's values, culture and what the new hire should achieve.
• Talent strategy and retention: planning for growth, skill gaps and cultural fit, delivered through its sister brand Pinnacle Talent.
• Career centre: a section of its site for candidates.

Who it works with

Employers across the Midwest and beyond that want leaders who suit their culture and long-term plans.

Key facts

• Based in: Appleton, Wisconsin
• Experience: over 20 years
• Sister brand: Pinnacle Talent