Obama administration works with headhunters to fill out key positions

The Obama administration has been working with some of the nation’s top headhunters to recruit candidates to join the executive branch.

Administration officials have privately expressed frustration that they are struggling to hire talented personnel for key slots across the federal government, noting President Obama’s tough restrictions on lobbyists working for him.

{mosads}Over the last several months, Obama’s transition team and administration have had informal communications with major recruiters, including Korn/Ferry International, Russell Reynolds Associates and Heidrick & Struggles.

Nels Olson, a managing director at Korn/Ferry, said the Obama administration “has let us know where they have needs.” Olson stressed that while Korn/Ferry has federal contracts, communication with the White House on filling senior positions has been done on a pro bono basis.

Patrick Friel, a partner with Heidrick & Struggles, also said his firm’s contacts with the Obama team have been informal.

Friel said, “It makes good sense to help them,” pointing out that the first exchange with Obama officials was months ago.

While Olson and Friel said it is common for recruiting firms to lend a hand to a new administration, they acknowledged that this go-round has been different because of Obama’s ethics rules.

“They’ve set a high bar,” Olson said, adding that recruiting has been “challenging.”

Yet, he noted, “there’s a surplus of people who want to serve.”

Russell Reynolds declined to comment.

Administration officials, including Obama, have said that filling some positions has been extremely difficult. In an interview with “60 Minutes” last month, Obama said candidates have turned him down to join the Treasury Department.

Obama expressed disappointment that the vetting process by Senate committees has been “pretty tough.” Several Obama appointees, including former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), have withdrawn their names from consideration amid the rigorous Senate background checks.

Obama said, “A lot of people who we think are about to serve in the administration and Treasury suddenly say, ‘Well, you know what? I don’t want to go through some of the scrutiny, embarrassment, in addition to taking huge cuts in pay.’ ”

Obama did not mention his lobbying/ethics rules as an impediment, but they have been.

While the White House has issued waivers for ex-lobbyists to join the administration, it has tried to keep them to a minimum.

 One source said that White House officials expect many key positions to remain vacant until the fall.

Despite the hiring challenges, the Obama administration is far ahead of previous administrations on appointments. Compared to George W. Bush’s first term, the Obama administration has more than doubled the nominations it has sent to the Senate for confirmation, according to the nonpartisan White House Transition Project. Still, the new administration was expected to outpace prior ones because of the financial crisis and the post-Sept. 11 emphasis on homeland security appointments.

Jim Messina, a former aide to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) who is now White House deputy chief of staff, was the director of personnel for Obama’s presidential transition team.

The White House did not comment for this article.