Key points:
- Nishu Miglani, founder and MD, brings her experience from the Indian Navy and the recruitment sector to lead Search Quest.
- Search Quest helps businesses overcome critical hiring challenges like scarce resources, high attrition, and skills gaps. They offer ramp-up recruitment for greenfield projects, helping businesses launch operations quickly and efficiently.
- Search Quest has served over 100 clients globally and recruited 5000+ candidates. Notably, 90% of the placed candidates remain in their organizations for more than 3 years.
The recruitment market is a tough and competitive arena. It is riddled with various challenges, such as scarce resources, high attrition, skills gaps, cost pressures, and market shifts. To tackle these challenges, businesses need a reliable and experienced ally who can source and secure the best talent and solutions for them. This is the value proposition of Nishu Miglani and her firm, Search Quest.
Search Quest is a firm that helps businesses optimize their assessment and selection strategies by benchmarking them against the best practices in the industry. With their tailored approach to recruitment, they have enabled many companies to achieve their goals and objectives by reducing costs, enhancing efficiency, and boosting revenues.
Nishu Miglani is a seasoned and respected leader in the executive search and selection industry. With over 31 years of experience under her belt, she has a proven track record of finding and placing top talent for leading corporations in India and abroad. She has a Master’s in Civil Engineering and a wealth of expertise and skills in business development, sales management, people development, strategy, and policy formulation. She is hands-on and personally handles CXO and leadership-level searches.
But what sets Nishu Miglani apart from the crowd is her background and journey. Nishu Miglani is a former Lieutenant (Short Services Commission) in the Indian Navy. She is one of the first women officers who served the country with courage and honor. She is an inspiration and a role model for many women and young professionals who want to pursue their dreams and ambitions.
Business APAC had the pleasure to interview Nishu Miglani, who shares her story, her vision, and her challenges in leading this successful and impactful company.
(The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.)
Business APAC: Tell us about the founding story of Search Quest Consultants. When was the company established, and what motivated you to launch it?
Nishu Miglani : After retiring from the Indian Navy in 1999, I wanted to set up my own company to give back to society and to make a difference by touching lives. I chose recruitment consulting as the best option for me, as it allows me to help candidates find suitable jobs and create a well-balanced ecosystem. I gained eight years of experience in companies like ABC Consultants and Manpower Group before launching Search Quest in 2008.
Search Quest was established with the vision to create future CEOs for the industry. My single most motivation was to create a platform where bright professionals who want to contribute, learn entrepreneurship, and leave a legacy behind can work together to create happy customers with flawless delivery standards.
Business APAC: Search Quest positions itself as a “full spectrum recruitment services company.” Could you please elaborate on the specific products, services, or solutions you offer that differentiate your company from competitors?
Nishu: Search Quest is a full-spectrum recruitment services company that specializes in ramp-up recruitment solutions for greenfield projects. Search Quest has successfully helped several captives, especially in the BFSI sector, to launch their operations in India with a strong and diverse workforce.
Greenfield projects have a high demand for talent across various domains, levels, and locations. They need to hire hundreds or even thousands of employees within a tight deadline and budget. They also need to ensure that the candidates they hire are aligned with their vision, culture, and values.
Search Quest understands these challenges and provides customized end-to-end recruitment solutions that cater to the specific needs of each project. We have a dedicated team of experienced recruiters who work closely with the clients from day one till they reach a critical mass of 500+ employees. We use our extensive network, market intelligence, and innovative sourcing strategies to find the best talent for each role. We also provide recruitment consulting services, turnkey projects, and recruitment process outsourcing to our clients.
In addition, Search Quest provides recruitment solutions for leadership roles at highly competitive prices.
Business APAC: Search Quest operates across various industries. What are the most prevalent pain points faced by their businesses?
Nishu: The main pain point for any client is finding the right candidate at the right cost at the right time. Due to changes in market scenarios, when the demand for candidates is high, many candidates receive multiple offers and end up not joining the client at the last minute. This leads to not only losing time but also affecting the project and increasing the cost.
The second pain point for all businesses is finding a quality candidate for each open role. However, since high-performing quality candidates are mostly retained by their existing employers, clients sometimes have to hire candidates who have only 70-80% of the relevant experience and train them.
Business APAC: Being at the helm of the company, what are your prominent roles and responsibilities? Also, share with us your notable awards and achievements.
Nishu: As the founder and managing director of Search Quest, my main responsibility is to ensure that the company remains profitable at all times. This involves putting the right strategy in place every year and executing it daily through my team. My core job is to lead, motivate, and inspire my team to deliver the best results for our clients.
One of my key roles is to acquire new clients who can generate a minimum of 10 million plus revenue on a yearly basis. I also focus on retaining our existing clients and building long-term relationships with them.
Another important role is to retain our team and key members year-on-year. I believe that our people are our greatest asset and I invest in their growth and development.
Some of the notable achievements that I am proud of are:
- Served 100+ clients globally with 5000+ candidates recruited.
- 90% of candidates placed by Search Quest stay more than 3 years in the organization.
- 100% of key members placed, VP and above, stay more than 6 years.
- 60% of candidates placed by Search Quest have been rated as HIPOs.
Business APAC: Please brief us about your team. How do you ensure to keep them motivated and productive?
Nishu: We have a team of 35 in-house professionals who are permanent employees, and many of them have been with us since the inception of the company. We also collaborate with outsourced partners for some research projects.
Search Quest has a culture of empowerment and growth, where everyone can excel by delivering high performance. We also have a generous incentive structure that motivates our team to do more. Moreover, we provide proper training on the job and align our team with the vision and mission of Search Quest.
Business APAC: As a woman leader, what challenges did you face? How did you overcome them, and what advice would you give to other aspiring women leaders?
Nishu: Having a background in the defense forces, gender never became any barrier as such. The only thing I had to do was to have the right values and systems in the organization, leading from the front daily to motivate the team and retain high performers in this competitive world.
I had to work tirelessly to have the right set of clients and then ensure high-quality delivery at all times to retain those clients. But passion and determination helped me to sail through such situations at all times.
My advice to other women leaders is to believe in yourself and your vision and don’t let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do. Be confident, resilient, and adaptable, and always keep learning and growing. And most importantly, support and empower other women in your field, because together we can achieve more.
Business APAC: The recruitment landscape is constantly evolving. What are the key trends you see shaping the industry in the coming years, especially in the APAC region?
Nishu: One of the key trends we can expect is that more financial services, including insurance and credit, will be embedded into social channels, non-financial consumer products and services, and super apps. The aim is to further simplify and speed up the customer experience.
This is one of the 10 main trends across consumer, media, and technology that the Omnicom Media Group (OMG) 2024 APAC Trends Report identifies. The report helps marketers stay ahead of the curve by highlighting the need to be brave and step out of their comfort zone.
Another trend is that APAC will continue to grow across industries from a recruitment standpoint. With AI in demand, more and more technology hiring will take place. This means that recruiters will have to adapt to the changing skill sets and expectations of the candidates and the clients.
Business APAC: How do you manage to have a perfect work-life balance? What are your hobbies/interests beyond the cabin?
Nishu: I don’t see work-life balance as a problem because I love what I do. It comes into the picture when one is unknowingly thrown into a stressful situation without any choice. Founding and building Search Quest is part of my responsibility and my ultimate goal to give back to society. So, doing anything for Search Quest is not a burden but a sheer joy. I enjoy every moment of my work and life.
Besides work, I have some hobbies that keep me fit and happy. I like sports, especially running marathons. I also enjoy cooking and reading. Staying fit both mentally and physically is part of my DNA, so I consciously work towards that with a highly disciplined approach.
Business APAC: Finally, if you could leave one piece of lasting advice for our readers, what would it be?
Nishu: I would say that nothing is impossible and out of reach for anyone who applies a focused approach with passion and hard work on a daily basis. We all have a responsibility to contribute to society by sharing our knowledge, coaching others, and making this world a better place to live.
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“Search Quest was set up in 2008 with the vision to create future CEOs for the industry.”
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