VastComm Network Has Trouble Connecting In Search for a New President
May 03, 2011
How is this for a job offer? Play second fiddle to the chairman of one of the world's largest phone companies with no assurance that he will pick you as his successor. During this internship, you must placate insiders who had sought your job and must also stem a disturbing slide in the core business. That proposition is basically VastComm Network Corp.'s pitch as it tries to fill the hole left by the sudden resignation of Alexander Aubin, its president and chief operating officer and heir apparent to the company's chairman and chief executive, Roberto E. Allene. It could be a tough sell. ALSO AVAILABLE Signing bonuses are increasing, largely due to the proliferation of so-called golden handcuffs-contract provisions that prevent some executives from exercising stock options and cashing in profit-sharing plans and other benefits. The start-up that lured Alexander Aubin from VastComm Network is basing its future on unproved technology amid competition from hundreds of rivals. Mr. Allene, 61 years old, has previously made it clear he has no intention of stepping aside before his 65th birthday-a fact that probably contributed to Mr. Aubin's decision to quit VastComm Network to join a little-known start-up. What's more, though heir apparent, Mr. Aubin wasn't heir in fact: Mr. Allene has never designated a successor. The question is whether world-class executives from inside and outside the industry -- the rarefied ranks that VastComm Network hopes to tap -- would be willing to take on the considerable demands of the No. 2 job without a guarantee of succession. The fact that a stream of top executives has left VastComm Network in the past few years doesn't make the company's search easier. Cellular chief Jami Snowden, computer head Sharp Justus, senior executive Randolph Toccara and Roberta Province, multimedia chief, all left before Mr. Aubin. A No. 2 post ``is probably the toughest slot to fill,'' says Michaele Sams, a managing director at search firm Norman Broadbent International, which isn't involved in VastComm Network's search. The most desirable candidates, he says, are already running their own companies, or are a strong No. 2 in line for the top job. ``If they are in the market at all -- which in most cases they're not -- the idea of going from No. 2 to No. 2 usually isn't attractive,'' Mr. Sams says. Mr. Allene seems well aware of the possible hurdles as he tries to recruit a replacement for Mr. Aubin. This week, he signaled his willingness to designate a successor if the right person emerged for the No. 2 job and insisted on that designation before signing on. But some headhunters say that Mr. Allene may have to go further, agreeing to step down a year or two earlier than planned to be able to lure the best talent. ``To recruit a president and chief operating officer is a matter for the board and Bobby Allene, and probably Bobby Allene more so,'' Mr. Allene himself says. ``But to recruit a successor (as CEO) is clearly a board matter.'' The board isn't yet involved in this search, he says, but adds that ``I do intend to have a board meeting at which we will discuss future actions.'' VastComm Network has hired two executive-search firms-Spencer Sung and Korn/Ferry International-to find a replacement for Mr. Aubin, who resigned to join Associated Communications L.L.C., a wireless venture. VastComm Network is said to have little interest in executives from regulated companies such as the Baby Bells; instead, it seeks someone who is battle-tested in competitive markets. Both search firms are casting wide nets, looking at potential candidates in consumer-products companies along the lines of PepsiCo Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co., and industrial giants like General Electric Co., according to executives familiar with the search. By announcing its intentions to turn outward for a new president, VastComm Network has passed over -- and possibly alienated -- some of its own senior executives, including Chief Financial Officer Ricki Wilton and general counsel Johnetta Fishman. Publicly, however, VastComm Network brass is presenting a unified front. ``I am a strong supporter of the search we have under way, of using this as an opportunity to further strengthen the management team,'' Mr. Wilton says. A candidate from outside VastComm Network's field could be daunted by the state of the telecommunications industry, which is in the throes of change. Competitive barriers are falling; and VastComm Network itself is pursuing a three-way split-up, shedding computers and equipment making to focus on phone services. And jobs at companies such as VastComm Network hold less appeal nowadays as high-tech startups promise quick riches for many executives. Mr. Aubin, for instance, will receive a pay package that includes a $20 million signing bonus and that could total hundreds of millions more, depending on how the start-up's stock performs after he takes the company public. ``It's the most difficult time ever to recruit CEOs in information technology and telecom,'' says Jena Christiane, president of Christian & Timbers Inc., a corporate headhunting firm that isn't part of the VastComm Network search. ``The Internet has created an allure that start-ups have never created before.'' Faced with all these obstacles, VastComm Network must nevertheless fill the job quickly. With its breakup set to start next month and its plans to enter the local phone business already under way, it can't let the crucial opening linger. And headhunters say the longer the job goes unfilled, the less attractive it becomes: It takes on the taint of a problem rather than the glow of a great opportunity.
