In a world where automation seems to be everyone’s infatuation to do things faster and more efficiently, sometimes it’s still vitally important to take a step back, slow down, and pause to think. In recruitment, taking a little more time up front rather that lurching into action. It’s likely to save time over the cycle of a hiring project, and almost certainly likely to deliver better results.
I recently lead a project at the request of a client to review their Executive & Leadership level hiring. It was broadly perceived that they were running at a Grade C, passable but with plenty of scope for improvement. Although every company will be different, I noticed a number of recurring themes, and themes that are certainly not isolated to this company alone. Amongst the most prominent of these was operating on ‘autopilot’ – doing the same as they did before. Full credit to them however, the first step to fixing is acknowledging the problem in the first place!
Here are the ‘fixes’ that are sometimes overlooked that we recommend that all employers should be conscious of to get their Exec hiring right.
Do the necessary work up front:
Giving definition to the role, it’s purpose and the profile you’re looking for should never be rushed through. I’ve seen countless examples where hiring has failed because these things were clearly defined at the outset. This is the time to challenge conventional thinking, really focus on the impact you’re looking for in the hire and then translating this to a relevant and realistic definition of the role and person specification.
Create a golden thread:
Having defined the role, this needs to be used as a golden thread through the whole process, with clarity and cohesion to the criteria you’ll select and assess against. There are times in a process where agility is required as you learn a little on the way or circumstances may evolve, but maintaining a sharp focus, and constantly scrutinising what you’re assessing for and why will bring its just rewards when it comes to decision making.
A process to serve, not be served:
It’s important to remember that a recruitment process is there to enable good hiring outcomes, not hinder them. Whilst there will be times when events conspire to present obstacle in a recruitment cycle, where possible it’s best to prioritise the desire to make the best hire over being slaves to the mechanics of the process. The content of an assessment process, the methods and means should be well considered for their relevance and appropriateness, especially important at Executive level where more focus shifts to evaluating ‘softer’ credentials around such behaviours, values, cultural alignment.
It’s a two-way street:
At leadership level in particular it’s key to ensure your process creates a two-way experience. Typically talent pools will be smaller as seniority increases. Decisions can be more nuanced on both sides, and the impact of getting it wrong will be more widely felt. So the need to create an experience that is mutually informative is very important. Moreover, at this level even the least ego-centric candidates will appreciate being made to feel valued and extended certain courtesies.
Assign it priority status:
Hiring can be a complete drag! I’ve specialised in this field for over 25 years and have made a profession from it, but for most hiring managers I recognise it’s not their favourite thing. It’s time away from their day job. However, I’m of the opinion that it’s a fundamental responsibility of any hiring manager to take full accountability for hiring the best people. I’ve seen too many examples where failure to assign priority status has resulted in failed or protracted hiring campaigns, or worse still, poor hires. Conversely, it’s when I’ve seen real collaboration and engagement with the hiring manager that I’ve generally seen the best results. So being an active part of the process is key.
De-clutter decision making:
There is a careful balance to be struck with the virtue of getting different perspectives but not overloading with opinions. You’d expect panelists/assessors to be senior operators, and therefore no strangers to expressing their valuable views. Harnessing the value these can bring is key, and best done when they understand the role you want them to play. Too many general opinions without the right contextual understanding can make decision making more confusing and difficult. So it’s worth establishing a smaller panel of trusted advisors who’ll have been involved from the outset, creating a forum for healthy challenge and objective discussion. There needs to be clarity on who makes the final call, ideally with an appropriate mechanism validating this decision.
In this article I’m applying these observations to the context of Executive level hiring, because these are often more nuanced, but these are equally relevant to mainstream hiring too. Act on auto-pilot at your peril!
