By Brian Mitchell, Managing Director & CEO.
I’ve been recruiting at GM Ryan for 18+ years and have had the good fortune to work with hundreds of companies, placing several hundred senior executives over that time. There are keys for boards/companies to effectively land the quintessential leader, and we can touch on those, however there is little consistency from one company to the next. And fascinatingly, there is often a lack of consistency from one decision-maker/hiring-influence to the next within the same company. We all have different styles and that should be welcomed, but an understood framework designed to qualify while simultaneously attracting the very best candidate is essential.
Using the “urgent-important” quadrant matrix, developing exceptional hiring skills are always thought to be important, but are rarely given urgent attention…and therefore do not intentionally improve. The CEO’s agenda might vary somewhat from the CHRO’s focus of importance, and will almost always differ from the executive-to-be’s direct reports. Think about it: if the CEO wants a drastic improvement in (sales, engineering, etc.) then s/he will be looking for a “change agent” to drive a new era of performance in that department, whilst the existing team members rarely immediately embrace change to their comfortable routines. So without salient constructs in the evaluative hiring process, these different influences will have preferences that suit only their lens and belief systems. It’s natural. In this scenario, perhaps the CEO shouldn’t have the direct reports have an influence at all, but the point is that we all look through our own lens with a set of biases and preferences that may or may not be consistent with the best needs for the actual business. So what can be done?
Methodology is key. Not just a process, but a true methodology to answer “what are we trying to solve for?”. Everything should be initially rooted in answering that simple question. The subsequent question being “how do we hire the very best person(s) for that outcome?”. The methodology is framed around those two questions.
1) Summary. Through a discovery set of questions, create a concise and compelling position summary. This must describe an exciting situation for an exceptional leader to be inspired by and not simply list requirements and responsibilities. It is important to describe an attractive role to prospective candidates, which should drive intelligent and inspired questions from their end.
2) Scorecard. The evaluative ‘must have’ criteria needs to be understood and documented for each interviewee. This shouldn’t be a dozen or more elements, but the few critical necessities and intangibles desired. If each interviewer has a clear understanding of the search criteria, then a viable report following each interview is actualized. Without a clear understanding, each interviewer will simply convey their preferences.
3) Contingency. The best companies and hiring executives are perpetually sourcing for top tier candidates and topgrading opportunities. As a first-time sales manager a million years ago, my boss told me to “keep the lobby full” meaning to keep interviewing even when I was at full headcount. Identifying who the very best of the best are before you need them is an incredible advantage when the time comes to bring them into your organization.
4) Selection. Don’t wing this! Don’t involve people in the process that don’t need to be in the process. The process should be a series of predictive, sequenced, and structured conversations with an efficient, but not rushed cadence. The questions need to be consistent to get towards an understanding of outcomes. The best candidates don’t need your position as they have lots of options. A sloppy process sends the message that either 1) your company simply does not have its $@#% together or 2) either this role or I (the candidate) are not important. A poorly structured process is a dead end and will yield mediocre hires.
5) Sell. The best leaders are marketable and they know it. They’re evaluating what is in the best interests of their career, family, and other personal priorities whether they convey it or not. They need to be inspired and persuaded with an authentic vision of the company direction and the criticality of their role within those plans, along with the fun, challenge, incentives, recognition, and career trajectory that will all come as a result.
This methodology is all about OUTCOMES. Desired outcomes take planning and execution, recalibration, and improving with intention. The companies that ‘slow down to speed up’, and invest in these fundamental areas of executive hiring skills accompanied by an understood structured framework win. They win because they hire the best people, retain the best people, and build the best companies. Don’t sleep on this important AND urgent necessity in your company.