Don’t Create Too Rigid Specifications
Leaders are often sought for overly specific roles because the recruiting manager wants an exact match for an exact task.
“There’s a tendency to think that when someone leaves, we need a new person with exactly the same abilities as their predecessor. But the world might be in a different position in six months or a year. The leader’s role and the requirements for it change,” Vidi emphasizes.
When hiring a person with too narrow an experience or expertise profile, they may not be able to adapt to new situations.
“If possible, it’s better to choose well-rounded people who can also perform other tasks.”
Overly precise role definition is understandable, of course, because the recruiting manager is often measured by specific results and wants to achieve them. Assessing versatility can be challenging, but a CV already reveals a lot.
If a person has had a diverse career with very different roles, it might be harder for the recruiter to find a common thread. But this shouldn’t necessarily be viewed negatively—rather, it shows that the candidate has experienced different roles, different industries, and different companies. This can be seen as versatility and strength.
Avoid Costly Dawdling
A successful leadership recruitment can take from six months to even a year. Many don’t consider how much an empty role costs the company.
“For some reason, this is just accepted, even though the recruited leader’s area of responsibility isn’t progressing during that time, either at all or at least not at the pace it otherwise could. It’s assumed that the recruiting manager can handle the task with minimal effort. The ROI of the task or project isn’t valued enough,” Vidi states.
According to Vidi, there’s a paradox in recruiting a leader. The role is considered important, and therefore the duration of the process is accepted. On the other hand, the extended downtime in the area of the position being recruited is also accepted.
“Then one might ask, was this position really that essential if filling it could be waited for so long?”
And the best candidate might also slip away due to the lengthy process because they get a better offer elsewhere and another process is faster.
“Good people always have options.”
Ensure Compatibility with Company Culture
One of the most common reasons for failure relates to corporate culture and how the recruit fits into it.
“Recruitment rarely fails because of the selected person’s subject expertise, as this is broadly evaluated during the process.”
Fit with company culture and people leadership are issues that often only become apparent when the person is working in the role. That’s why the recruitment process must be as open as possible.
“The company needs to understand its own culture and be honest, like ‘okay, our culture is hierarchical’ or ‘we don’t have any processes.’ If a new person comes from an established company to one that’s still in a growth phase and doesn’t yet have structures… they might get excited about it and be able to create something new. It might also happen that they can’t cope and become stressed by the constant variation in practices.”
Calculate the Cost of Failure
A miss is always expensive. Direct costs include recruitment expenses, the person’s salary, exit costs, and especially the fact that the matter they were supposed to advance is stalled. This can actually be the biggest cost!
“Indirect costs are formed especially from time usage – top management has sat in interviews, met with the headhunter, and finally oriented the selected person. The new hire, in turn, gets to know their superiors and subordinates, tours facilities around the world, and creates new operating methods that others then try to adopt. All of this takes a considerable amount of time, and the process with its changes affects many employees. If the person leaves after six months, the same routine starts all over again.”
If something in the recruitment process starts to worry you, it’s worth listening to that concern. The desire to recruit and move forward is strong – it’s easy to downplay these concerns.
“If in doubt, don’t,” Vidi advises.
Avoid Misses
When recruiting in the traditional way, it’s important to carefully examine the CV, achieved results, and references. Testing can also be considered. Sometimes a large internal interview group is used, which helps form a more objective impression of the candidate.
“These aren’t silver bullets, but they don’t hurt either.”
Cherry’s permanent interim recruitment service is also a viable alternative.
“You get the person immediately, and after being an interim for a few months, all parties have more information. It’s like a mutual trial period. The chance of success is excellent and the risks much smaller,” Vidi reminds.
And if the interim manager isn’t suitable, you can always replace them with another without much drama.
