We have all done it. We have an opening for a critical executive, and we get introduced to someone or meet someone at a coffee shop, you feel a little chemistry, and we think … “that’s the one for me.” So you hire them, and for about 6 weeks, everything is going along well, except that things are not getting completed to your satisfaction, or someone else on your team is starting to have conflicts with that person … or even worse, you get the feeling that something is just not right. You are losing sleep. You need to make a change. You hire an executive search consultant to perform a replacement search and hope they can find the right person this time.
The search consultant comes in and assesses your goals, and puts together a positive description that identifies vital qualities, skills, and performance objectives – so you can hire someone that is a fit. The search consultant presents several candidates who look great on paper, but when you meet them, it’s a no-go. You just “don’t feel it,” and you can’t define “it”. So the search goes on and on and on. Six months go by, and your crucial position still remains open. You tell the recruiter, “I’ll know when I see it.”
Your recruiter is exasperated, and they put you low on their priority list and toss you a candidate every now and then. You blame the recruiter when you have given them the impossible assignment of reading your mind.
To avoid this untenable situation, you need to be transparent about your company goals, the scope and
size of the role, and the values and culture you wish to create. This is where the fit comes in. It’s not enough to say you want someone “world-class.” You need to define precisely what that means and how to identify it in a candidate you meet. This activity hones your ability to assess talent.
Developing a few questions to learn about the “who” it is you are hiring is the easy part. After all, you are not just hiring- a skill set. You are hiring a whole person. The goal of the interview process if finding out who that person is. Clearly defining and writing down what you want increases your chances of success by 35%. Enlisting others to hold you accountable jumps that up to 79%. Hiring a professional search consultant places that over 90%. Staying focused is tough when the business climate is moving quickly and you feel your needs changing –but the focus is essential to success in the hiring process.
As executive search consultants, our job is to ensure we not only define the requirements for the position up front but also to identify and vet candidates against your culture and team compatibility. Not to say everyone you hire will see things the same way you do, but they will be able to align with you and your team, run a business with the same vigor you do, build teams that function within the broader organization, and execute well.
Our job, as executive recruiters, is to define, identify, assess, vet, and provide you only with talent who are a great fit for you and your unique business proposition. We have been successfully executing this for over 20 years; find out more about us at www.raynaksearch.com or call us to learn more about how we can build an exceptional team for you.