Why Hiring a Winning Executive Team Requires a Change in Perspective
Expanding and growing your business over the next decade will require you to have a strong executive leadership team in place. As the business landscape becomes more fragmented and highly competitive, carving out your unshakable advantage may all boil down to who you have on your leadership team. And, since the cost of losing a highly trained employee can cost your company more than 200% of their annual salary[1], investing the time into finding the right fit for your executive team is key. According to industry-leading CEO Group Consultants, here are the top two proven strategies to identify, hire and grow your executive team.
Tip #1 – Hiring starts with self-reflection. Narrowing down exactly what skills you need on your leadership team is often one of the most challenging tasks CEO’s face. Ideally, having one or a few people that could master over a dozen skills would be economical for your company, but it is often not realistic. Identifying the top three to five skills you need to position and grow your business, while also meeting established business milestones is a much more targeted and proven approach. Investing the time upfront to pinpoint the skillsets not currently represented on your executive team, and what those skills would look like in a potential candidate is an effective way to ensure that your next hire will bring immediate (and long-term) value to your company. For example, if having the ability to scale a company is a must-have skill, then considering what resume indicators or buzzwords to look for in a candidate’s resume can help you hone in on finding the right leader for the position.
Tip #2 – Performance is rooted in motivation. Most CEO coaching programs will cover some aspects related to hiring for the right corporate or company cultural fit. However, exactly how to do that can be challenging for all businesses, across all industries. Instead, many CEO Group Consultants emphasize the need for CEOs to tap into the “invisible” hand when hiring for their executive team. The “invisible hand” also commonly referred to in psychology as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors are important components to understand in terms of a candidate’s profile, well before you begin interviewing. CEO coaches often recommend determining what types of motivations you want your team to have, or be driven by, and then use these as benchmarks to seek out those leaders who have similar motivations. It is important to note that though extrinsic motivation factors, including money or monetary bonuses can increase workplace productivity, intrinsic motivation factors such as intellectual curiosity and learning new skills can generate far greater workplace performance[2]. Matching the motivation to a tangible business goal is an effective way to ensure you find the right candidate with the right fit. For example, if sustaining your business’ growth will require expert interpersonal skills to grow strategic partnerships both within the company and externally, then having a leader that is intrinsically motivated by relationship building will be essential in helping your executive team achieve long-term growth.
These are just a few tips that can help you begin to identify and recruit the best talent for your executive team. If you would benefit from a small group consultation with experienced and award-winning CEO’s and a CEO coaching specialist, contact The Brain Trust today at 770-924-2883.
[1] https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/CostofTurnover.pdf
[2] https://hbr.org/2013/04/does-money-really-affect-motiv
