A Better Approach to Hiring Executives
Most job specifications for executives are pretty useless laundry lists, basically describing super women/men. Of course, who wouldn’t want to hire someone who already has checked off every conceivable requirement?
Here’s a different approach: bipolar scales. Develop bipolar scales that force the hiring manager to think not only about pedigree and accomplishments (of course positives) but also mindsets that are a better indication of cultural fit and potential success.
Decide on the essential approaches, attitudes and knowledge that are required for the new hire to be successful in this function, at this level, in your company. Start by writing two to four scales each for management style and personality and knowledge. Pick the most important five or six. Each candidate should be ranked for each on a seven-point scale (“their style conflicts with our criteria” with a value of -3 to from “strongly exemplifies the requirement” with a value of 3).
CAUTION: For the bipolar approach to work, the poles must be opposite, and one must be important to achieve success at the company.
The best candidate is the one that the interviewers score highest. Of course, a minor difference isn’t meaningful and any score lower than two should be seriously discussed as a potential knockout.
Here are a few scales to consider:
Deep or Broad
Do you want a world-class specialist in a tightly defined function or an executive who can lead a wide range of sub-functions?
Scoring example: If you are looking for a new department head who has many direct reports who are responsible for separate sub-functions, then it will be important to hire someone with a broad background who can lead without being a function expert of everything she is responsible for. Therefore: breadth is 3 and depth is -3.
Thoughtful or Spontaneous
Should the executive be more analytical or intuitive in their approach?
Inventor or Operator
Does the company need new processes and products or to execute much better?
Manage Up or Manage Down
Is the key to success managing up to get funding and support or managing down to get the department to perform better?
Recruit or Train
Will the new executive need to bring in new reports or get the current reports to perform better?
On-base Percentage or Home Runs
Does the company need (or value) a lot of wins or a few big victories even if accomplished without taking care of all of the day-to-day business needs?
Industry Expert or Functional Expert
Are industry knowledge and credibility more important than skills?
While this choice often needs to be made, if the specifications require both functional and industry expertise, this scale won’t work for this job.
Old Media or New Media
Where is the company spending its media money, and where does it want to in the future?
For all functions, a similar scale would be appropriate.
Improve or Start New
Similar to recruit versus train, does the company want to blow up the department and start over or will a continuous improvement approach be more acceptable?
Then simply determine the average scores by the interviewers for all the candidates.
The highest score is a good predictor of which candidate is the best fit for your job and company. Perhaps even more important, candidates that score relatively low can be considered a long shot to be successful.
About the Author | Richard Sellers
Richard is Chairman Emeritus of the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), founder of the Demand Marketing consulting firm, and former Sr. VP of Marketing for three multi-billion dollar companies: CEC, WLP, and Service Merchandise. His early career was at GE, P&G, Playtex, and the Marketing Corporation of America.
