Talent Integration Series: Part 4
Many companies believe they have found the holy grail of talent when they identify and bring a manager in from outside the company. Listening to the executive team and hiring managers you could think you were watching the movie Wargames – as you hear those immortal words – “confidence is high! I repeat confidence is high”. Far too often – some statistics say up to 50% of the time – the candidate crashes and burns. What went wrong? Everything seemed to point to guaranteed success.
In situations like this, we find three things went wrong:
1. Not clearly understanding the job that needed to be done
2. Not clearly understanding the organizational context in which the new manager will work
3. Poor candidate vetting
If you do not know the job that needs to be done (i.e. turnaround, growth, sustaining, start-up), then finding the right candidate for the job is a stochastic event. The best way to determine what job needs to be done is to ask. Ask individuals who are part of the operating unit, who receive services, who provide services. Understand what needs to be done. This is really a 360-degree review of the department or the operating unit.
Organizations have personalities, they have established cultures, and many can behave like the body’s immune system – ravaging foreign invaders that appear as a threat to the system. We had a client who hired a CIO that did not represent the culture of the organization. He was direct and abrasive. The organizational members were polite. The hiring manager believed the CIO would “shake things up”. The only person that got shaken up was the new hire. He lasted six months, even amidst a “polite” culture.
When you know the job that needs to be done and you have an understanding of the culture of the organization, you then outline the skills and behaviors that the ideal candidate should possess. It is helpful to breakdown the skills and behaviors into “musts” and “wants”, that is the non-negotiables to get the job done versus the would-be-nice to haves. No candidate can meet all the criteria an organization can mobilize in the selection process. But the successful candidate must at least meet all of the “musts” identified. We recommend a personality-based and job performance indicator that measures a candidate’s potential for success (we first described this in our October 26, 2009 blog). We also recommend an interview process that includes superiors, peers and subordinates. Also, the assumption is that what the job is (that is, the current and necessary essential functions of the job) has been assessed and accurately captured on a job or position description to clearly frame expectations from the beginning.
Hiring candidates from outside the organization can be a risk: for both the candidate and the organization. It is important to make a concerted effort to reduce the risk and increase the chance for success. Not only does “everyone win”, but more importantly, work gets done, the company continues to grow and you do not end up with a retention problem.
Copyright 2009 Kubica and LaForest
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