• When you want to hire top talent, beyond your immediate network.
• When you must save time and money; mistakes in a top executive hire can cost three times the candidate’s salary in only six months.
• When the hiring effort must be confidential, such as when you are replacing an incumbent still in the company.
2. Is it true that references checks are worthless?
Yes and No.
• Yes, if you are only talking with the candidate’s top 3-5 friends and colleagues. Most senior executives have a small fan club.
• No, not for a professional search consultant. The professional interviews more references, knows how to ask probing question, puts the ‘reference’ at ease, and guarantees the reference confidentiality, eliminating fear of legal ramifications.
3. Why do you need a search firm to fill Board of Directors positions?
• Same reason to engage a firm for executive roles.
•Management wants to bring in independent Board members beyond their network to comply with SOX..
4. What are the three biggest mistakes a hiring manager can make interviewing?
• The interviewer sells and talks too much.
• The interviewer is not prepared for the interview.
• The interviewer makes a positive or negative judgment about the candidate in the first few minutes and acts on it.
5. What are the three biggest mistakes made when hiring an executive?
• Being too impressed with the resume and marquee credentials.
• Not validating the candidate’s accomplishments and digging into his/her references.
• Not engaging your team in the selection process.
6. What is more important - skills or cultural fit?
• Both... But it is easier to validate skills and experience, and more difficult to determine cultural fit, and in the end, most executive get fired because they do not fit the organization's culture.
•An objective third party adds to the overall validation.
7. What is emotional intelligence - why does it make a difference?
• Emotional Intelligence (ET) encompasses four elements: self awareness; self management; social awareness; and relationship management. The most effective leaders have strong ET in addition to expected technical and other leadership skills and abilities.
8. When does the founding CEO need to be replaced?
• When the board recognizes that the founder is missing the numbers even though he/she is working 24 X 7.
• When the company is unable to secure the next round of financing due to results or lack of them.
• When the founder’s core skills and experience do not align with what is needed for the next stage of growth and team members can not fill the gap.
• When there’s a “crisis du jour” culture.