What Every Company Should Ask Any Executive Leader Before They’re Hired

When you’re investing in top-talent recruiting, your process should optimize the interview process to increase the chances of ensuring that only the candidates who offer the best skills, experience, and culture fit make it through.

Finding, recruiting, and onboarding the best talent from a vast talent pool of skilled candidates can be tricky. Recruiting someone who fits into the company’s culture can mean profitability, employee engagement, and motivation. However, a bad hire can cost the organization considerably.

With PwC reporting record-high CEO turnover rates in 2018, there’s clearly an issue with how companies go about finding company leaders and keeping them long term.

So here are some questions you should be asking yourself as you embark on this important recruiting journey.

What qualities do THEY look for in talent?

High performance executives value leadership, team building, and managerial skills in both themselves as others. That means they may inherit a team or they may be building a team around them. Find out what they look for in team members. Do they know how to evaluate talent? The ideal candidates for leadership and managerial positions should know that work experience and academic accomplishments alone don’t guarantee success. Are they looking beyond what a candidate offers on paper to see the intangibles that that candidate brings to the table?

Why is it that a Gallup survey concluded that companies were unable to choose the right candidate for managerial jobs 82 percent of the time? Hiring decisions are often based on the candidate’s academic achievements and experience without considering whether he or she possesses the soft skills needed for the position.

This question can put candidates on the spot because it encourages them to think about what it takes to build a team that will add value to the organization. Effectively assuming a leadership role requires understanding how parts fit together, how to best delegate tasks, and the importance of listening as well as communicating effectively with different personalities.

Knowing that your C-suite or VP-level candidates have the ability to spot the right qualities in candidates both gives your confidence in their leadership abilities and gives you peace of mind that they’ll be able to build a team and possibly hire their successor. This strategy is vital as your company grows and plans its succession strategy.

Do they have a plan for their first 30 days in the position?

An ideal candidate for the executive position in your firm is someone who has the necessary prerequisites and has a clear plan when it comes to achieving organizational goals and adding real net value—almost immediately.

Among the key traits to look for in top-level talent, Forbes states that “action” is necessary. An executive should be able to set actionable goals and work toward achieving them soon after he or she comes on board.

This question helps you get a clearer picture of how the candidate plans to use the skills stated in his or her resume and how soon they’ll be able to contribute to your organization.

Will they work well with their co-workers?

This question gives you better insight into how the candidate will function as a leader and a peer. An ideal executive candidate proves that he or she will be the right cultural fit by aligning and working well with both his peers as well those above and below his managerial level.

Your executive team should set the example for how the company should work together collaboratively and with mutual respect. They should have the proven ability to align different business functions and encourage teams to work towards common business goals while constructively working through differences and reaching consensus.

About Brookwoods Group

If you’re looking to hire the ideal candidate to add value to important executive leadership positions in your organization, Brookwoods Group is one of Houston’s leading professional recruiting and executive search firms. Since 1998, our staffing and recruiting solutions have helped countless organizations in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio find the best talent for their needs.

Our full-service recruiting agency oversees the entire hiring process, from screening to interviewing, to ensure we find the right talent—people who are a perfect fit for your organization.

Let us help you find the best talent through our proven recruiting strategies tailored to the position and your company.

Contact us today to get started!