Last Updated on March 3, 2023
Finding the best people to run your company or organization can be time-consuming and costly. Done the right way, it can dramatically change the course of business. Putting the best leaders in place is a 5-step process.
1. Define the characteristics of the position
Even before you create a job description or posting, it’s important to define what leadership means for your company. Based on that, a business must create a profile of the ideal candidate. It should include the knowledge, skills, capabilities, and experience required for the position.
2. Recruitment vs. Job Posting
To honestly hire the best leaders available, think in more complex terms than merely posting a job. A company should examine the entire recruitment process, identifying strengths and weaknesses in how it functions.
Recruiting software can assist with that by pre-selecting a pool of potential candidates, as well as offering a host of other services to streamline recruiting and hiring ideal candidates. Social media and networking are valuable tools in this process.
3. Prioritize List
Once a company has potential candidates, prioritize. This is done in two ways. First, the chances of finding the perfect candidate to fulfill every piece of the profile are small. Rank the criteria and decide what the non-negotiables are before beginning.
Once you’ve compiled a list of candidates, narrow it to the top five to eight and compare them to your criteria. Contact candidates, keeping in mind the high possibilities for your company’s job are most likely finalists for other people as well. Personalize your contact to make the right impression.
4. Evaluate/Re-evaluate
When it comes to making final hiring decisions, capabilities, knowledge, and experience are only part of the picture. Good hiring practices also must examine motivation and fit. People tend to spend the most time on what they enjoy, so learn what drives your ideal candidate.
Concerning fit, a company needs to know how a leader makes decisions, how that person will mesh with the team and other factors such as the candidate’s ability/willingness to take risks. Once a candidate is hired, retention comes through effective onboarding.
For your new hire to hit the ground running and turn in the top performance you want, they need more than a crash course for orientation. Providing positive feedback on a consistent and frequent basis encourages risk-taking.
5. Reflect and Refine
The final step is in taking the time to re-examine the recruitment process. Gather and analyze data on the number of qualified candidates for the openings involved in the hiring process. How did those candidates stack up against the list of non-negotiable criteria developed for the position?
Finally, examine performance evaluations for the leaders that were hired. Over the long-haul, how have these candidates maintained their motivation and fit with your business or organization?
Finding the right person for the right job at the right time can have a dramatic impact on the future of a business. It is a process that needs to be continually re-examined.
