That’s it, your headhunter firm or your HR department has found you the three best candidates in the world for this middle management position that you’ve been looking to fill since… how long has it been already? For too long!
He will be there in an hour, sitting comfortably in your office, a manager who has 15 years of experience, diplomas and an impressive track record. He is sure of himself and his many achievements. And you have before you a long list of thoughtful questions to ask him.
You will ask him to tell you about his leadership style, to present him with a situation, to evaluate his success and failures as a manager or to tell you how he will keep his team engaged.
As he will be well prepared, he will have the answer to everything. But in fact, it is your attitude and the questions you will not ask, or the questions the candidate will ask you (or not) that may well determine the success of this meeting. What is the purpose of the meeting? It’s not hiring at any prrix. It’s about whether you’re meant to work together. Here are 5 tips that will help you conduct your interview.
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Accept the new rules of the game
Who’s recruiting who? The company or the candidate? In today’s world of work, assume that it is the executive you meet that will choose the company where they want to work, not the other way around.
You feel like you’re rolling out the red carpet, opening the doors to success, but every candidate who agrees to meet you also feels like they’re giving you access to their accomplishments and experience—not to mention their skills—dearly acquired through long and patient efforts.
The typical candidate is a 30- and 55-year-old manager. Those who have arrived mid-career have accumulated a wealth of human and professional experience that has refined their judgment on people and professional success. He knows what he wants, but most of all, what he doesn’t want.
In the end, it is the candidate who will “recruit” your company. You’re as much into an interview as he is.
2: Value your company’s culture
Hiring is achieved when you reach a balance between the satisfaction of the employer who sees the candidate in front of him the person who will allow him to grow his business and, secondly, the satisfaction of the candidate in the face of a job that will satisfy his professional and personal aspirations. And here the word “personal aspirations” is absolutely not to be overlooked.
What is the culture of your business? What kind of leader are you? How do the different hierarchical components work in your organization? Are you open to work-life balance, telecommuting and diversity? Does your business have a mission other than financial profitability? Are you defending a social cause?
Many executives choose to work for one company over another for its values, for what constitutes its corporate culture, its brand in the broadest sense. This corporate culture is based on values such as:
- Encouraging work-life balance
- The work environment and the physical site
- Clear policies on psychological harassment
- Concrete actions on respect for the environment
- Social commitment to philanthropic causes
- Encouraging sports, recreation, arts and culture
Over time, it is the employees who create the company’s culture by shaping and implementing its key values. A company will often prefer to hire an executive who not only has the required skills, but can easily adapt to the company’s culture. And vice versa! The executive will choose a company that reflects its values. It is not just a question of compensation. Don’t forget that developing a corporate culture promotes employee retention, which avoids… to have to recruit repeatedly!
Share your values in the media and talk about them in an interview with your candidate. It’s a win-win.
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Make the job interview a positive experience
Recruiting is expensive. Recruiting by making a mistake costs even more. Unfortunately, the recruitment of middle and senior managers is not an exact science. In fact it is not a science at all but a know-how that relies a lot on the art of conversation. So make your job interviews as positive for the candidate as it is for you. Adding stress unnecessarily would only reduce your chances of having frank answers to your questions. You could “escape” interesting potential candidates.
This is what Dr. John Sullivan, an American researcher in the field of HR and talent management, found in his article “Stop Treating Interviewees Like Adversaries By Increasing Interview Transparency.” In it, he explains that hiring results improve when you increase transparency during an interview. This requires avoiding additional stress. An interview is already stressful in itself. Don’t add any more.
In addition to reducing the reliability of candidates’ responses, unnecessary stress changes their attitude and non-verbal language. You may also waste a lot of time trying to reduce the candidate’s stress level during the interview.
4: Take the time to listen to each candidate
As you know, many passive candidates for an executive position, whether manager or director, already have an enviable job. If a passive candidate agrees to meet with you, it is because they are looking to improve their lot in one way or another. And it’s often not strictly monetary.
The candidate sitting in front of you is a person. He or she seeks to fill needs in all areas of his or her life. He agreed to meet you, but he won’t put his whole game on the table. He will tell you what drives him if you manage to make a connection.
It is not a question of entering the private lives of the candidates but of what is important to them. It is very rare for a hiring to be a simple matter of remuneration, on both sides.
The real reasons why candidates are often expressed indirectly:
- I want to spend less of my time on planes and in hotels! (work-life balance?)
- I have 15 years to work, I want more challenges in another field before hanging up my skates. (Does this hide a conflict with colleagues? A difficult personality? A personal aspiration?)
- My responsibilities have been too broad. I no longer have the same vision as management and I like to have fun working” (is it dissatisfaction with pay or something else?)
You have to take the time to listen to what potential candidates have to say or help them do so. Do you have that time? Such conversations can be difficult to conduct in an office, in the workplace, in the middle of a work day.
A specialized firm like Recruitscope can help you find out what drives your candidates before a first meeting. We know that executive recruitment is changing and we are well aware of the needs of employers.
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Take care of your relationship with your recruitment firm
If you are looking for an experienced executive or are in a niche sector, a headhunter like Recruitscope can become a valuable asset allowing you to carry out a very targeted search for interesting potential candidates. However, you are the ultimate person responsible for your recruitment and the hiring process.
Your external recruiter should be informed of your expectations for the candidates you want to attract. To do so, he must have an up-to-date profile of the ideal candidate and an accurate description of the tasks entrusted to him.
Do not work in a silo and contact them regularly to relay any changes or information that may be useful to them in their research.
It’s important to make sure your external recruiter knows your business well. Invite them to visit your workplace. Let them know what’s going on. They need to understand your organization, your corporate culture and your values.
To find out how Recruscope can help you fill your executive positions, please email us or at 438-870-7075.
