As an employer, you want to attract talented executives who will ensure the deployment of your business strategies. But how to convince these extraordinary personalities to choose your organization? That’s kind of the subject of this article. Every organization has the ideal executive candidate in mind… and each executive has in mind the type of organization and position he or she would like to work for. The headhunter is a facilitator who allows everyone to get to know each other and talk to each other. Here are three rules to follow to attract the best senior executives.
1. Know the motivations of the executive candidate
To attract the best executive profiles, it is important that you identify their motivations. Much of this information is not in the candidate’s resume. On the other hand, it may be very present in the verbal or written report that your hunter has delivered to you at the end of his private conversations with a potential candidate.
In the world of work, motivations are generally classified into two groups: intrinsic motivations, such as doing work out of interest and pleasure, and extrinsic motivations, that is, doing work for external factors, such as salary or other monetary benefits. We agree that both are important! It is really during the job interview that you will get to the bottom of things more and a headhunter can help you greatly in this task by preparing the ground. Common ground, hopefully!
Every executive candidate who finds himself in front of an employer has great achievements behind him. He is a “talent” and part of his success depends on his good judgment. He has often surrounded himself with other talents mastering their own field. He is a team member. What motivated him to do all this? Why does he work so hard? Once the headhunter has reviewed his main motivations (what drives him in the present), he can also explore his aspirations (what drives him in the future) and the future achievements that are ahead of him.
2. Know the aspirations of the executive candidate
Many employees are looking for opportunities to advance to more senior, middle or executive positions in a company. But what are executives looking for, those who are already at the top of the hierarchy?
Executives are no different from employees, except that they have often already achieved compensation levels that give them peace of mind on the financial side. They often want to achieve things, to realize themselves, to build something. Some want to have a social impact, to make things better. Generally, an executive does not agree to invest professionally for one organization or another solely for compensation.
Of course, when you meet “one of them” you are not with “most of them”. You are in front of a person who has his own aspirations, his “personal agenda”, in the positive sense of the word. Beyond the career plan, what are his aspirations? What does he want to achieve? How? What are his personal values? What is important to him? How does he see the world? A headhunter is a professional who quickly identifies the profiles of a candidate. It can help you see more clearly in the aspirations of your executive candidates. It becomes easier to see if this person has affinities with your organization.
Executives are doers. Etymologically, this is precisely the meaning of the word “executive” that comes from the English execute, to do, to accomplish, to achieve things. These things may have created “a large dominant company in its industry” but it may also be doing intangible things like making employees happier at work. Are they not said to be benevolent? One thing is certain: your future executive wants to have free rein to do things in his own way. This aspect of the equation is very important to him. Is your company able to offer him this toolbox? For his part, will he be comfortable with your ways of operating?
In the end, as the song says: “All that matters is that we are on the same wavelength”. Precisely, the headhunter is a facilitator who allows you to see what it is.
Executives who invest in a company want to guarantee themselves professional autonomy to one day look in the rearview mirror and be able to say to themselves: “I realized this.” Give them the opportunity and you will increase your attractiveness. The profile of the candidate established by a headhunter can also be very useful to tie the threads of the negotiation and settle the “small details” that are very important to the candidate.
3. Know the difference between corporate culture, reputation and brand
Apart from remuneration, the attractiveness of a company is based on the three pillars of corporate culture, reputation and brand. Let’s take an example to distinguish between these three concepts.
A few years ago, the Volkswagen Group experienced serious damage to its reputation following revelations about the anti-pollution measurement equipment in its cars. Was his brand in danger? Yes and no, because it is based on a great history of innovations and quality products. She could still come out of it seriously damaged. It depended a lot on his reaction. In the turmoil surrounding this inglorious affair, the German giant has therefore publicly acknowledged its wrongs by compensating consumers.
The Volkswagen brand has drawn a line under much of this deplorable scandal with a bill exceeding $45 billion. While his reputation is not intact – nor are his books – his brand has remained solid. In the same remedial move, the German auto giant held two former executives accused of negligence to account, which helped “narrow” the problem to a management problem. This desire for appeasement has preserved the great mark of the worst: a fatal damage to its reputation. On the other hand, its corporate culture has probably evolved towards the better by integrating tighter internal controls. Finally, we hope for the shareholders.
Corporate culture, reputation and brand are based on “non-monetary values” that are factors of great attractiveness for most executive candidates. These are often ways of doing things. These factors weigh heavily in an executive’s decision to work for a given company or its competitor. Be the right one. The headhunter can help you create value in your business.
Executives are often proud to say: 1) who they work for 2) what they do there and, 3) how they do it. The most successful executives are attracted to an organization that has a reputation above suspicion, a strong brand, and a progressive corporate culture with happy employees.
It’s important to see your corporate values reflected in social media, on your website, and in the content of your job postings and ads. It is equally important to make the headhunter your ally in executive recruitment.
Are you looking for executive candidates who will put their talent at the service of your business objectives? Contact us today!
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