Author Byline: Karen Alphonse, execSearches.com
Author Website: http://www.execsearches.com/non-profit-jobs/recruiter_Articles//Non-Profit-employer-checklist.asp
Most employers are eager to hire a competent person to complement their management teams. They seek someone with superior professional skill, good deportment and winning ways with people. The combination of competence, personal presence and charisma is not always easy to identify. Although there are no guarantees, there are a few steps you may consider to maximize your efforts to find just the “right person.”
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
Many prospective employers like to think that they know what they want. But, when confronted with a variety of talented leaders, they seldom know which particular skills they are focusing on. Writing a position description can be helpful because it will make you focus on skills, experience and professional qualities likely to make a leader succeed in the role you want to fill. It will only, however, define a set of minimum competencies. It will never adequately define the “perfect manager” you really seek.
The position description is just the beginning of a careful thought process. You also want to ask hard questions, such as “Which experiences are most relevant? If forced to make a choice, which qualities am I willing to forego? If I have to leave one thing off my wish-list, what would it be?” These kinds of questions will help you to see the skills that you need more clearly. It will also help you to eliminate leaders with talent not relevant to your most immediate needs.
If someone is currently acting in the management role you want to fill, another approach is to list his/her professional qualities and then to add the ones you would like to see in a permanent hire. This is often a useful way to critically assess the role and your needs, using a real professional as your model. Another effective approach is to identify a manager who comes closest to what you want and, again, listing his/her attributes and qualifications as a template. The point here is to develop a concrete model of the kind of manager you would like to attract to the role.
KNOW HOW MUCH YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY
This may seem like an indirect way to begin defining skills. The truth is that the market has probably defined a compensation range within which you are likely to find the talent you seek. One way to find out is to do homework. Contact trusted colleagues and friends who are leading in a similar capacity or who manage someone similar to the kind of leader you want. Find out what their compensation looks like, including benefits and perks — if relevant. Decide how much you are willing to pay a preferred candidate to relocate as well as what kinds of benefits you are prepared to extend. Compare these to what you are budgeting and be realistic. If what you propose should be let’s say in the $150,000 to $175,000 annual salary range and you have a budget of $90,000, take the time to think through the skills and experiences you are willing to live without. Alternatively, if you have the means, increase the salary and enhance the benefits package so that you are likely to attract talent of the highest caliber. It is always smart to negotiate from a position of knowledge. Also, talented candidates will make sure that they know their value prior to meeting with you in an interview.
USE YOUR NETWORKS TO IDENTIFY TALENT
As you are doing your homework to find out which salaries and packages might work for the kind of leader you seek, take a few minutes to ask your professional friends and colleagues about the outstanding managers they already know. Find out who they think would do a fabulous job. Call up those persons, find out if they might be interested. At the very least, find out what kinds of packages they would find attractive. This will serve two purposes: it will spread the word that you are looking, within a well-defined, high-integrity network, and it will give you more valuable information about market expectations.
The advantage to this kind of research is that your friends and colleagues know a bit about your organization, your staffing needs and your operating culture. This puts them in a unique position to do some quick screening and to suggest likely prospects to you. Another advantage to this is that they may be able to provide you with “offlist” references for candidates who seem particularly promising. Their input is likely to be candid and, if not 100% accurate, can point you quickly to areas you may need to investigate more fully.
REFERENCE ALL FINALISTS
When you have conducted interviews, checked your networks and done credit, criminal background and credential verifications, you will still want to do detailed references. References will collectively give you another view of how your preferred candidate motives others, operates under stress and generally contributes to the culture of the place where he or she works. In addition, references can give you thoughtful comments about a candidate’s readiness to take on more responsibility, professional challenges and his/her general attitude to life. These are some of the intangibles you will want to investigate fully before extending an offer.
With regard to the mechanics of doing the references, you may delegate them to qualified career professionals or you can do them yourself. Either way, the process will be time-consuming. To get a full picture of someone’s professional history, you will want to get input from supervisors, peers and direct reports. Sometimes, you will need to “reference-the-reference” if a particular commentator seems excessively positive, negative, insincere, sarcastic or even lukewarm, just to make sure that you have spoken with a credible observer. The person conducting the references will probably start with a list the candidate provides, but you should get consent to go “off-the-list” as well. Off-list references are helpful because they can provide you with fresh insights as to a particular candidate’s strengths and skill development needs. They can also provide you with perspective concerning those situations a candidate has managed effectively and, more importantly, those situations which have frustrated a candidate’s resources. Getting this input is critical. It will allow you to “know” your candidate in greater depth before you proceed to extend him/her an offer. It will also allow you to assess more accurately whether your candidate’s strengths match up with the challenges your organization faces.
LET COMMON SENSE BE YOUR FINAL JUDGE
Once you have gone through the process of defining your goals, testing the market, getting input from friends and colleagues, and conducting detailed references, credit checks and credential verifications, you will still have to let commonsense play a key role in your final decision. Ask yourself, “Is this someone I would feel comfortable working with?” “Do I see this person moving ahead at our company?” Practice the discipline of being choosy. Let no hunch or “feeling” go uninvestigated. It is far easier to keep searching if you are uncomfortable about a candidate or candidates than to make a grudging offer and suffer regrets afterwards. Also, a quick phone call may put a concern to rest once and for all.
Think carefully about the life and lifestyle issues a candidate will face to take up your offer. For example, before you hire a choice candidate who will have to relocate hundreds of miles to accept the offer, think through the logistics. He or she may genuinely be a “fit” in terms of credentials and leadership readiness. But, you will have to contend with his/her loss of personal networks, adjustmnet to a new company, lifestyle and location. This may be a cinch for some. For others, the stress may eventually affect their level of productivity.
Finally, be honest about your company. Most candidates expect you to put your best face on during the interview process. This should not be confused with your obligation to inform your serious candidates about your dilemnas. This can be done positively. Make sure that your choice candidate truly understands the culture of your organization, its challenges and your expectations. In the end, an informed candidate and an informed boss will make the happiest partnership of all.
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
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