Finding the right talent for the C-suite when you’re scaling your company for growth is its own special challenge. You’re creating new positions with new accountabilities, and the need to fill the position is extremely urgent. With this combination of navigating the unknown and time pressure, it’s common to end up with mismatches.
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review titled Why CMOs Never Last sheds new light on this issue. Although the authors focus on the Chief Marketing Officer (the C-suite position with the highest turnover), you can expand on their insights to apply to recruiting and retaining top talent for every position in the C-suite.
From our own experiences, we agree that paying particular attention to how you design the position before setting selection criteria and recruiting candidates can boost the chances of success.
Specifically:
- What is the reality of accountabilities and strategic expectations of the role? With a new role operating in uncharted territory, the executive team accountabilities and dynamics change. To head off confusion, be clear about your expectations for the new structure.
- What is the real decision-making authority? Is it enterprise-wide or more functional? In either case, it’s essential to go beyond the title and make sure that there’s a robust match between a candidate’s experience, talents and career expectations.
When recruiters and candidates thoroughly understand the role of the new position in the context of these issues, you’ll have much more success with finding the right fit and with dramatically increased mutual satisfaction and retention both in the short-term and long-term.
For more insights on New Positions in the C-Suite, listen to our Growth Igniters® Radio Episode 25. We interview Jane Howze, Managing Director & Founder of The Alexander Group.
