Executive hiring can be such a long drawn out affair. For instance there are the endless referrals (that usually are not even close to the profile), the pre-screened resumes to review, the pulling together of interview panels, candidate follow-up. The list goes on and on.

But most often hiring managers aren’t able to clearly articulate their executive hiring requirements succinctly and clearly. Therefore, filling the executive role takes that much longer. And, in the majority of cases the person hired rarely fits all of the original job description criteria. I’ve basically told hiring managers, “You said you wanted a ‘race horse’, yet you hired a ‘Camel?”

Because of not providing the search team the exact requirements (particularly for a new role), the sourcing and search practitioners obtain the ideal final candidates based on the agreed to profile. However, when the hiring manager tells them that he/she is looking for additional skills and requirements, it certainly becomes more costly and time consuming when changing the profile during the search. It can also impact your organization’s brand, because you’ll be sending candidates through a ‘dog and pony’ show, with no clear outcome, and only a bad taste about the organization wasting their time.

Just recently a hiring executive in a growing technology company had outlined a job profile which he thought were all the skills, attributes, abilities required to back-fill an important leadership role. Yet every time candidate profiles were presented, he told HR that they came up short. And yet additional undetermined skills and abilities were being added to the mix, confusing the candidates and the sourcing team.

This key executive’s role is a revenue generating and client facing position, critical to the growth of the organization, not filling it quickly becomes an even larger burden on the bottom line. In desperation the technology company settled for a candidate that did not meet all of their hiring requirements. They wanted a race horse but settled for a camel!

Gabriel Najera, President of the Najera Consulting Group, says hiring managers can avoid hiring ambiguity by careful analysis of their organization’s business model. Gabriel says that the business model “Is the logic and rationale of how a business creates, delivers and captures value.”

He goes on to say, “While a typical business model has nine (9) components, the two (2) key components of the business model that impact hiring criteria are 1) Key activities – what key executive activities are critical for the creation and delivery of your organization’s value proposition? and, 2) Customer relations – what types of relationships will the executive need to establish with specific customer segments” Gabriel strongly suggests that the organization’s business model and strategy inform all hiring.

In addition to having clarity on your business model, another very tried and true way forward is to engage a reputable and established executive search team, to either lead or partner with your internal staffing function.

No one wants to spend money and time chasing down lots of candidates who don’t fit the bill. The executive search practitioner is skilled and capable of asking all the clarifying questions upfront, and executing the hire in a much shorter period. Resulting in a highly qualified and fully vetted final candidate.

So if you don’t want to end up with a Camel, when you are looking for Horse, you should consider partnering with our friends at Business Staffing of America, Inc. They can truly partner with you and your staff to get the right person, every time, guaranteed.

About the Author:

John Estrada is best known for his business approach in the Human Resources field, particularly with work in the leadership/executive coaching, career development and talent management arena. As well as his expertise in Executive Search, Recruitment, and Diversity and Inclusion.

John oversees a thriving coaching practice. He merges energy and enthusiasm working with clients on every aspect of their business career.

To inquire about about John’s career coaching services please click on this link, and for Executive Search, Recruitment, and Diversity and Inclusion, click here.