Leadership Hiring Strategies

Leaders play some of the most important roles within a business, and companies need to hire the right people. Here’s how to develop a leadership hiring strategy that will bring you success.

Hiring the right person is always a challenge, but recruiters and HR professionals agree that bringing on somebody in a senior or skilled role is the biggest struggle. Unfortunately, this is also an area in which mistakes can be extremely costly, as your leaders will play a large role in determining the overall success of your business. This makes it crucial for businesses to have strong leadership hiring strategies.

What Is Leadership Hiring?

Ultimately, leadership hiring is as simple as it seems: it’s recruitment that focuses on your managers. This can apply all the way up to your company’s C-suite, but most of the time you will be hiring middle managers. Whoever you take on will be responsible for ensuring your business goals are achieved by your employees, as well as taking responsibility for staff morale, development and more.

This means it’s important to have a strategy around what attributes and qualities your organisation has and needs in its leadership team. You shouldn’t be hiring managers on a case-by-case basis; instead, businesses need to have an overall image of their leadership team they can use to map out their talent needs.

Importance Of Hiring The Right Leaders

Effective leadership isn’t a luxury; it’s an essential aspect of running a company, and so few organisations have access to it. A Gallup study found that only around a fifth of managers had a high level of talent for managing others, while another fifth had a basic level. However, these two groups caused their companies to make 48% higher profits than those with average managers.

Employees with good managers perform better and are more engaged with their organisation’s core purpose, whereas the opposite is true for inadequate leaders. A survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that employees with poor managers were much more likely to suffer from poor mental health and even poor physical health.

Bringing in talented leaders will help your business succeed, but failing to do so will actively hinder your efforts. Poor or ineffective management can make your workforce stressed, less effective and less engaged. It’s not simply a matter of hiring individuals; you need to make sure each manager you take on complements your overall leadership structure.

What Is Leadership Hiring? How To Do Leadership Hiring Effectively

While some aspects of leadership hiring are the same as any other recruitment project, there are many areas that need approaching with a different perspective and more care. Here are the steps you can take to hire effective managers with the best leadership hiring strategies:

1. Be clear in your job descriptions and requirements

“Leadership” is an extremely broad term. Some leaders believe in being firm and unyielding, while others take a softer approach. You should be looking for specific skills, qualities and experiences in your managers, paying attention to what specific role you need them to fill.

2. Look beyond resumes

CVs can only tell you so much. Even at interview, it can be difficult to properly assess how well someone will manage your employees and be an effective leader. You should make use of your network to find out as much as you can about each candidate; their successes, their management style and their likely effect on your workforce.

3. Think international

There is often a lot of competition for management talent, and it can be hard to access the people who are best able to help your business. However, there are plenty of leaders accessible if you widen your talent pool to include international and remote candidates. You might also consider partnering with an international recruitment specialist who can help you access these job markets.

4. Consider internal promotions and succession plans

Leadership hiring doesn’t have to be external. You should always keep an eye out for promising candidates who can be promoted from within your business. They likely won’t have as much experience, but they will be familiar with the company and will have strong relationships with existing employees, which could make them the perfect fit.

5. Outsource recruitment professionals

You don’t have to do everything on your own; there are agencies specialising in senior appointments who can take on the job of bringing in management talent for you. You can benefit from their technology, expertise and contacts rather than having to cultivate your own, making the process much easier. 

6. Be realistic with budget

Senior hires need senior compensation. You don’t have to pay every middle manager an executive salary, but be realistic about the level of talent you can expect to gain for your budget. You might need to offer slightly more in order to access the management talent you need.

7.  Check references!

Never forget to check the references provided by candidates. While some employers might not offer character references, others will, and this is an extremely valuable source of information on the abilities of your potential leadership hires.

Leadership hiring strategies need to be taken seriously, and cannot be an afterthought. Remember, a poor manager can negatively impact your business in ways that can be very hard to unpick. If you need help taking on senior talent, get in touch for a consultation and find out how Allen Senior Appointments can help you find the right leadership talent for your organisation.

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