Leadership Hiring – How to Find and Recruit the Best Leaders

Every organization has unique expectations and culture, which act as the foundation for narrowing down on the choice of the ideal leadership. Emphasis is laid on channeling the efforts by answering some highly-specific questions relevant to the organization’s vision. These can include the following:

• What does effective leadership look like in the current scenario? Should it be aimed at uplifting the innovation and collaboration levels? Should it be aimed at business process improvement? Should it be aimed at driving great market results?
• What skills would be integral to paving more opportunities in the space or keeping afloat when the market turns complex and uncertain?
• What are the traits (like likability, passion, ability, etc.) that must be valued and those (like narcissism) that must be devalued?

All of this is indicative of the fact that leadership hiring is indeed exceptionally challenging and requires immense effort. After all, leaders make or break the organization’s current symphony. That is why leaders are hired after strict scrutiny. According to a survey, one of the main factors influencing employee engagement is company leadership. Determining whether or not employees trust their leaders is crucial for assessing the engagement metric. Certainly, effective leadership is invaluable, making finding qualified candidates for leadership positions challenging.

Before attempting to fill a critical leadership position, the human resource management team puts a lot of effort into creating the ideal job description, investigating salary ranges, and determining the value of the company’s brand.

What Qualities to Look for While Finding Leaders

A Balance of Soft Skills and Performance Metrics

We live in a time when transferable skills are essential, particularly when it comes to leadership positions. According to the 2022 Future of Work Global Report, more than 60% of employers are looking for workers with transferrable skills. The same study emphasizes how different jobs have various skill gaps and that 90% of employers struggle to find someone with the ideal mix of soft and hard skills. A leader must demonstrate a high level of hard skills to quantify performance while possessing a wide range of soft skills for team building and synergy.

Strong Decision-Making Skills

A leader is frequently exposed to a variety of challenging situations. When a leader can make the right decisions using the appropriate set of qualitative and quantitative inputs, others are empowered to follow their lead and cooperate with them. In order to make important decisions, leaders are expected to have a high emotional quotient and stress management skills. These facets may have non-quantifiable or intangible effects, but they do have an internal impact. So, it’s crucial to choose a leader who can think critically and reason logically when making decisions.

Shows Team Building Capabilities

Over 60% of the workforce is emotionally distant at work, and 19% of workers report being in a miserable state, per a recent Gallup report. These statistics are both alarming and eye-opening. The ability to build a team is an important marker that should be prioritized in the search for the ideal leader. In order for everyone to feel valued at work, a leader must possess the ability to build teams and collaborate closely. There are many ways to develop that, but the best way is to be emotionally intelligent. A lack of emotional intelligence makes it difficult for a leader to develop and win the team’s trust, which can result in absenteeism at work. 

Excellent Communication Skills

According to a recent McKinsey report, changing workplace environments change employees’ needs. It explains how businesses that provide open lines of communication can effectively increase overall employee productivity and well-being. A few of the sub-segments of communication skills include respecting others, giving feedback, and active listening. Since it sets the tone for the entire team and, in some cases, the entire department, it is crucial for leaders to possess all of these traits to manage the appropriate medium of communication at all levels.

Understands Client Dynamics and Is a Visionary

For meetings, decision-making, or just no-frills strategizing, leaders frequently handle clients, stakeholders, and other regulatory bodies. In essence, leaders dealing with customers or clients must be visionary and possess strong management abilities. A good leader will have a clear idea of where they want to take their company and what part the team needs to play in achieving this. The right candidate advances up the hierarchy over time, developing this kind of quality.

How To Hire and Onboard the Best Leaders

Now that we are aware of the characteristics the best leaders should possess, it is critical to understand the proper recruitment process. 

Being Intentional with the Hiring

Since hiring for positions in leadership only occurs occasionally, the efforts must be very deliberate and focused. In order to create a thorough job description that outlines all requirements, cultural expectations, involvement at various levels, etc., human resource and department heads must work together. To ensure that the candidate is qualified for the role at hand, one may choose to have them take a leadership test. Due to the gravity of hiring leaders, it is crucial to rule out subjective perception for the best outcome.

Channelizing Multiple Sources

Effective hiring can take many different forms; for instance, the top candidates can be promoted within the company. When it comes to filling leadership positions, organizations need to be visionaries, whether it be through internal referrals, internal job postings, or career succession strategies. Be it an MNC like IBM or Apple or a fast-growing SME, finding the ideal successor within the company works well for a seamless transition. It, in fact, serves as one of the primary avenues for effectively filling important and critical leadership positions.

Reward the Future, Not the Past

Typically, hiring decisions are made based on a candidate’s years of experience, the right degrees, and the number of stars on their career graph. However, changing times call for changing measures. We live in the era of the millennial and Gen Z generations, who are constantly engaged in pursuing their goals and looking for opportunities to excel at work. It is now crucial to look for a leader who can take on the future rather than linger on what they have learned in the past. A wise hiring strategy would be to select a candidate with a thorough understanding of all the changes that are anticipated in the future, as well as a clear understanding of how to navigate them.

Hire Recruitment Consultants Who Understand Leadership Hiring

An effective hiring approach is to leverage the capabilities and experience of recruitment consultants. It may be possible to quickly and effectively fill these complex positions by outsourcing the hiring process. Consultants can even find passive (albeit highly competent) talent in the market by utilizing the best-in-class hiring techniques, technologies, and references.

Pierian Services has years of experience and profound expertise in selecting the best leaders after carefully analyzing the needs of the company and its culture. Get in touch with us to learn more about our people practices and how we can channel your leadership hiring strategies in 2023.