How to Navigate the Executive Recruitment Process

How to Set Up an Effective Executive Recruitment Process

• Set expectations up front for everyone involved. Think through everything in advance, from when you are defining the ideal candidate to the new hire announcement.
• Establish your priorities and expectations for the role. Be meticulous and really clear on who you’re looking for. Determine what they will be doing, how success will be measured, what their day-to-day will look like, what their span of control is, and who their direct reports will be.
• Don’t forget about the “who” part of it. Identify the desired soft skills, leadership styles, approaches, past successes, and experiences you want as well. You must ensure these qualifications exist, as executive candidates will have a deeper, more widespread impact on your organization. The higher the role, the more influential a candidate needs to be in order to motivate people.
• Cast a wide net. Regarding senior leadership positions, fewer candidates will be qualified and a good fit. You must assess as many things as possible to paint the fullest picture possible.
• Consider a third-party firm. Executive roles require an intensive search, which takes a lot of time. You need the right network in the industry and may not have the resources to explore that. It won’t be as simple as posting a job ad on Indeed, this search will need to be performed in a much more proactive way.

Additional resources

• Executive Search Staffing Services
• Reasons Why You Should Hire an Executive Recruiter
• What is a Retained Search?
• Key Skills to Look for When Hiring a CEO
• Leadership Hiring Techniques to Build a Stronger Management Team

Transcript

Pete Newsome  00:01
You’re listening to The Hire Calling Podcast, your source for all things hiring, staffing, and recruiting. 

Pete Newsome  00:06
I’m Pete Newsome with Ricky Baez again today, Ricky, how are you?

Ricky Baez  00:10
Pete? We should make a habit of this.

Pete Newsome  00:13
We should make a habit of this. We don’t already have a habit of this.

Ricky Baez  00:17
Oh, we do have a habit. But you know what? The first step is admitting we got a recording.

Pete Newsome  00:25
I think we’re there. I think we’re there. We can’t hide from it anymore. How are you today Ricky?

Ricky Baez  00:29
Doing good man doing really good.

Pete Newsome  00:31
You should be doing good. You’re about to head to Barcelona for vacation. 

Ricky Baez  00:35
I cannot wait to head to Barcelona. Hop on a Royal Caribbean ship be there for seven days, then I spent a couple of days in Barcelona. Come on back.

Pete Newsome  00:44
Oh, man, I am envious and look forward to hearing about it and hopefully see some pics while you’re there.

Ricky Baez  00:50
You’re gonna get millions of them to watch great.

Pete Newsome  00:52
Gonna rub it in and make me feel even worse being here grinding away.

Ricky Baez  00:57
Awesome. But that’s what I’m here for?

Pete Newsome  01:00
Well, let’s do what we can while we can to help anyone listening with today’s topic, which is how to conduct an executive search. 

Pete Newsome  01:10
So let’s talk about that. Are you ready?

Ricky Baez  01:12
Let’s do it. Let’s dive in.

Pete Newsome  01:14
So the executive recruiting process is not altogether different than searching for any other role. 

Pete Newsome  01:22
But there are some unique things when because when we’re, we’re talking about a position that is more unique.

Pete Newsome  01:28
The candidate pool is not as vast, you have to approach it a little bit differently, don’t you think?

Ricky Baez  01:35
I would you know, at first, when I was thinking about this, I thought what is the same thing because you had to identify who you’re looking for. 

Ricky Baez  01:41
You have to do all these things that resonate with the regular recruitment process. 

Ricky Baez  01:46
But then, as I thought about it more and more, Pete Yes, you do have to approach it differently. 

Ricky Baez  01:51
Because if you’re looking for an executive, this person is going to have a deeper, more widespread impact on the organization than somebody who’s not an executive. 

Ricky Baez  02:01
So you do have to be more particular about who you bring on board.

Pete Newsome  02:04
Yes, absolutely. So when we’re talking about executive search, we’re talking about senior leadership positions. 

Pete Newsome  02:09
And you know, there’s kind of fall into two categories. One is a new position that has been created from scratch, that happens a lot. 

Pete Newsome  02:18
growing companies times are evolving. I mean, let’s just look at AI right now. Right? I can see chief AI officer being up the position that exists in the not-too-distant future, can’t you?

Ricky Baez  02:30
Oh, absolutely. 15-20 years ago, a social media marketing specialist exist. So yeah, this could definitely be set in the near future. I’d say two years.

Pete Newsome  02:41
That’s right, I was actually asked by a chief marketing officer somewhere between 10 and 15 years ago to create an I don’t remember the exact title.

Pete Newsome  02:51
But it was a senior leadership position that reported directly to the CMO for digital content and social media. 

Pete Newsome  03:00
And that’s 15 years ago, somewhere between 10 and 15 years ago. 

Pete Newsome  03:04
And what was interesting about that role for us as a staffing company, a recruiting firm that we did not have, there was no job description that existed. 

Pete Newsome  03:13
So we had to write one from scratch. So that is the kind of thing that we get asked to do on a semi-regular basis. 

Pete Newsome  03:19
But the point is not all executive roles have a predecessor when they do. What’s also highly unique about executive roles is there’s often a big degree of confidentiality that needs to be considered. 

Pete Newsome  03:34
Because a lot of times these executive searches will take place while the person is still in the role. 

Pete Newsome  03:42
Who doesn’t know they’re being replaced, right? Or the organization for whatever reason may not want to communicate the message to the team.

Pete Newsome  03:50
If they know that a senior person is leaving either retiring or choosing to separate, mutual or otherwise from the company.

Pete Newsome  03:59
You may want to be able to announce the replacement at the same time you announce a departure that’s also very common.

Ricky Baez  04:08
Correct. It’s in me really, I’m curious about going down the creating the position route.

Ricky Baez  04:15
Because I love to talk, I love to take a deep dive into the reason why a team decides we need another executive here, or we need an executive here. 

Ricky Baez  04:27
So some of the things we’re going to talk about today. Yes. How do we find how do we conduct that executive search? 

Ricky Baez  04:32
But I’m really curious to find out what some of the are of the not robots but indicators that would tell an organization we need an executive we need another position in here and let’s get a company like 4 Corner Resources to do this for us.

Pete Newsome  04:47
Yeah, well, that look, those are the answers are, are limitless, I think depending on the organization. 

Pete Newsome  04:56
But let’s kind of back up before we get there and talk about it. Yeah, this process, what are some of the traits and characteristics that make it different than a regular search? 

Pete Newsome  05:05
And one of them, of course, is the length of time and level of effort, right? So those are two, let’s start with the length of time. 

Pete Newsome  05:13
On the surface, do think you think it takes longer than can conduct a search for a staff-level position,

Ricky Baez  05:21
I think it would take longer. And it will cost more money. Because if you, if you’re searching for a regular staff person.

Ricky Baez  05:28
I would venture to guess 80% of the search would happen in the local area, and 20% will happen outside.

Ricky Baez  05:35
Whereas executive search is more outside of the local area than not because you’re looking for a more specific niche skill set that the organization is going to need. 

Ricky Baez  05:44
And chances are, it’s going to be away from you. Yeah, you’re gonna have to cast a wide net.

Pete Newsome  05:50
You said, 8020, I think it’s probably more 95, you know, five when it comes to staff level roles, and every industry and company has its own. 

Pete Newsome  06:01
There are unique things, we know that but generally speaking, you’re 100% Correct. 

Pete Newsome  06:07
And once you get up as you go higher up the chain, there are fewer candidates who are qualified and a good fit. 

Pete Newsome  06:16
So I separate those because you can be qualified on paper, you can be qualified technically, from an experience standpoint, an education standpoint. 

Pete Newsome  06:24
But when you’re talking about an executive role, then then you have to make sure that the qualification exists in terms of who the person is soft skills, and a culture fit. 

Pete Newsome  06:34
That’s its own challenge when hiring an executive, but I’m 100% in agreement that you have to plan more time. 

Pete Newsome  06:44
And with that comes expense. Now, where does that expense come from? Let’s talk through that a little bit.

Ricky Baez  06:51
Well, I mean, before in the planning phase of any type of executive search effort, yeah, there has to be a budget, right? 

Ricky Baez  07:00
And that budget has to include, what markets are you going to advertise in and who you interview.

Ricky Baez  07:03
Are you going to fly them in to meet the rest of the staff, I mean, there’s a lot and you have to pay for that you as the organization. 

Ricky Baez  07:12
So that money has to be budgeted. And it’s you need a recruitment team that really knows how to be efficient in their processes so that we stay within budget.

Ricky Baez  07:21
Because the last thing you want to do is tell the executive leadership who’s leading this, this, this initiative, to say, Hey, boss, we’re out of budget, can we get some more money, nobody wants to hear that?

Pete Newsome  07:31
Oh, Ricky, you’re hurting my heart a little bit with that, because you didn’t even acknowledge that the organization may need to hire a third-party firm, like 4 Corner Resources or others, to conduct that search for them. 

Pete Newsome  07:46
And there’s, there’s, I think we know your stance that you’re the HR guy, that’s what you’re here for, to figure out how to hire those positions internally. 

Pete Newsome  07:57
But in reality, when it comes to an executive position, we know that in a lot of cases, it will make sense to hire a headhunter, a professional recruiting firm, that operates in many cases on a retained search agreement. And we’ll touch on that briefly. 

Pete Newsome  08:17
But the reason for that third party is that it is an intensive search, and it does take a lot of time. 

Pete Newsome  08:24
And depending on the size of your HR team, you may not have the resources to expand on that, because you’re really diving into a situation where you have to explore the industry.

Pete Newsome  08:40
You have to have the right network in the industry is not going to be as simple as posting a job ad on Indeed, that’s not how executive searches are typically conducted, you have to commit to going after it in a much more proactive way. 

Pete Newsome  08:56
And that’s what a third party can do. For a number of reasons. I mentioned the network in the industry knowledge and experience, but also a third party can be a lot more aggressive. 

Pete Newsome  09:07
And, and subtle. Where if confidentiality is an issue, and it often is, it’s hard to maintain confidentiality. 

Pete Newsome  09:17
When ABC Company is calling others to perform a search, you’re kinda gonna know who it is, if you’re if you are ABC Company, hiring for ABC company where the third party can maintain that confidentiality.

Pete Newsome  09:33
And a much more effective way that I convince you that I convince you that the value that we bring

Ricky Baez  09:41
with you there. So let me ask you this then because I know I’ve done a few of these and this was for local government, right? 

Ricky Baez  09:48
So for local government, we have to find a fire chief. Obviously, you cannot find a fire chief in the general area that’s looking for a desk so you got to go elsewhere. 

Ricky Baez  09:59
But I’m asking you directly peed. In your opinion, when conducting an executive search. 

Ricky Baez  10:07
The people are the candidates that the recruiter or the or search team is connecting to, what percentage of them the candidates already have a job versus people who are looking for a job? It’s very high.

Pete Newsome  10:21
Right? Yeah, 90% plus maybe maybe higher, I would assume that they almost that almost all of them will have a job. So the

Ricky Baez  10:33
skill set that the recruiting team needs to have, they need to have a really, really keen salesmanship strategy, to be able to talk somebody away from somewhere where they’re happier.

Ricky Baez  10:47
Because here’s what’s gonna happen, I’m eventually going to guess a recruiter would reach out to executives who are currently working somewhere else to see if they have any interest.

Ricky Baez  10:56
Whereas a regular staff, you put something out on LinkedIn, or, or, or indeed, and people who are unhappy with their job, I don’t have a job, I’m gonna jump on it. So it’s two different skill sets, I’m assuming

Pete Newsome  11:08
what you’re just you’re describing the post-and-prey approach to recruiting where you post a job ad and just wait for applicants to come in. 

Pete Newsome  11:17
And to your point, that is not a great way to approach executive recruiting, for many reasons. 

Pete Newsome  11:26
So, confidentiality is certainly out the window. Once you do that, too, you have to question who you’re going to attract that way for this executive role. 

Pete Newsome  11:36
Because if do you want passive candidates who were gainfully employed, not looking to thrive? Where they are? 

Pete Newsome  11:45
Ideally, yes, you do for an executive position. I mean, for any position, let’s be, let’s be honest. 

Pete Newsome  11:51
But we also know that that becomes it becomes a matter of practicality at some level, so you can’t recruit all your staff positions, just relying on passive candidates. 

Pete Newsome  12:04
That’s, that’s, I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone. But when it comes to your executives, you want to start there by default. Alright. 

Pete Newsome  12:11
I mean, you want to go steal for lack of a better way to put it from from others. 

Pete Newsome  12:17
And that’s another reason why a third party is often valuable in this scenario you don’t have the same considerations for professional courtesy. 

Pete Newsome  12:28
That company in the industry, even though they’re a competitor, there are certain things that you just ideally won’t do. And so pillaging your competitors. 

Pete Newsome  12:40
Executives may be bad form in some industries, some it’s not where they truly are true enemies, maybe in the way they go to market and conduct business. 

Pete Newsome  12:49
But it’s not subtle when you do it that way, that’s for sure. And it potentially shows signs of weakness or vulnerability within the organization. 

Pete Newsome  13:00
If your HR department is calling executives, at your competitors trying to recruit them, that maybe now maybe it’s a sign of growth and prosperity, but maybe it’s a sign of trouble on the homefront.

Ricky Baez  13:13
I mean, the way I look at it is if I call somebody, and I’m able to convince that person to come over to this side, then something wasn’t right with it to begin with. 

Ricky Baez  13:22
So what I tell people is make sure your employees are happy, because somebody else might dangle leaving, an even prettier carrot.

Pete Newsome  13:28
That’s right. 

Pete Newsome  13:29
Well, lucky you and I think our agreement on this is from the candidate’s perspective.

Pete Newsome  13:34
Every candidate every employee, other than those who have a contractual agreement that locks him into a period of time, you’re kind of a free agent, right? 

Pete Newsome  13:44
I mean, for all intents and purposes, you are all the time on the market. Right now. 

Pete Newsome  13:50
Some people will say I’m happy, not looking. And that’s great. We want those candidates, but I’m convinced, and I always I forever will be until proven otherwise that everyone will leave for something. 

Pete Newsome  14:04
Yeah, there is a job that everyone will leave for. So I even as the president and owner of my company, you know, I always say Bill Belichick calls and offers me the starring role. 

Pete Newsome  14:18
I’m out I’m comfy and I’ll be in Boston tomorrow.

Ricky Baez  14:25
I’ll he’s leaving to be a patriot.

Pete Newsome  14:27
Well, well, New England patriot, not just a patriot, but the starting quarterback for the Patriots.

Ricky Baez  14:32
I mean, let’s be frank. So the alarm goes off, and I gotta go to work.

Pete Newsome  14:36
That’s right. That’s right. So we don’t I don’t anticipate that call coming. I’ve given up on it. 

Pete Newsome  14:41
However, the point being we all have, we all have a dream job, and if we’re in it great, but, boy, I mean, you can always improve. 

Pete Newsome  14:51
So that’s a conversation maybe for a different show. But we know that proactive recruiting of gainfully happily ployed candidates is part of the executive search process. 

Pete Newsome  15:03
We know that. So that’s where the third party often comes into play, I said I’d touch on it. 

Pete Newsome  15:09
So just briefly, when it comes to retained search.

Pete Newsome  15:12
What we mean by that is engaging an organization to conduct a search on your behalf, were part you essentially pay them part of the fee, at the inception of the search, right to begin conducting the search. 

Pete Newsome  15:27
And the reason why you do that, for a senior level role, is because of the time that has to be invested in it. 

Pete Newsome  15:34
And so to initiate that search, it shows a deep commitment by the employer and a commitment by the third-party recruiter, the headhunter, if you will.

Pete Newsome  15:46
Who’s going to conduct that search, by having a true partnership on that not loose, contingency-based search where there’s really no obligation or commitment on either side? 

Pete Newsome  16:02
The retained agreement takes that to a different level and is often a very appropriate and effective way to conduct an executive search.

Ricky Baez  16:12
So I’m, I’m with you 100%, as well, with that piece, in the best way I can describe it because what I’m thinking about is what why would you if you could do it in-house, why would you go outside, here’s the best way I can describe it. 

Ricky Baez  16:27
Over the weekend, on Saturday, I was over at my in-law’s house trying to fix a light trying to replace some light bulbs. 

Ricky Baez  16:34
And I can do that, right? I’m a recruiter, I can do that I can fix these light bulbs. 

Ricky Baez  16:38
But as soon as the transformer that brings the electricity into the house goes away, I’m hiring a professional, because I don’t know the first thing about that, and I’m not gonna spend hours on YouTube trying to be a certified electrician. 

Ricky Baez  16:51
And I don’t want people to come to my funeral and say, wow, he was dabbling in something he shouldn’t have. 

Ricky Baez  16:58
You want to bring in an expert who’s done this and do this for a living, they are established in the industry, and they’re able to bring this to solve this problem for you in the most efficient way possible. 

Ricky Baez  17:13
So yeah, you have to draw that line and say, You know what, we can’t do that. Let’s bring somebody else in. 

Ricky Baez  17:18
Because quite frankly, again, it is a different beast thing, you know, this to recruit for an executive than that is for a regular employee just because of the effects they have on the organization.

Pete Newsome  17:29
Correct. So let’s talk about that recruiting process a little bit more, right? 

Pete Newsome  17:34
So what happens, is that whether you’re doing it in-house, or you engage with a third party, the effort is relatively the same. 

Pete Newsome  17:42
You know, the first thing you have to do is establish what your priorities are, what the expectations are for the role, and for the search. 

Pete Newsome  17:51
It’s a different consideration. If there’s, if it’s a replacement, maybe you already have an existing job description and detail, you know, what the role entails fully, perhaps you want to reconsider making some changes. 

Pete Newsome  18:07
But that’s, that’s the first step is fully understand the responsibilities of the role, who you’re looking for what they’re going to be doing. 

Pete Newsome  18:16
And, you know, get on the same page with anyone involved in the hiring and the recruiting process. That is, to me a must. 

Pete Newsome  18:24
And by the way, that applies to all recruiting efforts. You know, too often, the person, or group that creates the job description is not the same as the recruiter.

Pete Newsome  18:37
And is not the same as the hiring manager, and isn’t often not the same as the person who comes in at the end, and makes a final approval. Right? 

Pete Newsome  18:47
I mean, what a mess, it times like that. And that’s pretty common. 

Pete Newsome  18:52
And while you want to avoid that, always, you certainly want to make sure you cover all of that upfront with the executive’s search process.

Pete Newsome  19:02
Because the last thing you want to do is have someone in a senior role, realize that you are sloppy and unprepared in your recruiting effort.

Pete Newsome  19:13
They will lose confidence very quickly, and you’re going to lose great candidates through that.

Ricky Baez  19:16
No, that’s right. And so what you need to really think about from a recruiting perspective, right? 

Ricky Baez  19:23
It’s actually not from a client’s perspective, looking to hire an organization to do this is to be meticulous and be really, really, really clear on who you’re looking for. 

Ricky Baez  19:36
And that’s easier. 

Ricky Baez  19:37
That’s way easier to replace than it is to create a new position because if you if you’re replacing the JDS already done, Dr. Christian is already there. 

Ricky Baez  19:45
You can just have a conversation with the people who work with this person. But if you’re creating a position from scratch, that’s a whole different monster, right? 

Ricky Baez  19:54
Because a client can say, you know what, I need somebody to help me, but they may haven’t really figured out how they can help. 

Ricky Baez  20:02
So you just got to sit down and just write, like at the end of the day is this, if you’re the CEO trying to bring in a second in command, you got to sit down and write down all those things that you want. 

Ricky Baez  20:13
You don’t want to do as a CEO, that you can farm off to somebody else as an executive, so they can execute the strategies that you’re putting in place. 

Ricky Baez  20:20
But that’s a whole different monster. So, Pete, my question to you is, because I believe you have some experience in that, how do you what questions you ask a client? 

Ricky Baez  20:30
What kind of questions should a client be ready for? If they say, Pete, I need a secondary command. But I don’t have a job description.

Pete Newsome  20:38
Well, yeah, it’s a long conversation, right? I mean, that would be its own podcast episode, probably. 

Pete Newsome  20:46
But you, you want to know a lot of things, you want to know what the person is going to be doing, how success will be measured in the role.

Pete Newsome  20:58
What their day-to-day is going to be like, what their span of control is, with who their direct reports are. 

Pete Newsome  21:06
So everything, you know, a lot of what’s right, and then you need to look at the background that’s needed for that and make sure you’re on the same page with that. 

Pete Newsome  21:16
So it looks, look past it and look forward, right, and then understand how success will be measured. 

Pete Newsome  21:24
And the role that is a huge component of it. And then you really need to get deep with the WHO part of it. 

Pete Newsome  21:31
And that’s where you get into the soft skills, the leadership styles, the approach, the success and experience the person’s had. 

Pete Newsome  21:40
And where they had it in the type of environment they were in if they had only been with small organizations and moving to a big one, or vice versa. 

Pete Newsome  21:48
We see that a lot with commercial companies versus DoD companies, they don’t necessarily translate at times. 

Pete Newsome  21:57
So you have to consider as many things as you can to paint the fullest picture that you possibly can. 

Pete Newsome  22:06
And only then should you go forward in that search. And I’ll say one more time that that is really no different than a staff-level role. 

Pete Newsome  22:17
In a perfect world, there’s just more depth to it, when when it’s an executive position.

Pete Newsome  22:22
Because you really want to cover every possible detail and know that if you cover 100 points, there’s going to be 101 that you haven’t covered. 

Pete Newsome  22:31
So you have to be prepared for that, too. We know that, Ricky that you can never really cover everything up front.

Ricky Baez  22:39
No, you can. 

Ricky Baez  22:41
And you know what, and now that we’re talking because cuz you said it’s somewhat similar through staff, but when it comes to interviewing, I think that’s a little bit different, right? 

Ricky Baez  22:50
Because if you interview somebody coming in, and they’re the bottom, I hate to say it this way, the bottom of the totem pole right there at the beginning of their career.

Ricky Baez  22:59
You’re going to focus more on their skill set than anything else. Whereas the higher up you go in the chain of command that you’re interviewing for. 

Ricky Baez  23:08
So for example, now you got to see me directly you got a VP, you got executives, you as a recruiter are going to be less lot less focused on their skill set, their their technical skill set.

Ricky Baez  23:19
But more focused on their influence. Because the higher up you go, the more influential you need to be because you got to motivate people, right? 

Ricky Baez  23:28
You let the people deal with the technical stuff, you got to be able to resonate with them, you got to be able to motivate them, you got to ask completely different questions.

Pete Newsome  23:37
That’s right. 

Pete Newsome  23:37
And that’s where you get into it, again, the how they think how they operate their leadership style, where you’re not going to be as focused on those things, or even at all with staff level junior positions. 

Pete Newsome  23:50
So it really is about what you expect of the role. And making sure that the interviewing and screening are focused on those things as important as what’s on their resume. 

Pete Newsome  24:02
If not, I mean, I guess more important is really the better way to phrase it. Because you have to get to know the individual at a deep level. 

Pete Newsome  24:12
And so a lot of this is really what we’re talking about is setting expect expectations up front by all the people involved. 

Pete Newsome  24:18
I mean, that’s been it’s very consistent as we talk about executive search. And that then goes to once you define the role and who you’re looking for, then you need a recruiting plan for it. 

Pete Newsome  24:32
And where are you going to find this person, how you’re going to approach it? Those are their own considerations that require some in-depth, thought and consideration. 

Pete Newsome  24:45
And once again, making sure that everyone’s on the same page. And you don’t just go about this blindly. You take a very targeted approach to executive recruiting.

Ricky Baez  24:56
And this is why it’s crucial for all recruiters or leaders, and teachers. I always network, I know people get tired of us talking about this feed. 

Ricky Baez  25:04
But always, always network because if you’re working with an agency that has a wide network that has solid relationships.

Ricky Baez  25:12
You’re gonna end up betting on a much better client and easier process and getting that client, then either doing it on your own or working for an agency that just lollygags. 

Ricky Baez  25:21
So, yes, this is very crucial, because you really want to make it you can tell when somebody’s prepared when an agency is prepared, they got all the stuff together by what kind of questions they ask and how.

Ricky Baez  25:33
Because I’ve seen an agency that just here applies here, let me get this enough to find somebody for you. 

Ricky Baez  25:39
How we do here is different. We have conversations almost like we’re, you know what? We’re matched.com. They are Pete? 

Ricky Baez  25:47
That’s why we are trying to make people happy and match them together. What is eHarmony? 

Ricky Baez  25:52
The 12 different characteristics of getting people together? Do we have some of those, we got some characteristics. 

Pete Newsome  25:59
Ricky? I’ve been married for 26 years, I missed that. I missed that that whole boat, I’m not sure how those things work. 

Pete Newsome  26:09
And so I don’t know that I can buy off, I can sign off the on the comparison. 

Pete Newsome  26:15
So I’ll have to take it off, and take a pass on that. But okay, so we’ve set you know, you stablish it says a lot of work that has to be done before you make the first phone call. 

Pete Newsome  26:28
But then you go through it and you know you, you have to have a very well thought out strategy for then qualifying your candidate to and then knowing how to move them forward. 

Pete Newsome  26:42
So you don’t want to make up this interview process the screening and interviewing process as you go, you need to establish that very clearly up front and communicate that timeline to the candidate. 

Pete Newsome  26:53
And that is something that I recommend to every employer for every role that often gets looked past and ignored, which is to communicate all of this upfront to the candidate and set yourself up for success. 

Pete Newsome  27:08
Why? Well, if you have a fast time frame, and the candidate assumes it’s going to be longer, the timing may not work out, and you could lose a great candidate. 

Pete Newsome  27:18
Similarly, if you have a lengthy process, as you often will, with executive recruiting, you need to make sure the candidate knows so you don’t want to get any surprises along the way. 

Pete Newsome  27:28
That’s just one on one to me. But it’s often missed. It’s missed often. No. 

Ricky Baez  27:34
I see that all the time. That’s why I tell people, you’ve got to get a GPS for the candidate. 

Ricky Baez  27:39
There’s nothing worse than a candidate not knowing what to expect in the whole process. But if you as the recruiter can be the GPS for that person, let them know how many interviews are they going to do. 

Ricky Baez  27:48
What is the expected timeframe for this to be complete? And what happens if you don’t make it? 

Ricky Baez  27:54
What happens if you never select? What’s the process for that, that sends a huge message to all parties has been like, wow, this organization is prepared. 

Ricky Baez  28:03
And they’re professional. So that’s the message you want to send. So I agree with you 100%.

Pete Newsome  28:07
I’m really glad you brought that up because that is all also an often overlooked part of the recruiting process, which is you’re not going to hire all the candidates. 

Pete Newsome  28:16
So you need to give them the message. Let them down. We’ve talked about a lot that a lot on the podcast about how candidates should reply, or I’m sorry, react in that situation. 

Pete Newsome  28:26
But how the employer handles that situation is equally important. Because we have to be willing to take the time, especially with executives, to let them know why they’re, they’re not gonna be moving forward in the process. 

Pete Newsome  28:42
We’re not selected. Because it’s around the world, we know that things will come back. And just because you don’t hire someone today doesn’t mean they may not be a fit for a different position tomorrow. 

Pete Newsome  28:54
We know that too. So I’m glad you brought that up. It’s a key step in the process for sure. So then it comes to so let’s talk about drawn-out interview processes. Just real quick. 

Pete Newsome  29:06
I just want to touch on that. 60 seconds. Okay. Why do companies do that? 

Pete Newsome  29:10
Why did the company I just read an article yesterday that I think was in the Wall Street Journal, maybe it was on LinkedIn that was talking about how a candidate wasn’t selected after nine interviews. 

Pete Newsome  29:23
First of all, know who the hell is doing nine interviews, and what’s wrong with you? Right. I mean, that’s inexcusable. 

Pete Newsome  29:31
You should be you shouldn’t be allowed to be involved in the hiring process. If you need nine interviews, what is the max number you think is acceptable to put a candidate through?

Ricky Baez  29:41
Wow. On average, on average, it should take two buttons, no more than three, no more than three. 

Ricky Baez  29:53
I’ve been employed by organizations that take six interviews. And my question to them is what can You possibly find out in interview six that you couldn’t get out of interview three? 

Ricky Baez  30:04
I mean, you’re wasting everybody’s time here. 

Ricky Baez  30:07
But they still wanted it that way. I think two, three, the max no more than three anything outside of that somebody’s doing something wrong in the process because how could you not make a decision by that point?

Pete Newsome  30:18
Yeah. And if you if, for whatever reason you’ve decided you have to have a lot of people involved in the decision, then do it at once.

Pete Newsome  30:27
Get the candidate together, get them, get them all in the same room, and get them on the same Zoom if you’re doing some of these virtually. 

Pete Newsome  30:34
But don’t, don’t put someone through that kind of time. And don’t spend your own time and resources. 

Pete Newsome  30:39
Go back and figure out why you need it. Why do you think you need it, and then reconsider? And you’ll probably find out to your point, you’re asking the same things over and over again, this is not a jury trial. 

Pete Newsome  30:51
It is an interview. Don’t grill someone don’t make don’t waste time. Stop wasting so much time. That’s ridiculous. Yeah, on

Ricky Baez  30:59
the Wall Street Journal article. The person went through nine.

Pete Newsome  31:03
I think it was on LinkedIn yesterday. I think that’s where I saw it. Yeah. I’ll, we’ll link it. We’ll link it in the show notes. 

Ricky Baez  31:11
That’s interesting. Yeah, no, three, three should be the max anything above and beyond that, to me is a red flag. 

Ricky Baez  31:19
Now it’s I get it, I get it from corporate America side, you may have some other people who are prudent to this comp to this interview that may not have the time. 

Ricky Baez  31:28
So my pushback is, okay, how important this is for you? We don’t want to lose this candidate. 

Ricky Baez  31:34
I would love for you to be involved in the interview panel early enough, especially if this is a great candidate because we don’t want to call this candidate and say, hey, well, it. 

Ricky Baez  31:46
Congratulations, you made it to the next step. Here is your ninth interview. Now they say you know what, I’m tired of this, and they will leave, you’re going to lose great candidates.

Ricky Baez  31:54
Because the candidates with the awesome credentials, you’re going to want are not going to have the patience for that, you know, who will have the patience for that the candidates who nobody wants. That’s right.

Pete Newsome  32:04
That’s exactly it. That’s exactly it. And they’re gonna harbor bad feelings about you, for sure. If they’re not selected, and even if they are, they’re gonna, they’re going to grow skeptical of you along the way. 

Pete Newsome  32:15
I mean, that’s not going to probably make anyone feel better and more confident about your organization. 

Pete Newsome  32:21
If you keep calling them back, I mean, just it’s a bad idea. But if you insist on doing that, and you think that nine or are necessary, or even four or five, be sure to communicate that upfront.

Pete Newsome  32:34
Set the expectation, that’s, that’s the most important thing. And then go back and review your processes.

Ricky Baez  32:41
Eject themselves before you started. That’s right. That’s right. Yeah, pretty much.

Pete Newsome  32:46
So you extend the offer. Every organization has its own way of doing that. And then you announce it to your team. 

Pete Newsome  32:54
And that’s that is something to be celebrated and done unconsciously with foresight, when you’re bringing on an executive, you want to set that person up for success to be brought in the best possible way. 

Pete Newsome  33:09
Depending on the situation, it may shake up some things within the organization, but it often does. Any tips or thoughts that you have on announcing a new executive hire,

Ricky Baez  33:19
I do, there are two different types of announcements, right? 

Ricky Baez  33:22
Because if you’re replacing someone, not now remember, we’re not talking like just an average employee, we’re talking about somebody a VIP, per se, who has a lot of visibility, and will have a lot of impact in the organization. 

Ricky Baez  33:34
So how you deliver this message is crucial, especially if you’re a publicly traded company.

Ricky Baez  33:39
If you mess up the communication with the employees, if you do it wrong, if you make a mistake, you could send some vibes out there to Wall Street about instability and leadership. 

Ricky Baez  33:50
So you got to be careful with that. It’s so number one, if you are replacing somebody, let’s make sure we talk about the exit story of one person wishing them well. 

Ricky Baez  33:59
And including this new person and how the organization is going to change. It’s got to be positive. 

Ricky Baez  34:05
The second one is, if this is a brand new position, you might want to start talking about the exciting news of adding this new person to this new role that’s going to make the world just that much better. 

Ricky Baez  34:17
You’ve got to be able to have a positive tone to it. I’m not gonna say spin, but a positive tone to it so people can welcome this person with open arms, especially somebody high up there.

Pete Newsome  34:28
I love it. Yeah, I think I think that’s perfect, Ricky and that’s, that’s a great way to wrap this up. 

Pete Newsome  34:35
In all of this, I think if there’s a theme to what we’ve talked about, think through everything in advance from beginning to end from the time you are defining who and what this person is going to be doing. 

Pete Newsome  34:49
All the way through the announcement. If you do that you’re setting yourself up for a successful executive search process and when you need help, ask for it. 4 Corner Resources. 

Pete Newsome  35:00
And if we’re not the right fit for you, we’ll point you in the right direction and tell you who it is. Because look, I mean, we don’t want to take on jobs that we’re not a good fit for either. 

Pete Newsome  35:10
And depending on the industry and the role there, there may be someone who is better qualified, not in how they go about recruiting. 

Pete Newsome  35:20
Of course, I would never say that but in that particular niche, so ask for help if you need it. executive positions, just like any recruiting is not easy. 

Pete Newsome  35:30
It requires its own special skills and experience. So don’t hesitate to reach out if we can help guide you in the right direction. Otherwise, Ricky, that’s all I have for today.

Ricky Baez  35:40
Excellent. Well, thank you very much, Pete. I hope you have an awesome week.

Pete Newsome  35:45
I hope you do too, ending in Barcelona. Before we are live again or recording again. So look forward to hearing all about it next time, Ricky. Thanks so much.

Ricky Baez  35:55
Have a good one, folks. Ride safe. Good night.