Vantage Partners: Executive Insights
Reset your Executive Hiring Strategy: 3 Keys to Success
Attracting top executive-level talent is one of the greatest challenges companies face today. If you’re the CEO of a small, dynamic early-stage company, whether you’re competing with aggressively generous compensation packages offered by a large publicly-funded enterprises or with other venture-funded companies in your market, landing top executives can be uber-challenging.
“Hiring the right executive for a leadership team is the single most important activity for a high-growth company. Landing that top executive who completes the
perfect mix of people working for your company sets you apart from the rest.” – Richard Lear, Founder & Chairman, Vantage Partners
So what can you do to gain greater success attracting and retaining top executive talent? Your executive search partner should guide you on the following:
- Define Clear, Cohesive Requirements : Build the profile of the ideal executive for a role based on a well-defined company vision and needs analysisEnsure that all stakeholders are aligned on the core needs for the role; matching a candidate to a clear set of requirements that the entire executive team (and in some cases the board) are in agreement on is critical. Also, a well-defined vision will allow you to not only match a candidate to your needs today; you can match them to your future.
- Nail Down Values Alignment: Match the candidate’s core values with those of your organizationYour company has a set of core values. Look for candidates to align with these values; it’s going to be a critical part of building a cohesive leadership team.
- Define Your Evaluation and Interview Process: Create a process and stick to it.Be careful about fast-tracking a candidate or stepping outside of the process. A good executive search partner is not trying to make a fast buck to close your search before candidates have been thoroughly vetted. By sticking to the same process and criteria to evaluate candidates, you minimize the possibility of a mismatch. Take the time required to include all of the stakeholders and their feedback.
By deploying these strategies, your search becomes more focused on things that make a direct impact on success: clear and cohesive needs, alignment of values and a process driven evaluation and hiring process.
As a partner to high-growth and venture-funded enterprise software, consumer internet and ad technology companies, Vantage Partners works in collaboration with executive management teams to complete searches in the C-suite and at E/S/VP level in Engineering, Products, Marketing, Operations and Sales. Visit us at www.vantagesf.wpengine.com