When recruiting, be aware of what you need right away and also in the future.
“Go to where the puck is going, not where it has been”
Walter Gretzky, to his son Wayne as a young ice hockey player, later to be known simply as “The Great One”
Many leaders are turning their minds to “Invest now for the coming recovery“. A key element of this I am seeing frequently is recruiting for key roles. A simple tip around this today is to be aware of a) what you need right away from that role, and also b) what you will need in 12-18 months and more from now.
Put another way, focus not only on where the “puck” is, but where it is going to be.
For example, you may yourself have focussed strategically on your business over the last year so that you as the leader are freed up to work more “on” the business than “in” it, so you are recruiting for a COO to run the business day to day. Initially you will want that person to be very much “in” the business, making sure that everything runs smoothly in the “production” side of things. However, if you see your business as ready for growth, you may need that key role to shift focus in 12-18 months to be far more focussed on expansion, on growth, on innovation and seeing and taking opportunities that the business can then deliver upon. In this case, the initial role is very much a Manager/Operator role, but the latter role is far more Entrepreneurial/Leadership centred.
In recruiting it is key to see where the skills, experience, and energy of potential recruits lie. If they really prefer the latter role but can do the former role for the first 6-12 months, then that may be ideal. However, if either a) they aren’t entrepreneurially-minded, or b) they are heavily operations focussed, then in the case of a) they won’t want to do the operations focus at the start, and in the case of b) they won’t be cut out for the later role. In summary, think carefully about what you will need from key roles now and then later, as this will help you choose the right candidate.
In closing, I’ve been through this multiple times in recent times as a coach and sounding board to my clients. If you would like an experience of how I listen and support leaders in this type of situation (or any other leadership focus you may have), then book a call, I love to listen to leaders looking at change and to see where I can add value.