CXO Hiring (#CXO #Hiring)

CXO hiring (#CXOHiring) is one of the most critical elements of any #growth-oriented organization. It becomes specially challenging if the firm is in the MSME segment or even more difficult for a start-up.

There are many reasons for it. For one, people are generally attracted to the big brand names rather than the role on offer. Bigger brands followed by fancy role titles act as prime attraction. Next on the ladder could be compensation and benefits on offer. If the first two are good enough, people may be willing to make sacrifices, on the last one.

From an organizational point of view, it is important to identify the right candidate who may not necessarily be active in the job market (#activejobmarket). This is first level challenge. Next challenge is to entice him to a smaller firm or a startup. What motivational anchors will attract him and more important keep him anchored, for longer period of time. Most of smaller and growing organizations are not necessarily, a good place to start, in the short-run. The expectations from the role-holder is ever increasing and far-greater than how it appears at the beginning. #Articulation of mutual expectations therefore is a key element that gets lost in niceties and in apprehension that will it offend the other person. There are not many people who stick with young organizations primarily for this reason.

Finding executives with the right balance of technical expertise, strategic vision, and adaptability to work in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment is a challenge. If someone is coming from a larger organization, despite all other compatibities, this ability to work in and excel in a resource-constrained context could be very challenging. CXOs need both business acumen and the ability to navigate local nuances. This is another area of concern and possible mis-hire scenario.

Most people will agree, that one should hire for attitude rather than skill. Challenge is clarity on how does one evaluate attitude of a person, in those few minutes to an hour that you spend with a new person. Like courtship, they are all trained to exhibit their best behavior and showcase an attitude that may be considered desirable. They will also use the right words and phrases to get appropriate and desirable response from the other person. I have seen organizations also shying from articulating current or expected challenges or areas of mismatch. Have you not heard, "...different from what was promised..." phrase.

It is important therefore that the individual being considered is aligned with #corporate purpose. This #purpose #alignment is critical for several reasons. One it ensures that the values and aligned. When values are aligned, the individual is not necessarily inconvenienced by small issues. His focus is heightened and therefore he engages meaningfully with the #organizational #purpose. Second, it build #trust and #resilience in the organization. Next, such leaders are also able to drive performance and sustain it in the longer run. Organizations could then anchor on them for #culture building and #performance #transformation.

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