Executive Staffing: 8 Tips to Help You Recruit the Best Executives

Staffing can be a huge undertaking no matter what position you’re hiring for, but choosing an executive is an even more critical decision than the average hire. The stakes are incredibly high when recruiting candidates for executive roles that impact the direction of your company.

Because executive roles are high-impact positions, knowing where and how to find the best match is essential. If your business or organization is looking to hire an executive or senior-level employee, try the tips below to find strong candidates and smooth out the hiring process.

RESEARCH THE ROLE

While candidate research is fundamental, it’s equally important to research the role you’re looking to fill.

Each executive role is different, so you must narrow down the exact responsibilities and requirements for your new executive. That way, you, your hiring team, and the potential employee will be equipped with all the information they need to know if they are the right fit.

It may be helpful to ask yourself, your hiring team, and the people who will work with your new executive some questions before you start the hiring process. You need to fully understand what kind of candidate you want and why their role is essential to your company.

• Why is this role important to our team and your progress as a company?
• What types of personalities and teamwork skills would work best with the current team?
• Where would we like to see this person take our company?

These questions can help you and your team find the best fit for the executive job at hand.

DISCUSS YOUR IDEAL CANDIDATE WITH DECISION-MAKERS

Once you and your hiring team have a good idea of why this role is important to you and the success of your business, you can start to narrow in on who would be the ideal candidate for you.

Whether you have an internal team to find the ideal candidate or you’ve hired an executive staffing service, you’ll want to be as straightforward as possible about what you’re looking for. That way, when they’re vetting candidates, they know how to choose the right candidate.

RESEARCH YOUR EXECUTIVE STAFFING COMPETITION

In order to make an offer that your ideal candidate will want to accept, you’ll need to know what kind of offers other people in similar roles are accepting.

Do your research on average salaries and benefits like paid vacations and holidays, health insurance, dental or vision insurance, life insurance, sick days, and other special benefits for executives. Remember, the better your offer sounds compared to other companies’ offers, the more likely you are to land the hire you want.

ENGAGE YOUR CURRENT LEADERSHIP TEAM IN THE SEARCH

Sometimes, the perfect executive employee is right under your nose. That’s why it can be effective to reach out to your current leadership team to help you in your search.

Paint a picture for your current employees to get them invested in this potential future. Consider making a bulleted list of how this new executive employee will help the entire team and the business as a whole. For example, how will they ease some of the workloads on the current leadership team? How will the new employee help the team reach their goals?

From there, ask your team to engage with their networks and circles to find someone they think will fit the role. This may include investors, existing leaders or employees, advisors, stakeholders, board members, and people they’re connected with on LinkedIn.

LOOK FOR PASSIVE CANDIDATES, NOT JUST ACTIVE JOB SEEKERS

Often, the candidate you’re looking for isn’t an active job seeker. Consider the possibility that your ideal candidate may already work for a competitor in your sector.

When looking for passive candidates that are currently working in a similar position at another company, make your job listing one that will stand out to an experienced employee. Give ample information on your brand, your company’s background, and the perks of the job.

If you find yourself with a candidate that matches your needs, try to take the time to create a meaningful relationship with them. Help them genuinely understand why working at your company or organization would benefit their future.

Your time may be better spent wooing an experienced candidate rather than sifting through thousands of job applications from less-qualified candidates.

DECIDE ON A RECRUITING TIMELINE AND PROCESS

The time it takes to bring on a new hire affects both your company and the odds of landing your ideal candidate. The longer you drag the process on, the more money you’ll lose, and the harder it will be to make an enticing offer to your potential executive employee.

Make sure you, your hiring team, and your executive staffing agency have a clear-cut action plan. That way, when your interviewees ask about what’s to come or what’s next in the process, you have a definitive answer that you can follow through with.

USE BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW STRATEGIES

It’s important to remember that the best candidate isn’t just good at their job but is also good at working with your pre-existing employees. Personality and behavioral-based assessments have become common leveraging tools to understand how a potential hire will act in their new role.

These assessments ask questions about a person’s values, confrontation management, interpersonal skills, and more to see if they’re a good fit. In addition, using behavioral interviewing strategies may help you better understand who the potential hire is as a person, how they may react in real-life situations, and what to expect from them in a group setting.

CONSIDER HIRING AN EXECUTIVE STAFFING AGENCY TO HELP

If you don’t want to hire internally and don’t have a hiring team at your company, working with an executive staffing agency can be a great way to find the right person for the job.

Executive staffing agencies can make hiring easy. They will listen to your wants and needs, get to know the ins and outs of the position, and spearhead the hunt for the perfect hire. Most of the time, you’ll only need to give your input during the final stages of the interviewing process.

At LG Resources, we’ve helped thousands of people and companies fill their strategic staffing needs with our intensive candidate screening, high-quality solutions, and efficiency in every area of business.

With our intense research and focus, LG Resources successfully connects the right candidates with employers. If you’re looking for help with finding the perfect senior-level employee, get started with LG today!