All successful companies require good leaders. They provide the needed innovation and goal-setting mentality that helps companies have the edge in fast changing industries. Highly motivated and effective leaders help to raise productivity, command the respect and attention of their subordinates, and increase a company’s competitive advantage. It is therefore vital that a company hires the right people to fill these roles. Although it can be an arduous task, there are some tips that hiring managers can use to increase the chances of hiring good leaders.
Increasing the talent pool of an organization is a constant source of worry. A 2015 Business Human Capital Challenges report from the Society of Human Resource Management found that ‘a key future challenge relating to HR, according to non-HR C-suite executives, is finding HR professionals with leadership abilities’. As many hiring managers know, hiring those with genuine leadership skills is difficult. In fact, the Workplace Trends’ Global Workforce Leadership survey found that leadership skills were the hardest quality to find in employees. It is therefore imperative that hiring managers know what clues to look out for, to maximise the chances of hiring future leaders.
One quality to seek is professionalism. As well as having the reputation in their field, which can be seen from their CV, good leaders also do the basics very well. For example, they show up on time, they display a willingness to go out of their way to mentor and provide support to others, they take pride in their work, and in general, they have an all-round positive demeanour. Another thing to look out for is how long they have stayed in previous roles. Management turnovers are costly and rather avoided, so hiring managers should check to see if the candidate has a history of employment stability. If they have not stayed long enough, they might bring that instability into their new role.
Good leaders should obviously know when to take the lead, but they should also have a penchant for collaboration with others when required. A 2015 study from the Journal of Research in Personality found that “grittier” individuals (meaning those with a positive outlook on tasks and expectation of success) were more persistent in achieving their goals, even at the expense of incurring a cost to themselves. In other words, good leaders do not mind asking for help and being open to teamwork. Once you have seen that a candidate possesses the traits above, it is important to sell your company to them. You want to make your organization appear as attractive as possible to the candidate.
There are many signs to look out for when finding the ideal candidate for a leadership role. Some are outlined above, but the list is far from exhaustive. Although it is good to know what makes a good leader, it is important to understand that nobody is 100% perfect. So do not over-scrutinise candidates to such a degree that the search drags on and the cost of having a position unfilled rises. When you meet the right candidate it will probably be obvious that they are the right person for the role.
Adam Watson
Sources:
•https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/pages/2015-human-capital-business-challenges.aspx
• https://workplacetrends.com/the-global-workforce-leadership-survey/
• http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009265661530012X