The Hyper-critical nature of a senior hire for SME's

Doing what I do is a real privilege. I have been lucky enough to work with some great leaders and fantastic companies while in Executive Search and latterly at GHA. During that time, it has struck me that many companies are taking a big risk with their senior recruitment, especially SME’s. 

 

When an SME is compelled to bring in an external candidate it is usually because there is no clear candidate emerging from the ranks of employees or that there has been no succession planning (more on that in a later post). 

 

Recently, I was talking to a potential client in exactly this situation. The business is international with a UK subsidiary which has been struggling for revenue growth and profit over the last 5 years. When the UK MD left 24 months ago, the Head of Sales was promoted on the basis that they would be able to drive sales hard across the UK. 

What happened was a spike in sales performance, followed by a slump as the business was unable to complete orders and cancellations were received. The new MD was out of their depth operationally and unable to cope with the breadth of the new role. Exit stage left with reputational and financial damage to the business. 

 

Head-hunters were engaged to find a replacement which after two rounds they did. The candidate was interviewed by the board and met with the UK FD prior to appointment. The individual has been in position for five months. 

 

Now, the reason I am telling you this is that there is a culture clash between the Board the new appointment. A culture clash that could have been avoided or at least understood and mitigated by the appropriate application of psychometrics and a proper, structured recruitment process. 

 

The impact on the business of the failure to ‘get this right’ has been enormous. The company sales have dropped, margins have narrowed, and key people have left, creating more pressure on those left behind. They are having to rebuild their reputation and have lost ground to their competitors. All because of a failure to plan and act. 

 

The impact of a key hire in an SME is much greater than for a major corporate. After all, the damage a bad hire can do in a short period of time is enormous. So, it is more important than ever to use all the tools at your disposal to get it right. 

 

At GHA we can help. We can build structured recruitment processes, deliver psychometrics and help you fully understand the person you are employing and how they are most likely to behave in the workplace.