Hiring a CEO is probably the most business-critical decision you’ll ever make. It puts tremendous pressure on your board of directors and executive team, hence why so many organisations rely on executive search firms to help them make the right choice.
Whether or not you’re working with an executive search firm, there are a number of key steps you should always follow when hiring a CEO:
- Network
Even when you’re not looking, keep networking–connect with leaders in your industry, attend industry events (and maybe speak at those events), get your organisation featured in industry publications. Make sure you’re known and get to know who else is out there. Leaders from rival companies will be more likely to join you as their next CEO if you’re a known quantity.
- Build your search team
Hiring a CEO should never be a one-person job. Get the board on board, as well as C-level executives and senior managers. Within that, create a core team to lead the process, typically the chairman and other directors.
If your current CEO is about to be pushed rather than jumping, you may need to leave other execs out of the loop for confidentiality reasons. It’s in these cases that an executive search firm can be particularly helpful.
- Plan ahead
Succession planning is particularly crucial when hiring a CEO, not only because the choice can make or break your business, but because CEOs often leave unexpectedly. And by “unexpectedly”, we mean with an average 3.5 days’ notice–leaving their organisations without a leader for an average of 75.7 days, according to a US study.
A clean transition between CEOs requires 4-6 months of preparation beforehand. Being prepared means the outgoing CEO, if they’re willing, can mentor their replacement, creating a much less stressful changeover for everyone.
4. Write your person specification
Get clear on what you do and don’t want in your next CEO, and get the whole team aligned as far as possible. You’ll need to be able to communicate this vision clearly to stakeholders. To save time, it’s worth doing this before you start approaching candidates. When you work with an executive search firm, it’ll be one of the first conversations you have.
6. Work with a search firm
Put bluntly, choosing your next leader is not an area where you can afford to cut costs. Even if you ultimately make a good hire, the search will take up 6 months or more of senior execs’ valuable time. An executive search firm can:
● Speed up the search
● Free up your leadership’s time
● Find better candidates
● Conduct a confidential search
● Search for multiple senior leaders simultaneously
Parsity Group works exclusively for the generics, biosimilars and specialty pharmaceutical industries. We draw on our high-level professional networks, industry knowledge and internal research capabilities to identify the right leaders for your organisation. Get in touch today to discover more about how we can help you hire your next CEO.
