The right business executive can make or break your company. Finding highly qualified executives and C-suite managers can be an arduous process, but it doesn’t have to be. Use the following tips to find and develop your executives into innovative visionaries who can lead your company into the future.
1. Use Job Search Firms
When you post an ad on a free job-seeking site, you often need to wade through hundreds of unqualified candidates in order to find a few to bring in for an initial interview. This process wastes time and money. You can use a recruitment firm to bypass the free job sites and just get the most qualified candidates. There are executive job search firms that are taking this concept to the next level, acting as a matchmaker between top executive candidates and leading companies.
A search firm, or headhunter, offers job seekers resume review services and interview consultations. For employers, the search firm will screen all candidates in their system and find the best matches for the company’s job posting. Some search firms even conduct the initial phone interview.
2. Offer Executive Training
You may think that C-suite executives have completed all the training they need to be successful. Recent world events have changed the work landscape, and it’s important to have executives who are prepared for those changes. In order for your training to be effective, make sure your new business executives are familiar with the mission, vision, and goals of your company.
Is your goal to launch new products or perfect existing products? Are you interested in increasing sales or increasing revenue? Are you hoping to grow a diverse workforce? Once you are clear on your company’s goals, you can create training that has measurable learning outcomes.
3. Offer Diversity Training
A diverse workplace improves a company’s culture. When a company demonstrates that it values diversity and inclusion, employees will be happier, leading to an increase in employee retention. A diverse workplace starts at the executive level. In addition to executive training, offering specialized training that focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion will trickle down to the rest of the workforce. Executives who value diversity will understand the importance of hiring and promoting employees from diverse backgrounds. A diverse workforce also allows a company to understand the needs of different customer segments.
4. Streamline Your Processes And Workflows
In order for your company to be successful, you want all of your managers to spend their time on necessary tasks that improve the business. Look for redundancies in paperwork and processes. When you eliminate duplication, you free up your executives for more important tasks.
If your company has clear goals, then it will be easier to figure out which processes are necessary and which processes can be eliminated for the sake of efficiency. For example, one company spent a year developing a policy on policies that dictated how and when a policy should be updated. This policy on policies also outlined what each policy must contain. Instead of updating each policy when necessary, the group wasted time that could be used on other tasks to grow the company.
5. Develop Executive Presence
All business executives should understand and develop the qualities associated with executive presence. Executive presence is more than just the ability to lead an organization or department. Executive presence refers to body language and speech that affects the way employees are perceived. Executives can improve their presence by learning about their work and leadership styles.
Executive presence doesn’t have to mean that every manager leads the same way. Some managers prefer to have a casual presence, while others may prefer to portray an authoritative demeanor. Executives should figure out what style works best for them. The style should be authentic and real.
As a company leader, you can help your management team develop their executive presence through professional development courses and leadership training. Offer training in public speaking, leadership styles, and people management, and you’ll see results throughout your company.
By nurturing your executives, you are essentially nurturing your entire organization. The domino effect can trickle down to your HR department, IT and logistics professionals, and the rest of your employees and laborers. Excellence is best focused at the top of the chain as the rest of your organization looks toward your leaders for direction and support.
In order to improve your company’s bottom line, you’ll want to start by improving your executive team. You can improve your executive-level management by recruiting managers that are a perfect fit for your team and then supporting them with training opportunities that will make them empathetic, supportive people managers.
