When an executive announces they’re leaving your company, replacing them shouldn't be your first priority
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If your first reaction to an executive’s resignation is “where do we find a new one?”, you might be undercutting your company’s success.
Instead of immediately focusing on what type of leader you need, it’s important to first take a long look at your strategic direction: figuring out where the firm needs to be in future, before considering who should lead it there.
“If you don’t do the effort up front of figuring out what are those top business imperatives, then it’s almost like you’re shooting arrows in the dark,” says DDI’s business development manager Mathieu Baril.
“You’re going into the tactical too quickly, and then you hire people that may look like you or may look like the leaders you had before”, instead of those you need going forward.
DDI works with companies to define their leadership strategy, then select the best person for the task. That includes reviewing the strategic plan, interviewing senior leaders about what change they’re trying to drive, and examining where the company has been, and where it’s going.
For companies selecting a new leader, Baril says, the first step is to look at your organizational strategy and requirements, and identifying key goals – “things that absolutely must be accomplished”.
Only once that’s been done should HR start considering who is the right fit to lead.
“That’s when you get into ‘what kind of competencies do we need, what kind of personality attributes should we need our leaders to have so that they can be successful and drive the kind of culture that we want in this organization’.
“Then you align your selection, your development, your succession management, your performance management practices to hire, grow, retain and motivate people who have that profile.”
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Instead of immediately focusing on what type of leader you need, it’s important to first take a long look at your strategic direction: figuring out where the firm needs to be in future, before considering who should lead it there.
“If you don’t do the effort up front of figuring out what are those top business imperatives, then it’s almost like you’re shooting arrows in the dark,” says DDI’s business development manager Mathieu Baril.
“You’re going into the tactical too quickly, and then you hire people that may look like you or may look like the leaders you had before”, instead of those you need going forward.
DDI works with companies to define their leadership strategy, then select the best person for the task. That includes reviewing the strategic plan, interviewing senior leaders about what change they’re trying to drive, and examining where the company has been, and where it’s going.
For companies selecting a new leader, Baril says, the first step is to look at your organizational strategy and requirements, and identifying key goals – “things that absolutely must be accomplished”.
Only once that’s been done should HR start considering who is the right fit to lead.
“That’s when you get into ‘what kind of competencies do we need, what kind of personality attributes should we need our leaders to have so that they can be successful and drive the kind of culture that we want in this organization’.
“Then you align your selection, your development, your succession management, your performance management practices to hire, grow, retain and motivate people who have that profile.”
Related stories:
Hiring top foreign talent just got easier
Which C-suite execs matter most to HR?
