Can a company “BLOW” an interview?
From our “How to Win the War for Talent” series

By R Gaines Baty

Has your company ever lost the competition for a great candidate to a competitive offer or to a counter offer from his or her current employer?  If so, there’s an excellent chance that your firm may not have performed well in the interviewing/recruitment of that candidate. 

Proven executives are always difficult to find and attract…no “recession” exists for top performers.  Competitive offers (from your direct competitors), counter-offers (from current employers wanting a person to stay), and turn-downs (by those not perceiving yours as a better opportunity) are more common now than ever.

Why should a firm’s leadership worry about such things?  Let’s examine what’s at stake.  The shortage of experienced, capable leadership inhibits optimal performance.  Hiring the wrong person(s) for important positions can prove catastrophic.  What “opportunity costs” (unrealized revenue or savings) will a company sacrifice with a position that’s unfilled or understaffed for an extended period?  And undoubtedly, top performers make better decisions and generate better results.

In college athletics, National Championships are won by recruiting the best talent and coaching (managing) that talent to success.  Recruiting in business is no different.  Athletes (and executives) are attracted to the best overall “feel”, “fit” for their talents, opportunities for success, career ambitions, etc.  Other (subconscious) decision altering criteria can include powerful emotions such as comfort, ego, fear, etc.  Frequently these are the underlying factors that tilt a candidate in your favor, toward your competitor or to stay put. 

Frequently, client executives new to our search process are surprised by and stumble with our initial questions to them…“What are your selling points, and Why should a person quit a good job and potentially derail a career to come to work here?”  Compelling answers to these questions are paramount to success in any recruiting endeavor.

The failure to effectively “sell” candidates, whether due to oversight, inability or unwillingness, can put a company at a competitive disadvantage.  This is truly a “Free Agent” market, and very competitive for the best talent.  Prospective employers must bring their “A-games” and recruit more effectively to consistently win the competition for the best talent. Executives today have multiple options to choose from…competitive job offers, internal promotion offers, counteroffers, etc., and frequently will not wait on an indecisive suitor.

So, how might one turn the momentum toward the most positive recruiting outcomes, or improve on an already good process?

1. Emphasize, if not dictate, that recruiting and attracting the best people are among your most important functions, and your ‘fiduciary obligation,” even in spite of a hectic business climate.

2. Create a positive “candidate experience.”  Treat all candidates like prospective customers, starting with the first contact, and build the foundation for a good personal relationship.  Good (or bad) treatment can reflect on your company for many years and in many ways.  Make it a lasting and positive reflection. 

3. Ensure that your strategic vision is known by the entire evaluation team, and communicated consistently to all executive level candidates.  Most executives place a supreme emphasis upon alignment with this vision, and the ability to contribute to and/or shape it over time

4. Effectively walk the “tightrope” between EVALUATING a candidate and simultaneously SELLING that person on your opportunity.  Articulate “what’s in it for him/her?”  Do not over-promise (or “sugarcoat”), but don’t under-emphasize the opportunity either.   Discuss the more tangible and rational selling points e.g. challenge, opportunity to fix or build something great, career growth opportunities, logical next step, great culture/team environment, responsibility, mentoring, equity/upside, location, visibility, exposure, vision, etc., AND appeal to unexpressed emotional issues (comfort, ambition, etc.).  What is most important to that person…that you can offer?

5. Determine if the person can do the job ASAP…don’t lose the best person because you can’t make a timely decision!  Pursue the candidate assertively.  Ensure that you each have an understanding of expectations, constraints, important considerations, etc., and that you offer a “win-win” compensation plan.  Make the candidate’s decision an easy one…easy to say “yes!”

6. Identify the candidate’s questions and concerns, and ensure that these concerns are satisfactorily addressed in alignment with this important career decision.  The operative question is “Why would a happily-employed, top performer quit a good job and come to work for you?”

7. Review each win and loss, and improve going forward.  After losing a candidate to any competitor, self-evaluate and take corrective action immediately.  One should not rationalize a loss to any “inevitable reason outside our control.”  Candidates provide palatable and politically correct explanations for declining offers, but the real reasons frequently center around the fact that s/he was more excited about (or ‘sold” more effectively by) a competitive suitor.  And it’s not always about money.

8. These concepts should be driven from the “good idea” stage to a consistently-applied daily practice, at the hiring executive level.   Every executive in the interview process should treat every candidate like a customer.  Remember, it takes only one “blown” interview to insert the ‘shadow of doubt’ in a candidate’s mind.

Conclusion:  No interviewing or recruiting process is 100% foolproof, but it does help to have the odds in our favor.  If these practices help our team to land just one additional star…possibly the star that helps win the championship, our effort will have been well-invested.  In reality, the return will likely be much greater.

R. Gaines Baty is President of R. Gaines Baty Associates, Inc. (est. 1977), a Dallas-based retained executive search firm.  Mr. Baty, who started his career with IBM Corp., is formerly a two-term President of both the Society of Executive Recruiting Consultants (SERC) and the Dallas Independent Recruiters Group (IRG), and is a well-known author, trainer and practitioner in executive team building, executive evaluation, executive search and career management issues.  Mr. Baty can be reached at gbaty@rgba.com. 
 

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