Listen in to my Interview with Bryan Wempen on DriveThruHR from earlier today.
Please feel free to share your comments, input and questions…
Thank you to Bryan and William Tincup for inviting me!
Congratulations! You have been selected as Company XYZ’s new CFO. The selection process was long and difficult, and you have been chosen as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company.
The announcement has been made, and you have the opportunity to meet the key people on your Finance Team. Each leader on the Finance Team is apprehensive. They don’t know you. You don’t know them. How do you approach your new reports?
Before starting any new executive position with a company, I highly recommend that you read “The First 90 Days – Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels” by Michael Watkins. I wrote about it here.
Meet your leaders, together and individually. Learn, listen and ask 
questions. Your Finance Leaders have a lot of information and knowledge. An open and respectful attitude will provide you with an understanding of the leaders themselves, the department and inter-departmental dynamics, as well as critical information you will need to get your job done and be successful.
But do make decisions. CFOs need to have a plan to succeed. The first 90 days are critical to putting the plan together.
Who should stay? Who should go? Figuring this out is a key part of your plan. You need clarity as to what your team should look like to accomplish your goals.
But beware. If you don’t decide who stays and who goes, it may be decided for you. You could end up losing the very people you want and need to keep. You need to act quickly and decisively to ensure you have the team you need to succeed.
Decide who stays.
Decide who goes.
Communicate your plan.
Decide on the type of person/people you need to bring on board.
Start the hiring process quickly and using the best resources to ensure hiring success.
Don’t delay.
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I thoroughly enjoyed a posting this week by my friend Bruce Powell from IQ Partners in Toronto titled What To Say (And NOT To Say) When A Headhunter Calls. He gave excellent and practical tips that can be very helpful to people that are either actively looking for their next opportunity, or open to hearing about another opportunity that could be career changing.
The post was nice to read because I’ve heard many of the “Don’t Say’s” as well as the “Do Say’s” in recent weeks. After reading the blog, I posted a comment on Bruce’s Posting on LinkedIn and went about my day.
Some of the other comments that followed disturbed me and got me thinking…
Many people do not understand recruitment.
By this I mean the business of Recruitment.
Recruitment is a business unlike most others. The closest similar business is Real Estate, an agency business where the seller pays a fee. In Recruitment, the buyer (Employer) pays a fee. This means that the Recruiter has a fiduciary business relationship with the Employer.
For more information about the business of recruitment, you can read this Wikipedia posting, or this very useful guide from the Association of Executive Search Consultants.
The unfortunate thing is that many people who have dealt with Recruiters as candidates feel that they do not get serviced properly by them. Complaints of phone calls unreturned, lack of information updates on the opportunity they were called about, and not getting full and timely information that will be beneficial to them are complaints that can be heard over and over again.
And in many cases, these complaints have merit.
Excellent Recruiters like Bruce (and myself), try really hard to build solid relationships with candidates and provide them with the best service possible. However, even Excellent Recruiters have room to improve in this regard (I’m talking about myself here, not Bruce). Excellent Recruiters understand that they need to continually work to improve their relationships with their candidates.
But remember…
Recruitment is a SALES business, and the EMPLOYER is the CUSTOMER.
So if the employer is the customer, what is the individual candidate?
You may not like the analogy, but all you are is INVENTORY.
Not only are you inventory, you are like inventory that is on consignment.
Recruitment is the only business in the world where the ‘product’ decides
So, as a candidate, how do you move beyond being seen as only INVENTORY?
Following Bruce’s “Do Say’s” is a good start.
Can you share examples of how you add value to your relationships with Recruiters?
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I have written about whether a CFO (or any executive) needs a Resume in addition to their LinkedIn Profile. I made the point that a resume isn’t always necessary. My friend Cindy Kraft disagreed with me. We can both be right at the same time, can’t we?
While LinkedIn Profiles are great for building personal brand and getting attention when looking (or not looking) for a job, there is one key difference between the LI Profile and your resume.
Your resume – needs to be updated when looking (actively or passively) for your next role.
Your LinkedIn Profile – MUST always be up to date.
Why MUST your LinkedIn Profile always be up to date?
I will give you insight into something that annoys your favorite Executive Search consultant.
Companies hire my firm (Stanton Chase International) to help them hire the most appropriate executive. When working on a mandate, I use LinkedIn (in addition to other tools and methods) to do research on the people that I would like to speak with to see if they are a potential fit for my client.
Do you know what happens when I’m looking for someone who could be interesting for my search, yet they are no longer working for the company they say they are working for on LinkedIn?
They miss an opportunity.
Do you want to make sure you are found when people have an opportunity for you?
Keep your LinkedIn Profile up to date.
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I asked myself this question last week in preparing my blog 5 Most Popular Names for CFOs.
The overwhelming majority of CFOs are male. The sample that I used, with over 1,100 names of CFOs hired and promoted over a ten month period, is significant enough to be considered a close representative of the reality that exists in the CFO World in the United States. (You can follow our weekly edition of CFO Moves by signing up on the CFO Moves Blog page).
In essence, this male domination cuts across most senior executive positions and board roles. CFO roles are not alone in this matter. I’m certain that many of the reasons CEOs and other senior executive roles that are mostly male apply to CFOs as well.
When I look back to my undergraduate years, my classes were well balanced between males and females. Perhaps there were even more women than men at the time.
So what happens between graduation and career success?
Some would say that ‘life’ gets in the way. Some would say that it is more difficult for a woman to have a career and a family than men. Some would say that the “Boys Network” makes it difficult for women to be successful at an executive level. Some would say that women are more interested in work/life balance than men.
I don’t know if these are good reasons to explain the difference or not.
I do know that when I’m looking for a CFO candidate (or any executive candidate) for my client’s search, I’m looking for the best people. Best experience. Best ability. Best skills. Best fit. Period.
Cookie Cutter
I was recently looking at a company’s Management web page. I didn’t know the people or the company well, but at first glance, it was hard to tell the difference in the photographs between the executives. They looked ‘cookie cutter’. I don’t know much about the company, but I got the impression that they were not a diverse crowd. I thought that not only did they look the same, they probably thought the same and may even have had similar backgrounds and experiences.
What is Diversity, and is it Profitable?
A company that is diverse in background and experiences can allow it to be successful. You can read more about how Diversity is Profitable, written by my colleague Robin Adams from Stanton Chase International in Hong Kong.
Diversity at the executive level includes people from different backgrounds and cultures. It also includes having more women.
I always recommend that clients hire the best person for the role they are looking to hire. I also always recommend that clients consider diversity in their search to get the best out of their executive team.
My clients should be hiring the best person for the CFO chair (or any executive position). Sex, color, ethnicity, religion and orientation should never be reasons not to hire the best person.
What do you think?
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