Comment The HR hot seat
in leadership jobs continues to
be the simplest and most
effective way to fix a business
During my years as an HR executive
I’ve had to review various local
subsidiaries. Some of the lowestperforming
market reviews felt painful.
Getting the best people
The business seemed mired in every sort
of complication. Key metrics reviews
translated into a sad litany describing
every possible business misfortune:
shrinking demand, competitive pressure,
a bad pricing environment, salesforce
turnover… It was hard to understand
how circumstances had become so
dire in one business unit compared
to others.
Then we would change one or two key
leaders at the top. Suddenly complexity
evaporated, obstacles were lifted and the
business would take off.
Peter Drucker described the peopledecisions
conundrum effectively almost
40 years ago in the Harvard Business
Review. ‘No other decisions are so longlasting
in their consequences or so
difficult to unmake,’ he wrote. ‘And yet…
at most one third of such decisions turn
out right… In no other area of
management would we put up with such
miserable performance.’
Getting the best people in leadership
jobs continues to be the simplest and
most effective way to fix a business. But
while this is essential it’s also extremely
difficult to get right.
Part of the challenge is that the
numbers are not favourable; there are
only a small number of outstanding
performers. Assessing candidates is
complicated by the uniqueness of
leadership jobs, business situations that
are fast changing, and psychological bias
that can manifest in a number of ways.
One of the most frequent biases is the
strong preference most of us have for
what feels familiar. Internal promotions
are also often guided by the power of
loyalty and likeness. The temptation is to
hire or promote someone who will
‘always have the boss’ back’.
There are plenty of suggestions out
there on how to improve these decisions.
But here are three tips from my own
experience in the trenches.
Be clear on what to look for. Way too
much time gets spent in interviews and
talent reviews discussing past results that
can be learnt from a CV and validated
through references. These results are
foundational and essential. However, the
newly-appointed senior manager will
most often succeed or fail based on
leadership, character and potential. You
will need to educate your organisation on
key leadership factors. There are plenty of
good frameworks out there. I like the
simplicity of Egon Zehnder’s four criteria
model of Curiosity, Insight, Engagement
and Determination.
Allocate more time. A credible
understanding of the candidate takes
time. But management’s obsession
with efficiency has transferred to the
assessment process. Leaders often ask
for interviews with external senior
managers to be condensed to 50
minutes, which I don’t think is enough
time to get under the skin of such an
important decision.
Assessing the candidate’s ability to
engage others and their courage and
ability to adapt to new circumstances
takes time and empathy. It is time
exceptionally well spent. If circumstances
allow, get creative. An invite for a
more relaxed lunch or dinner with
the hiring manager can go a long way.
A weekend brunch with a good
conversation, while at times impractical,
can provide additional insights.
And a panel of diverse interviewers will
offer equally-diverse angles on the
candidate’s strengths.
Prioritise social intelligence. As
senior leaders are promoted their ability
to productively relate to others and
influence their organisations will be put
to the test. Social intelligence is the
interpersonal part of emotional
intelligence. While it is rooted in the
complex neuroscience of interactions,
one could simply say that the stronger
you are emotionally the stronger you will
be socially. Self-awareness, listening skills,
empathy, influence and concern are all
extraordinarily important traits.
We all search to build a legacy in our
work and lives. In HR, as in business, no
legacy is more remarkable than helping
to develop the next generation of senior
leaders. While improving success rates
will always be a challenging task, it is
worth our best time and effort. HR
Giovanni Giordano is former group HR director at BAT, former chief corporate officer (global HR,
legal, IT) at Ferrero International, and former HRD, global health and wellbeing at Procter & Gamble
12 HR October 2019 hrmagazine.co.uk
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