So you’re hiring a new Finance Director. You want to start the recruitment process and find your perfect candidate. But what should you consider before you get searching?
Finding the right candidate can be hard, so you need to maximise the efficiency of your recruitment process. Before you start you need to think about where you’re looking, what you’re looking for, and how you’re going to do it all!
Here are some points you should consider before diving into the world of senior recruitment.
Demand & Timescale
First of all, consider your need for a new Finance Director against market demand. How rare are quality Finance Directors in your industry? How desperate are you to recruit? Think about whether you’re replacing a retiring/leaving FD or if it’s a new opening? Will this have an effect on the timescale of your recruitment needs?
You don’t want to rush recruitment, not for a role as senior as FD. But when your business’s finances are on the line, it’s understandable that you need to find someone fast.
You can gauge how difficult the task of finding a great FD will be by scouting how in demand they are. If you’re seeing a lot of job ads for Finance Directors around your area or industry, you may be in for a challenging time finding the right candidate who’s also actively looking.
Available Talent Pool
Do you know the available talent pool for Finance Directors in your sector or area?
Location can be a large factor for many candidates when considering new roles. Are there many available candidates in your area? If not, you may need to consider candidates who are willing to relocate or commute for your role. Generally speaking, it’s advantageous to base the role in large cities, due to the larger number of Finance Director candidates that can be found. If your role’s location is isolated or rural, you may struggle.
You should also consider your own internal talent pool. Also known as your talent pipeline, this determines how suitable any of your current staff are to take on the FD role. Do you have anyone in your Financial Team that you’ve been training for this opportunity? Recruiting from within can be the cheapest and easiest way of finding a new Finance Director.
However, it involves identifying prospects and nurturing their potential. It involves providing them with the opportunity to gain the skills and experience they need to succeed and become your ideal Finance Director. If you haven’t got a clear candidate from your talent pipeline in mind, it’s better to look for FD’s elsewhere.
Remember that the best talent is often not looking for new opportunities. This means that you’ll have to put the effort into appealing to FD’s in other businesses, without relying solely on job ads.
Integration with Business/Finance Teams
Once you’ve started sifting through candidates, remember to consider how well each candidate would integrate into your business. Your chosen candidate will likely be in charge of your finance teams, so you need someone who will be able to lead your existing teams to success. This is one of the reasons personality and culture fit is very important to consider in your search.
Psychometric profiling tests can be a useful way of gauging culture fit and leadership ability. But remember not to rely on them on their own. They should be used as a supplement or a guide, as something to support the screening and interview process.
Consider consulting with your current Finance Director or senior finance employee during the recruitment stage. They’ll be able to provide insight into what features and personality types to look for in your candidates.
Business Culture & Structure
Business culture is extremely important to the success of senior candidates. If your Finance Director doesn’t gel properly with your business structure and environment, they’re not going to perform to their full potential.
Think carefully about your business culture before conducting your search. What kind of candidate would make the best fit for this culture? Alternatively, what kind of candidate wouldn’t thrive in your environment?
Also consider whether your culture is set in stone or adjustable. Many candidates enjoy having the autonomy and influence to run their own department. Giving them influence over the culture within their finance teams can be an attractive perk for certain candidates.
So how can you go about finding and attracting candidates with the personality you want? You can consider the wording of your job advertisements. The way that you word and structure your advertisements can have a large effect on the type of candidates you attract. Don’t rush your job ads.
You should also consider how your business is perceived externally. From your candidates point of view, how does your company culture look? Does your business look exciting to work for? Do you look professional?
Essentially, picture your ideal candidate; will they be attracted to your business and role in its current state? If not, how can you adjust your image and culture to appeal to the type of candidate you want?
Where To Look
Before you get searching for your new Finance Director, you need to know where to look. Looking in the wrong places during your search process is not only a potential waste of time, it also might mean you miss out on the ideal candidate. Conduct some market research before starting your candidate search. Quality research will narrow down where the best candidates are found and help you focus your search process.
In order to get the best idea of where to look, you may consider outsourcing this. Investing in a professional industry mapping or competitor analysis service can be very beneficial for your current and future recruitment needs.
Key Features To Look For
What key features are you going to be looking for in your Finance Director candidates?
Apart from the standard key features of Finance Directors, think about what specific features are required for your role specifically.
What industry-related key features are required? Are there any unique aspects of your role that need to be accounted for?
Outlining these required features as early as possible will make narrowing down ideal candidates much more streamlined.
Interview Stages
Once your candidates have reached the interview stage, you need to consider how you’re going to carry out the interviews. The interview stage is vital to determining which of your candidates is the right one for you. As such, you need to make the most of it.
First, consider how many interviews you want to conduct, and the structure of each. To get the most out of your Finance Directors, you should look to split the interview process into 2-3 stages, with different goals for each stage. One way of doing this may be to conduct separate interviews focusing on judging technical expertise, personality, and executive skills. This will give you a well-rounded impression of your candidates, and give each of your interviews clear focus.
Often interviews judging personality can be less formal. This gives you a chance to see a more natural, authentic side to your candidates.
Be sure not to overwhelm your candidates with interviews though. Nobody wants to be called for lots of meetings and interviews for a role. You need to respect your candidates’ time whilst also making the most of the interview process and not rushing the process too much.
Don’t trip up at the last hurdle, recruitment victory is in sight!
How To Recruit
So how do you go about recruiting? Do you do it yourself or use an agency? Both methods have their strengths and weaknesses.
Hiring using your own internal recruitment team can be cheaper than using an agency, but also generally produces lower-quality results. Simply put, most business’ recruitment teams just don’t have the skills, experience, or network to attract the best Director level talent.
For roles of this level, it’s almost always preferable to spend a bit more and recruit through a headhunter or executive search firm.
Finding the perfect candidate the first time around is vital in saving you massive amounts in rehiring costs. Consider this; it may seem cheaper saving money on recruitment costs, but if the quality of hire you receive is lower, you may find yourself needing to rehire. That means shelling out for recruitment fees again, setting you back a lot of time and money. Headhunters are an investment in quality.
Make Sure You Hire The Perfect Finance Director
Finding and hiring the perfect Finance Director for your business can be challenging. You have to be willing to put in the effort to scour the industry for every available option. Hiring a candidate who isn’t ideal could end in disaster for your business.
The thought and care you put into planning your recruitment process can have a massive effect on its success. That’s why it’s vital you don’t rush in, and consider these elements before deciding what course of action to take.
Headhunters are a great option for making sure you find the right quality of candidate.
Headhunters and executive search firms can use their industry knowledge to find the best candidates and nurture them towards your opportunity.
If you’re interested in finding out more about how headhunters can aid your Finance Director recruitment, contact us for your free Executive Headhunters insights session.
