Oz Rashid on LinkedIn: There are times when my kids come home from school, and they think the… (2024)

99% of CEOs will make a senior-level hire at some point. But most struggle to find the right fit. After making over 14,000 successful hires, here's a 13-step strategy I implemented to help get it right.Step 1 - Map out your 3-year vision your company.Step 2 - Think about how this role will impact that vision and what success looks like for this role.Step 3 - Map out the experience, behaviors, situation and skills the ideal candidate would have.Step 4 - Include all of the above in a strategy document and get feedback from your network.Step 5 - Build out the interview questions based on the requirements you listed above.Step 6 - Create an interview panel with your key stakeholders and share the questions and strategy to ensure that everybody is aligned.Step 7 - Start sourcing and engaging candidates that fit the experience you listed above.Step 8 - Engage a diverse group of candidates in terms of company size, experience, and journey.

Step 9 - Have a soft and hard reference process in place to back up their answers and experience.

Step 10 - Manage expectations from the jump so your applicants are clear on your process and timeline.Step 11 - As candidates get deeper in the process, create scenario-based exercise where they demonstrate their capabilities. Have them present this to all key stakeholders.Step 12 - Meet with the final candidates outside of the office. Grab lunch, go on a walk together - make sure you know them on a personal level.Step 13 - Make an offer that shows your excitement about the candidate. Share this around if it helps. Even it helps just one person make a hire I will have done my job!

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I love having big thinkers on the pod, and I can't think of a better way to describe accomplished marketing executive Ken Krasnow. Ken's career in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry has led him to drive over $200 million in demand-led sales for industry giants like PepsiCo and Henkel. Not only that, but he was also involved in Sun Products' successful $3.5B exit to Henkel. Ken is an incredible leader with the ability to make seemingly unattainable goals attainable. He is a marketing savant through and through, and it was fascinating to pick his brain throughout our episode of Hire Learning. We even got into the origin story of one of my favorite drinks, Mountain Dew. 😀 I hope you'll give it a listen when it comes out on Wednesday! And thanks for coming on, Ken - really appreciate it.

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This is inherently the problemOne of the exciting impacts of AI is the democratizing of building technology. Now the experts in the field will build the software that changes the game!

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The way I like to frame an interview going in is a mutual conversation with great intent.It's not an interrogation. It's not an opportunity to trick candidates with riddles. It's not a one-way street.And don’t treat it like speed dating either. Be honest, be in the moment, and remember what it's like to be the one being interviewed.We've all been there before.

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Hiring managers: Take "tell me about yourself" off of your list of interview questions.It's just a long-winded way to get the information you really want.What you really want to know about a candidate comes from asking questions like this:- "How have your past experiences set you up to do this role effectively?"- "What examples can you provide where transferable skills were applied?"- "Can you identify a moment of change in your last job where you thrived?"If you aren't asking the specific question you want answered, you are wasting everyone's time.Don't put the burden entirely on the candidate to figure out what you're looking for. Remember, they are nervous and out to impress.So do everyone a favor and make the process as clear as possible with better questions.Because asking questions that aren’t targeted will give you meaningless answers that don’t help anyone.What do you think?

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You can tell A LOT about a potential employee by the way they talk about their former employers...So, ALWAYS ask why they may have left the last place they worked at.Their answer offers you a glimpse into their character and thought process:→ Are they willing to let bygones be bygones?→ Are they able to take accountability?→ Are they being honest? (Because, of course, you will check with the former employer for a reference 👀)It's not a good look when potential employees start ranting about their old company - even if it's justified.And I think Chris Ball was spot-on by making this a main point in the interviews he conducts.If I had anything to add, it would be that the same goes for employers, too. Don't trash-talk your former employees!Chris and I had a great discussion over on the Hire Learning podcast and I can't wait for you to listen.Link to the episode is in the comments. 🔗

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My biggest hiring blunder happened during COVID. Our organization - like many others - is constantly looking for great sales leaders. And we thought we had one. We hired a slick, senior sales guy out of NY. He had all the companies you would want on his resume, talked a great game, even had references. Crushed the interview. I should have paid attention to that voice in my head that asked “if he is so good why is he available?” We hired him and he came in and everyone was impressed. Remember, it was Covid so we had never met him. He worked out of a Regus and showed well on the screen. Very quickly he started delivering opportunities at a rate we hadn’t seen before. Jackpot! Or so I thought. After about a month he came to me on a weekend morning and tried to resign. And I talked him out of it! You are doing such great work - you can’t leave now.So he stayed at my request. Looking back, I think he realized this wasn’t some corporate conglomerate he was scamming. It was someone with a family. But I just couldn’t get out of my own way.So he kept working and was bringing in MSAs, new clients, and even getting offers.All was going great. What a hire! Until….All of a sudden we started noticing inconsistencies. He was the only one managing these clients. Wouldn’t let anyone else get involved. And we hadn’t been paid on anything yet. Then I talked to someone at a company he had brought in. A big name. They had never heard of us. Turns out this guy was running a Covid scam. Had a couple partners. Faked contracts. Faked interviews. Faked everything. I was livid. And once he knew we caught on? He disappeared. I’ll leave the bloody aftermath out of it but we learned a lot from that. It was an expensive mistake. One I’m positive wasn’t possible had we not been in a pandemic and all working remote. As expensive of a mistake as it was, the shame I felt was greater. How could I let our company down like this? How could someone go to such great lengths for seemingly little return? Needless to say our hiring process and checks and balances have changed since then. Once bitten, twice shy. I share this to say that even people who spend their lives thinking about great hiring, get it wrong. What you get in an interview is almost never what you get when the person starts. At this moment it’s an inexact science. Sometimes it’s better! But many times it’s worse. Don’t beat yourself up. Get help, get references, use technology to make things better. And most importantly learn and adapt. Not all that glitters is gold.Especially when it comes to sales hires 😊

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6 years ago, Chris Ball started building an international financial planning business from his kitchen table. Now, Hoxton Capital Management has grown to $2 billion AUM and 250 staff members across 6 countries. If there was a person meant for entrepreneurship, it would be Chris. He has so much vision for the future and is laser-focused on creating an incredible employee experience - despite how massive the business has become. Being able to tell these incredible founder journeys - not just the results but the adversity overcome to get there - is one of the things I enjoy most about hosting a podcast.Chris talks about hiring a tree-surgeon-turned-IFA who joined his profession "late" in their career. He talks openly about offering more trainee programs for the next generation of financial planners. And he has been vocal about encouraging more gender diversity throughout the entire industry. Chris is a standup guy with a lot of insight on entrepreneurship and hiring. Thanks for coming on, man! And don't forget to check out the episode when it drops on Wednesday. 🙌

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I repost this only to say that life is precious. Don't put off telling someone they are important to you today, instead of waiting for tomorrow 🙏

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