Keys to building a successful recruitment strategy

When discussing personnel needs with our clients, an axiom we often share to help them keep in sharp focus as they evaluate talent is: Hire character, train for skill and pay for talent.

The chief executive of a highly successful RIA once told me he saw his assets under management go up and down every day in the office elevator. We were discussing how we were going to help him expand his firm to the next level of success. He knew, as do all forward-thinking CEOs, that the scalability and sustainability of your growth and success will be largely predicated on the people you entrust to drive it. Top CEOs know that it is best to hire ahead of growth. But you must do so with an equally clear strategy and understanding of who you are as a leader, a firm and a team. You must know your company DNA because every person you hire will either make it stronger or weaken it. When we discuss personnel needs with our clients, an axiom we often share to help them keep in sharp focus as they evaluate talent is: Hire character, train for skill and pay for talent.

Once you have identified and committed to the corporate culture that resonates true with you — your value proposition — your firm’s philosophy will emerge. Every member of your team must believe in it, embody it and positively add to it. Create a growth plan with the understanding of the role that everyone plays on the team, their strengths and weaknesses, and ask the question of what will the hire add to your bench strength?

Two questions often asked by clients are: “Where do we find the best candidates, and what can we do to improve our interviewing skills?” We support and encourage all our clients to work their network of contacts and colleagues for referrals. This is only an effective way if location, compensation and a plethora of talent are readily available, and you adhere to the process and protocol you establish for hiring anyone to your team. We are not fans of online recruitment boards, as they are time-consuming and ineffective. We do recommend industry-specific career posting sites such as eFinancialCareers or a position-specific association such as the CFA Institute. If your budget can support using a recruiter for key hires, the right recruiting team should free your time to focus on other critical matters while they effectively present your opportunity to the market, and their network base should capture the candidates you want to reach.

The interview process should include multiple interviews and involve various members of your team. As part of your firm’s protocol, have an outline of two sets of questions: those that measure the candidate’s qualitative skills (cultural fit) and those that measure their quantitative skills (fit to position). We recommend multiple meetings, including one-on-one, as well as group interviews. If possible, spend time with your top two candidates in a more relaxed setting, be it lunch or dinner. Who they will be when they join your team will be a combination of who they are as a person and a professional. Don’t underestimate the power of the five-minute debrief during a day of multiple interviews. During the interview process, share with the interview team key points to explore further or confirm information based on conversations with the candidate. This debrief process is a powerful tool. It leads to a more progressive, dynamic and targeted interview while ensuring your firm’s centralized proposition is clearly being conveyed to a candidate.

We work with clients that use additional resources to measure not only cultural compatibility but also to gain a deeper understanding of what drives the candidate. We find personality assessment tools to be a great source to uncover additional data about someone but believe that they are best utilized in conjunction with a thorough interview process. These tools can also be used with your existing staff, as they can reveal information and insight on how to work and communicate more effectively as a team.

A successful recruitment strategy supports your business goals and is dynamic and evolving. It requires your commitment to remain true to a process and support of your firm’s values. We have sought to instill this “hire appreciation” over 22 years of partnering with the largest firms in financial services, boutiques and those who were once boutiques and are now dominant players. Professionals of intellectual vitality and superior talent, we have found, always will be drawn to a firm with a clear vision and understanding of who they are, their mission and goals, and the success they will share in achieving them. It is up to you to create a process and culture that will engage and evaluate talent and in turn ensure you will ultimately acquire the right personnel.

Cecile V. Munoz is president of U.S. Executive Search Inc., which specializes in financial services recruitment and consulting.