Robert Jones, a former Enron Executive and a seasoned HR Leader shares insights into how to secure your next executive role on this episode of Hiring Insights.
I recently sat down with Robert Jones, Chief Administrative Officer at the Gavilon Group, LLC. Robert oversees human resources, marketing, communications, facilities, and other administrative functions for the global commodity management firm. Prior to 2010, Robert was the Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer for Enron Recovery Corp. With over 40 years of experience in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring executives, Robert's insights on this episode are great for anyone undergoing a job search, preparing for interviews, or building their executive team.
“Cultural Fit” was a theme throughout my conversation with Robert. If you have ever hired a candidate that has a top-tier education and all of the best qualifications, but six months in you realize the personality doesn’t mesh, you understand “cultural fit." As Robert points out, finding someone with the proper cultural fit can be one of the biggest challenges when making an executive hire.
Robert also offered great insight into the executive hiring experience, including insight into the executive-level interview experience. Authenticity is essential, as both Robert and Bill George (click here for Bill's insights) attest to. Approaching an interview inauthentically has negative consequences for both a candidate and an employer. Throughout our coaching and interview preparation process with executives, we utilize multiple discovery questions to help our clients prepare for their interviews. We focus on authenticity in telling their story; highlighting their strengths and defining their struggles. On the other side of the equation, when we are networking with recruiters and hiring managers, we utilize discovery questions before introducing them to our clients.
We asked Robert to share some insight into what it takes to actually secure an interview for an executive-level role... “At the C-Suite level, it rarely comes down to someone applying for the job. In most of those cases, they're passive seekers.” Candidates for executive positions are often currently employed and experiencing success in their roles. Hiring companies also tend to be more quiet when filling executive positions-- often because they want to replace someone within their organization or because they want to shield their strategic hires from their competition. Both of these notions support our work in the unpublished job market. To gain entry to this unpublished market, you have to have connections and be introduced to the right decision makers and recruiters.
You don’t need to have the physical rolodex that Robert mentions in our conversation, but your network serves as a gateway to future opportunities. Our clients often start preparing months or years in advance of their next career move. We walk through questions like... Who do you need to know? Who can we introduce you to? How can we discreetly start getting you noticed by top headhunters and hiring managers while branding you as a thought leader within your industry?
Last month we spoke with Matt Miller (click here for Matt's Insights) about compensation and what terms can be negotiated during the hiring process, but Robert’s vast experience in human resources brought an insight all should be aware of and prepared for. Often at the executive level, appropriate compensation is going to come with the role, but for someone who is entering this level for the first time, you need to be questioning and negotiating salary and variable compensation as well as:
Executive perks
Decision rights
Approval limits
Many clients are striving for their first executive role and we highly encourage them to listen to how Robert negotiated his decision rights prior to accepting his current role. He concludes with, “It was about what rights I would have to manage to be successful in the business, because I knew if I couldn't do any of those things, I'd follow the same fate as the person that I replaced.”
Robert also shared some insights into how to properly manage an employee's exit from a role. In Robert’s experience, if you care for an employee while they are employed for you, you want to handle their exit, when warranted, with the same level of care and one tool to utilize is outplacement services. We believe that committing sufficient resources to properly exiting employees can be as important to an employer's reputation as excellent recruiting and onboarding. This view has facilitated truly rewarding partnerships with both employers and employees.
Stay tuned for our conversation next month when we speak with Jennifer Champlin, Associate General Counsel at Edward Jones and the current President of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL). Jennifer will share key insights into some of the most important aspects of managing a career and job searching -- networking and relationship building! She will also provide an overview of NAWL and highlight the importance of professional organizations in supporting the growth of leaders.
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If you are thinking about a career move, let's have a conversation. Leverage our network of recruiters, hiring managers, business leaders, and our personalized coaching to get noticed and carve your personalized path to success.