| Recent and Current Searches |
Director for the board of a privately-held $250+ million company in the south (fourth assignment for this client)
CFO search for a $160+ million California university (sixth assignment for this client)
EVP/COO search for an East Coast hotel company
CEO search for an international non-profit in Colorado
COO for a non-profit in Northern California
VP-Construction for a chain of exclusive clubs
SVP-Sales & Marketing for a major wholesale travel company
VP-Human Resources for a San Diego services company |
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| Staying Put Award |
In 1989 and 1990 we did two searches for Beckman Industrial, a Fullerton, California-based electronic components manufacturing subsidiary of Emerson Electric, a conglomerate based in St. Louis. Dave Swanson, who came from Robinson & Nugent in Indiana, became the VP-Operations and Ron Sullivan, who came from ITT-Cannon in Santa Ana, California, became the VP-Sales & Marketing. Over the years Emerson Electric sold the subsidiary to TT Electronics of England and the name of the firm was changed to BI Technologies. But Dave and Ron are still there.
Our congratulations to both for their “stick factor” over the 15-16 years.
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| Our People |
Bruce Dingman
President
Donna White
Vice President
Tim Bernstein
Associate
Patti Schultz
Office Manager
Allison Lindauer
Admin Support
Connie Schuh
Bookkeeper |
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| Feature
Article |
| Three Big Questions |
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Prospective clients often ask us a myriad of questions. Good questions. So we’ve gathered the top three and answered them here. First, they ask us…
“How expansive is your database?”
Finding candidates is a major part of the executive search process. At The Dingman Company we try hard to use multiple sources in order to locate the best candidates. When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton, a bank robber, was reported to have responded, “Because that’s where the money is.” We use the same focus to identify candidates.
First, we determine where the candidates are likely to be. Oftentimes it involves buying an industrial directory, or joining a professional association in order to get the membership directory. Plus we supplement those efforts with:
- Searching through our database of 40,000+ records identifying which people might have connections for our particular search
- Using appropriate job boards
- Sourcing off fellow recruiters (shhhh! Some recruiters do helpful back scratching…but don't tell anyone)
- Original research in that industry or profession, which includes reading trade magazines to identify “grandfathers” (people in the profession who are highly networked and who might wish to be helpful)
We don’t use newspaper ads, and only rarely use a generic job board like www.Monster.com, for both would generate tons of resumes with very few applicants who are worthy of serious consideration.
For a recent VP-Human Resources in the hotel industry—a search that we expected to be difficult—we contacted 600 people as sources or potential candidates. By casting the net so broadly we ended up with eight great candidates, twice what we needed.
“How many searches like this have you done?”
Actually, this question isn’t as relevant to the search process as some might think. Finding candidates or understanding the industry or the function isn’t hard.
We often take on searches unlike anything we’re ever done before. There have been some rather esoteric assignments over the years. Our founder, Bob Dingman, once found a Chief Dog-catcher (the real title was Director of Animal Control). And we’ve found a VP-New Product Development for a metallized window films company, a multi-plant manager for a steel pipe manufacturing company, and a unit General Manager with a background in construction forensics. Finding candidates is not usually the hardest part, rather making the right match is.
Without a doubt, recent searches for a similar position often reveal candidates who were not right for one search but might be perfect for the next one. For recruiters who specialize in one niche, their database may be all they rely on—choosing not to do any original research for different clients.
At The Dingman Company, we contact hundreds of people, even if we already know numerous candidates for the search. We don’t think it’s fair to the client, nor up to our best work, not to seek new candidates by casting the net broadly.
“How do you come to know if a candidate has the right personality, management style, values and fit with our organization and the job?”
Oh, glad you asked. This is the area of our greatest strength.
The biggest reason new hires fail is because the employer didn’t really understand who they were hiring. Usually after a few weeks traits appear in the employee that, had they been known a month before, the candidate never would’ve been asked to join the company. Knowing this, we strive to match the employer and candidate so completely that this situation is not a likelihood.
We like to compare what the recruiter’s personal interview of the candidate reveals to what is learned by the numerous reference checks with the candidate’s bosses, peers and subordinates. We ask many of the same questions of the references as we do of the candidate… to see if the responses line up. Questions include management style, personality, results achieved, character, and temperament. And in the personal interview with the candidate, we even delve into their upbringing—asking questions such as: “Since a person is to some degree a product of the family they came from, tell us about your father’s career. Where did you grow up? How many siblings do you have? What was your personality like at age 12? What is it like now?”
Companies often complain that references tell them very little information about a candidate that’s helpful. We hardly find that problem at all. Why? When a candidate is exceptional people talk freely (at least if we call the reference at home). If a candidate is only average, references are much more guarded. The phrase, “In the multitude of testimony there is truth” is almost always the case. So we check six, eight or even ten references. Naturally the person’s situation can depend on how easily references can be checked for we do not want to jeopardize the candidate’s present position. As confidentiality allows, we ask references who else might prove insightful for us… thus reaching references not provided by the candidate. If we haven’t seen the heart and mind of the candidate, we are less certain we’re recommending a winner.
If we haven’t scoured various sources for quality candidates, we couldn’t be as confident in our results as we are. |
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| Leadership Excellence |
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…The Journal of Human Capital Management, Organizational Effectiveness and Executive Leadership. Someone bestowed on me an introductory membership to the Human Capital Institute (cost: $199/year… or $129 for 12 issues of the magazine). Ordinarily, I would not be suggesting a magazine but the quality of the articles is amazing. The authors are expert in their field and their articles are concise, progressive and more importantly, applicable to most companies.
For example, the current issue has articles entitled:
- Winning Streaks: Confidence is the key factor by Rosabeth Moss Kantor
- Tipping Points: Start your own epidemic by Malcolm Gladwell (author of Blink)
- The Art of Listening: Listen your way to more influence by Frances Hesselbein
- Seven Leadership Principles by Phil Harkins and Phil Swift
- Praise Principles: Release peak performance by Diana Booher
- High-impact Learning: 10 enablers to great results by Anne Apking
…and so forth
To be more effective—both in your personal life and workplace—I recommend both the organization and the magazine. For details see www.HumanCapitalInstitute.org.
Leadership: What Type Is Needed?
Filling a leadership position is much more than hiring someone with great experience, good education, or even the right management style and values. How so?
Without question, past performance is the best indicator of future performance—provided it’s in a similar situation.
For example, someone who was charged with doing a major turn around at one organization then is hired to bring dynamic leadership to another organization that is healthy, may bring unexpected results. The leader may come across as brash, insensitive, and making decisions before having sufficiently built relationships, gathered sufficient information or developed input. It could be a disaster in the making.
In another situation, an entrepreneurial founder needs someone who can bring a process and systems approach to the company yet not make the company so paperwork oriented or meeting driven that it loses the zeal, creativity and productivity it is known for.
Besides seeking to make sure the right leadership style and experience mesh with the client’s need, we also look to see that the following flaws are absent:
- Ego driven (this can take many forms: unapproachable, put people down, insensitivity to others, wants all the credit, out to build an empire, and/or is a poor example)
- Indecisive (insecurity in the form of the fear of making a mistake)
- Cannot admit when one makes a mistake (therefore doesn’t learn from them and improve)
- Unorganized (and doesn’t find a way to stay organized, i.e., a capable assistant)
- Can’t/won’t delegate (fearful someone else can’t do it well enough)
- Stopped learning (so as the rest of the world keeps improving this person is actually falling behind)
- Politico (favoring personal favoritism over results)
- Frequent job changes (doesn’t stay long enough to make a lasting difference)
- Overly creative (brings new ideas to his staff so fast that the staff feels knee-jerked back and forth… and he has no sense of how much change staff can handle at one time)
- Avoids conflict (problems don’t get resolved, oftentimes relying on the staff to work it out themselves)
- The “driver” (pushes staff so hard that people feel abused and under valued)
- Hyper focused on work (people do not feel any personal connection, and begin to think, “He doesn’t care about me, just what I can do for the company”)
- Poor vision caster (there is no contagious enthusiasm for where the organization needs to go)
- Workaholic (has no sense of self-worth except for his work, no balance to his life)
- Temper problems (loses his temper whether due to lack of self-control or for effect)
When an executive is hired without a comprehensive vetting of such areas, an unpleasant surprise often occurs.
May we help you hire the right person the first time? |
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