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Senior Level Recruiting - Insiders or New Blood?

There are, without doubt, times when industry knowledge is valuable, but this tends to be more the case at an operational level where product or market knowledge and contacts can be an advantage.

However at the highest level we are talking about individuals who are prized more for strategic analysis, planning and implementation than their hands-on ability at the day to day minutiae. These are people who need to be able to analyse a business and a market and quickly understand the dynamics to develop appropriate strategies; so clearly can change sectors.

The print industry can be incestuous and so “bringing in new blood” or “a fresh perspective” are often cited as good reasons to recruit from outside the industry. There is no doubt that, as an industry, print has not been good at prioritising management skills and training. Often world class manufacturing techniques and business thought are driven by the sector’s customers rather than the print industry itself. However there are good individuals in the industry and it is not automatically better to recruit from outside the industry. Clearly you should consider all applicants on merit whether from the industry or not.

There are situations where it can be advantageous to specifically target other industries to recruit from.

Firstly recruiting from a sector that has a reputation for being at the forefront in a specific field clearly has potential. The automotive sector, for example, was clearly a leader in sourcing and logistics. The major retailers have, sometimes rather dubiously, a reputation for gathering and using customer data. As we see more print companies moving towards a “communications business” model there are probably opportunities for data experts in our sector.

The other area where there are definite advantages is in recruiting for your market. At a basic level the depth of customer knowledge and insight can be invaluable in refining your offering. However taken to the next level bringing someone on board who has an understanding of the pressures facing your clients could help you develop competitive strategies that go way beyond what your customers want and address what they really need.

We have a specific service and approach to recruiting at director level and work closely with client to refine requirements so that the process can be as targeted as possible. Indeed we have Print Management clients whether we have specifically targeted financial services and utilities as being key sectors to recruit from.

Key skills

Whilst it may be dependant, to an extent, on the scale and structure of the organisation there is a clear distinction in the role of a director. A successful director needs to be able to develop a vision, to have original thought and to innovate rather than just seeing through someone else’s plan.

An overall business perspective is also essential. Often we see people who have risen internally to director level or aspire to it who have a very narrow focus. They may be skilled and successful to date but tend to focus on too small a scale, on production processes, individual contracts, orders or clients. Even when responsible for a specific function, such as Sales, the director needs to have a wider business perspective, to understand the interactions, both physical and financial, between their area and the rest of the business. Without this it will be difficult to see where innovation can be made to drive the business forward.

To this broad based understanding the ideal director will add the following skills:

Strategic analysis

Vision / innovation / original thought

Commercial acumen

Customer focus

Communication

Ability to recruit, develop and motivate

Mental toughness