Securing a Future of Growth through Executive Candidate Assessment
THE CHALLENGE
With 150+ brick-and-mortar locations worldwide and a burgeoning online presence, a unique B2C company enjoyed healthy growth and a devout customer following. The founders had lofty goals for the business, including doubling the number of customers over the next three years. At the same time, they each hoped to transition into different leadership roles within the company. While they had a close-knit leadership team built on long-standing relationships, they realized they lacked the strategic knowledge and skill set needed to successfully navigate what lay ahead.
They sought to hire a new COO to grow the company and, eventually, become CEO as they transitioned to other roles. But they were cautious when it came to moving ahead with their search. Previously, they’d endured a lengthy CEO-hiring process but then dismissed their brand-new hire within months and found themselves back at square one. This time, they knew they had to find a perfect fit for this crucial role.
THE SOLUTION
Given the company’s ambitious goals and limited timeframe, they enlisted an executive search firm’s support. Through this partnership, they leveraged Ted Freeman Advisory’s executive assessment expertise.
Before the search began, we facilitated several discussions to enable the client to clearly articulate a detailed success profile aligned to the company’s developmental stage and growth strategy. Throughout the search process, we followed a human-led and data-informed approach that allowed the founders to set aside biases and extraneous information and focus on what mattered most for this critical role and the business.
When they’d narrowed the pool to two candidates, we designed and facilitated a three-part, in-depth assessment:
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To ensure organizational focus, candidates underwent a Hogan Leadership Forecast to uncover critical personality characteristics, motivations, and behavior patterns under stress.
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To determine long-term fit and resilience, candidates participated in an in-depth interpersonal interview covering work history, self-awareness, motivation, learning style, interests, and development needs.
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To ensure compatibility, we observed how candidates responded to the feedback, including what they absorbed, considered, validated, and rejected, after receiving their assessment.
THE IMPACT
Equipped with a clearly defined vision for success and detailed insights, the founders extended an offer to the recommended candidate. At the end of the experience, they had renewed confidence in their hiring abilities and were better equipped to evaluate their entire leadership team. But perhaps most critically, the founders thought we had created the space for them to communicate and establish mutual trust with their new COO, enabling them to transition to the next phases of their careers confidently.
