A Publication of Lighthouse Consulting Services
We’ve put over 25,000 hiring executives and managers through our Hire With Your Head workshop in the last 7-8 years. Our executive search firm has been involved in thousands of executive searches over the last 20 years. We’ve collected an impressive array of anecdotal and quantifiable data on the success and failure of hiring practices in many different companies. One of the most difficult hires for an entrepreneurial or middle-market company is either choosing an internal sales hire or picking an independent rep organization.
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“ ...we continually observe is that hiring executives and managers often approach the hiring or selection process as though they were ordering fast food at the drive-through, particularly for sales hires.”
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The most interesting trend we continually observe is that hiring executives and managers often approach the hiring or selection process as though they were ordering fast food at the drive-through, particularly for sales hires. First they scan the menu to see what's offered, then they pick the top three or four things they want. "I'll take one MBA, with a BSME, a 3.5 GPA or better, and don't forget three years of sales experience in the machine tool sector." While ordering this way at local hamburger joint almost always produces exactly what you want, it doesn't work nearly as well for hiring.
When I teach hiring executives and managers about the hiring or selection process, whether they are picking internal sales people or external reps, I always ask, "How many of you have ever hired a partially competent sales person?" The answer is frequently YES for a majority of the workshop participants. Why? Because the current process of defining what the hiring executive or manager is looking for is hopelessly flawed.
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Lighthouse Consulting Services
3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica, CA 90403 (310) 453-6556