10 steps to the right candidate

Most publishing companies underestimate the stakes and shortchange the process when they search for a key executive. An effective search should fill an immediate need with someone who will not only cope with today's challenges, but also provide leadership within the organization over the long haul.

With advertising tougher to sell and technology changing the way readers want information, traditional jobs are being redefined, and emerging jobs are demanding new skills. To differentiate between stopgap hires and star performers who will propel your business forward without fomenting mutiny, you need to match a realistic vision of your company with a full picture of the talent, experience, ambition and personality of various candidates. Remember this: Even if a search consultant is involved, the ultimate decision is yours. You can go a long way toward ensuring that you hire the right candidate by adhering to these 10 principles.

1. Take a magnifying glass to your company. Many searches turn up seemingly appropriate people who, in truth, aren't the right leaders for a changing business. The reason: Management didn't fully think through what they were looking for before starting the search. In this situation, the company loses in many ways--through severance costs, new search costs, opportunities lost and time wasted.

Worse, perhaps, is the chosen candidate who doesn't fail at the job, but who lacks the foresight and horsepower to pull the company into the future.

To prevent this, start your hiring process by taking a close-up, objective look at your company. Given the changing structure and character of the publishing business, do you really know your strengths and weaknesses, and how they apply to the position(s) in question? What about the management dynamics inside your company? Analyze the personalities of your key managers. Ask employees and managers alike what motivates them and they'll define the style that succeeds. Ask clients what needs the new executive will have to meet. Evaluate the person this new executive will report to, identify any ongoing internal conflicts that are relevant and will influence the new hire's career track. Now you're in a position to articulate the job completely, on paper and in direct contact with potential candidates.

2. Make sure your position description is complete. Too many searches end up hiring the wrong "successful" candidate. The person you think you need may not be right for the job. The company and job profile in a position description need to reflect accurately how the company operates, and how the individual will need to operate to succeed in the job in question. The job profile should also set forth the skills that will be needed in the future. If you require all senior managers to sign off on the position description, you'll find out immediately if confusion exists internally over the candidate's role.

3. Set a realistic compensation range. Pay ranges relate to four factors: the importance and difficulty of the job; the performance a candidate has demonstrated; the reward level qualified people expect; and market supply. Determining the right compensation level is a balancing act: Don't be cheap, but don't overdo it. Many publishing companies unwittingly conspire against hiring stars, even from within publishing. They set the compensation range within limits that fit their existing pay structures but fall short of the job, the candidate's expectations and what is needed to attract a top performer.

Every manager says he does his homework; few actually do. It's critical to research the fair market value, especially if you are planning to import specialized talent from outside the magazine industry. It's also critical to do your homework ahead of time. Any time you contact a potential candidate or source, determine his or her compensation and keep the information on file. This will help you keep track of what people in different functional specialties and industries expect to be paid.

4. Let your needs dictate where you look. Don't settle for yesterday's solutions when you have set out to solve tomorrow's problems. The more profoundly publishing changes, the more likely it is that the perfect candidates will hail from companies or business sectors that aren't immediately obvious. Contacting a short list or network of friends isn't enough anymore. You need to cast a wide net with the well-thought-out job definition in mind, looking deep within those businesses and functional areas that have developed the experience you've identified.

5. Assess the complete person. The resume and business experience add up to only one sign of a candidate's potential strengths. Most interviewers fail to determine what motivates an individual Also, most interviewers fail to identify how candidates have succeeded or failed to perform in previous jobs--which goes a long way toward predicting that person's success within your company. There's only one way to find out what a candidate values most: Engage each one in dialogue about how and why he/she has made the choices that have shaped his/her career paths. Peel the onion by asking a follow-up question. Listen. Then ask another follow-up question. Let the candidate fill in any awkward silences. If you listen 80 percent of the time, you'll be surprised what people will say and how much you'll learn about how they really think and operate.

6. Challenge the resume. Did the candidate really do all this? In an interview, get the candidate to lead you through his/her accomplishments in detail--what he/she did to overcome specific hurdles, and what resulted, at each stage of the process. Concentrate on listening. Many very successful top managers, unpracticed or uncomfortable at interviewing, end up exalting their company or discussing business in general; they come away with the feeling that the candidate is "terrific," without knowing much at all about the candidate's approach to the job in question. If the candidate can lead you step by step through the accomplishments outlined on the resume, you can begin to feel comfortable that he/she really does possess the knowledge and leadership capabilities you're looking for.

7. Get more references than you think you need. There is no shortcut to checking out a candidate. Colleagues, bosses, subordinates and clients should all be contacted about the candidate's personal style, ambitions and work experiences. Many of these references won't tell you directly what you need to hear about a candidate, but they will give you subtle hints. Only after you've talked to a number of references will patterns of behavior and, perhaps, traceable problems start to become clear.

8. Pick people you can promote. What a candidate actually achieves--often beyond the job he/she was hired for--is the ultimate measure of effective search. It's also a critical factor most publishing executives overlook when they're in the process of recruiting candidates. The clearer your vision of where your company is headed, the better able you will be to pick tomorrow's leaders from among today's candidates.

9. Don't be afraid to bet on the future. Although none of us knows precisely what the future will bring, one thing's for sure: As magazine companies reinvent themselves, there will be a rising premium placed on agility. People at all levels of the organization will be called upon to adapt to changing situations that emphasize new combinations of skills. The best way to prepare for a fast-changing future is to fill your organization with very smart, multidimensional people.

10. Practice full disclosure. This could be the smartest move you'll ever make. Nothing attracts smart, able people better than honesty. Tell candidates exactly where you're going, what your problems are and what your expectations are. Good people like challenges. Don't be afraid-you'll never cancel out a great candidate by being unabashedly honest. Rather, you'll increase your chances of finding the person who will fit both the job and the organization. Long-term, that's the person who will best serve your company.

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