Peter Neal of The Experience Bank Group is bringing a fixed fee solution to charities in the North East region that are looking for new leadership talent. He believes it is crucial to have the right people appointed in the right way in positions of strategy and decision making, such as CEOs and board members.
Here he talks about how charities can assist that process by making themselves appealing to attract the right talent.
“The first key to attracting the right talent at a leadership level is knowing what you need from them. If you can demonstrate confidence that you are clear in your skills matrix and a specific role entails, what you want in a person and why, you are more likely to attract someone who can fill that criteria.
“I always recommend to charitable clients that they adopt a transparent approach, and demonstrate that they are welcoming to diversity and passionate about promoting inclusion. Make yourself appealing to all cultures, younger ages and show respect for the knowledge of older generations. That will open a bigger pool of candidates and attract people with good ethics, as did you know that even though more than half of current trustees believe greater diversity on charity boards will enhance effectiveness research still shows that an uncomfortably large percentage are still recruited by friends or acquaintances, failing to ensure diversity in voluntary sector leadership. This way the only fish that available to you are those already in your pond.
“This fact should encourage you to have a good recruitment process, demonstrate your ability to cast a wide net and use a reputable recruiter who the right level of candidates will trust the judgement of. This will attract a stronger level of candidate who can see you firstly value your principles and secondly, that the future of the organisation is truly important to you.
“Whilst as a charity it is important all the time, particularly in the run up to any high-level recruitment campaign it is essential to have good communications and strong marketing, as well as making sure your website is up to date and representative and your social media is current and populated. If this is an area you need a trustee to support in, make it clear in your job description.
“It is also important in that ‘about us’ section in your job description, or certainly in initial conversations, that you be open about challenges and what you need help with, and why. That is the only way you know you will be bringing someone in who can offer solutions and understand what they are going to have to do from the offset.
“Have a strong recruitment information pack including articles, governance and up to day financials. Ensure you have thought through and your recruiter understands all of these things, and has got under your skin to fully envision what this role is about. The most successful high level recruitment campaigns provide a clear example of how to fill the role properly, allow candidates time to think and put questions forward and most key to the success of the appointment, they arrange meetings with key people across the organisation Including existing trustees and other SLT members.
“As part of that it is wise to lay open your charity culture – be open about conflicts, personnel issue or contractual issues that are not ideal and that a new high level person is going to want to address. That is the only way that the can get an honest picture of what they are going to take on, and a leader worth having will want to know all of that. Imagine if they ask you questions at interview that you aren’t prepared for? You could lose the one person who can turn things around for you!
“Finally, ensure you have a clear induction process, which is laid out and promised from the start of any conversations. That reassurance that the process will be professional could be the key to snaring that trustee or CEO you are so keen to join you!”
Peter is available for a coffee and chat to get the initial ball rolling, by contacting him on peter@theexperiencebank.co.uk – if you want to talk about how your charity could be performing better from the top, then get in touch!