We are operating in a business environment that is demanding more from our leaders than ever before. Executives need to be able to innovate, influence and pivot at an unprecedented rate all the while managing more significant risks, regulations and technological change.
It should come as no surprise then that executive recruitment is changing. Here are three changes that we have seen to executive recruitment and why your executive outplacement program needs to adapt to these trends if you are to protect your employment brand through transition and redundancy.
1. The rise of the gig economy
While many business-critical and executive level positions have been offered as permanent roles within an organisation in the past, the rise of the gig economy, combined with the need for organisations to be more agile and the desire for leaders to have a more balanced lifestyle, more and more flexible positions are being created at an executive level.
There is a growing trend for contract, advisory or other flexible arrangements to be created to meet the needs of an organisation in a changing business environment. As a result, this requires a different approach to the marketing of an executive’s skills.
2. The need for hard evidence of soft skills
Through the recruitment process we are seeing soft skills and cultural fit are prioritised as highly as work experience, qualifications and technical skills. Executives are expected to have high levels of emotional intelligence to empathise, motivate, influence and inspire action from their teams.
They also need to be able to show evidence of their ability to coach and develop the teams they lead, particularly with roles becoming more collaborative. This requires executives to have a greater understanding of their leadership competency as well as the behaviour of others and team dynamics.
3. The ability to pitch transferable skills
The strength of an executive’s transferable skills and their ability to demonstrate how they can be used in specific situations to benefit an organisation is becoming even more crucial in the recruitment process.
This not only allows an executive to communicate their value, but it also allows them to transition into other industries easily should this be part of their career plan post redundancy.
The need for bespoke executive outplacement
All of these changes point to an obvious need – your executive outplacement program needs to be current, highly personalised and designed to match needs and timeframes of your transitioning executives. A one-size-fits-all approach to executive outplacement is not going to cut it.
The quicker you can make an employees career transition, the easier and more positive the transitioning process can be for both the employee and you as the employer, and that starts with a relevant and personalised executive outplacement program.
Your transitioning executives need customised content that delivers more of what interests them and what will help them through their career journey. They also need a career coach who will design a coaching framework that challenges their thinking, encourages them to explore new directions and prepares them to reenter a job market that wants more from them than ever before.
Is your executive outplacement program adequately preparing executives for recruitment?
Here at Turning Point Partners, we have the Executive Accelerator Program, which is specifically designed to help C-suite executives who are facing redundancy prepare for their next career move – whatever that may be. To find out more call us today on 1300 278 345.
