Recruiting Your Next General Manager: Knowing What You Need

By Rick Dacri, Dacri & Associates
The most important responsibility of any trustee or board is to hire a top-notch general manager. The success of your light department is dependent upon having a highly qualified executive steering your operation. Absent that, you can expect trouble big time. Focus lots of time and attention on bringing into your organization the best of the best. Good executives are out there. Your job is to find them - or engage someone who can.

Recruiting good candidates is not an easy task for anyone. The process is complicated and candidates often know what to say and do to get the job, and it is going to get more difficult. The American Public Power Association's Workforce Planning Study cited the growing shortage of executive talent. It further noted the loss of critical industry knowledge due to retirement and inability to find replacements with utility specific skills are the two biggest challenges public power utilities face. So what should you do?

Putting together a successful recruitment search requires expertise, experience and know-how. Understanding what you are looking for, finding the right candidate and getting him or her to say "yes" to your offer requires a comprehensive plan.

To begin, profile your ideal candidate. This sounds simple, but so often employers do not know which candidate will be successful in their organization and which one will fail. Knowing this is critical. Often we start the recruitment process without truly understanding what we are looking for. Job descriptions are helpful. They define the education, experience and tasks the new hire will perform. What they do not do is identify the traits -those qualitative factors that tell you who will fit and who will not. To do this, ask yourself these two questions: 1) What type of person will be most successful in our organization and community? 2) What type will not? How you answer these questions will focus your entire recruitment search.

It is also important to understand that positions change and evolve over time. With rapid changes in technology, customer demands and new regulations, the type of GM you need now may be very different from your previous manager. As such, simply using an outdated job description and a profile of the incumbent will not give you a clear picture of a successful new hire. It will not help you identify what you need today and what you will need in the future. Remember, each time you are faced with making a hire, you must go through this process. Your investment in time now will yield good long-term rewards.

In developing the profile of your ideal general manager, look at six critical elements: 1) job priorities; 2) business/management skills; 3) essential personal traits; 4) negative traits -traits that would make the individual unsuccessful; 5) short-term challenges the candidate would face immediately upon starting the job; and 6) the long-term challenges faced in the community and department. Armed with this profile, you can use this tool to identify what you need in a candidate, what you do not want, where you should find such a candidate and what questions you should ask during the interview.

Finally, hire for fit. Though you now have the profile of your ideal candidate, you must focus on the person who will fit within your organization - the one who can work with your staff, elected officials and customers; assimilate within your culture; and adopt your organization's belief systems. Find people who best meet the requirements of the job. Critical job skills go beyond the technical - they must include personality traits and include those soft skills such as teamwork, relational competences and empathy. Finally, select candidates with the right attitude. Remember, one thing you cannot change in people is their inherent attitudes. Evaluate the impact your new hire will have on your staff, customers and community. Be uncompromising about hiring the right person. If you make a bad hiring decision, you will soon have to make the tough decision to say goodbye.

There are many steps in finding the right general manager for your organization. Understanding what you truly need will put you closer to recruiting the right candidate.

Rick Dacri provides organizations with powerful, sustainable workforce strategies tailored to help them accomplish goals and better use their greatest resource - employees. Dacri is a recognized national speaker and is the author of the book Uncomplicating Management: Focus on Your Stars & Your Company Will Soar. Dacri & Associates is a NEPPA member and consults to many members. Rick can be reached at 800-892-9828, rick@dacri.com or www.dacri.com.