I recently had the pleasure of spending some time in Paris and took a class at the Alain Ducasse School of Cooking. Monsieur Ducasse has built an empire and amassed numerous Michelin stars at his restaurants around the world. One of his protégés actually taught the course I took─conducted 100% in French! While my primary interest was acquiring skills in technique for the kitchen, I was surprised that as I julienned and sautéed, I gained fresh insights on the executive search process for hiring a CFO.
Preparation is the Key in Cooking and in Executive Search
The French say that before you start cooking you must be in a state of “mis en place,” loosely translated as “having everything in its place.” The course was Bistro cooking, meaning a simple meal well prepared. Of course, nothing could be simple in the world of Ducasse. Just as no hiring process is simple; whether you are hiring a junior accountant or a CFO one thing remains true: you need to know what you are looking for BEFORE you start looking. Mis en place! Mais oui, Chef!
An important part of my process when hiring a CFO for a client is first, to truly understand what they are looking for, and second, to help the client understand what they should be looking for. The discovery in this phase of the process goes beyond identifying the obvious skills of a CFO; it gets to the heart of the culture of the company, its growth plan, where the blind spots of the CEO are, how dynamics at the Board level affect the CFO hire, and more. This deep dive is the necessary prep work before any cooking can start. It is not trivial and must be approached systematically so when the real work begins the result is a timely, targeted, and effective search.
Three Hour Prep for Two Course Lunch Pays Off
We spent about three hours prepping a two-course lunch consisting of a white and green asparagus salad followed by a veal tenderloin with a green pea sauce. All the heavy lifting was in the prep. Once we got to “plating” and then the enjoyment of the meal, it was clear to me why we spent so much time in the prep.
When you are hiring a CFO and are presented with a slate of candidates for consideration, you are going to be happy with the results because the prep work goes on every day of the year at Arnold Partners, and the customization for your specific needs will not be short-changed. Prep, prep, prep. Mais oui, Chef!
Let’s get cookin’ on your CFO hire. I’ve got the recipe for success. Contact me at moc.srentraPdlonrA@evaD.
Investors: Public, Stage: Public with significant challenges.
OCZ (Nasdaq: OCZT) is going through major changes. After a CEO succession, a new CFO was also needed. This difficult assignment needed to be handled with tenacity and a deep tap into the local CFO network. The company is now off to a new set of successes.
This ground breaking imaging software company is revolutionizing the IVF market. With a marketing focused CEO, the BOD and CEO needed a strong number two to help support their rapid growth and expected IPO path. We delivered!
Investors, Reid Hoffman, Omidyar Networks, Stage: Rapid Global Growth
The highly regarded Kiva organization had been seeking a CFO for over two years when they turned to Arnold Partners for help. We helped streamline the criteria and process and helped them attract a true winner to support their growth.
World’s number one business intelligence SaaS company was seeking a CFO who could help drive their growth. Unique role since the products they sell are used by CFO’s. Needed to satisfy a long list of requirements from a very demanding CEO.
I read with great interest a LinkedIn post by Lou Adler, the self-proclaimed “Original Headhunter” about how to how to avoid hiring mistakes. As a long-time executive search consultant and former hiring manager, avoiding mistakes is paramount for me and my CEO clients.
Lou made some excellent points about cultural fit, not over or under hiring, assigning appropriate tasks once the new hire is on board, etc. However, he failed to mention a common hiring practice: the misuse of references. It just so happened that this practice was the subject of a lunch conversation I had with a CEO a few days after reading Lou’s post.
The CEO was not having success in hiring a senior finance person. Rather than using references early in the process to gain an objective, outside view of a candidate, she made the mistake of using the references after she made up her mind about who to hire. The reference merely validated her decision. When used correctly, references are a very valuable tool to uncover the truth about candidates before making a hiring decision.
When and How to Check References?
This business is a bit tricky. Say you are learning how to hire a CFO and are courting a new candidate to your company, a woman currently the CFO of a public company. You can hardly start calling official or backdoor references prior to a serious intent to hire. Let’s lower the bar: say you are courting a CFO who is currently in between assignments…when is it ok to start the reference checking process?
A Two-Edged Sword to Swing Carefully
In the somewhat small halls of Sand Hill Road, everyone’s references are quietly checked all the time.
In hiring a CFO, the reference process is a delicate and infinitely important one. There isn’t a hard and fast rule for when and how to check references. It needs to be considered on a case by case basis. But one thing I will recommend: don’t make the mistake of waiting to check references until the very end of your hiring process. You’ll just validate your view of the candidate, or waste a lot of your time and that of your executive team.
For those interested in understanding how to hire a CFO, I also recommend hiring a third party to execute on finding the truth about anyone you’re thinking about adding to your team. This will take the emotion out of the equation. If you have comments or want to share your thoughts on how to hire a CFO, please email me, Dave Arnold, at moc.srentrapdlonra@evador call 408-205-7373.
Now that you’ve learned how to avoid these common pitfalls, are you ready to dive into the complicated issue of industry experience? Read more on my post “Industry Experience: Key in CFO Search?“
