Hiring great talent is one of the most important responsibilities of a leader, yet many recruitment mandates take months to complete or worse, remain unfilled.
So why is it so hard to hire well, even at the top?
1. Clarity of the Role vs Clarity of Impact
Leaders often default to recruiting against a static job description. But the best hires are made when you start with a clear definition of the outcomes your business will need in the next 12-24 months, not what the previous incumbent had on the job spec that was created for them 3 years ago. Define what success looks like in 12 to 18 months’ time. What challenges need to be overcome? What transformations need to take place? Align internal stakeholders around these outcomes before going to market. Tools like MapX can help you get alignment fast.
2. Overweighting Pedigree, Underweighting Potential
It’s natural to be drawn to candidates from blue-chip firms or prestigious backgrounds. But focusing too narrowly on CVs can cause you to miss the high-potential, high-impact leaders who may not follow a linear path.
Balance evaluation criteria between experience and attributes. Build interview processes that explore cognitive agility, learning orientation, and leadership under pressure, not just career chronology.
3. Confusing Cultural Fit with ‘Sameness’
Many leaders talk about hiring for cultural fit, but unintentionally screen for similarity, people who think, speak, or lead like them. This narrows diversity of thought and limits the team’s resilience in times of change.
Shift the focus from “fit” to “add.” What perspectives, capabilities, or lived experiences are missing from your leadership table? What tensions would be healthy for your team?
4. Internal Alignment is Missing
A lack of internal alignment between key stakeholders can quietly derail even the most promising searches. Without clarity from the outset, you risk dragging out timelines, sending mixed signals to candidates, or making costly compromises.
Before engaging candidates, get crystal clear on the brief and decision-making process. Who has a voice and who has a vote? Agree on the criteria, interview structure, and the non-negotiables up front.
5. Too Slow for Top Talent
Great candidates, particularly those not actively looking, have a low tolerance for indecision, long gaps in communication, or vague messaging. In a competitive market, sluggish or clunky processes lose A-players.
Design a candidate experience that reflects your brand. Communicate swiftly. Provide clarity at every stage. Assign an internal ‘sponsor’ to champion the hire and keep momentum high.
At Savannah, we work in close partnership with clients to ensure that every executive search or talent mapping engagement is anchored in strategic clarity, cultural insight, and market intelligence. Whether it’s a critical external hire or benchmarking internal successors, we help leaders avoid the common pitfalls with talent intelligence, supported by by MapX, our proprietary AI-enabled leadership analytics platform
Find out more about Talent Intelligence here
