Establishing Comfort with Leadership Transition

When faced with the departure of crucial executives, one top concern of an organization is ensuring a smooth transition. An inside candidate often seems like the easiest way to achieve that goal.

But, that can lead to insecurity about how qualified the inside candidate is for the job. This is just as much of a concern for small, family-owned firms as it is for firms owned by private equity firms.

How should one go about solving this dilemma? “Having a good leadership continuity plan can help relieve tension when it comes to making sure the right person is on board,” says Chuck Rauenhorst, president of Rauenhorst Recruiting.

When selecting a candidate from an internal pool this often means a firm has an established leadership development program. When this isn’t the case, and organizations look outside the company, owners want to know that they have looked in all possible places for their next executive.

Rauenhorst continues, “An exhaustive, nation-wide search goes a long way towards easing anxieties about leadership change”. Once owners know they really have looked everywhere and they still like their inside candidate, people are comfortable with that decision. This same level of comfort can’t always be achieved unless the process of looking at other qualified candidates has been completed.

A smooth transition is priceless. “C-level searches often have an internal candidate considered along outside candidates. When this is the case, we usually don’t know until all candidates have been equally evaluated which one will come out on top.” The process lends credibility to the result.

During a recent search for Amesbury Group, a $250mm fenestration manufacturing firm, Rauenhorst Recruiting’s process did just that. After a nation-wide search, an internal candidate was chosen to be the next CEO. “Our client is now assured they have the right person at the helm of that company,” said Rauenhorst.

Using an outside consultant when approaching leadership continuity planning can ease the transition of the candidate as well as the search process. “One of the most important things we do comes seemingly after the search process as we pave the way for the new leader,” states Rauenhorst. A good consultant uses information gathered during the search to accomplish this task.

Rauenhorst Recruiting Company is an executive search firm specializing in placing key individuals in executive jobs. Our ideal clients are experiencing controlled growth and change or are seeking continuity in their leadership development. We are strategically involved in building management teams with these companies. Rauenhorst Recruiting designs and conducts thorough and customized executive searches in all industries nationwide. We currently have consultants on staff acting as land development, real estate, engineering, architecture and construction recruiters as well in manufacturing, energy engineering, and medical device technology and are regarded as a top information technology executive search firm. Rauenhorst Recruiting is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.